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This study aims to determine and analyze the influence of Country of Origin and Country of Manufacture variables on Purchase Intention and Perceived Quality, as well as the impact of Perceived Quality variables on the Purchase Intention of Toyota Cars in West Nusa Tenggara. The type of research used is causal research. The population in this study was all consumers interested in buying a Toyota car at the Toyota Dealer in West Nusa Tenggara. The sample volume was 115 people, and the data analysis used was Structural Equation Modeling PLS. The results showed that the Country of Origin positively and significantly affects Purchase Intention and Perceived Quality. Variable Country of Manufacture has a positive and significant influence on Purchase Intention but has no significant impact on Perceived Quality. Perceived quality has a positive and significant effect on Purchase Intention. The results of this research can be input and consideration for companies in implementing development strategies.

Immigrants and sustained international migration are transforming developed Western countries at an unprecedented pace and scale. Sustained international migration is also further accentuating the already-dominant presence of immigrant entrepreneurs in the international business landscape. These immigrant entrepreneurs often operate small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) that primarily export to their country of origin. However, conflicting findings suggest theoretical ambiguity in how the level of country-of-origin export intensity influences the SMEs’ financial performance. Adopting a contingent perspective, we theorize how and when socially embedded immigrant owners derive superior performance from high country-of-origin export intensity. Based on a sample of 2584 immigrant-owned SMEs and 6391 firm-year observations, we find that SMEs led by immigrant owners with longer stays in their country of residence and whose country of origin is geographically proximate to their country of residence generate superior financial performance from high country-of-origin export intensity. These findings are consistent with the view that immigrant entrepreneurs’ international financial success is a function of network- and cognition-based advantages linked to their level of concurrent embeddedness in their countries of residence and origin. We also provide actionable insights for immigrant entrepreneurs and for policy-makers tasked to design suitable export promotion programs.

Purpose Using consumer electronics brands as examples, this paper aims to present country-of-origin (COO) as a dynamic concept, by analyzing changes in the representation and perception of the “Made in China” label in Germany. Design/methodology/approach Building on previous COO research, the study formulates four research questions, which are answered with a comprehensive brand analysis using website, media, and consumer data. Information were collected from 11 Chinese brand websites, 10,681 German media articles and a sample of 490 German consumers. The authors statistically evaluated the survey data and examined the website and media data by means of a qualitative content analysis. Findings The results of the study show how Chinese brands currently present their COO in Germany and how the perception of “Made in China,” by German media and consumers, has changed to varying degrees. These changes pose marketing challenges for the increasingly prevalent Chinese brands in Germany, which need to be addressed by companies using strategic PR and marketing activities. Research limitations/implications This study suggests that COO images should be understood as a dynamic construct, and the multifaceted brand perceptions, including media reports, should be given greater consideration. Practical implications International marketers will find information on current country product recognition, and recommendations for the analysis and strategic communication of (Chinese) brands abroad. Originality/value This study contributes to COO research by examining the recent status of “Made in China” labels in Germany, focusing on China not as a manufacturing location, but as the home country for branded products. A media analysis is incorporated to add a novel dimension to the examination of brand identity-image gaps.

The support that networks offer during the internationalization process is well documented in the international business literature. However, this work has primarily focused on firm-level networks while underappreciating the cooperative behaviors that may emerge among organizations in the pursuit of common network-level goals. To better understand these concerted and coordinated actions, we engaged in a qualitative examination of two clusters of Italian organizations abroad. We observed that goal-directed and governed networks emerged in these clusters, bounded by their common desire to support Italian firms’ internationalization. This insight underlies our contributions to the international business and whole network literatures. We offer a process model outlining the emergence of a particular type of whole network: the country-of-origin network. This process is much more distributed, emergent, and context-dependent than previously theorized. Our model illustrates that network development involves the active and coordinated efforts of diverse actors working to create infrastructure that can be accessed by and shared between new and existing organizations. Our finding that both networks were governed utilizing a distinct but context-appropriate governance structure provides new insight into how networks support internationalization. Furthermore, it illustrates that whole network-level support is distinct from, but complementary to, the firm-to-firm support highlighted in previous studies.

