Parikalpana: KIIT Journal of Management

Open Access Open Access  Restricted Access Subscription Access

The Mediating Role of Attitude on Country of Origin and Consumer Purchase Intention


Affiliations
1 Research Scholar, School of Management Studies (SOMS), Commerce, Indira Gandhi National Open University (IGNOU), New Delhi, India
 

Purpose – This study aimed to determine the dimensions of the country of origin (COO) along with its impact on consumers’ purchase intention (PI). This study further explored the mediating role of attitude on the relationship between COO and PI. Design/methodology/approach- To achieve this aim, a quantitative study was undertaken with 825 responses collected through a self-administered questionnaire from Delhi- NCR, and Mumbai in India. The constructs were measured using a five-point Likert scale. SEM and regression were performed to analyze the results. Findings- Country-specific image (CSI) and product-specific image (PSI) were the two major dimensions of COO. COO played a considerable role in influencing purchase intention (r .426) but in the presence of attitude, the relationship became insignificant (.377(.000)). Limitations- The present study was limited to the Delhi-NCR and Mumbai in India and had taken only two product categories: - mobile phones and TV. Only one mediating variable (attitude) was included in this study. Originality/value – This study was the first of its kind to examine how much COO as a single purchase indicator account for PI for Indians and to what extent this relationship was mediated by attitude. This study adds to the current body of knowledge in understanding whether the COO of a product will make it more or less appealing to Indian buyers and provides important implications for marketing managers in designing their promotional campaigns and marketing strategies to carter a wider segment of customers.

Keywords

Country of origin (COO), purchase intention, Attitude
User
Notifications
Font Size

  • Long, H. (2017). White House, Trump prepare for “Made in America” week. CBS News.

  • Luan, L., Kim, A., & Zipser, D. (2019). “How young Chinese consumers are reshaping global luxury”. China: Mckinsey and Company.

  • Agarwal, S., & Teas, R. (2000). “The effects of extrinsic product cues on consumers’ perception of quality, sacrifice and value”. Journal of International Consumer Marketing, Vol. 28 No. 2 , pp. 278-300.

  • Ahmed, S., & d’Astous, A. (1995). “Comparison of country of origin effects on household and organisational buyers’ product perceptions”. European Journal of Marketing, Vol. 29 No. 3, pp. 35-51.

  • Ahmed, S., d’Astous, A., & Eljabri, J. (2002a). “The impact of technological complexity on consumers’ perceptions of products made in highly and newly industrialized countries”. International Marketing Review, Vol. 19 No. 4, pp. 387–407.

  • Ahmed, Z., Johnson, J., Ling, C., Fang, T., & Hui, A. (2002). “Country-of-origin and brand effects on consumers: Evaluations of cruise lines”. International Marketing Review, Vol. 19 No. 3, pp. 279-302.

  • Arora, A., McIntyre, J., Wu, J., & Arora, A. (2015). “Consumer response to diffusion brands and luxury brands: The role of country of origin and country of manufacture”. Journal of International Consumer Marketing, Vol. 27 No. 1, pp. 3–26.

  • Awada, L., & Yiannaka, A. (2012). “Consumer perception and the effects of country of origin labelling on purchasing decisions and welfare”. Food Policy, Vol. 37, pp. 21-30.

  • Baker, J., & Ballington, L. (2002). “Country-of-origin as a source of competitive advantage”. Journal of Strategic Marketing, Vol. 10 No. 1, pp. 157-168.

  • Basfirinci, C., & Uk, Z. (2020). “Does country of origin matter for chocolate? Ethnocentrism, involvement, and perceived risk for Turkish university students”. Journal of Food Products Marketing, Vol. 26 No. 2, pp. 144-184.

  • Batra, R., Ramaswamy, V., Alden, D., Steenkamp, J.-E., & Ramachander, S. (2000). “Effects of brand local and non local origin on consumer attitudes in developing countries”. Journal of Consumer Psychology, Vol. 9 No. 2, pp. 83–95.

  • Bentler, P. (1990). “Comparative fit indexes in structural models”. Psychological bulletin, p. pp. 238.

  • Bruning, E. (1997). “Country of origin, national loyalty and product choice: The case of international air travel”. International Marketing Review, Vol. 14 No. 1, pp. 59-74.

  • Byrne, A., Dionisi, A., Barling, J., Akers, A., Robersten, J., Lys, R., . . . Dupre, K. (2013). “The depleted leader: the influence of leaders’ diminished psychological resources on leadership behaviors”. The Leadership Quarterly, Vol. 25 No. 2, pp. 344-357.

