PurposeThis study, conducted in Thailand, aims to examine the effect of interaction of country‐of‐origin (COO), brand equity and product purchase involvement on consumers' evaluation and purchase preference of Thai brands of fashion apparel made in three nominated Asian countries of varying levels of manufacturing competence.Design/methodology/approachData from a field survey were analyzed through a 2×2×3 factorial design and the influence of a particular factor over the others in specific scenarios was observed.FindingsThis study suggests that if low purchase involvement apparel with high brand equity is sourced from a country‐of‐origin of low perceived competence, the superior reputation of the brand encourages consumer partiality to the apparel's quality and purchase inclination. However, this study has evidenced that a brand of modest equity sourced from the under‐developed economy is capable of getting greater consumer support for its higher end fashion products than for its standard apparel.Practical implicationsThat consumers are comfortable with the quality of high‐end fashion items sourced from lesser developed countries suggests that low equity brands ought not to feel discouraged to enter the high end of the fashion market particularly if they can offer a price advantage and promise of guaranteed quality.Research limitations/implicationsA more expansive paper would allow for analysis of interaction effects of additional combinations of country's competence, brand equity and purchase involvement on consumers' evaluation and purchase preference.Originality/valueThis study informs brand owners of consumer expectations of high and low complexity products, made in countries of differing manufacturing competencies, to deliver desired level of performances.

If you would like to write for this, or any other Emerald publication, then please use our Emerald for Authors service information about how to choose which publication to write for and submission guidelines are available for all. Please visit www.emeraldinsight.com/authors for more information. About Emerald www.emeraldinsight.comEmerald is a global publisher linking research and practice to the benefit of society. The company manages a portfolio of more than 290 journals and over 2,350 books and book series volumes, as well as providing an extensive range of online products and additional customer resources and services.Emerald is both COUNTER 4 and TRANSFER compliant. The organization is a partner of the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE) and also works with Portico and the LOCKSS initiative for digital archive preservation. AbstractPurpose -The purpose of this paper is to describe a study, conducted in Thailand, which examined the working class and middle class consumers' evaluation and purchase intentions of high equity versus low equity Thai fashion labels of sophisticated and standard apparel, outsourced for production to three Asian countries of varying manufacturing competence. Design/methodology/approach -Data from a field survey was analysed through a 2 Â 2 Â 3 factorial design and the influence of a particular factor over the others in specific scenarios was observed. Findings -Consumers from both social classes are inclined to be partial to a specific quality dimension of their national brands made abroad. When considering purchase of reputed brands of standard products, working class consumers are particularly concerned about the item's country-oforigin (COO). On the other hand, middle class consumers' apprehensions of multi-featured products' COO run across both high and low equity brands. Research limitations/implications -Common methods bias may have occurred in this study as a result of respondents in the self-report survey wanting to avoid cognitive dissonance, trying to correlate their responses with their answers to previous questions. Practical implications -Consumers belonging to a particular social segment in the brands' home country can be encouraged to buy their national brands produced abroad on the promise that these products will deliver their favoured quality features. Originality/value -The research results are presented in the form of a consumer typology based on the dimensions of perceived quality, and explain the effect of the interaction of country's competence, brand equity and product purchase involvement on middle class and working class consumers' evaluation and purchase intention of brands outsourced for production abroad.

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