The implicit value to Chinese consumers of the country-of-origin (COO) characteristic of dairy products is of great importance to estimate. This study adopted the hedonic price model to evaluate the shadow price of the COO attribute of both UHT fluid milk and infant formula collected from the five leading e-commerce platforms (Alibaba’s Tmall Supermarket, Jingdong, Suning Purchase, COFCO I buy nets, and Yihaodian) in China. The target countries were Germany, France, the Netherlands, and Spain from the EU, and Australia and New Zealand from Oceania. The results show that the implicit values of the COO of UHT fluid milk and infant formula are reversed. Having a COO of Spain and Germany decreased the price of UHT fluid milk compared with China, while Germany, New Zealand, France, the Netherlands, and Spain all earned a price premium on infant formula. The B2C platforms Yihaodian, Jingdong, Alibaba’s Tmall Supermarket and Suning Purchase all earned a price premium above COFCO I buy nets. These findings have important implications for dairy industry of EU countries, Australia, New Zealand, and China in terms of the promotion of domestic dairy products. Moreover, this study contributes to the existing body of literature by innovating in employing sales data from e-commerce scanners to study the implicit value of food attributes.

U.S. Congress repealed Mandatory Country of Origin Labeling (COOL) for beef and pork in December 2015 to avoid retaliatory tariffs from Canada and Mexico. We simulate and compare economic impacts from these retaliatory tariffs with scenarios where COOL was repealed using a global economic modeling framework. Retaliation would have decreased North American trade, decreased U.S. welfare, and increased welfare for Canada and Mexico. Simulated effects of the COOL repeal show modest welfare increases in the United States, Mexico, and globally, with heterogeneous welfare effects for Canada. We discuss whether recent U.S. protectionist policies may lead to similar outcomes to those simulated here.

Many papers have analyzed the effects of foreign acquisition on fi rm productivity, articulating its positive impacts. However, an important issue remains: is there a general foreign acquisition effect, or is there any heterogeneity in the effects? This paper reports on the analysis of over 3,400 majority foreign acquisitions in Hungary. The main result (which exists in a propensity score matching sample as well) of the difference-in-differences analysis is that only acquirers from higher income countries foster labor productivity signifi cantly – and this effect increases with the income gap between Hungary and the country of origin –, while acquirers from lower income countries do not induce statistically signifi cant effects.

This study aims to investigate whether and to what extent income inequality of country of origin modifies the health trajectories of immigrants to the United States (U.S.). Much previous research has found a negative association between income inequality and health across nations. A separate, large literature shows that characteristics of immigrants' countries of origin affect their health status after migration. However, there is no evidence about whether income inequality of countries of origin affects postmigration health trajectories. Merging individual data from the Current Population's Annual Social and Economic Supplement (ASEC CPS) (2013) with macro-level data, I find that income inequality exerts a statistically significant negative effect on immigrants' health trajectories. While immigrants arriving from countries with greater income inequality tend to be healthier than immigrants arriving from countries that are more egalitarian, their health tends to decline at a faster rate over time. The results are consistent with at least two mechanisms. Immigrants from higher-inequality countries may arrive in the U.S. with fewer transferable skills and take up low-paid jobs, with negative consequences for their long-term health. Alternatively, the harmful consequences of early exposure to high-income inequality in home countries before immigration may persist over the life course, damaging individuals' health even after they have left their home nations.

The potential development impacts of migrant remittances have been subject of extensive theoretical and empirical explorations. This chapter reviews the economic effects of remittances on migrants’ countries of origin, focusing specifically on how the receipts of remittances shape norms, consumption, investment and inequality at the household level, and how these household-level impacts shape country-level outcomes. The reviewed literature suggests that the effects of remittances on economic outcomes are context-specific and shaped by the heterogeneity of migrants, their motivations to migrate, and the development status and institutional settings in their countries of origin. The review of household-level studies nevertheless identifies overall positive effects of remittances on consumption more generally, and on durable goods specifically for the not-too-poor households; they also demonstrate positive effects on households’ agricultural production, household expenditures on education and physical capital investment and entrepreneurial activities. Much in line with the findings from household studies, the macroeconomic studies demonstrate generally positive effects of remittances on poverty reduction, living standards, health and education expenditures and improving institutions. Both household and macro-level studies suggest mixed results related to the impact of remittances on inequality, however, and macro studies demonstrate particularly mixed and even negative direct effects of remittances on economic growth.