  • Byrne, B. (2010). Structural Equation Modelling with AMOS: Basic Concepts, Applications, and Programming (Multivariate Applications Series) (Vol. 396). New York: Taylor & Francis Group.

  • Cakici, N., & Shukla, P. (2017). “Country-of-origin misclassification awareness and consumers’ behavioral intentions”. International Marketing Review, Vol. 34 No. 3, pp. 354-376.

  • Carr, J., & Sequeira, J. (2007). “Prior family business exposure as intergenerational influence and entrepreneurial intent: A theory of planned behavior approach”. Journal of Business Research, Vol. 60 No. 10, pp. 1090-1098.

  • Chen, S., Wright, M., Liu, H., & Mather, D. (2020). “The effects of brand origin and countryof-manufacture on consumers’ institutional perceptions and purchase decision-making”. International Marketing Review. doi:10.1108/IMR-08-2019-0205

  • Chryssochoidis, G., Krystallis, A., & Perreas, P. (2007). “Ethnocentric beliefs and country-of-origin (COO) effect: Impact of country, product and product attributes on Greek consumers’ evaluation of food products”. European Journal of Marketing, Vol. 41 No. 11/12, pp. 1518–1544.

  • Diamantopoulos, A., Arslanagic-Kalajdzic, M., & Moschik, N. (2020). “Are consumers’ minds or hearts guiding country of origin effects? Conditioning roles of need for cognition and need for affect”. Journal of Business Research, Vol. 108, pp. 487–495. doi:https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jbusres.2018.10.020

  • Diamantopoulos, A., Schlegelmilch, B., & Palihawadana, D. (2011). “The relationship between country-of-origin image and brand image as drivers of purchase intentions: A test of alternative perspectives”. International Marketing Review, Vol. 28 No. 5, pp. 508–524.

  • Dodds, W., Monroe, K., & Grewal, D. (1991). “Effect of Price, Brand and Store information on buyers’ product evaluations”. Journal of Marketing Research, Vol. 28 No. 3, pp. 307-319.

  • Esmaeilpour, F., & Abdolvand, M. (2016). “The impact of country-of-origin image on brand loyalty: evidence from Iran”. Asia Pacific Journal of Marketing and Logistics, Vol. 28 No. 4, pp. 709-723.

  • Feng, W., Wang, T., & Mu, W. (2020). “The influence of anthropomorphic communication in social media on the country-of-origin effect”. International Journal of Advertising, Vol. 39 No. 8, pp. 1202-1227.

  • Fornell, C., & Larcker, D. F. (1981). “Structural equation models with unobservable variables and measurement error: Algebra and Statistics”. Journal of Marketing Research, Vol. 18 No. 3, pp. 382-388.

  • Gary , A., & Roger, J. (2000). “A flexible model of consumer country of origin perceptions”. International Marketing Review, Vol. 17 No. 2, pp. 127 - 145.

  • Godey, B., Pederzoli, D., Aiello, G., Donvito, R., Chan, P., Oh, H., . . . Weitz, B. (2012). “Brand and country of origin effect on consumers’ decision to purchase luxury products”. Journal of Business Research, Vol. 65, pp.1461-1470.

  • Gurhan-Canli, Z., & Maheswaran, D. (2000b). “Cultural variations in country of origin effects”. Journal of Marketing Research, Vol. 37, pp. 309-317.

  • Hair Jr, J., Hult, G., Ringle, C., & Sarstedt, M. (2013). “A primer on partial least squares structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM)”. Sage Publications.

  • Hair, J., Black, W., Babin, B., & Anderson, R. (2010). Multivariate Data Analysis (7th ed.). Pearson Prentice Hall, Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey.

  • Han, C. (1989). “Country Image: Hallo or Summary construct?”. Journal of Marketing Resarch, Vol. 26 No. 2, pp. 222-229.

  • Han, C. M. (1990). “Testing the Role of Country Image in Consumer Choice Behavior”. European Journal of Marketing, Vol. 24 No. 6, pp. 24-40.

  • Han, C., & Terpstra, V. (1988). “Country-of-origin effects for uni-national and binational products”. Journal of International Business Studies, Vol. 19 No. 2, pp. 235-255.

  • Henseler, J., Ringle, C., & Sarstedt, M. (2015). “A new criterion for assessing discriminant validity in variance-based structural equation modeling”. Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science, Vol. 43 No. 1, pp. 115-135.

