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To the CONSUMER BEHAVIOUR TRACK BEGINNER stage of dissertation EMAC Doctoral Colloquium, Athens, 2006The Impact of Consumer Ethnocentrism, Consumer Cosmopolitanism and National Identity on Country Image, Product Image and Consumers’ Purchase Intentions
Katharina Petra Roth Department of International Marketing University of Vienna Brünnerstr. 72, A-1210 Vienna Email: katharina.roth@univie.ac.at Tel (Fax): +43-1-4277-38040 (38034)
Keywords: Country Image, Product Image, Consumer Ethnocentrism, National Identity, Consumer Cosmopolitanism
Introduction Country-of-origin image (COI) is an important driver of consumers’ evaluation of products originating from different countries. Schooler (1965) is generally considered to be the first researcher to empirically study this effect. He found out that products, identical in every respect except for their country of origin, were evaluated differently by consumers. Since then, more than 700 articles have been published on the subject country-of-origin (Papadopoulos & Heslop, 2003). This body of research has shown that a product’s national origin acts as a signal of product quality (e.g. Han, 1989; Li & Wyer, 1994) and also affects perceived risk as well as likelihood of purchase (see Bilkey & Nes, 1982; Ozsomer & Cavusgil, 1991; Baughn & Yaprak, 1993; Lielefeld, 1993; Peterson & Jolibert, 1995; Verlegh & Steenkamp, 1999; Javalgi, Cutler, & Winans, 2001 and Papadopoulos & Heslop, 2003 for relevant reviews). Despite the relative importance of the concept of country image, potential antecedents of country image perceptions as well as their impact on product image and intention to purchase have not been researched so far (Keillor, Hult, Erffmeyer, & Babakus, 1996; Balabanis, Mueller, & Melewar, 2002). Indeed, in a recent meta-analysis of current COI research, Papadopoulos and Heslop (2003, p. 424) point out that “research into the antecedents and influences of national image formation remains virtually non-existent”.