Literature Review: Country of Origin, Ethnocentrism, and Marketing

This literature review examines the effects of country of origin (COO) and consumer ethnocentrism on brand attitude and purchase intention in marketing. It explores how COO, as a form of nationality bias, influences consumer perceptions and buying decisions, with products from developed countries often favored. The review delves into consumer ethnocentrism, where consumers prefer domestic products, potentially rejecting foreign goods. It discusses brand attitude, purchase intention, foreign product knowledge, face-saving, group conformity, and perceived product quality. The Engel, Kollet, Blackwell (EKB) model and motivation-need theory are used to analyze consumer behavior. The review also addresses ways to overcome COO and ethnocentrism challenges, including government involvement, advertising, creating brand awareness, and ensuring high quality. A conceptual framework and literature gaps are also provided.

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Table of Contents
1.0 Introduction................................................................................................................................3
1.1 Aim........................................................................................................................................3
1.2 Research Question.................................................................................................................3
1.3 Research Objective................................................................................................................3
2.0 Concept of Country of Origin....................................................................................................4
3.0 Concept of Consumer Ethnocentrism........................................................................................5
4.0 Concept of Brand Attitude and Purchase Intension...................................................................6
5.0 Foreign Product Knowledge and Brand Attitude......................................................................7
6.0 Face Saving and Group Conformity and Consumer Purchasing Intension...............................8
7.0 Perceived Product Quality and Product Attitude.......................................................................8
8.0 Engel, Kollet, Blackwell (EKB) Model of Consumer Purchasing Intension............................9
9.0 Motivation-Need Theory of Consumer Purchasing Intension.................................................10
10.0 Impact of Country of Origin on Brand Attitude and Purchasing Intension...........................12
11.0 Impact of Consumer Ethnocentrism on Brand Attitude and Purchasing Intension...............13
12.0 Empirical Evidence................................................................................................................15
13.0 Ways to Overcome Country of Origin and Consumer Ethnocentrism Challenge (250).......16
13.1 Overcome Country of Origin Challenge............................................................................16
13.1.1 Government Involvement...........................................................................................16
13.1.2 Advertisement.............................................................................................................17

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13.2 Overcome Consumer Ethnocentrism Challenge................................................................17
13.2.1 Creating Brand Awareness and Reputation................................................................17
13.2.2 High Quality and Communicate Achievement...........................................................18
13.2.3 Using Media and Outreach.........................................................................................18
14.0 Conceptual Framework..........................................................................................................19
15.0 Gap of the Literature..............................................................................................................20
Reference List................................................................................................................................21

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1.0 Introduction
Globalization has created huge scope for marketers to develop and expand their
businesses across borders. However, it becomes subjective when individual consumers are
considered whether any category of product will be accepted by any class of people. In order to
analyze the consumer buying pattern, two aspects will be discussed in this literature review,
which are country-of-origin (COO) and consumer ethnocentrism.
1.1 Aim
The aim of the research is to analyze the impact of country-of-origin effects and consumer
ethnocentrism on brand attitude and purchase intention.
1.2 Research Question What is country-of-origin effect and its impact on consumer purchase decision? What is consumer ethnocentrism effect and its impact on brand attitude and purchase
intention? What are the possible solutions for addressing country-of-origin effect and consumer
ethnocentrism effect?
1.3 Research Objective To identify the country-of-origin effect and its impact on consumer purchase decision To identify consumer ethnocentrism effect and its impact on brand attitude and purchase
intention
 To recommend possible solutions for addressing country-of-origin effect and consumer
ethnocentrism effect

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2.0 Concept of Country of Origin
Country of Origin is a kind of nationality bias, which is actually psychological effect on
the purchasing intension of the customer. In such effect, the attitude, perception and buying
decision of the consumer are actually influenced by the country of origin leveling of the
products. According to Andéhn, Nordin and Nilsson (2016), Country of Origin (COO) Effect
defines the practice of marketers and consumers towards associating the brand with countries
and making the purchasing decision based on the country of origin of the products. As per this
concept, the products of the countries are usually purchased and discarded based on the value
associated with the countries. Several previous studies have demonstrated the way COO has
affected the purchasing intension of the consumers. The effect has also led to a renewed effort
towards associating and dissociating the products from the countries that they have made in. On
the other hand, Suh, Hur and Davies (2016) opined that COO is supposed to be an extrinsic
determinant and the level associated with brand name, which guide the consumers towards
choosing a specific product.
The previous studies have discovered that the product evaluation of the global customers
is always dependent on the origin country of the products. The more sensitive is the information
of COO information of the customer, the more positively they perceive about the quality of
particular products. CCO effect is considered to be positive for the countries, which are
developed in regards to economy, technology, wealth index, Government, regulatory mechanism
and others.