  • Heslop, L., Nadeau, J., & O’Reilly, N. (2010). “China and the Olympics: Views of insiders and outsiders”. International Marketing Review, Vol. 27 No. 4, pp. 404- 433.

  • Hong, S., & Wyer, R. (1989). “Effects of country-of-origin and product attribute information on product evaluation: An information processing perspective”. Journal of Consumer Research, Vol. 16 No. 2, pp. 175–187.

  • Hong, S., & Wyer, R. (1990). “Determinants of product evaluation: Effects of the time interval between knowledge of a product’s country of origin and information about its specific attributes”. Journal of Consumer Research, Vol. 17 No. 3, pp. 277–288.

  • Hsieh, M. (2004). “An Investigation of Country-of-origin effect using Correspondence Analysis, A Cross-national Context”. International Journal of Marketing Research, Vol. 46 No. 3, pp. 267-295.

  • Hu, L., & Bentler , P. (1998). “Fit indices in covariance structure modeling: Sensitivity to underparameterized model misspecification”. Psychological methods, Vol. 3 No. 4, p. 424.

  • Iglesias, O., Markovic, S., & Rialp, J. (2019). “How does sensory brand experience influence brand equity? Considering the roles of customer satisfaction, customer affective commitment, and employee empathy”. Journal of Business Research, Vol. 96, pp. 343-354.

  • Islam, T., & Asad, M. (2021). “Enhancing employees’ creativity through entrepreneurial leadership: can knowledge sharing and creative self-efficacy matter?”. VINE Journal of Information and Knowledge Management Systems. doi:10.1108/VJIKMS-07-2021-0121

  • Islam, T., Ahmed, I., Usman, A., & Ali, M. (2021d). “Abusive supervision and knowledge hiding: the moderating roles of future orientation and Islamic work ethics”. Management Research Review, Vol. 44 No. 12, pp. 1565-1582.

  • Iyer, G., & Kalita, J. (1997). “The impact of country-of-origin and country-ofmanufacture cues on consumer perceptions of quality and value”. Journal of Global Marketing, Vol. 11 No. 1, pp. 7-28.

  • Johansson, J. (1989). “Determinants and effects of the use of ’made in’ labels”. International Marketing Review, Vol. 6 No. 1, pp. 47-58.

  • Johansson, J., & Thorelli, H. (1985). “International product positioning”. Journal of International Business Studies, Vol. 16, pp. 57-75.

  • Johansson, J., Douglas, S., & Nonaka, L. (1985). “Assessing the impact of country of origin on product evaluations: A new methodological perspective”. Journal of Marketing Research, Vol. 22 No. 4, pp. 388-396.

  • Johansson, J., Ronkainen, I., & Czinkota, M. (1994). “Negative country-of-origin effects: The case of the new Russia”. Journal of International Business Studies, Vol. 25 No. 1, pp. 157-176.

  • Josiassen, A., Lukas, B., & Whitwell, G. (2008). “Country of origin contingencies: Competing perspectives on product familiarity and product involvement”. International Marketing Review, Vol. 25 No. 4, pp. 423-440.

  • Khachaturian, J., & Morganosky, M. (1990). “Quality perceptions by country of origin”. International Journal of Retail & Distribution Management, Vol. 18 No. 5, pp. 21-30.

  • Kim, S., & Pysarchik, D. (2000). “Predicting purchase intentions for uni-national and binational products”. International Journal of Retail and Distribution Management, Vol. 28 No. 6, pp. 280-291.

  • Koschate-Fischer, N., Diamantopoulos, A., & Oldenkotte, K. (2012). “Are consumers really willing to pay more for a favorable country image? A study of countryof- origin effects on willingness to pay”. Journal of International Marketing, Vol. 20 No. 1, pp. 19–41.

  • Laroche, M., Papadopoulos, N., Heslop, L., & Mourali, M. (2005). “The influence of country image structure on consumer evaluations of foreign products”. International Marketing Review, Vol. 22 No. 1, pp. 96-115.

  • Leclerc, F., Schmitt, B., & Dube´, L. (1994). “Foreign branding and its effects on product perception and attitudes”. Journal of Marketing Research, Vol. 31 No. 2, pp. 263-70.

  • Lee, D., & Ganesh, G. (1999). “Effects of partitioned country image in the context of brand image and familiarity: A categorization theory perspective”. International Marketing Review, Vol. 16 No. 1, pp.18-39.

  • Leonidou, L., Palihawadana, D., & Talias, M. (2007). “British consumers’ evaluations of US versus Chinese goods: A multilevel and multi-cue comparison”. European Journal of Marketing, Vol. 41 No. 7/8, pp. 786–820.

