Advancing the country image construct Roth, Katharina P.; Diamantopoulos, Adamantios
Journal of business research,
07/2009, Letnik:
62, Številka:
7
Journal Article
Recenzirano
In today's globalized markets a favorable country-of-origin image (CoI) has a considerable impact on consumers' evaluation of products originating from different countries and therefore influences ...their subsequent buying decisions. The current paper seeks to extend our conceptual understanding of the nature and functioning of the CoI construct. The aim is threefold, namely to provide a succinct state-of-the-art picture of country image research in international marketing, to contribute to a better measurement of the country image construct, and, finally, to develop an agenda for future research.
Can CSR and sustainability signals increase corporate brand performance and brand equity? What makes these signals more effective? Although research largely evaluates these questions, this research, ...using secondary data on 135 different brands across industries and countries, explores foreign and domestic performance, and compares sustainability and CSR signals, providing new perspectives. Further, we uniquely contribute to the dialogue that country origin influences signal effectiveness, using the corporate brand's country of origin sustainability reputation (COSR). Using bivariate analysis and OLS regression to discover these relationships, the exploratory findings provide theoretical and practical implications. For domestic (vs. international) performance, sustainability (vs. both) signals are important, especially for corporate brands from mid-ranked CORS. Interestingly, consumer misbeliefs in sustainability affect domestic performance and brand equity. For equity, consumer perceptions, CSR signals, and sustainability signals contribute to brand equity, and can be more effective for corporate brands from low or mid-ranked COSR.
Research Summary
Research suggests that multinational enterprises (MNEs) are attracted to locations with concentrated firms from the same home country to benefit from interactions with market forces, ...but it remains an open question whether such agglomeration facilitates MNEs' interactions with nonmarket actors such as the host government. We submit that since country‐of‐origin agglomeration can enable collective actions and create collective gains, colocation with compatriot firms will help MNEs navigate an adverse institutional environment. In line with this reasoning, we hypothesize that MNEs are more attracted to locations with country‐of‐origin agglomeration when MNEs face an exogenous shock that increases their regulatory burden in the host country. Our analysis offers corroborative evidence. The study adds to research on agglomeration, institutional environment, and location strategy.
Managerial Summary
Why do multinational enterprises (MNEs) locate near compatriot firms in a foreign location? The commonly recognized benefits include resource access and knowledge spillover from interactions with market forces such as suppliers and customers. We submit that colocation with compatriot firms can also help MNEs navigate an adverse institutional environment by generating “stronger‐together” benefits. Colocation can enable collective actions and create collective gains for MNEs in their interactions with the host government. We find that after a diplomatic dispute, Korean MNEs are more attracted to locations in China that already have a cluster of Korean firms, whether in the same/related industries or in unrelated industries; this is particularly the case for small MNEs and in locations with weak institutions.
Prior empirical research has examined the effects of terrorism on foreign direct investment. These studies reveal the negative impact of terrorism on national economies, but neglect to theorize and ...examine how terrorism drives institutional escapism by promoting outward foreign direct investment (OFDI) to countries with lower risk levels. This study proposes and tests a rationalist explanation that builds on the concept of institutional escapism for how terrorism encourages increased levels of OFDI, particularly to countries with reduced risk. Drawing on the resilience, political violence, and international business literatures, we demonstrate through a unique global dataset of 22,873 observations, 5584 home-host country pairs, and 153 countries over 16 years (1995–2010) that terrorism induces institutional escapism in terms of OFDI.
•Terrorism is a specific country specific disadvantage that influences OFDI.•MNCs practice escapism by decentralizing OFDI into countries with lower terrorism risk.•MNCs benefit from decentralizing OFDI into countries with both lower terrorism exposure and greater capacity to combat it.•At the highest levels of terrorism risk, MNCs are unable to escape through decentralizing OFDI from home to host countries.•Unlike terrorism risk, political stability and corruption in the host country do not influence OFDI escape routes.
This study aimed to identify selected predictors of country-of-origin (COO) information placed on food packaging. The dependent variable was operationalized in two ways: (1) as a Likert-style ...question about COO importance in general, and (2) as an indication of COO as the most important food attribute at first purchase, which I called top-of-mind COO importance. The survey was conducted with the use of the internet panel of a research agency in a representative sample of 1051 Polish consumers. In bivariate analyses, I identified the characteristics of consumer segments attaching high importance to each type of COO information. In a multivariate log-normal regression, general COO importance was affected to the largest extent by the product originating from Poland, which confirmed the strong relation between COO importance and consumer ethnocentrism. In multivariate logit regressions, top-of-mind COO importance depended also on the Polish origin of the product to the largest extent. The remaining predictors were sex (men were over 1.5 times more likely to indicate COO as the most important attribute) and age (each year of life contributing to a 2% increase in the likelihood of indicating top-of-mind COO). A theoretical implication is to differentiate between general and top-of-mind COO measures, as different results were obtained depending on whether the COO effect was measured as a response to questions such as “How important is the product COO for you?” or “What is the most important product attribute for you?—COO” Not only were the answer patterns different, but their determinants also varied.
This paper explores brand management decisions concerning the terroir product of an authentic beer brand.
Findings are based on a single case study of a Greek microbrewery informed by in-depth ...interviews with the company owner and senior management team. Additional customer insights into the issues were gathered from 191 questionnaire responses.
