The Moderating Influence of Country of Origin Information Seeking on Homophily and Product Satisfaction

ABSTRACT

The purpose of the research was to investigate when consumers concurrently select a range of retail products online, what percentage of products need country of origin (COO) identification. Moreover, will COO information seeking positively moderate the relationship between homophily and product satisfaction. Participants were recruited through an online survey platform (MTurk). The results appear to be the first to quantify the number of retail products within a basket that need some form of country of origin (COO) identification. Electronic word of mouth (eWOM, e-reviews) has become an important factor in the purchasing process for consumers. When COO information is unavailable, consumers will search online reviews to determine the COO of products. When reading the e-reviews, consumers will also evaluate the reviewer and the similarities they share. If they are not similar (low in homophily) their satisfaction with the product is low. By contrast, when homophily is high, product satisfaction is high. Specifically, as homophily increases, an individuals' need for COO information seeking has a positive moderating effect on their perceived product satisfaction. Online retailers promoting their products could benefit from sales increases due to their ability to provide COO information at a low cost, which in turn, provides ease, peace of mind and purchase satisfaction for consumers.