We show how the initial subnational entry location of foreign multinational enterprises (MNEs) in China influences their subsequent within-country location choices and expansion speed. We distinguish between MNEs that establish their first subsidiary in co-ethnic cores – dense agglomerations of other firms from the same country of origin – and MNEs that locate their first subsidiary in the periphery, i.e., outside of these co-ethnic cores. To identify co-ethnic cores in China, we employ a geo-visualization methodology, which draws the boundaries of cores organically and dynamically over time. We contrast our findings with the prevailing approach of using static administrative boundaries for identifying agglomerations. Our results provide evidence of path dependency, in that (a) entry through subnational locations with strong co-ethnic communities is followed by expansion into other locations where co-ethnic communities are present, and that (b) entry through co-ethnic communities accelerates the pace at which MNEs establish additional subsidiaries in China. We also find that co-ethnic community effects continue to influence within-country MNE activities over time, despite a host of economic, institutional, and investment developments.

Dieses Forschungsprojekt untersucht die Beeinflussung der Zahlungsbereitschaft durch Labels und den Country of Origin.

Across three studies and three countries, this research specifies the effect of consumer ethnocentrism on domestic country bias. Extending extant research, it distinguishes the moderating effects of broad (country image, country production image) and narrow (country product category image) country-of-origin effects, demonstrating that the latter mitigate domestic country bias more strongly than the former. Moreover, nationality emerges as an antecedent of consumer ethnocentrism and domestic country bias. The findings enable international marketers to predict domestic country bias in different country markets. Additionally, this research advocates using a finer-grained, narrow view of country-of-origin effects, instead of a broad perspective.

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to explore how a positive country-of-origin image will impact consumer perceptions for a high-risk product when the price is unexpectedly low. Design/methodology/approach An experimental approach was used with consumers from the USA and India. Consumers were divided into groups and given two scenarios that involved purchasing medicine that may have been counterfeit. In one scenario manufacturing took place in India, the other in Switzerland. They were asked to state the probability that certain goods could be counterfeit if they originated from the stated country and then make choices based on those perceived probabilities. An analysis of variance was conducted to test for differences between groups. Findings The authors found that in both samples consumers attached greater probabilities toward low-priced medicines if they originated from Switzerland vs India. Conversely, the higher priced medicines were more likely to be counterfeit if they originated from India vs Switzerland. When given a choice scenario consumers chose more versions of the cheaper products from India than from Switzerland. Originality/value When country-of-origin is salient then it is believed that a positive country-of-origin image will benefit products that are produced from that country. Consumers expect that more expensive products come from a country with a positive country-of-origin image. The results demonstrate that when there is a conflict between expectations of the country and the price of the product the outcome is lowered perceptions and consumption of the product. This holds true for consumers from a high-cost economy (USA) and consumers from a low-cost economy (India). The authors add to the literature on country-of-origin by demonstrating that a positive image can be a liability when consumers are wary of purchasing a high-risk product.

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to review the literature on the country-of-origin (COO) effect in the context of organic food and develop suggestions for further research in this area. Research has investigated COO effects and consumer responses to organic food, but there is little research on the combination of the two. Design/methodology/approach A narrative review of two research streams and their intersection, forming the basis for the development of a research agenda. Findings There are few studies analysing the possible interaction between the effects of organic and COO on consumers’ food preferences and choices. In general, COO seems to lose impact when other quality cues are salient. This suggests a lower impact of COO for organic than for conventional food products. However, there is still no research on the possible impact of organic labelling in categories where products from a foreign country are able to demand a premium, and little is known about consumer preferences for different import countries regarding organic food. Six potential future research directions are suggested. Research limitations/implications There is a need for research that more systematically investigates the possible interactions between COO and organic labelling on consumers’ food product preferences and choices. A research agenda is suggested as a starting point. Originality/value This literature review highlights the lack of research on the interaction between COO effects and consumer responses to organic food. The literature review creates a basis for future research and a possible research agenda is suggested.