Results identify the way this company has approached territorial brand management based on a clear understanding of potential consumer perceptions and reactions to clues about place brand origin in its brand names when targeting its main groups of domestic, export, and tourist consumers.
This research offers practical insights into territorial brand management decisions, especially those concerning brand names that offer clues to a product's place of origin. These insights may offer practical strategies for SMEs operating in markets serving both local and tourist consumers, and who wish to defend the terroir claims of their products against large multi-nationals.
Despite considerable research, empirical results on the relationship between partitioned country-of-origin (COO) and consumer behavior remain inconclusive and conflicting. This study aims to examine ...the (a) overall and disaggregate effects of selected COO sub-components (country-of-brand, country-of-design, country-of-manufacture/assembly, and country-of-parts) on product evaluation, brand evaluation, and purchase intentions; and (b) effect of selected study methodological and contextual characteristics on the focal relationship. The study employs a meta-analysis to synthesize prior literature regarding the partitioned COO-consumer behavior relationship of 82 independent samples in 64 empirical papers published in the last 30 years, including 25,827 observations and 1,239 effect sizes. Results reveal that partitioned COO has a significant, positive influence on consumer behavior; however, our subgroup analysis demonstrates that the impact on purchase intention is significantly larger than product evaluation and brand evaluation. Moreover, findings disclose that country-of-brand (COB) effect is the largest and interacts strongly with purchase intention than the effects and interactions of the other partitioned sub-components. Again, the moderator analysis shows that these effects depend on contextual and methodological factors (i.e., cues, culture, product stimulus level, product category, and study design). These findings advance COO research by clarifying the anecdotal mixed results, pointing out relevant managerial implications, and identifying potential avenues for further research.
Multinational enterprises (MNEs) have increasingly expanded worldwide, so they need to recruit talent abroad. Nevertheless, the extant recruitment literature lacks an international perspective, as ...most research has been conducted in a single country context and in developed countries, creating a gap regarding how MNEs can develop optimal international recruiting strategies, considering not only developed but also emerging countries. Based on a cross-national conjoint analysis in an emerging country (Vietnam) and a developed country (the US), we calibrate the relative importance of organizational/job attributes, especially those with symbolic value such as MNEs' country-of-origin (emerging vs. developed) and the three dimensions of CSR (economic, social and environmental responsibilities), together with other instrumental factors (e.g. pay, career opportunities), to young applicants in the two countries. Our results reveal some differences. Applicants from an emerging market attach more value to the economic dimension of CSR; still, they also value to the social and environmental CSR dimensions. Unexpectedly, emerging market MNEs (EMNEs) suffer more from the liability of emergingness in other emerging countries than in developed countries. Despite the persistence of certain cross-national differences, the overall influential structure on job choice remains largely similar across countries, opening up the possibility for a global employer branding strategy. Our results, moreover, suggest that symbolic attributes are as important as instrumental attributes to applicants. Most interestingly, the economic dimension of CSR and the country of origin are considered even more important than salary in Vietnam.
To identify a novel optimized strategy for preventing fraudulent substitutions of squid species and origins, forty European squids (Loligo vulgaris) and forty flying squids (Todarodes sagittatus) ...from the Mediterranean Sea and Atlantic Ocean were analyzed for δ13C, δ15N, La, Ce, Pr, Nd, Sm, Eu, Gd, Tb, Dy, Ho, Er, Yb, and Lu using isotope ratio mass spectrometry and inductively coupled plasma-mass spectrometry. While δ13C and δ15N variations were mainly species-related, they alone could not reliably distinguish samples. To address this issue, decision rules were developed using Classification and Regression Tree analysis. Threshold values for δ13C (−19.91‰), δ15N (14.87‰), and Pr (0.49 μg kg−1) enabled successful discrimination among Mediterranean European squids, Atlantic European squids, Mediterranean flying squids, and Atlantic flying squids, achieving over 90% accuracy, 81% precision, 80% sensitivity, and 93% specificity. This method holds promise for enhancing traceability and safety in the seafood industry, ensuring product integrity and consumer trust.
•Two squid species from two different geographical origins were analyzed•Stable isotope ratios (C and N) and 13 lanthanides were measured by IRMS and ICP-MS•Decision trees allow for simple classification of squid with >85% accuracy•δ13C, δ15N and Pr were identified as key chemical markers for squid authentication•The combo isotope ratios-lanthanides are an effective tool for squid traceability
PurposeCountry of origin is a well-studied topic for developed countries that have a favourable image. However, how country of origin image affects the consumers of an emerging country on a frontier ...market with high uncertainty avoidance still needs to be shed light. Therefore, this study investigated the relationship of country of origin image with consumer purchase intention through consumer uncertainty. The study further explored the conditional effect of brand image between country of origin and consumer uncertainty.Design/methodology/approachThe data for this study was collected from 400 Pakistani consumers. As this study assessed purchase intentions and consumer uncertainty related to high technology products of China, therefore, the consumers of the Huawei brand were selected.FindingsThe findings revealed a negative influence of country of origin image on consumer purchase intentions both directly and indirectly through consumer uncertainty. Furthermore, the positive brand image of high tech products was found to moderate the effect of country of origin image on consumer uncertainty.Originality/valueThis study is the first of its kind that explores the intervening role of consumer uncertainty between country of origin image and consumer purchase intention in an emerging market. In addition, the study highlights the importance of strong brand image as it buffers consumer uncertainty because of stereotypes.
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