An investigation into the perceptions of Chinese consumers towards the country‐of‐origin of dairy products

The dairy incident in 2008 influenced Chinese residents’ attitudes towards domestic and foreign brands in the market. This paper highlights the strong consumer perceptions existing in the Chinese dairy market towards the country of origin of dairy products. Chinese residents generally believe dairy products from foreign countries are superior than those from China. A new theoretical framework is developed to explore the driving factors of country‐of‐effects and its corresponding impacts. Consumers’ image of different countries and national stereotypes, consumer ethnocentrism and animosity, product familiarity and experience, product involvement and some cultural value differences were found to drive country‐of‐origin effects. These effects directly impact on consumer's perceived quality, brand awareness, brand association and loyalty towards the related goods in the market, then influence the brand equity of products from different countries. This study provides a better understanding of country‐of‐origin effects on consumer behaviour, and will help relevant domestic and foreign firms improve their business strategies in China.     

The status of gifts in the receiver's life: reasons for the transformation of commercial products into special,common or hated objects

Within the framework of consumer behaviour, products received as gifts are a complex accumulation of values and meanings that continue to change over time, from their origin as primarily commercial products until their disposition. Through a survey of 1088 adults in Ecuador, a Latin American country with a high level of collectivism, this study aimed to determine the predictors of the gift's status in the receiver's life. Results showed that the comparison of the giver's and receiver's resources and ages, the receiver's liking for the product received, being a gift from a first‐time giver, the receiver's satisfaction with the experience and the impact of the gift on the giver–receiver relationship were significant predictors of whether a commercial product received as a gift would become a special, common or hated object for the receiver.     

Accessing and affording sustainability: the experience of fashion consumption within young families

Despite the ever increasing levels of fashion consumption, neither retailers nor consumers have as yet implemented sustainability principles to a significant degree. This is despite the fact that sustainability principles are increasingly understood and will be applied by consumers, as long as affordable alternatives in mainstream fashions are available. In a highly competitive fashion retail sector, there exists an opportunity for UK high street fashion retailers to differentiate their brand image through aligning products with consumers' moral frameworks. Using phenomenological interviews, this research explores the fashion consumption experiences of professional women with young children and living in or near Edinburgh, with particular focus on their expression of their own sustainability concerns in their day‐to‐day practices. The findings reveal that in the absence of suitable products, information and labelling, consumers apply heuristics to their choices, especially price. They refer to the more familiar ethical food market which serves as a metaphor for fashion‐related practices. They talk about trustworthy retailers and about how they deal with and rationalize their own practices where they reveal an obvious attitude‐behaviour gap. The women's role of providing for the family adds further complexity in a sector which provides affordable alternative options.     

Investigating Quality Perceptions of International Services by Chinese Consumers

Consumers are known to use the country of origin (COO) of a product to infer the quality of products. Products of technologically advanced countries such as the United States and Germany are known to enjoy positive country‐of‐origin effects. Conversely, products made in the developing countries typically suffer from negative COO effect. While this influence of COO is widely recognized for products, the same cannot be said about services. Only a handful of studies have empirically investigated the relationship between COO and perceived service quality. Additionally, most of these studies in this research paradigm are undertaken in developed markets; hence, their findings cannot be extrapolated to the newly industrialized countries (NICs) that offer tremendous market potential for global services. It has, therefore, become imperative for multinational companies to understand if and how consumers in the major NICs use COO and other cues to infer service quality. This insight is critical in developing effective pricing and promotion strategies for these markets. Using data collected from consumers in Beijing in the People's Republic of China, we demonstrate significant COO effect on two service categories: hotels and restaurants. We also highlight how these research findings will help managerial decisions about pricing and promotion. © 2015 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.     

An examination of the effects of partitioned country of origin on consumer product quality perceptions

This paper deals with the effects of partitioned country‐of‐origin associations on consumer product quality evaluations. The main objective of this research is to examine the cognitive processes by which country‐of‐origin information influences the consumer's evaluation of a product. To study the psychological process by which the country‐of‐origin associations are integrated in the formation of related behavioural deliberation, a hypothetical structural model was developed. The model contains seven theoretical constructs, i.e. country of design, perceived product sophistication, country of assembly, perceived manufacturing excellence, country of parts, perceived product quality and perceived product design. Data were analysed via structural equation models using Analysis of MOment Structures (AMOS) 5.0. Results show that countries that already have positioned themselves around a reputation for technological innovation related to product development and manufacturing may expect consumers to transfer those associations to new products from the country.     

