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Examines the use of warranty and warrantor reputations, which have been shown to be credible signals of product quality for uni‐national products, to overcome consumers’ negative perceptions about hybrid products. An experiment is conducted, in which the level of warranty coverage and the warrantor’s reputation are manipulated. Results indicate that warranty strategies, in terms of warranty coverage and warrantor reputation, are effective in overcoming consumers’ negative perception about the hybrid product’s quality. Strategy implications for firms in the advanced and emerging economies are discussed.

Presents the results of a study in which judgement of quality and purchase value of three different product categories were obtained from 173 purchasing managers and 190 household consumers. The products varied according to the country where they were designed, the country where they were assembled, their brand name, their price and their warranty. In addition, the respondents rated 13 developed and newly industrializing countries by their capacity to design and assemble products in general. Indicates that the respondents′ perceptions of newly industrializing countries are more negative than their perceptions of developed countries. However, when additional information concerning the product′s brand name, price and warranty is available, their perceptual differences between developed and newly industrializing countries are considerably reduced. Shows significant differences between household and organizational buyers in the relative importance given to country‐of‐origin and other product cues. Discusses strategic implications of these findings for global marketing.

Using an experimental design setting, this study investigates how global firms can make use of warranty strategies to influence consumers’ evaluations of hybrid products that are designed in one country and manufactured in another. The results confirm that consumers tend to perceive lower quality and higher purchase risk when evaluating products manufactured in a country perceived to be of lesser capability than its country of design (i.e., negative hybrid effects). However, global firms with products that carry such negative hybrid effects can develop appropriate warranty strategy to overcome such biases. For instance, the results show that consumers improve their assessment of the quality and purchase risk of the negative hybrid products when these products carry warranty with wider coverage and longer duration than the standard package, and when the firm providing the warranty has good warrantor reputation. Implications of these findings for international marketing and research are also discussed.

The purpose of this paper is to examine the symbolic representations of non-users compared to the life experiences of users related to a luxury brand. In particular, the study examines whether product design mediates the relationship between antecedent factors of country-of-origin effect and product experience, and it also investigates the moderating effects of reference groups (non-users vs users) on the relationship between antecedent factors of country-of-origin effect and product design related to a luxury brand, namely, the Mercedes-Benz C-Class or E-Series.

A sample of convenience of 272 persons classified as non-users and users is investigated. An online questionnaire was used and 28 statements are included in the analysis based on a seven-point Likert scale.

The study reveals that the country-of-origin effect for the model of non-users and users has a very good fit with current data and is statistically significant. It also reveals that all relationships are significant except for price consciousness to product design and for brand familiarity to price consciousness. There is also partial mediation of product design between antecedent factors and product experience. Furthermore, the moderating effect of reference groups appears to play an important role, as it impacts the relationship between antecedent factors of the country-of-origin effect and product design/product experience.

This study indicates that the non-users’ group based on the hypothetical purchases of a luxury brand with a strong country image has a different country-of-origin effect to the users’ group of the same luxury brand. Moreover, the study concludes that there are statistically significant differences between the non-users’ group versus users’ group of a luxury brand (Mercedes-Benz), and these differences are concerned with the constructs of brand familiarity, brand commitment, product design and product experience. Finally, the study reveals that “price consciousness” is not relevant for luxury brands. Managerial implications, limitations of the study and future research directions are discussed.

The purpose of this paper is to decompose the concept of country of origin (COO) and test the influence of country of design (COD) and country of manufacture (COM) on consumer evaluations of bi‐national products (products designed in one country and manufactured in another). In addition to global country images, the paper aims to introduce the concept of “fit” or the logical connection between product categories and the COD or COM.

Relationships between constructs (perceived product quality, COD image, COM image and perceived fits) are hypothesized and data are collected via survey on the Tunisian market. Each of the 389 respondents evaluated different combinations (COD/COM) for two product categories (automobiles and television sets). All hypotheses are tested using multiple regression analysis.

The paper finds that the concept of fit between country image (both COD and COM) and product category is an important determinant of product evaluations. For products with status symbolic meanings (automobiles), consumers from emerging countries are more sensitive to COD than for more private goods (television sets) for which COM and COM/product fit are important.

This study used two informational cues (COD and COM), and fairly complex durable goods. Results need to be expanded and confirmed with other product categories on other emergent markets.

Practical implications of the study are that, beyond country images, measurement of fit between COD or COM and the product category will help define marketing communications and product promotions by emphasizing (or de‐emphasizing) global country information, country image/product fit, or both.