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3.0 Concept of Consumer Ethnocentrism
Consumer ethnocentrism is the tendency of the consumers towards being reluctant for the
foreign products. Ethnocentric consumers tend to perceive their domestic products superior than
the foreign products. According to Zeugner-Roth, Žabkar and Diamantopoulos (2015), the
consumers having ethnocentrism mentality, view the foreign products from the perspective for
their own countries and accepts only those products, which are similar to their domestic
products. Moreover, such customers generally reject the products that are different from their
domestic products. In comparison with this view, Siamagka and Balabanis (2015) opined that
ethnocentric consumers believe that accepting foreign product is inappropriate and even
immoral. Moreover, such marketing concept leads to nationalistic evaluation of products and
services from the foreign countries. In the context of growing internationalization of products
and services, consumer ethnocentrism plays a significant role in global pace. The loyalty of
ethnocentric consumers towards domestic products makes them reluctant to accept the foreign
products.
The previous studies have demonstrated that consumers always perceive the products of
developing countries to have lower qualities as compared to developed countries. In contrast to
this view, Fernández-Ferrín et al. (2015) opined that increasing off-shore manufacturing in
developing countries may alter perception for low product quality. While considering the
products and service of the developing country China, it has been found that Chinese products
are always perceived to have lower quality in comparison with the products from developed
country like USA. As per Balabanis and Siamagka (2017), ethnocentrism gives the consumers a
feeling of belongingness and guides them towards purchasing more domestic product and

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avoiding foreign products. Moreover, such consumers can reject the foreign products based on
their individual level personality system or group culture of their own country.
4.0 Concept of Brand Attitude and Purchase Intension
Brand attitude is the positive or negative association of the customers, which they
experience with regards to a particular brand. According to Park, Jeon and Sullivan (2015),
brand attitude is the state of mind of the consumers, which enables the consumers towards a
specific brand through filter. Purchasing intension is the willingness of the customers towards
buying certain products and services. Positive brand attitude encourage leads to increasing
purchasing intension of the customers for a specific product. On the other hand, Keng et al.
(2016) opined that high quality attributes of certain product develop positive brand attitude of the
customers, which act as stimulus for them towards their purchasing intension. The aspiration
value and recommendation from reliable sources play an important role in building consumer
purchasing decision. Furthermore, Jung and Seock (2016) opined that emotional value associated
with a particular brand is extremely important for fostering positive brand attitude influencing
consumer purchasing intension.
Several previous research studies have explored the relationship between the brand
attitude and consumer purchasing intension. Marketing specialist should have clear
understanding regarding the external factors that influence the purchasing intension of the
consumers. As per Gustin and Ha (2014), in COO effect, the products from developed countries
are more influential on consumer purchasing intension because of the positive emotional values
associated with the developed countries. However, Patel, Gadhavi and Shukla (2017) opined that
the negative emotional values of ethnocentric consumers associated with the foreign products
make them unwilling to purchase those foreign products.

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5.0 Foreign Product Knowledge and Brand Attitude
Consumer knowledge is the multidimensional construction, which forms various types of
product related experience of the consumers. Various dimensions of consumer knowledge have
different impact on the product evaluation and consumer purchasing intension. According to
Bartsch, Riefler and Diamantopoulos (2016), foreign product knowledge is the cognitive proxy
of the consumer experience related to attribute of the foreign products like product attribute,
product presentation, product choice rules and others. During the evaluation of a foreign product,
the object product knowledge and familiarity together influence on the COO cue. Moreover, the
knowledge of COO has huge impact on the attitude of the consumers towards the foreign
products. On the other hand, Balabanis and Diamantopoulos (2016) opined that the more
consumers are available with the product knowledge of foreign products, the more they will be
willing to purchase such foreign products. Hence, huge product knowledge can even influence
the purchasing intension of ethnocentric consumers towards purchasing the foreign products.
Majority of the studies have suggested that the image a particular country has huge
influence on the evaluation of the foreign products. However, in contradiction with this view,
Davvetas, Sichtmann and Diamantopoulos (2015) argued that the image of country influences
the consumers’ rating on only certain attributes of the product and not the overall product
evaluation. The previous researchers have also heighted some positive relation between the
product quality and the economic development of COO for shaping the purchasing intension of
the customers. Brands, which do not have adequate level of brand COO knowledge, are more
prone to speculation and misinformation in the market place.