Carbon information on vegetables: How does it affect the buying process?

Information on the climate impact of a food product has practically not been communicated in Germany, even though it could provide important acknowledgement of producers’ actions in low‐carbon production. So far, carbon labelling has predominantly been discussed without taking into account German consumers’ opinions (proven by empirical data) on this issue, even though involving the consumer in the considerations of a Carbon Label is essential for its success. Especially the question, if information on the product carbon footprint is a considerable factor within the search process of a purchase decision, was of special interest in this work. To answer these questions, we analysed consumers’ information‐seeking behaviour using an information display matrix (IDM) experiment with 232 participants. The IDM is a process tracing technique which allows to track the information search in a buying process. Our results show that basically the place of origin is the most important criterion for the purchase decision, followed by price and production method (conventional/organic). In contrast, the sustainability information (i.e., carbon footprint and water consumption) are at a low level of importance. Comparing two locally produced products with the help of a multinominal logistic regression‐model, it seems that the group of consumers preferring organic products is influenced in the purchase decision by the carbon footprint information. In summary it can be stated that although some people may be basically interested in carbon labelling of fresh food, the purchase decision would probably be hardly influenced by a carbon label on vegetables at present. The majority of people are more concerned about factors like origin and price so that Carbon Labelling would only be a viable option for a small group of consumers.     

Price rather than nutrition information the main influencer of consumer food purchasing behaviour in South Africa: A qualitative study

In South Africa there has been a paucity of data on food and nutrition labelling since the publication of the new food‐labelling legislation. This study aimed to explore whether the nutrition information on food products influences consumer purchasing behaviour; reasons for reading or ignoring nutrition information on labels, and to investigate expectations regarding food / nutrition labelling. Nine focus‐group discussions were held with adult consumers (N=67) in Cape Town, South Africa. Food price was sometimes the only consideration when selecting food products, irrespective of quality and nutritional value. When buying products for the first time, consumers were more inclined to read the nutrition information compared to habitual purchases or buying known brands. The list of ingredients, nutrient content claims and specific health endorsement logos were considered important. Reasons for reading nutrition information were mainly to assess the nutritional value or health properties, to avoid certain ingredients/allergens and to determine quality. Consumers struggled to understand the information on labels, specifically the nutrition information table. A lack of time or interest, price concerns and trust in labelling information also emerged as reasons why consumers ignore the nutrition information. There is a need for simpler food labelling, more graphics, and less complex terminology, information overload and quantitative information. It is recommended that a standardised front‐of‐package labelling scheme and a single health endorsement logo for South Africa be considered. More should be done to educate consumers on utilising the information on food labels correctly, in order for them to make healthier food choices.     

The role of product type and country‐of‐origin in decisions about choice of endorser ethnicity in advertising

Two experiments examine the effects of endorser ethnicity and product country of origin on consumer responses toward ad and brand, and investigate the moderating role of utilitarian versus hedonic product type. In Experiment 1, for utilitarian products, participants showed more favorable responses when the endorser's ethnicity was incongruent with the product's country of origin compared to when it was congruent, supporting an attribution‐theory explanation. For hedonic products, however, participants preferred ads that featured an endorser whose ethnicity matched their own, irrespective of the product's country of origin. In Experiment 2, building on the attribution explanation, two endorsers of different ethnicities generated more favorable responses than two of the same ethnicity. © 2006 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.     

Social status and country‐of‐origin preferences

This paper explores consumers' attitudes towards products of foreign origin according to consumer social status, particularly when purchases come from countries that have a low‐cost/low quality image. The research question is: for an identical good (same manufacturer, same brand), do consumers belonging to lower social classes ask for a larger price discount than higher social status consumers when they are offered the opportunity to switch from a country of manufacture whose quality image is well established, to a country of manufacture, the image of which is more uncertain (e.g. South Korea)? A structural equations model is used to highlight the fact that social status has only an indirect influence on the discounts for shifting to lower‐image countries. The relatively weak image of Korean products (at least against Germany and Japan) tends to result in higher price rebates asked for the Korean manufacturing origin. But lower social status consumers evaluate Korea more positively as a country‐of‐origin. The normative recommendation for the advertising strategy of “cheap” origins' goods in highly developed markets would be to put emphasis on quality rather than price, especially when modest consumers and lower classes are explicitly targeted.     

