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Self‐image, product image and their combination, self‐congruity, are important concepts in consumer behaviour. They have been hypothesised and found to affect significantly product choice and purchase intention. In this study, two samples from contrasting cultural backgrounds are compared in relation to the importance of self‐congruity with respect to four brands of two products categories of contrasting involvement levels. Unexpectedly, samples from Australia and Malaysia were found to use differently actual vs ideal self‐image in their product evaluation. This confirms overall the role of self‐congruence in consumer’s choice and points to the need for further investigation of this concept in a cross‐cultural context.

The purpose of this research is to differentiate and examine how country image (cognitive and affective image) has different impacts on product judgment and purchase intention in rational versus experiential purchases.

A large-scale survey involving over 1,200 consumers was conducted in China. Structural equation modeling was used to analyze the data and test hypotheses.

Empirical results show that the impact of country image on consumer purchase intention is mediated by general and category product image. In particular, the impact of cognitive country image on category product image is fully mediated by general product image in both rational and experiential purchases, whereas the affective country image has a direct impact on category product image in experiential but not in rational purchases.

This research extends the extant country-of-origin literature and shows that the product image dimension of the country-of-origin construct mediates the effect of the country image dimension of the country-of-origin construct on consumer purchase intention, and demonstrates the different effect of affective country image on product image in rational versus experiential purchases.

The findings of this research can help multinational marketers, exporters and retailers to better decide when to benefit from their positive country image and avoid the potential pitfalls associated with negative country image.

This study differentiates between cognitive and affective country image and between general and category product image. Thus, it provides insight to further understand how country image can influence consumer product judgment and purchase intention differently in rational and experiential purchases.

The purpose of this paper is to extend international marketing theory by examining country image effects simultaneously from the perspectives of Product-Country Image (PCI), Tourism Destination Image (TDI), and General Country Image (GCI), and by using tourism satisfaction as the central construct in a comprehensive model that investigates post-visit effects in both the product and tourism domains.

International tourists from multiple countries were intercepted at the end of a tourism trip and interviewed in-person using a structured questionnaire, resulting in 498 usable responses for data analysis. The model comprised seven constructs measured with 28 variables and was tested with structural equation modelling.

The study uncovers a number of cross-effects between a country as destination and as producer, and establishes tourism satisfaction as a core construct that is relevant to both the tourism and product facets of place image.

Above all, the study’s findings argue strongly in favour of greater coordination between the “product” and “tourism” sides of place marketing.

The study is original in its integrative analysis of GCI, PCI, and TDI constructs as antecedents and consequences of the tourism experience and, among other original contributions, is the first to investigate the direct link between product beliefs, tourism satisfaction, and post-visit product-related intentions.

To date, country-of-origin research has commonly explored structural relationships among country image (CI) constructs, together with attitudinal constructs, using a variety of halo, summary construct and flexible models, drawing on consumer samples. There has been no previous attempt to examine or synthesize these three models with respect to business-to-business (B2B) buying behavior. To fill this gap, this study reconceptualized these three models with B2B constructs using multi-cue settings and tested on B2B samples. This study aims to examine and estimate the relative impact of company- and country-specific images on B2B buyers’ evaluations of suppliers, and the direction of structural relationships with mediation among the constructs.

Data collection was administered through a web-based structured questionnaire. The final sample consisted of 276 purchasing managers. Structural equation modeling was used to test the study’s hypotheses.

Company image is significantly influenced by product country image (PCI) but not by overall CI. The existence of a significant relationship between PCI and perceived supplier performance in a multi-cue setting is an important new finding. In addition, company image significantly influences supplier performance and mediates the relationship between PCI and supplier performance. Among the three models that test structural relationships among CI and other constructs, the reconceptualized halo model fits the data best.

The study results revealed the contribution of company and country-related facets on B2B buyers’ perceptions of supplier performance while purchasing intermediate goods internationally. The significance of PCI on supplier performance emphasizes the strength of the industry sector within a country that may enable an industry to build a product-specific CI in international marketing.

This study advances the country-of-origin issue and debate concerning the strength of the country influence in the academic literature by addressing B2B buyers’ international purchasing behavior of intermediate goods. Additionally, the examination of multiple country facets, multi-cue settings and the CI influence structure in a single study, from a B2B perspective, offers a novel dimension to CI studies.

This paper aims to apply the concept of traditional branding constructs, i.e. brand image, brand perceived quality, brand satisfaction, brand trust and brand loyalty to a less explored field of halal brand products – halal brand image, halal brand perceived quality, halal brand satisfaction, halal brand trust and halal brand loyalty. Second, the present research is an effort to empirically validate the interrelationships among branding constructs such as brand image, brand perceived quality, brand satisfaction, brand trust and brand loyalty in a holistic framework to confirm whether these branding constructs also work for the halal brand in the same way to gauge Chinese Muslims consumers’ purchasing intentions.

This research used cross-sectional data from 481 Chinese Muslim students at 9 universities located in 3 cities of China through face-to-face and online survey methods. Data were collected from the consumers of halal milk brand. A theoretical model with the hypothesized relationships was tested with the help of the structural equation modelling procedure.

The results suggest that halal brand image has a significant and positive influence on the halal brand perceived quality, halal brand satisfaction, halal brand trust and halal brand loyalty. Similarly, the halal brand perceived quality, halal brand satisfaction, halal brand trust and halal brand loyalty significantly influence consumer halal brand purchase intention.

This study is conducted in the halal food sector of China and specific religious and migration contexts. Further investigations of the halal food purchasing behaviour of local Muslims, as well as international Muslim students in those Western countries which are famous destinations for international students for education, could yield varying results.