Increased community awareness on various environmental problems has changed consumers’ behaviors and induced purchasing decisions on green products. Applying the theory of planned behavior (TPB), this study aims to explain the effects (i.e., attitude, subjective norm, and perceived behavioral control) on purchase intention of green skincare products; it also aims to determine if country of origin (COO) and price sensitivity moderate the links between purchase intention and its antecedences. Data collected from 300 respondents in Taiwan are tested against the research model by using structural equation modelling. The results indicate that attitude, subjective norm, and perceived behavioral control have a significant impact on purchase intention of green skincare products, and that country of origin and price sensitivity can enhance the positive effects on the links between purchase intention and its antecedences. The findings of this study present important theoretical and practical implications for consumer green product purchase behaviors.

Using data from 2005 to 2016, this paper examines if players in the National Hockey League (NHL) are being paid a positive differential for their services due to the competition from the Kontinental Hockey League (KHL) and the Swedish Hockey League (SHL). In order to control for performance, we use two different large datasets, (N = 4046) and (N = 1717). In keeping with the existing literature, we use lagged performance statistics and dummy variables to control for the type of NHL contract. The first dataset contains lagged career performance statistics, while the performance statistics are based on the statistics generated during the years under the player&rsquo, s previous contract. Fixed effects least squares (FELS) and quantile regression results suggest that player production statistics, contract status, and country of origin are significant determinants of NHL player salaries.

Standard economic theory assigns a value to information based solely on its ability to improve decision-making, assuming information generates a positive value if it changes behavior. But evidence from recent behavioral economic studies finds that information can evoke negative emotions. This suggests information may harm some consumers, even if it changes their behavior. In this study, we design an economic experiment to more directly test information preferences – we examine consumers’ revealed choices to take or ignore information on country of origin. As expected from standard economic theory, we find the majority of consumers (80 percent) positively value free origin information. Second, the value of learning the origin increases as food safety benefits of local products are communicated, i.e. as the utility gain of making the “right” choice increases, so does the value of information that ensures this choice. Third, we find no evidence that observed origin information avoidance is driven by emotional costs of the information. Our results support the standard assumptions of information primarily as a means to optimal decision-making. Further, mandatory origin information policies may benefit consumers, and this benefit increases as consumers are made aware of the food safety benefits of local production.

Increasingly, international trade policy analysis explores the economic effects of changes in ad‐valorem tariffs or equivalent nontariff measures on vertically integrated markets for which high quality data are unavailable. Standard Constant Elasticity of Substitution (CES) Armington models fail to account for either vertical linkages or parameter uncertainty. Here, we introduce a vertically integrated, nested two‐sector Armington model that incorporates uncertainty in the estimates of Armington elasticities through Monte Carlo simulation. As an illustrative case, we model the effects of changes in country of origin labeling (COOL) rules on the market shares of cattle in the U.S. beef market. By accounting for parameter uncertainty in this way, we are able to estimate the distribution of potential effects of repealing mandatory COOL. Ultimately, we predict that, in all but the most extreme cases, Mexico and Canada would not gain as much market share from the repeal of mandatory COOL as they claim in their World Trade Organization (WTO) filings against the regulation.

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to examine the effect of country of origin (COO) information as an important/salient categorical attribute on choice context effects. Specifically, this research examines whether the introduction of a unique COO in the choice set will have a differential influence on context effects depending on the relative position of the third option (the asymmetrically dominated option vs the extreme option). Design/methodology/approach Five experiments were conducted in this research. Study 1 had a 2 (set size: two-option core set vs three-option asymmetric dominance set)×2 (competitor’s COO: common vs unique) between-subjects design. Study 2 had a 2 (set size: two-option core set vs three-option extreme option set)×2 (competitor’s COO: common vs unique) between-subjects design. To address the robustness of the effects, Studies 3-5 replicated the results of Studies 1 and 2. The data were analyzed by χ2 tests and logistic regression analyses. Findings The current research demonstrates that the attraction effect is attenuated by the introduction of a unique COO information in the competing option, whereas the tendency to prefer a middle option is not significantly affected. Originality/value The present research adds to the current understanding and the practical relevance of COO effects and context effects in marketing by examining the impact of COO as an important/salient categorical attribute on context effects.

