Product-Country Images in the Context of NAFTA

Abstract

This article presents the results of a survey of 415 male consumers carried out in Mexico (240 respondents) and Canada (175 respondents). In this study, country-of-origin information was manipulated along three dimensions, namely country of design, country of assembly, and country of parts. Consumer judgments of the quality and purchase value of three product categories, i.e., automobiles, videocassette recorders, and shoes, were obtained in a multi-cue context. The results showed that Canadian and Mexican consumers put more emphasis on the country of origin of consumer products than on brand names. The product-country evaluations of Mexicans seemed to be affected by a strong home country bias. Implications for international marketers were derived from the results.     

Can Experiences With a Country's Foods Improve Images of That Country?

ABSTRACT

This study examines how experience with other countries’ foods affects people's images of those countries, as well as the strength of such images. The findings show that foods are effective cultural elements that can enhance country images. People who have eaten a country's foods reveal more favorable country images than those who lack such experiences. Country images are even more favorable when people have more positive and many food experiences. Furthermore, positive country image effects are greater for people in opposite-hemisphere countries than for those in neighboring countries. Finally, people who prefer certain attributes of a country's foods provide more favorable ratings for related product attributes from that country, indicating affect transfer from food experiences to other product categories. These findings have key implications, especially for policy makers and researchers who seek effective ways to improve country images.     

新公共服务理论：缘起、内涵及启迪

新公共服务理论的核心是民主治理，其思想来源于民主公民权理论、社区与公民社会理论、组织人本主义与新公共行政和后现代公共行政，其基本观点包括政府的职能是服务而不是掌舵，公共利益是目标而非副产品，在思想上要具有战略性、在行动上要具有民主性。新公共服务理论对我国服务型政府建设的启迪是落实主权在民的理念，完善公民参与机制，强化公民在监督体系中的作用，建立科学的复合型政府绩效评估指标体系，逐步推行行政问责制等。     

资本市场信息替代机制及风险根源

我国资本市场的起点和发展路径的扭曲导致其信息替代机制的扭曲,是导致我国资本市场低效率、高风险的根本原因。因此,本文通过研究资本市场信息对价格的影响机制,分析我国资本市场的风险根源,为我国资本市场建设提供理论依据。     

试论美国宪法之违宪审查制原则

违宪审查制是美国对宪政理论的独特贡献,是美国宪法中一项极为重要的原则。它起源于美国独立运动领袖的自然法观念和分权思想,具有既基于宪法和“三权分立”而产生又受限于二者的基本特征,在监督宪法实施、捍卫宪政精神方面有着特殊的功效。     

Varieties of CSR: Institutions and Socially Responsible Behaviour

A central concern within contemporary socio-economics has been on the relationship between national institutional configurations and societal outcomes. In this paper, we assess the relationship between legal origin and a range of correlated indicators of social responsibility, focusing on socially responsible investing and voluntary charitable giving. We found that in Common Law contexts, lower levels of social responsibility than in Civil Law contexts, other than in the area of charitable giving, where the converse was the case. We explore the reasons for this distinction, and for the different patterns encountered in post-socialist Central and Eastern Europe. Based on the findings, we identify directions for future research.     

城市森林的品格

城市森林的品格是对城市森林是什么以及有什么用的阐释。城市森林是"城市之肺"、"城市之魂";城市森林亦是"生态城市之基石"、"森林城市之本源"。"城市之肺"、"城市之魂"是关于城市森林的价值论阐释;"生态城市之基石"、"森林城市之本源"是对城市森林的本体论阐释。     

Consumers’ preferences for fresh broccolis: interactive effects between country of origin and organic labels

While international trade in organic products has grown significantly, understanding consumers’ preferences for imported organic foods has remained limited. This research examines the impact of country‐of‐origin labeling on US consumers’ choices of organic foods. Results show that consumer valuation of domestically produced organic broccoli was significantly higher than that of imported organic broccoli. Adding information about USDA organic certification standards/rules for imported products mildly increases consumer valuation of imported organic broccoli in some cases. These findings suggest that providing such information may have a positive impact on consumer willingness to purchase imported organic products.     

Once an outsider,always an outsider? CEO origin,strategic change,and firm performance

In this study, we examine how the relationship between the level of strategic change in the pattern of resource allocation and firm performance differs between firms led by outside CEOs and those led by inside CEOs. Based on longitudinal data on the tenure histories of 193 CEOs who left office between 1993 and 1998, we find that the level of strategic change has an inverted U‐shaped relationship with firm performance. As the level of change increases from slight to moderate, performance increases; as the level of change increases from moderate to great, performance declines. Further, we find that this inverted U‐shaped relationship differs between firms led by outside CEOs and those led by inside CEOs. That is, both the positive effect of strategic change on firm performance when the level of change is relatively low and the negative effect of strategic change on firm performance when the level of change is relatively high are more pronounced for outside CEOs than for inside CEOs. Supplementary analyses also suggest that this difference between outside and inside CEOs exists in later years but not in the early years of CEO tenure. Copyright © 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

原产地品牌资产增值对策研究

当前,品牌化浪潮席卷了经济生活的方方面面,原产地也可以成为一个品牌为其所在区域打上独特的标签,使得该区域具有相应的品牌资产价值。文章着重研究品牌和品牌资产的内涵及其发展情况,原产地品牌由来及其概念界定,原产地品牌的形成和作用机制,并有针对性地提出了原产地品牌资产增值对策,即明确原产地品牌远景、提升认知程度和扩大品牌联想。