Srdan Zdravkovic

“What? I thought Samsung was Japanese”: accurate or not, perceived country of origin matters

Purpose – Extensive research has shown that country‐of‐origin (COO) information significantly affects product evaluations and buying behavior. Yet recently, a competing perspective has emerged suggesting that COO effects have been inflated in prior research and even that the COO concept has become irrelevant. The purpose of this paper is to reconcile these two competing perspectives by examining the effects of individual brand origin perceptions.Design/methodology/approach – The conceptual framework is grounded in consumers’ learning. Empirically, the authors’ hypotheses are tested using hierarchical linear modeling on a sample of 4,047 brand evaluations by 544 consumers.Findings – The results provide strong evidence that product country image of the consumers perceived brand origin strongly affects brand attitudes, and this happens regardless of the perceptions’ objective accuracy. The authors also find evidence that educating consumers about brands’ true COO can contribute to changes in brand attitudes...

The Role of Cultural Intelligence in Marketing Adaptation and Export Performance

This study examines how export manager cultural intelligence (CQ) affects the relationship between marketing-mix adaptation and export performance. From a resource-advantage theory perspective, the authors posit that export managers’ motivational and metacognitive CQ are intangible but valuable resources that influence marketing strategy and export performance. According to survey data from 153 U.S. exporting firms, export managers’ metacognitive CQ positively moderates the relationship between marketing-mix adaptations and export performance. Furthermore, export managers’ motivational CQ positively moderates the relationship between environmental differences and marketing-mix adaptations. The study adds to the theoretical understanding of the adaptation–performance relationship and provides valuable guidelines for exporting firms in the recruitment, training, and promotion of export managers.

The Spillover Effects of Prototype Brand Transgressions on Country Image and Related Brands

Country-of-origin research has primarily held the view that country-level beliefs influence product-level beliefs. In this study, the authors investigate whether the relationship may also move in the opposite direction. Grounded in prototype theory and schema change theory, this study examines shifts in consumer attitudes toward a country as a result of a brand transgression. The authors confirm the conceptual framework using experimental methods. The results offer evidence of a relationship in which product-level beliefs affect country-level beliefs, a finding that contrasts with the majority of country-of-origin research. The effects of brand transgressions are moderated by the degree of prototypicality of the transgressing brand and the level of development of the transgressing brands home country.

Further clarification on how perceived brand origin affects brand attitude: A reply to Samiee and Usunier

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to present a rejoinder. The rejoinder is written in response to the commentaries provided by Saeed Samiee and Jean-Claude Usunier on the authors’ original research piece: “‘What? I thought Samsung was Japanese’: accurate or not, perceived country of origin matters”. Design/methodology/approach – The rejoinder is organized into three separate sections. The first section identifies areas of agreement between the authors, and Samiee and Usunier. The second section responds directly to the empirical and conceptual criticisms levied by Samiee and Usunier and clarifies the authors’ contribution. The rejoinder concludes by identifying areas offuture research that may help further advance the field. Findings – In addition to responding directly to the criticism of the original study, perhaps more importantly, the authors note several areas of common ground. First, there is agreement that future country-of-origin (COO) research designs must be careful to not artificially expose subjects to country cues that the consumer otherwise may not have considered. Second, in a globalizing world, brand origin perception appears to be more important than “made in” labels. Originality/value – The authors do not consider the COO field outdated or irrelevant, but rather that it is a vibrant field of considerable interest to both practitioners and researchers. There is much still to be learned, and the authors hope the original research study and the ensuing debate have sparked fresh ideas and will lead to a continued effort in this interesting research field.

Enhancing brand image via sponsorship

Despite the increased usage of sponsorship activities by practitioners, there has been little research on the impact of sponsorship on building brand image. This research examines the influence of sponsorship on associations transfer from sponsored entity to the sponsor. In order to test all the hypotheses, two pre-tests and one main study were conducted. Empirical findings suggest that individuals who are exposed to the highly fitting partnership develop a stronger associative link between sponsor and sponsored entity than individuals who are exposed to the poorly fitting partnership. Results do not offer support that frequency of the partnership contributes to building the strength of the associative link between sponsor and sponsored entity. Most importantly, results indicate that the strength of the associative link between sponsor and sponsored entity is positively related to the transfer of associations from sponsored entity to sponsor.

