Antecedents, moderators and dimensions of country-of-origin evaluations

Purpose - The purpose of this paper is to provide an in-depth examination of country-of-origin (COO) perceptions of consumers in a multinational setting. It shows how explanatory factors like demographics, familiarity with a country's products, purchase behaviour and psychological variables jointly work to explain consumers' COO perceptions. Design/methodology/approach - This is a quantitative study using a drop-off and pick-up survey among three samples of consumers in Canada, Morocco and Taiwan. The final sample size was comprised of 506 male consumers. The data were analyzed using factor analysis to group countries of origin and analyses of variance to relate COO perceptions to the explanatory variables. Findings - The familiarity with products made in a country was the strongest predictor of country perceptions, followed by nationality and the manufacturing process and product complexity dimensions of country evaluation. Canadians had the highest propensity to distinguish between countries of origin on the basis of product technological complexity and manufacturing dimensions and Moroccans the least. Taiwanese appeared to show animosity towards China. Research limitations/implications - The study used an only-male sample from a limited number of countries. Future research should seek to develop a multi-dimensional scale for the familiarity construct. They should also explore the concept of consumer capacity to distinguish between Coos. Cross-national studies using cognitive style scales should be carried out. A qualitative examination of Taiwanese's COO perceptions is also recommended. Practical implications - It seems important to increase consumers' familiarity with a COO and its products to improve its overall perception. Products made in Latin American countries have the lowest level of familiarity in general. Thus, increasing familiarity with their products is particularly important to achieve export success. Originality/value - This study contributes to the marketing and international business literatures and provides insights to international marketers by bringing valuable information that can help make decisions as to where to manufacture and how to promote global products. It provides guidance as to what types of nations are likely to require multi-dimensional information about countries of origin.