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Set in the newly emerging hybrid product research stream, and reflecting trends towards multi‐national production and sourcing, this paper aims to present a three‐country study on perceived quality and image of automobiles “made in and for” Southeast Asia.

The authors used a multiple cue design in the stimulus definition, reflecting assembly and component origin plus warranty level. Actual car owners were targeted, thereby adding to a relatively low number of studies requiring actual prior purchase. The related face‐to‐face interviews in the local languages resulted in 720 usable questionnaires.

Country‐of‐assembly is shown to affect perceived quality as well as perceived image. Warranty extension can moderate the quality effects to some extent, whilst buyers of luxury models display a smaller positive home bias in terms of perceived image than those of non‐luxury models. Such home region bias is not demonstrated to be significant for country‐of‐components.

The paper contributes towards ongoing theory‐building, especially with regards to an optimum level of origin cue decomposition. It also establishes the importance of adding image perception measurement to the arsenal of origin researchers normally focused on quality effects.

Managers need to make strategic decisions on the decomposition of product origin cues, reflecting consumers' abilities to notice several such cues. The selected product origin cues must then be supported with appropriate communications strategies.

For the first time, origin effects are demonstrated for the Southeast Asia region. The paper establishes the significance of country‐of‐target and contributes to research on the ever more complex product origin construct.

The purpose of this study is to propose a unified model to connect the three subcomponents of the country of origin (COO) with price, quality and consumer perceptions of or intentions regarding a product. COO refers to the country with which a manufacturer’s product or brand is associated. COO can be broken down into three subcomponents: the country of design, the country of assembly and the country of parts.

This study reviews the COO research that has been conducted in recent decades. These studies have primarily examined the correlation of COO’s broken-down components with marketing factors (such as price, quality and brand equity or loyalty) and consumer purchase behavior. These correlations are portrayed in a single model. This theory-building model is drawn using a philosophical conceptualization approach.

This study concludes that, as a result of globalization and advancement in technology, consumers are more aware of and have more access to product/brand information, and they evaluate brands according to the COO and its subcomponents. Variables such as price and quality are of high importance and should be considered during a purchase decision, whereas brand equity/loyalty is of low importance.

This research requires further investigation, especially in developing countries, to develop a more comprehensive picture. In addition, not all marketing factors are incorporated in the model.

When international marketers devise plans to serve consumers, they must consider differentiation between developed and developing nations from the point of COO subcomponents and their effects on purchase intentions and consumer evaluations, when moderated by price, quality and brand loyalty/equity.

Prior to this study, no unified model had been proposed to connect the three subcomponents of COO with price, quality and consumer perceptions of or intentions regarding a product.

The purpose of this paper is to examine the effect of country of origin (COO) sub‐components (i.e. design, assembly and parts), as well as the extent to which consumer ethnocentrism tendencies interact with these COO sub‐components for young Chinese consumers with regards to product quality assessments and purchase intentions.

A 2 × 2 × 2 factorial experimental design was used to examine the effects of the three sub‐components of COO with two levels of sourcing location – Home (China) and Foreign (Germany), for two high involvement products (an automobile and a digital camera). Chinese students in China represented the sample of 272 respondents. MANOVA was used to examine the direct effects and interactions of the three COO components, as well as ethnocentrism, measured using the CETSCALE.

It was found that the three COO sub‐components did not influence young Chinese consumers’ evaluation of product quality or purchase intentions. In addition, consumers’ level of ethnocentrism also did not have a direct effect on perceived product quality or purchase intentions. There was only one statistically significant interaction effect between ethnocentrism and country of parts for one of the two products. As such, COO dimensions and young Chinese consumers’ ethnocentrism appears to have limited influence on their assessments of product quality or purchase intentions. This may occur because young Chinese consumers perceive that hybrid products are the norm for high involvement products in China as these products are all these consumers have experienced.

The findings of this research dispute the commonly held belief and evidence that sub‐components of COO have an impact on the perceptions of product quality and purchase intentions. Young Chinese consumers may be different to consumers from western countries because they have been extensively exposed to hybrid products. Given the size and growth potential of China, young Chinese are an important, under‐researched segment within the Chinese market.

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.

This paper aims to explore how the ownership transfer from a highly industrialised country to less industrialised countries influences consumers’ brand perceptions.

Three acquisition cases of premium car brands (Jaguar, Land Rover and Volvo) are investigated using qualitative data from online brand communities.

When country of ownership (COOW) for brands changes, it leads to different effects on consumers’ brand perception. Consumers are disoriented as to which cue to apply when evaluating the brand. They also see that brand values, and how these are communicated, are in conflict, as are sustainability images.

This paper focuses on the perspective of brand community members in Europe and the USA and studies only the car industry and acquisitions by two countries (China and India) using data from the time of ownership transfers. The authors discuss theoretical implications and suggest further research to gain more insights and address limitations.

Following a transfer of ownership, communication campaigns are required for addressing the original brand’s heritage and promoting the new brand owner’s image. Managers need to take advantage of loyal brand fans by turning them into brand ambassadors, spreading information to convince consumers that are more sceptical.

