Country-Of-Origin Effects for Uni-National and Bi-National Products: Information Integration Perspective (Country Image, International Marketing, United States, Japan, Germany, Korea).

This study examines country-of-origin effects for bi-national products (US-br and ed/foreign-made and foreign-br and ed/US-made) in addition to uni-national products (US-br and ed/US-made and foreign-br and ed/foreign-made). The effects are evaluated with televisions and automobiles from US. Japan, Germany, and Korea using within-subject design. The data was collected via face-to-face interviews with a sample selected through quota sampling from the city of Ann Arbor residents. From the perspective of the information integration theory, the study views bi-national products as objects with br and name and sourcing country stimuli, and attempts to investigate (1) the salience of country stimuli in consumer perceptions of quality for the above four product modes, and (2) the effects of seller familiarity and product familiarity on the salience of country stimuli. Analysis of variance and covarience structure analysis are conducted to estimate the proposed parameters. Major findings are that (1) country image has powerful effects on product evaluations; for bi-national products, country image is as important as br and image; for uni-national products, it dominates over seller familiarity, and (2) most significantly, consumers are more likely to utilize country image in product evaluation, when familiar with a seller from the given country and /or with the given product type. The latter finding is in sharp contrast with the previous conceptualization of country image as a consumer stereotype. An alternative theory was suggested: country image may be abstract information which consumers develop over time, store in memory in the form of overall evaluation of the product type from the country, and elicit in product evaluation. The study draws from the findings strategic implications for international marketers in (1) designing internationalization strategies such as private br and ing, overseas product sourcing, and local production, and (2) promoting a long-term consumer franchise for their products. Finally, the study suggests the future research to investigate the nature of country-of-origin as a cue in product evaluations.Ph.D.MarketingUniversity of Michiganhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/161100/1/8621293.pd