THE EFFECT OF COUNTRY-OF-ORIGIN ON NEW ZEALAND CONSUMERS BEER PURCHASING BEHAVIOR

Country of Origin (COO) sits along with marketing mix factor in the global market place. Given the im­portance of COO, studies have touched the field of COO effects, though studies pertaining to alco­ho­lic beve­rage purchase behavior, particularly in the New Zealand remains limited. This study explores the potential im­pact of demographics on the magnitude of Country of Origin effects for two lager beer pro­ducts. The data was collected via survey format from 211 respondents living in Auckland, New Zea­land. The results from this study suggest that older consumers are more dependent upon the country of ori­gin information when evaluating a pro­duct and, particularly when presented with unfamiliar brands, they tend to perceive imported lager beer as being of hi­gher qu­al­i­ty, more trendy and more value for mo­ney. Also customer perceptions differ based on the cus­tomer’s socio-economic status. Middle income cus­­tomers are more likely to have favorable opinions about imported products, whereas, lower and higher income customers tend to have weaker views on this issue.