Does country‐of‐origin matter to Generation Y?

Purpose – This study aims to examine how members of American Generation Y cohort feel about the USA and the USAs major trading partners. In addition, the studys purpose is to find out whether products country‐of‐origin (COO) plays a role when members of Generation Y evaluate products.Design/methodology/approach – Undergraduate university students are used as sample in this study. Experiment with 18 conditions is utilized to collect that data. Linear regression is used to test the hypothesis.Findings – Results show that animosity toward the country negatively influences COO image and that persons level of cosmopolitanism and ethnocentrism contribute to persons perception of (in)equality when evaluating COO images. Findings also indicate COO significantly influences product judgment and this relationship is moderated by quality of information about the product (positive, negative, or lack of information) and involvement with the product (involved or not involved).Originality/value – Results from this s...

An examination of the interplay between corporate social responsibility, the brand’s home country, and consumer global identification

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to examine two contextual factors with respect to the influence of corporate social responsibility (CSR) messages on consumer attitudes and purchase intentions. First, the authors examine the interplay between CSR messages and country image, and second, how consumers’ global identity affects their response to CSR signals. Design/methodology/approach – The conceptual framework is examined in two samples of US consumers evaluating a new foreign entrant into the US market. Findings – The empirical findings largely support the conceptual framework. Consistent with expectations, CSR and country image influence attitudes and purchase intentions. Most importantly, the authors also find a significant interaction effect between CSR and country of origin (COO). Further, consumers high on global identity are more responsive to positive CSR signals. These findings are confirmed in two complimentary studies. Practical implications – CSR has become an important strategic priority ...

Does MTV really do a good job of evaluating professors? An empirical test of the internet site RateMyProfessors.com

ABSTRACT Considerable debate continues regarding the efficacy of the website RateMyProfessors.com (RMP). To date, however, virtually no direct, experimental research has been reported which directly bears on questions relating to sampling adequacy or item adequacy in producing what favorable correlations have been reported. The authors compare the data provided by RMP relative to experimentally controlled, systematically collected data that offers a more rigorous evaluation of the findings reported by RMP. Six equivalent undergraduate course sections with 252 students were systematically studied with respect to professor evaluations using simple RMP scales versus a more complex, multi-item scale. Major findings were twofold: (a) RMP samples were entirely inadequate to statistically project the evaluations of other students at conventionally accepted research levels; and (b) statistically significant differences between stated RMP scores compared to those using a more ample attribute approach were found, with RMP evaluations biased in a negative direction.

Antecedents of Global Attitude: A Perspective from Sweden

Abstract The term “globalization” has recently been used to explain multiple world trends. Such trends include worldwide accessibility to the same products, access to the same resources around the globe, world travel, communication, convergence of lifestyles, development of “world culture,” and worldwide fascination with environmental issues. This paper explores the populations attitude towards globalization (global attitude) and investigates antecedents that affect the level of global attitude. The antecedents examined are populations current satisfaction, opinion of governance, and future expectations. Results from structural equation modeling show that current satisfaction with life and opinion of governance have a positive and significant influence on development of global attitude.

The Difference Between Brand Origin Knowledge and Brand Origin Perception: An Examination of Country-of-Origin Effects in the LCD TV Industry

Recent research suggests that most consumers are not very concerned about the national origin of products (Arndt 2004; Liefeld 2004). Arndt (2004) reports that in a study by TeleNation, 70% of respondents do not care to find out where a product was made and 57% reported that it had no influence on their purchase decision. Liefeld (2004) found that only 1.4% of consumers explicitly acquired a product’s country of origin prior to purchase, and only about 6% knew prior to the purchase. In contrast, 88.8% reported that they did not know a product’s origin and suggested that they had no interest in finding out. Similarly, two recent studies examining consumers’ brand origin recognition accuracy showed that consumers’ knowledge of brands’ origin is rather limited. Samiee, Shimp, and Sharma (2005) found that US respondents were only able to identity the correct country origin for 35% of examined brands. In a similar examination albeit of UK consumers and focusing exclusively on microwave oven brands, Balabanis and Diamantopoulos (2008) found that their respondents were only able to correctly identify 27% of the brands’ origin in their study. These studies suggest that consumers have very little knowledge of where brands are from, and more importantly they really do not seem to care.