The paper provides new insights into consumer judgements of product quality for bi‐national products.

The purpose of this paper is to investigate, in an emerging market, the simultaneous effects of country of design (COD), country of manufacture (COM), and brand image on consumers' perceptions of bi‐national products. A comprehensive model broadens country‐of‐origin literature by incorporating brand image and the concepts of fit and congruity borrowed from brand extension research. Perceptual (in) coherences that might exist among COD, COM, and the brand are incorporated.

Tunisia is the emerging market studied. A total of 389 respondents evaluated different product combinations (COD/COM/brand) in two categories. Relationships between constructs are tested using structural equation modelling.

Consumers are sensitive to the COD (more so for public than for private goods) and also value the COM of branded products. The transfer of the COD image to brand image is significant. It is very high for one product category (cars). Brand/COM congruity is also important since product evaluations decrease when consumers perceive incoherence in a manufacturing location.

The paper used limited informational cues for products' descriptions and concentrate on fairly complex durable goods. Research design should be expanded.

Perceived COD competencies can benefit brand image through strong COD‐brand associations. In emerging markets, COD (through brand image) and COM effects are important for understanding consumers' perceptions of publicly versus privately used branded products.

The major contribution consists of a simultaneous examination of the effects of COD, COM, brand, and of their inter‐relationships. Investigating bi‐national products and related consumer behaviour in emerging markets is of particular interest as it corresponds to the reality of these markets.

This paper aims to investigate the effects of country‐of‐manufacture (COM) and country‐of‐design (COD) on industrial brand equity.

A conceptual framework to assess how international buyers evaluate industrial brand equity when confronted with a single cue and multiple cues is proposed. Data for testing the hypotheses are collected through fax, e‐mail, and online surveys of managers from 102 industrial buyers of Taiwanese fasteners. A quantitative study is undertaken of 64 respondents using PLS analysis.

The main finding is that the single‐cue framework produces more statistically significant COM and COD effects on industrial brand equity than does the multiple‐cue framework. The current results confirm previous findings that the country‐of‐origin effects based on single‐cue and multiple‐cue studies produce conflicting and inconclusive results.

These findings underscore the findings that the impacts of COM and COD on industrial brand equity are jointly determined by study characteristics, research designs, and the nature of the dependent variable being investigated.

A clear implication for managers responsible for branding and communicating B2B products in international markets is to continue to create clear awareness of the offering and to provide appropriate imagery for consolidating the reputation of firms in both their internal (product) and external (country‐of‐origin) dimensions.

While country‐of‐origin and consumer products have been widely studied in the literature, the paper examines the effects of COM and COD on industrial brand equity in analyzing the process by which international buyers evaluate brand equity when confronted with a single cue and multiple cues.

This paper presents the results of a survey of 187 male consumers in Morocco. In this study, country‐of‐origin information was manipulated along three dimensions: country of design, country of assembly and country of materials origin. Consumer judgments of the quality and purchase value of automobiles, televisions and shoes were obtained in a multi‐cue context. The results show that Moroccan consumers make a distinction between the different dimensions of country‐of‐origin information and that their perceptions are significantly affected by each dimension. However, the pattern of effects varies across dependent variables and products. Differences in the evaluations of countries are greatly attenuated when country‐of‐origin information is presented along with other informational cues such as price and brand name.

This paper provides a comprehensive review of the literature regarding the effect of country of origin on consumer perceptions of products and services. Results reveal that consumer perceptions differ significantly on the basis of product/service and country of origin. The country of origin may be an important element in the perceptions consumers have of products and services especially where little other information is known. However, the question of how much influence the country of origin provides in product and service evaluations remains unanswered and a number of other major issues have yet to be resolved. Directions for future research are developed.

Presents the results of a survey conducted among 194 retail salesmen of electronic equipment and 190 male consumers. According to salesmen, country of origin is a much less important attribute for shoppers of video‐cassette recorders and themselves than brand reputation. For the purpose of comparison, both salesmen and consumers provided direct evaluative judgements of 13 countries on their design and assembly capabilities, of three VCR brands and of the quality and purchase value of nine VCR conjoint profiles varying systematically with respect to country of design, country of assembly, brand, price and warranty. Salesmen’s direct importance weights were found to differ greatly from conjoint derived weights in that, in the latter case, country of origin cues had a significant and, with regard to quality perceptions, greater impact than the other attributes. Multiple regression models relating the direct perceptions of the countries of origin to brand evaluations indicate that the nesting of country perceptions in brand evaluation may partly explain this apparent inconsistency.