Is mandatory country-of-origin labelling a retrograde step in the long run?

Abstract

There is a strong push from the farming community in Australia to persuade the government to legislate the compulsory display of country-of-origin labelling on retail products. This research examines the label elements considered by grocery shoppers who are inclined to examine the country of manufacture. Shoppers are most likely to consider the brand name when choosing a product, with the odds ratio of taking note of the country of manufacture being the largest for those consumers who scrutinize the name of the product and for those who ascribe the highest importance to the product's country of manufacture. Overt identification as Australian origin, for products without a recognizable brand name, may therefore not be advantageous to Australian producers. Country-of-origin prone shoppers also seek stronger reassurance from other cues on the product label. Shoppers would have to contend with the inevitable higher prices arising from label recomposition and country-of-origin compliance. To what extent increased prices would dampen demand is a moot point.     

Sodium content in foods: Brazilian consumers’ opinions,subjective knowledge and purchase intent

This study attempted to gain insights on Brazilian consumers’ subjective knowledge of sodium content in processed and homemade foods and their purchase intent for products with reduced‐sodium content. A questionnaire was distributed to 409 consumers selected by convenience quota sampling. We found that Brazilian consumers were concerned about the amount of salt (sodium chloride) in the products they consumed, regardless of educational levels, income, age, lifestyles, or health conditions. However, they still considered their consumption to be above WHO‐recommended limits and had little subjective knowledge about the term ‘sodium’. While processed products were considered the main contributors of high‐sodium intake, participants were not concerned about addition of salt at the table and salt in homemade food. The majority of respondents rarely read the sodium content on food labels; however, men and older individuals were more likely to read label information on sodium content. Products with reduced sodium were found to have market appeal, which justifies investments in research to develop these products. Therefore, in addition to the efforts to reduce sodium in the processed‐food industry, it is necessary to promote awareness about the importance of food labelling, especially sodium content, and the need to reduce salt in homemade food and additions during meals.     

‘Better safe than sorry’: consumer perceptions of and deliberations on nanotechnologies

Although nanotechnologies are considered key technologies that can drive growth‐generating innovations in well‐saturated markets, worldwide investment in nanotechnologies has to date focused largely on technology‐related development programmes and little effort has been expended to research associated risks. As a result, even though prior discourses have sensitized western consumers to potential health‐related dangers, solid knowledge on, for example, the toxicological and eco‐toxicological risks and unintended side effects of nanotechnology are scarce. This paper therefore presents an overview of the current evidence on consumer knowledge and perceptions of nanotechnology and public engagement with it, with a focus on the US, the UK and Germany. Overall, even though survey data suggest that awareness of the term ‘nanotechnology’ has risen slightly, today's consumers are generally ill informed about its nature and its applications in consumer‐related products. Hence, based on our analysis of these data, we argue that early political engagement in the nanotechnology issue – for example, consumer policy options that support consumer interest in the marketing of ‘nanos’– would facilitate objective public discourse.     

Attitude Toward Globalization and Country-of-Origin Evaluations: Toward a Dynamic Theory

ABSTRACT

In theory, increased globalization should lead to greater openness to different cultures, thereby reducing consumer ethnocentrism and resulting in improved consumer perceptions and behavior with respect to foreign products. However, empirical studies testing the impact of globalization have met with mixed results possibly due to the effects of globalization occurring at different levels in the mind-sets among consumers. This notion of “multi-layered consciousness” and its effects on country of origin image are proposed and tested in a theoretical model incorporating a dynamic theory of globalization, to supplement the conventional theory of country-of-origin effects. As predicted, results showed that country-of-origin image is negatively influenced by consumer ethnocentrism, but is not positively influenced by globalization, despite consumers' self-perceived global mindsets (i.e., positive attitude toward globalization and subsequent global openness).     

The Country of Origin Effect on Brazilian Beef Trade in Europe: The Moderating Role of Gender,Age, and Product Involvement

Stereotypes of individuals in relation to countries may affect their attitudes toward products from these nations (the country of origin effect). The objective is to analyze the country of origin effect for Brazilian beef in Europe, considering the role of moderators such as gender, age, and product involvement. It was concluded that beliefs in relation to countries and their impact on attitudes toward products from these countries may differ according to demographic issues. We also conclude that aspects related to communication, distribution, and differentiation of Brazilian products have received the worst evaluation by consumers who participated in the survey.     

