Consumer Perception of Product Quality and the Country-of-Origin Effect¹

Abstract

Consumer attitudes to local and foreign products and the likely “country-of-origin” effect in “Buy Local” and “Made In …” campaigns are surveyed. First, the importance of country of origin in relation to other product attributes is considered. Second, country of origin is assessed as a surrogate indicator of product quality. Third, the likely effect of country of origin on consumer choice across a range of product categories is studied with brand name and price held constant. Across the product categories studied, respondents rated country of origin as significantly less important as a choice determinant than product quality and price. In addition, clear country-of-origin effects are identified. Consumers rate products as being of significantly different quality when the only variation between products is stated country of origin. Further, consumers express a marked preference for locally made products when price, technical features, and brand name are invariant, and where the locally made product is perceived to be superior or, at least, not significantly inferior to an overseas-made product. Where the locally made product is perceived to be of inferior quality to the imported product, consumers generally prefer an imported product. Thus, while consumers rate country of origin after product quality and price, when these other factors are equivalent, the fact that the product is promoted as locally made is a positive influence on product choice.

Anti-consumption and brand avoidance

“…The basic premise of COO is that knowledge of a product's origin influences consumers' attitudes and behaviors towards that product (Elliott and Cameron, 1994;Hong and Wyer, 1990;Kaynak, Kucukemiroglu, and Hyder, 2000). Occasionally, the perceived immorality of a country may also be associated with a brand.…”

Prepurchase Determinants of Brand Avoidance: The Moderating Role of Country-of-Origin Familiarity

“…Lee (2008) argued that countries become brands when we associate the country name with commercial use. COO is perceived as an image variable or an extrinsic cue attached with brand information, and consumers may use these cues during their product/brand evaluation (Elliott & Cameron, 1994;Zeithaml, 1988). Elliot and Cameron emphasized that when consumers have minimum product-related information or are less motivated to process information, COO knowledge has a robust effect in product evaluation.…”

Perceptions of country of origin: An approach to identifying expectations of foreign products

“…Accordingly, the ' made in ' concept has been broadly defi ned as the positive or negative infl uence that a product ' s country of manufacture may have on consumers ' decision processes or subsequent behavior. 18 Among the informational cues available to evaluate or judge the overall quality of foreign products in the marketplace, the country image that consumers have formed of foreign countries has a greater impact on foreign product evaluations and making judgments on overall quality.…”