Literature on transnational families has established that both digital media and visits are important to maintaining relationships across distance. While studies foreground family ties and adult perspectives, few have focused on how young people create and experience affective engagements with the country of origin. This is largely because youth mobility has either been ignored or studied retrospectively from the country of residence. This study investigates youth mobility as it unfolds and explores what transpires during country-of-origin visits. Drawing on 18 months of ethnographic fieldwork in Belgium and Ghana with 25 young people of Ghanaian background, I argue that young people experience an extraordinary everydayness during visits to Ghana. Young people build affective connections with people and places through digital media before, during and after visits. The resulting everydayness is extraordinary as it takes place in an unfamiliar space with peers previously only known in the online sphere.

This study investigates the effect of country-of-origin image on consumers’ evaluations of foreign products and disaggregates the effects across facets of country image and across product classes. We disentangle country image into cognitive and affective dimensions, and additionally disaggregate the cognitive dimension into geographic and human aspects. We posit that country-of-origin effects will vary across distinct facets of country image and that the effect of each facet of country image will vary across different classes of products. By means of an online survey, data were collected from French consumers regarding their perceptions of cognitive and affective aspects of two countries – Brazil and Germany – and their evaluation of three product classes – utilitarian nature-based, utilitarian industrialized and hedonic industrialized – which were represented respectively by fruits, home appliances and clothes. Empirical results partially corroborate the hypothesized contingent impacts.

The aim of this study was to verify what factors influence the likelihood of wine choice in a developing wine market (China). Previous studies have shown that country of origin is either the first or second most important choice cue for a product such as wine, with consumers relying on country perception and associations. In this study, the same respondents completed a repeated discrete choice experiment, with simulated wine bottles on a shelf, to test the effectiveness of different messages about Australia, a relatively new supplier of wine to this market. In the first experiment, messages were shown in an advertorial format as a way of building consumer associations. The second experiment assessed messages' memory decay after approximately ten days. Wine quality ratings were the most important attribute to influence choice, while country of origin messages increased the relative attribute importance for country, which practically doubled for most of the articles. The messages about clean environment and the taste of the wine were the most effective in increasing choice of wine in both the short and medium term. Consumer choices changed overtime and the results provided evidence regarding the retest reliability of repeated choice experiments. Respondents of the control group became considerably more price sensitive in their wine choice in Stage 2. Overall, repeated discrete choice experiment methodology provided useful insights into the decay effect of advertorial messages over a 10 day period and can be applied in any relatively high involvement product type in specific markets. Refereed/Peer-reviewed

Consumers in almost any country seem to prefer domestic food compared to foreign food. One reason for this finding is probably consumers believe foreign food to be of lower standard than domestic food. In the last years, international agreements about organic products have led to harmonization of regulations allowing organic food produced in one country to be sold as organic in another. A hypothesis is then whether consumers view a foreign food product with the identical organic label as a domestic counterpart as equivalent substitutes. This study uses an online choice experiment with conventional and organic veal to investigate country-of-origin preferences for organic meat. The results show that despite the fact that the organic label assures consumers that the meat has been produced under the same organic regulations the willingness to pay for organic meat depends greatly on the country of origin. Hence, common international labels for organic food do alleviate the huge skepticism toward foreign food.

The consequence of strategic decisions of Western brands to source their products from offshore countries, largely from the Far East, has added a lot of unfavorable origin countries to their products' labels. Thus, scholars and marketing practitioners are becoming aware of the negative downstream consequences of unfavorable countries of origin in consumers' product evaluation. This research work suggests that, depending on the parameters (cues) that consumers consider along with the country of origin cue, their product evaluation can follow either cognitive, affective, or normative processing. This research study offers a unique framework associated with process-specific parameters that are manifested in weakening the effect of unfavorable country of origin in previous research.