  • Li, W., & Wyer , R. (1994). “The role of Country of Origin in product evaluations: Information and standard-of-comparison effects”. Journal of Consumer Psychology, Vol. 3 No. 2, pp. 187-212.

  • Lim, J., & Darley, W. (1997). “An assessment od demand artefacts in country of origin studies, using three alternative approaches”. International Marketing Review, Vol. 14 No. 4, pp. 201-216.

  • MacKenzie, S. B., Lutz, R. J., & Belch, J. E. (1986, 23(May)). “The role of attitude toward the ad as a mediator of advertising effectiveness: A test of competing explanations”. Journal of Marketing Research, pp. 130-143.

  • Mahapatro, S.M., Agarwal, A., Subudhi, R.N. (2022). An Empirical Analysis into Perception, Attitude, Sentiments and Consumer Behaviour During COVID-19 Lockdown in Odisha. In: Subudhi, R.N., Mishra, S., Saleh, A., Khezrimotlagh, D. (eds) Future of Work and Business in Covid-19 Era. Springer Proceedings in Business and Economics. Springer. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-19-0357-1_11

  • Magnusson, P., Westjohn, S., & Zdravkovic, S. (2011). “What? I thought Samsung was Japanese: Accurate or not, perceived country of origin matters”. International Marketing Review, Vol. 28 No. 5, pp. 454–472.

  • Maheswaran, D. (1994). “Country of origin as a stereotype: Effects of consumer expertise and attribute strength on product evaluations”. Journal of Consumer Research, Vol. 21 No. 4, pp. 354 – 365.

  • Ministry of Law and Justice. (2019). “The Consumer Protection Act”. Legislative. New Delhi: The Gazatte of India.

  • Nagashima, A. (1970). “A comparison of Japanese and US attitudes towards foreign products”. Journal of Marketing, Vol. 34, pp. 68-74.

  • Nebenzahl, L., & Jaffe, E. (1996). “Measuring the joint effect of brand and country image on consumer evaluation of global products”. International Marketing Review, Vol. 13 No. 4, pp. 5-22.

  • Papadopoulos, N. (1992). “What product and country images are and are not”. In N. Papadopoulos, & L. Heslop, Product Country Images. New York, NY: MacMillan.

  • Papadopoulos, N., Heslop, L., & Bamossy, G. (1989). “International Competitiveness of American and Japanese Products”. (O. C. Nicolas Papadopoulos, Ed.) Dimensions of International business, Vol. 2.

  • Papadopoulos, N., Heslop, L., Graby, F., & Bomossy, G. (1990). “A comparative image analysis of domestic versus imported products”. International Journal of Research in marketing, Vol. 7 No. 4, pp. 283-294.

  • Pappu, R., Quester, P., & Cooksey, R. (2007). “Country image and consumer-based brand equity: Relationships and implications for international marketing”. Journal of International Business Studies, Vol. 38 No. 5, pp. 726–745.

  • Parameswaran, R., & Yaprak, A. (1987). “A Cross-National Comparison of Consumer Research Measures”. Journal of International Business Studies, Vol. 18 spring, pp. 35-49.

  • Pecher, Annett , & Angela Tregear. (2000). ‘‘Product Country Image Effects for Food Products: The Case of German Cheese in the UK’’. Journal of International Food & Agribusiness Marketing, Vol. 11 No. 3, pp. 1-15.

  • Pervan, M., Curak, M., & Pavic Kramaric, T. (2018). “The influence of industry characteristics and dynamic capabilities on firms’ profitability”. International Journal of Financial Studies, Vol. 6 No. 1, p. 4.

  • Peterson, R., & Jolibert, A. (1995). “A meta-analysis of country-oforigin effects”. Journal of International Business Studies, Vol. 26, pp. 883-900.

  • Quintal, V., Lee, J., & Soutar, G. (2010). “Tourists’ information search: the differential impact of risk and uncertainty avoidance”. International Journal of Tourism Research, Vol. 12 No. 4, pp. 321-333.

  • Rao, A., & Monroe, K. (1989). “The effect of price, brand, name and store name on buyers’ perception of product quality: An integrative review”. Journal of Marketing Research, Vol. 26 No. 3, pp. 351-358.

  • Rios, R., Riquelme, H., & Abdelaziz, Y. (2014). “Do halal certification country of origin and brand name familiarity matter?”. Asia Pacific Journal of Marketing and Logistics, Vol. 26 No. 5, pp. 665-686.

