Country-of-Origin Strategies in International Marketing: A Comparison of the Effects of Explicit COO Strategies on Consumers’ Evaluations.

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2019-06-07
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en
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Abstract
The country of origin (COO) is a widely studied topic in international business communication and marketing. It can affect certain aspects of consumers’ evaluations, also known as the COO effect. This effect can be evoked with different strategies. However, few studies would appear to have addressed multiple strategies and/or compare them. This study aimed to find differences in effects on consumers’ evaluations, evoked by explicit country-of-origin strategies that can be used in advertisements. Therefore, this study compared the possible effects of using the label ‘Made in…’, embedding the COO in the company name or using of the flag of that country, on attitude towards the advertisement, attitude towards the product and purchase intention. A total of 130 participants completed an on-line questionnaire, evaluating two product advertisements including different COO strategies. The results showed the existence of differences in effects. For example, depending on the product, a company name with a COO embedded in it was found to evoke a higher attitude towards the advertisement than when a company would use the label ‘Made in…’. Furthermore, this company name or a COO flag were also found to evoke a higher attitude towards the product, compared to when no strategies at all would be used, but no difference was found in the effects between them. The use of the flag was also found effective in evoking a higher perceived product quality compared to using no strategies at all. Although effects of strategies and/or differences between them were found for all of the other aspects of consumers’ evaluations, no effects were found on purchase intention by any of the strategies and therefore also no differences between them.
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