This study fills the knowledge gap regarding change of COOW to developing countries as new owners, and its consequences for consumer perception. The authors also introduce an innovative type of data collection through brand communities, which is less commonly used in international marketing research.

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.

The purpose of this paper is to test the applicability of product typicality in explaining the product‐specificity of country of origin (COO) effects.

To help select stimuli used in the study, two dimensions of product typicality regarding COO images were created. A total of 416 participants from a business school in Taiwan participated in this experiment and rated their perceived COO images and attitudes towards specific products from select countries.

The results indicate that product typicality can help explain the discrepancies between COO images across products from a country, and across COOs of a product. Typical products received more favourable consumer attitudes and stronger COO images than atypical ones. This study also manipulated two other factors, product type and product category level. While product type had no significant impact on the effects of typicality, tests on product category level revealed enhanced effects for subordinate product categories.

The study provides a stepping stone towards the development of a general theory of COO. By testing the effects of a category‐based concept, typicality, in the context of the COO image, this study formally testifies the applicability of categorisation theories on COO effects, which may provide informative sources for the future development of COO studies. Based on the rationale of typicality, this study also tests the possible moderation effects of product types and category levels.

Choosing how to invest one’s assets is one of the more important decisions consumers are faced with. However, determining the objective financial quality of complex investment products such as mutual funds is not an easy task for consumers. Against this background, this study aims to clarify the potential impact of one, not necessarily rational, cue on consumer perceptions of financial quality in the investment context: the country-of-origin (COO) of the mutual fund or stock.

Two Web-based experiments are used to test the study’s hypotheses.

COO is found to impact investors’ evaluation of the financial metrics of mutual funds, both in terms of perceived risk and potential return. Moreover, the results of Experiment 2 show that although a strong financial brand can partially overcome the COO effect, the extent of this effect is moderated by whether the fund utilizes an active or passive management style.

Although mutual fund providers with a strong financial country image (CI) may leverage that image and build on their home country’s brand, providers from countries with a poor financial CI may do well focusing on passive management to minimize negative COO influence.

The results highlight that COO can be an important source of sub-optimal investment decisions. These insights are of high importance for efforts to improve consumer decision-making and for individual service providers.

Industry-wide crises involving consumer products place consumers at risk. Consumers rely on institutions that constrain corporate practice and control product quality to reduce risk. As institutions vary by country, country-of-origin (COO) acts as a salient cue for consumers to identify institutional quality and thus evaluate risk when making purchase decisions. However, in the era of globalisation, identification of institutional quality becomes complex as global value chains involve different countries such as brand origin (BO) and country-of-manufacture (COM). Therefore, this research investigates how BO and COM individually and jointly affect consumers' institutional perceptions and subsequent purchase decision-making in the presence of systemic risk.

This research includes three studies (n = 764) employing surveys and choice modelling experiments with samples from China and the USA.

The results show that BO and COM relate to different institutional perceptions. BO evokes perceptions of legitimacy and the regulatory environment, while COM evokes perceptions of the normative and the regulatory environment. The combination of BO and COM determines how institutional quality is communicated and further affects consumers' legitimacy perceptions, preferences and willingness to pay a price premium.

This research contributes to understanding the effect of BO and COM in the context of complex value chains from an institutional perspective. It also provides implications for leveraging complex COO cues with BO and COM information to improve consumers' institutional perceptions.

The purpose of this paper is to examine the effects of economic nationalism and consumer ethnocentrism in the form of country of origin (COO) cues specifically “Made in […]” and “Owned by […]” on the product judgement of bi-national wine brands (brands with multiple country affiliations). Further, the role of consumer product knowledge is examined as a moderator of these xenophobia attitudes.

A self-administered questionnaire was designed using established scales. A convenience sample was drawn from participants attending a major wine trade exhibition in Western Australia and university students. A variety of statistical techniques were used to analyse the data.

High levels of economic nationalism and anti-foreign sentiment was so strong that respondents did not want products that had any association with a foreign country, regardless of whether the products are directly or indirectly related to a foreign origin. This suggests that Australian consumers are not any more receptive to bi-national brands; as such domestic affiliations have not diluted the economic nationalistic sentiment. Further, results confirm that Australian consumers use COO cues as part of wine evaluations. Consumers with low product knowledge are likely to rely on extrinsic country cues to reinforce their brand evaluation, whereas consumers who are more knowledgeable are found to base evaluations on intrinsic attributes rather than extrinsic cues.

Only respondents from Perth, Western Australia were chosen, thus limiting the representativeness of the sample. Other cultural contexts and product categories based on a larger sample size should be investigated in the future.

This research provides useful consumer insights and new market entry implications in terms of advertising and branding strategies for international wine manufacturers and distributors who wish to expand globally. In addition, there are managerial implications for domestic market where local retailers, merchandisers, importers can avoid importing products originating from offending countries and take on opportunity to exploit and promote “buy domestic campaigns”.

Conceptually, this study extends the existing COO literature by introducing bi-national brands into the model; expanding on country of ownership appeals in evaluating bi-national brands; and identifying the correlation between the economic nationalism and consumer ethnocentrism constructs. Further, this research can significantly help wine marketers to develop more effective positioning strategies. It will also help in the development of pricing and promotional decisions.