Investigating country image influences after a product-harm crisis

Abstract

Purpose Although international product-harm crises have become more common, the influence of the country image (CI) associated with foreign goods in such crises remains under researched. This study aims to investigate the extent to which the CI of a foreign made product influences consumers’ attribution of blame and trust and, ultimately, their future purchase intentions after the product is involved in a crisis. Design/methodology/approach A 2 (country) × 3 (crisis type) quasi experimental design was used, with data collected from Australia (n = 375) and China (n = 401). Findings CI can influence attribution of blame, subsequent levels of trust and likely purchase intentions. Australian and Chinese consumers have different views when it comes to trusting a company or placing blame, depending on the country of origin or the type of crisis. The direct and positive effect of CI on consumer purchase intentions following a product-harm crisis is sequentially mediated by attribution of blame and trust. Trust is the most powerful influence on future purchase intentions in both samples. Research limitations/implications In this research, only one type of crisis response strategy (no comment) was used. Thus, the results of this study must be viewed with caution when considering outcomes relating to other response options. Additionally, the testing was limited to only two samples, focussing on three countries (England, China, Vietnam), and one product context using a hypothetical brand. Further, despite our reasonable sample size (N = 776), the number of respondents represented in each cell would still be considered a limitation overall. Practical implications When developing crisis response strategies, managers should take into account the influence of a positive/negative source CI in driving attribution and trust. To minimize the impact of crisis on future purchasing decisions, organizations can leverage positive biases and mitigate negative ones, aiming to maintain or restore trust as a priority. Originality/value The study provides cross-country understanding about the significant role of CI during a product-harm crisis in relation to subsequent consumers’ blame attribution, their trust in the focal organization and ultimately their future purchase intentions.

Analyzing Attitude towards COVID-19 Vaccine in the Context of the Health Industry: The Role of Country of Origin Image

“…Consumers use their beliefs or perceptions about a country to evaluate the country's brands (16,17). The researches in the literature show that country of origin image affects product image and product judgments (18), brand image and brand evaluation (19), consumers' attitudes (20), and purchase intention (19)(20)(21)(22)(23). The research on generic drugs shows that country of origin image affects brand power and brand awareness, which are the components of brand equity in this category (24).…”

Slicing vs chunking product-harm crisis: antecedents and firm performance implications

“…Another interesting result is that although some studies show that product recall announcements in general negatively affect firms’ stock prices (Gao et al , 2015; Liu et al , 2017), we find no evidence to support this finding. Because recalls are frequent and affect all automobile producers (Crouch et al , 2021; Stout, 2019), the market expects their occurrence in this industry. As Jarrell and Peltzman (1985, p. 378) explain:…”

National customer orientation: a framework, propositions and agenda for future research

“…Cross-national marketing strategy research has focused on, among other topics, standardization versus adaption to new country markets (Venaik and Midgley, 2019), innovation (Mooi et al , 2020) and managerial use of information (Mintz et al , 2021). Further, cross-national international marketing and IB research has also investigated various cross-national differences in consumer behavior topics such as trust (Steenkamp and Geyskens, 2006), country-of-origin brand imaging (Crouch et al , 2021), culture and cultural distance (Sinha et al , 2019) and the importance of social networking (Krishen et al , 2019). In addition, the IB literature focuses on potentially marketing-related topics such as the importance of foreign investments (Hu et al , 2021), mergers and acquisitions (Zhou et al , 2016) and research and development strategies (Wang et al , 2020).…”