We investigate the value of a country of origin label (COOL) that separately identifies the geographic location of different stages in a food product's supply chain. We estimate the willingness-to-pay (WTP) of U.S. consumers for a packaged cereal product where the key grain ingredient may be grown in one country and processed in a second country (multicountry supply chain) and compare it to equivalent products that have both stages located in a single country. We find consumer WTP for products with single-country and multicountry supply chains are statistically different, meaning that simplifying a multicountry label by listing only the country where the ingredients are grown or only the country where the ingredients are processed can result in different consumer values. We also find that for countries with a poor quality reputation, consumers respond more negatively when that country has the “last touch” than when that country's involvement is limited to upstream supply chain links.

While China's outward direct investments continue to soar, many Chinese firms reportedly face social resistance in host countries during the internationalization process. We explore this phenomenon from a country-of-origin (COO) perspective using Fiske and colleagues’ (Fiske, Cuddy, Glick, & Xu, 2002; Fiske, Xu, Cuddy, & Glick, 1999) stereotype content model. Our findings from a recent case in New Zealand show that China's COO emerges as a key variable influencing how local actors view Chinese investors. Specifically, despite China's significant economic and social developments over the past decades, it suffers from a somewhat negative country image in two stereotype dimensions: competence and warmth. This leads to a perception by local actors that Chinese firms are of low quality, which explains the source of resistance in society. To address such a liability of origin, Chinese firms must learn to deal with this form of stereotypical judgment encountered in a host environment. Further contributions and limitations of the study are discussed in the article. © 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

Country-of-Origin (COO) information has been used as an advertising appeal. Although it has been confirmed to influence advertising effectiveness, previous research in advertising has not fully taken different COO facets into consideration. This study proposes that two COO facets (Country-of-Assembly (COA) and Country-of-Design (COD)) in advertisements are processed distinctively by consumers. Specifically, COA is processed cognitively, while COD is processed affectively. This study tested the interplay between COO facets and country stereotypes (functional and emotional) on advertising effectiveness. The results present a matchup effect between COO facets and country stereotypes. The results presented a matchup effect, such that participants express more favorable attitude towards the advertisement when they saw COA with a functional country or COD with an emotional country. Product types (utilitarian vs. hedonic) do not influence such a matchup effect. Theoretical and practical implications of t...

This paper focuses on an understanding of the senior tourism market through an exploration the global-local dimension of international strategies that firms and destinations could implement in order to fit this high growing demand segment. We will argue that this market trend is a global one with an increasing presence in all the continents and in every type of country, from the most advanced to developing countries. This does not mean that the answer to this trend can always be a global strategy, meaning to provide the same touristic product for all seniors in every country. To determine an international strategy it is important to know if the tourism behaviour of seniors, and their motivations and determinants are common internationally; or do they show substantial differences that require a strategic adaptation, depending on the country of origin. To begin exploring this important issue, we decided to undertake exploratory research (Kozak Tourism Management, 23(3), 221–232, 2002; Patuelli and Nijkamp 2015) based on a meta-analysis of the literature, to design a model for classifying the variables identified in each country, testing their capabilities so as to be comprehensive, and reflect upon the common denominators that may articulate a global tourism market and the variables that encourage major differences to emerge. Our conclusions found that both dimensions coexist, making it possible to apply both global and local strategies, and preferably transnational approaches. This allowed us to validate our model as an useful tool to summarize previous research and to structure in a holistic way the diverse variables to consider a better understanding of the senior tourism market. Further research is proposed to advance more accurate conclusions.

The legality of U.S. country of origin labeling (COOL) laws for agricultural products has been challenged by foreign countries. Isolating the reasons why consumers support COOL can help determine the efficiency of COOL as a policy. Therefore, this study investigated why consumers have a desire for COOL. Data were collected through an online survey with 566 U.S. participants. Results of a bivariate ordered probit model indicate that as consumers are more ethnocentric and more pessimistic about the safety of their food, they are more likely to support COOL for sugar and for sugar in soft drinks. Thus, policies designed to inform the public about the safety of foreign commodities could reduce their desire for COOL. Evidence is also provided that highly ethnocentric individuals support COOL in an effort to “buy American” products.