Competent consumers? Consumer competence profiles in Norway

Consumer competence is increasingly important in today’s commercialized society. This paper refers to some main findings from a national representative survey on consumer competences and practices in Norway. To be a competent consumer, it is decisive to be informed about products and to be familiar with how markets function. In this paper, consumers’ self‐reported efforts to keep themselves informed about specific markets is treated as an indicator of consumer competence. First, the results indicate that Norwegian consumers’ competence, according to their own judgement, is rather mediocre. Second, different groups of consumers seem to have different consumer competence profiles. Accordingly, we find that some consumers are price‐conscious in their daily purchases, others are price‐conscious when they make their yearly dispositions in the financial markets, while a third group is community‐oriented and active in the environmentally friendly and ethical product markets. Third, the analysis indicates that consumer competence is an important indicator of how market‐rational and reflective consumers’ choices and practices are.     

Do demographics have an impact on country of origin effects?

The article discusses the potential impact of consumers' age, socio‐economic group, and sex on the magnitude of country of origin effects for lager and sparkling wine and presents the results of an empirical study into the subject. It is found that older consumers show stronger country of origin effects, which may be due to a generally stronger reliance of older people on broader mental categories, in order to compensate for a decrease in working memory. Socio‐economic groups AB are found to show stronger country of origin effects for sparkling wine, whereas socio‐economic groups C1C2 show stronger country of origin effects for lager. This may be related to relative differences in consumption patterns and expertise for the studied products between the two groups. Sex is not found to have any impact on the magnitude of country of origin effects in this study.     

How do controversial foreign country images affect consumers?

Research shows that controversial political–economic, social, and environmental country images affect consumer responses to foreign products. This study adds to the existing evidence by examining the contingent role of subjective country knowledge and (domestic vs. foreign) country image congruence in the relationships between foreign country image and two major determinants of country-driven (anti-)consumption: foreign product judgements and consumer animosity. The findings draw on survey data (N = 400) on Spanish consumers' views of China and Chinese apparel products. The results indicate that higher subjective knowledge about social and environmental issues (negatively) affecting the foreign country can lead to attenuated (positive) relationships between such country images and foreign product judgements. Further, more negative foreign product judgements can result from incongruent country images—that is, when consumers are more critical of the foreign than of their home country in political–economic, social, and environmental areas. Instead, there is limited support for the hypotheses involving consumer animosity as an outcome. Implications for theory, policy, and practice are discussed.     

Relevant or redundant: Elite consumers' perception of foreign-made products in an emerging market

Abstract

This paper examines the attitudes of elite Pakistani consumers concerning their preferences for foreign-made products and how these preferences influence purchasing decisions. Data were collected from a sample of 250 buyers using a mixed methodology consisting of focus groups and a questionnaire survey. The results show a link between the country of origin (COO) of products and purchasing decisions. The nature and extent of this link vary across product class and purchasing decisions. A means-end chain (MEC) analysis revealed a close link between consumers' liking for foreign products connected with how they valued those products both psychologically and physiologically. The findings have implications for attaining a competitive advantage by using marketing strategies to target elite customers. As a pioneering study, this paper advances the theoretical knowledge, providing a framework as well as specific guidelines for practitioners to conceptualise the COO construct. The paper also suggests a strategic direction that successfully targets the elite consumer segment in Pakistan.     

The mystique of macro‐boycotting behaviour: a conceptual framework

In spite of the aim of the World Trade Organization and other international organizations to foster international trade and development by lessening protectionism agendas worldwide, there has been a rise in consumer‐boycotting behaviour at a macro level involving campaigns directed against foreign products from countries embroiled in conflicts in international relations, rather than against products from individual companies perceived to have engaged in a domestic egregious act. While campaigning at this level is becoming a more effective tool for consumer protest, as it negatively affects both the boycotted countries' macroeconomics and companies' micro‐competitiveness, consumer motivation to participate in macro‐level boycotts has so far been overlooked in the boycotting literature. This paper examines consumers' behavioural intentions to participate in macro‐boycotting campaigns within the context of an Arab country, which has recently witnessed a number of campaigns of this nature. Using the theory of planned behaviour, the findings of an exploratory qualitative study of Egyptian consumers offer insights into the motives and barriers to individual macro‐boycott participation. Findings are discussed together with managerial implications.