The outcomes achieved are helpful for commerce and government organizations for policy development to better meet the burgeoning demand for halal products by Chinese Muslims. These are also very helpful for producers and exporters who intend to penetrate the halal market in non-Muslim-dominant countries such as China.

Studies on understanding Muslim consumers’ purchasing behaviours in non-Muslim countries are limited. Given the fact, numbers of Muslims seem a smaller amount of China’s total population, but their total numbers are large compared with total numbers in many Muslim countries. Therefore, understanding their purchasing behaviours for halal products and influential determinants concerning such purchasing behaviours adds to the literature and helps the industry to better serve and capitalise on the growing market.

While country image consists of two hierarchical images – macro country image at the country level and micro country image at the specific product level – previous studies have largely failed to detail its varying effects by product category and by the level of a country’s economic development. The purpose of this paper is to examine the impact of the macro and micro country images of four countries (USA, Italy, Korea, and Malaysia) on Saudi consumers’ purchase intentions in two product categories (symbolic and functional product).

Data were collected from shoppers older than 20 years of age at several shopping malls in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia via mall intercept method.

Analyses of 496 data revealed that the effects of macro and micro country images differ by product category. In particular, both macro and micro country images were equally relevant to the purchase intention of symbolic goods (i.e. handbags), while micro country image played a greater role in the purchase intention of functional goods (i.e. cell phones). A partial country moderating effect was found. The effects of micro country image on the purchase intention of handbags were valid only in Italy, where product-country match is high.

This study advances country image research by highlighting how the effects of macro and micro country images on purchase intention differ by product category and by country. The findings suggest which aspect of country image (i.e. macro vs micro) should be actively communicated in the marketing of symbolic and functional goods.

The purpose of this study was to examine the effects of product image at three stages of the consumer decision process for apparel products: alternative evaluation, purchase and post‐purchase stages. The three specific objectives of the study were to examine at the alternative evaluation stage the effect of product image on perceived quality and performance expectation, at the purchase stage the effect of product image on purchase intention and the price the consumer was willing to pay, and at the post‐purchase stage the effect of product image on consumer satisfaction and the effect of product image with product consumption performance on consumer satisfaction. The experimental design was used to determine the cause‐and‐effect relationships between the treatment variables (independent variables) and the dependent variables. Sweatshirts were used as the sample product category and 120 university students were recruited as participants. Results showed that at the alternative evaluation stage, product image significantly and positively influenced perceived quality and performance expectation. At the purchase stage, product image was not a determinant of purchase intention, but significantly and positively influenced the price participants were willing to pay for the product. At the post‐purchase stage, product image did not directly influence participants’ satisfaction, but product image with product consumption performance significantly affected satisfaction. When consumption performance was good, product image significantly and positively influenced satisfaction. When consumption performance was poor, product image significantly and negatively influenced satisfaction.

Country image determines consumers’ beliefs toward the country’s products, through halo effect. While the relevant literature is predominantly focused on the context of well-known products from traditionally leading exporters, the purpose of this paper is to examine the two levels of halo effect (i.e. country image as halo and a well-known product category as halo) on a less-known product category from a recently developed country.

The purpose of study was carried out by using a quantitative approach. Survey responses were collected from 253 US consumers who are aged between 18 and 67 years. This study only examined South Korea and used the two selected product categories (i.e. cell phones and apparel) as samples for the study.

The results of a series of regression analyses confirmed that the positive images of South Korea and Korean cell phones served as halo, thereby enhancing the respondents’ beliefs toward Korean apparel, which is a less-known product category that they have not yet experienced. Further, the respondents’ positive beliefs toward both cell phones and apparel increased their purchase intentions of those two products.

The findings of this study imply that the general country image and the country’s well-known product images are critical in introducing the country’s less-known product to foreign markets.

The originality of this study lies in its unique focus on relatively less-known product category of a recently developed country (i.e. Korean apparel), which received limited attention in the past research. This study is also one of the few attempts to examine the role of a country’s well-known products on the country’s less-known products, another level of halo effect in country image.

To extend the understanding of country image to the country whose image is less distinctive, the purpose of this paper is to examine two salient factors: one country’s prototypical brand and its cultural influence (i.e. Korean Wave) on shaping the country’s image in the context of Korea and its subsequent impact on product evaluation and purchase intention. Built on the prototype and schema theories, a research framework is proposed and empirically tested on two product categories (cosmetics and tires).

Data were collected from US consumers ages 20 and older and analyzed using structural equation modeling.

The findings largely supported the proposed framework with two additional paths (Korean Wave to product quality and Korean Wave to purchase intention). In both product categories, the findings confirmed that the image transfers from the prototypical brands (e.g. Samsung) to the country image (i.e., Korea), from Korean Wave to country image, and from the macro country image to the micro country image. The influence of the prototypical brand image was greater than that of the Korean Wave. However, some differences were found across product categories; the positive impact of the macro image on product quality evaluation was supported only for tires, not in the case of the cosmetics. The path from the Korean Wave to product quality evaluation was significant only for the cosmetics, and not for the tires.

These findings provided new theoretical perspectives for country image studies, and practical insights for companies, especially in countries whose image is less distinctive, to help develop effective marketing strategies in different product categories.

Discusses the appropriateness of using national image for international marketing purposes, based on an empirical survey carried out among 100 Danish export firms, from which the marketing strategies underlying the use of nationality in the promotion of Danish products abroad have been identified. Presents some general guidelines for the building of international brands and product images based on national image, and submits suggestions for further research. Finally, suggests that while a symbolic linkage between product and country of origin can be a useful positioning strategy in the beginning of a product’s life cycle, brand building through more abstract and emotional imagery becomes increasingly important in the later stages of the product life cycle.