  • Roth, M., & Romeo, J. (1992). “Matching product category and country image perceptions: A framework for managing country-of-origin effects”. Journal of International Business Studies, Vol. 23 No. 3, pp. 477-97.

  • Samiee, S. (1994). “Customer evaluation of products in a global market”. Journal of International Business Studies, Vol. 25 No. 3, pp. 579–604.

  • Schaefer, A. (1997). “Consumer knowledge and country of origin effects”. European Journal of Marketing, Vol. 31 No. 1, pp. 56–72.

  • Smith, W. (1993). “Country-of-origin bias: A regional labeling solution”. International Marketing Review, Vol. 10 No. 6, pp. 4-12.

  • Tse, A., Kwan, C., Yee, C., Wah, K., & Ming, L. (1996). “The impact of country of origin on the behaviour of Hong Kong consumers”. Journal of International Marketing & Marketing Research, Vol. 21 No. 1, pp. 29-44.

  • Ullman, J. B. (2001). “Structural equation modelling”. In B. G. Fidell, & 4th (Ed.), Using Multivariate Statistics (pp. 653-771). Needham Heights, MA: Allyn & Bacon.

  • Vallerand, R., Deshaies, P., Cuerrier, J., Pelletier, L., & Mongeau, C. (1992). “Ajzen and Fishbein’s theory of reasoned action as applied to moral behavior: A confirmatory analysis”. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, Vol. 62, pp. 98–109. doi:10.1037/0022-3514.62.1.98

  • Verlegh, P., & Steenkamp, J. (1999). “A review and meta-analysis of country-oforigin research”. Journal of Economic Psychology, Vol. 20 No. 5, pp. 521–546.

  • Wang, C.-K., & Lamb, C. W. (1983). “The Impact of Selected Environmental Forces upon Consumers’ Willingness to Buy Foreign Products”. Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science, Vol. 11 winter, pp. 71-84.

  • Wang, X., & Yang, Z. (2008). “Does country-of-origin matter in the relationship between brand personality and purchase intention in emerging economies? Evidence from China’s auto industry”. International Marketing Review, Vol. 25 No. 4, pp. 458-74.

  • Xu, Y., Li, H., Law, R., & Zhang, Z. (2020). “Can receiving managerial responses induce more user reviewing effort? A mixed method investigation in hotel industry”. Tourism Management, Vol. 77.

  • Zeugner-Roth, K., & Žabkar, V. (2015). “Bridging the gap between country and destination image: Assessing common facets and their predictive validity”. Journal of Business Research, Vol. 68 No. 9, pp. 1844–1853.

  • Zhang, Y. (1996). “Chinese consumers evaluation of foreign product: The influence of culture, product types and product presentation format”. European Journal of Marketing, Vol. 30 No. 12, pp. 50-68.


Abstract Views: 301

PDF Views: 0




  • The Mediating Role of Attitude on Country of Origin and Consumer Purchase Intention

Abstract Views: 301  |  PDF Views: 0

Authors

Shashi Yadav
Research Scholar, School of Management Studies (SOMS), Commerce, Indira Gandhi National Open University (IGNOU), New Delhi, India

Abstract


Purpose – This study aimed to determine the dimensions of the country of origin (COO) along with its impact on consumers’ purchase intention (PI). This study further explored the mediating role of attitude on the relationship between COO and PI. Design/methodology/approach- To achieve this aim, a quantitative study was undertaken with 825 responses collected through a self-administered questionnaire from Delhi- NCR, and Mumbai in India. The constructs were measured using a five-point Likert scale. SEM and regression were performed to analyze the results. Findings- Country-specific image (CSI) and product-specific image (PSI) were the two major dimensions of COO. COO played a considerable role in influencing purchase intention (r .426) but in the presence of attitude, the relationship became insignificant (.377(.000)). Limitations- The present study was limited to the Delhi-NCR and Mumbai in India and had taken only two product categories: - mobile phones and TV. Only one mediating variable (attitude) was included in this study. Originality/value – This study was the first of its kind to examine how much COO as a single purchase indicator account for PI for Indians and to what extent this relationship was mediated by attitude. This study adds to the current body of knowledge in understanding whether the COO of a product will make it more or less appealing to Indian buyers and provides important implications for marketing managers in designing their promotional campaigns and marketing strategies to carter a wider segment of customers.

Keywords


Country of origin (COO), purchase intention, Attitude

References





DOI: https://doi.org/10.23862/kiit-parikalpana%2F2023%2Fv19%2Fi1%2F220829