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6.0 Face Saving and Group Conformity and Consumer Purchasing Intension
Face saving and group conformity have significant impact on the attitude and behavior of
the consumers. However, Wei and Jung (2017) argued out that attitude is better predictor of the
consumers’ behavioral intension that face saving and group conformity. Face saving is the
position of an individual in the social system of that individual. On the other hand, group
conformity is a kind of social pressure, which forces the individuals towards complying with the
group norms irrespective of their own ideas. Quintal et al. (2016) stated that in group conformity,
consumers are more likely to like and dislike the products, which are actually accepted and
rejected by their social group.
7.0 Perceived Product Quality and Product Attitude
Perceived product quality is the perception of the customers for the overall quality of
certain product. Feldmann and Hamm (2015) pointed out that perceived product quality is the
subjective evaluation of certain product. It is actually identified by the customer’s own judgment
and varies from one customer to other. On the other hand, Rubio, Oubiña and Villaseñor (2014)
opined that perceived quality is built upon on the information, which are gathered by the
customers upon the attributes of the products. Moreover, the attitude of the consumers towards
certain product is built on the basis of their evaluation of that product. Product attitude is the
conscious evaluation of consumer emotion on certain product. Product attitude is shaped on the
basis of customer evaluation on the factors like quality, convenience, performance, availability
and affordability. Good attitude of customers towards certain product makes the customers more
likely to purchase a specific product. Positive product attitude attracts special attention of the
customers towards a specific product or service. Frank et al. (2014) opined that consumers
always tend to view negative attributes as more diagnostic than positive or neutral. Positive

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product attitude fosters positive image on the mind of customer regarding certain product. Such
positive image encourages the customers towards purchasing that product.
8.0 Engel, Kollet, Blackwell (EKB) Model of Consumer Purchasing Intension
EKB model talks about consumer behavior in the form of 4 step consumer decision
making process. It is a good description of consumer’s information seeking and evaluation
process of the product or service. According to Osei and Abenyin (2016), in information
processing system, consumers are usually exposed to various stimuli and the accompanying
information related to certain product. The consumers are more likely to gather information from
the television, newspaper and online channels. The attention of the consumers determines the
type of stimuli they will focus upon. After that, the customers interpret and comprehend the
information by taking it in short term memory and retain in by transferring it in long term
memory. On the other hand, Lo, Lin and Hsu (2016) opined that in Central Control Unit, the
consumers evaluate the alternative product in the market based upon the stored information in
memory and past experience. General and specific attitude also influence the purchasing decision
of the customers. Moreover, COO effects often shape the attitude of the customers towards
certain product or service. The customers are more likely to purchase products from developed
countries rather than developing countries. The personality traits of the customers also influence
their responds to various alternatives. In this extent, the ethnocentric customers are more likely to
prefer their domestic products and dislike foreign products.
As per Li, Jiang and Wu (2014), the decision process of the customers is triggered at any
time during information processing. It is triggered in the form of problem recognition, internal
search and evaluation, external search and evaluation, purchase process and decision outcomes.
On the other hand, Carrington, Neville and Whitwell (2014) opined that external influences are

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always influential on the purchasing intension of the customers. The external factors like family,
income, culture, social class, physical situation are extremely influential on the purchasing
decision of the customers (Alshammari, Williams and Morgan 2017). The customers from
developing countries are less likely to accept the foreign products. Furthermore, the ethnocentric
customers are more likely to reject the foreign products and accept the domestic products.
Figure 1: Engel, Kollet, Blackwell (EKB) Model
(Source: Ducrot et al. 2016)
9.0 Motivation-Need Theory of Consumer Purchasing Intension
Motivation need theory describes the psychological needs of the customers throughout
their purchasing decision. The first need of this model is psychological need, where markets need
to fulfill their basic needs like air, water and food. According to Nwankwo, Hamelin and Khaled

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(2014), the safety needs of consumers are raised just after the fulfillment of their basic needs.
Moreover, in such need, customers are more likely to seek security for their life and health in the
products, which they are thinking of purchasing. Hence, most of the car and mobile companies
are more likely to provide insurance for purchasing the products. On the other hand, Lu, Fan and
Zhou (2016) opined that in love and belongingness need, the customers are more likely to feel
familiar and intimate with the brand, which they are looking for to purchase. Hence, most of the
reputed organizations build brand community from social media channels, which gives
customers a feeling of belongingness. Such strategy is also effective for the global marketers in
convincing the ethnocentric customers towards accepting the foreign products.
According to Alavi et al. (2016), the esteem need is associated with the feeling of
customers, where they want to be respected by the offerings of the marketers. Moreover, in order
to fulfill this need, the customers are more likely to accept the luxurious product offerings of the
customers. COO effect is highly influential in this phase, where the customers are more likely to
accept the luxurious product offerings from the developed countries. Furthermore, Chang, Dong
and Sun (2014) stated that marketers can fulfill the self-actualization need of the customers
through effective promotional message. Moreover, effective promotional message can fulfill the
full potential needs of the customers. For example, the promotional slogan of Nike “Just do it” is
a motivational statement for the customers towards fulfilling their self-actualization needs (Guo
and Zhou 2017).