This study examines the role of country of origin on the relationship between corporate governance and sustainability practices in Islamic Financial Institutions (IFIs). Different from conventional financial institutions, the IFIs has a group of Shariah Supervisory Board (SSB) to act as the governance decision maker and a gate keeper to the institutions in ensuring that IFIs will comply with the Shariah laws. Thus, the corporate governance dimension in this study includes the size of SSB in addition to the size of board members, the number of independent directors, and the aspects of environmental, social, and profit in the IFIs’ mission and/or vision. A total sample of 82 IFIs in Gulf Council Cooperation (GCC) and Non-GCC countries were examined. The study found that the board size, directors’ independence, and the aspects of environmental, social and profit in the mission and/or vision have positive relationship for IFIs in GCC countries. However, the size of SSB is found to have insignificant relationship with the sustainability practices of IFIs. The country of origin is found to have a moderating role on the relationships between all of the corporate governance dimensions with sustainability practices except for the size of SSB and sustainability practices relationship. This implies that the size of SSB of IFIs in GCC countries does not have a great influence towards sustainability practices as compared to the size of SSB in non-GCC countries.

Despite the fact that companies try to put high emphasis on the quality of their products and processes, still, there are unexpected threats to the safety of consumers by failed quality which leads unexpected shock to the normal operation of the company. Product risk can even lead to corporate crisis, mainly because of strategic threats. For the duration of the crisis, companies struggle to minimize the harm brought to their reputation and brand equity. This paper presents a new notion of measuring organizational success when dealing with product-harm crises. It introduces the concept of country of origin as a potential tool in managing the crisis as it gives a comprehensive overview of effects on perceptions and attitudes of consumers towards products from abroad. This can suggest that using positive associations of the country when building a strong brand creates consumers’ positive attitude and perception towards country of origin aspect of the brand. We think that even at the crisis time, perception, attitude, and behavior that lead to willingness of purchase are influenced by aspects related to country of origin. Thus, country of origin has been identified as an important factor that influences successful recovery from a product-harm crisis.

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to investigate “how” and “when” the stereotypes of competence and warmth, that are evoked by a foreign company’s country-of-origin (COO), affect blame attributions and/or attitudes toward a company’s products when a company is involved in a product-harm crisis.Design/methodology/approachStudy 1 (n=883) analyzes the psychological mechanisms through which perceived COO competence and warmth differently affect blame attributions and evaluative responses. Study 2 (n=1,640) replicates Study 1’s findings, and it also investigates how consumer ethnocentrism, animosity toward a country, and product category characteristics moderate the hypothesized COO’s effects.FindingsCOO competence leads to more favorable attitudes toward the involved company’s products. This effect increases when the company sells high-involvement or utilitarian products. COO warmth leads to more favorable attitudes toward the involved company’s products directly as well as indirectly by diminishing blame attributions. These effects increase when consumers are highly ethnocentric, or the animosity toward a foreign country is high.Originality/valueThis paper frames the investigation of COO stereotypes in a new theoretical and empirical setting, specifically, a product-harm crisis. It demonstrates that consumers differently evaluate a potential wrongdoing company and its harmful products in a product-harm crisis based on their perceptions of a company’s COO competence and warmth. Finally, it defines the moderating effects of individual, consumer-country-related and product characteristics on the hypothesized COO effects.

Change in industrial leadership is often explained in terms of technological and costs advantages. However firms in emerging economies not only have to produce high quality, cost-competitive goods, but also win the resistance of consumers in the world market, who are often adverse to purchasing products from countries that yet have to build a reputation. We argue that this country-of-origin bias significantly influences the chances of leadership change. A model that aims at capturing the endogenous dynamics of demand building and leapfrogging is proposed. We show that in sectors with high monopoly power acquiring a superior technology is not sufficient for a latecomer country to become leader, unless a significant share of consumers is aware of the quality of its products. An extension of the model to multiple sectors shows that a latecomer country remains specialized into low-value undifferentiated goods, even after overtaking the technology of the leading country.