Department of

International Marketing

The Impact of Consumer Ethnocentrism,

Cosmopolitanism and National Identity on
Country Image, Product Image
and Consumers’ Purchase Intentions

19TH EMAC DOCTORAL COLLOQUIUM

Athens, Greece, MAY 21-23, 2006

Katharina Roth
Department of International Marketing
University of Vienna

Katharina Roth 1
 Agenda Department of
International Marketing

1. Background
Background

2. Specific Aims

3. Conceptual Model
3.1 Country Image

3.2 Antecedents of Country Image

3.3 Outcomes of Country Image

3.4 Moderating Factors

3.5 Control Variables

4. Contribution

Katharina Roth 2
 1. Background – Literature Gap Department of
International Marketing

Author Statement
Papadopoulos “research into the antecedents and influences of national image
and Heslop
(2003), p. 424 formation remains virtually non-existent”

Knight and “despite hundreds of studies on the COI effect, little is known about
Calantone the cognitive processing that occurs during COI-based product
(2000), p. 128 evaluations”

Verlegh and “it may be valuable to design studies in which the cognitive, affective
Steenkamp and normative influences of country of origin are explicitly modeled
(1999), p. 539 and their (possibly contradictory) influences are disentangled.”

Despite the relative importance of the concept of country image, the factors underlying
consumers’ formation of country image perceptions as well as their impact on product
image and intention to purchase are not well understood

Katharina Roth 3
 2. Specific Aims Department of
International Marketing

The aim of the proposed study is three-fold:

1. Investigate potential key antecedents of country image, namely
(a) consumer ethnocentrism
(b) national identity
(c) cosmopolitanism
2. Develop and test a comprehensive scale for the measurement of
country image
3. Assess impact on potential outcomes of country image (i.e. its
impact on product image as well as on purchase intentions)

Katharina Roth 4
 3. Conceptual Model Department of
International Marketing

Moderating Factors
• Consumer Knowledge
(4)
• Purchase Involvement
(2) (1)
Antecedents of Country Image
Country Image (3)
cognitive
Outcomes of Country Image
Ethnocentrism Foreign
affective Intention to
Product
Buy Foreign
Image
Products
(i.e. Beliefs)
conative
National Identity

Cosmopolitanism Control Variables

consumer
demographics
(5)

Katharina Roth 5
 3.1 Country Image - Definition Department of
International Marketing

Illustrative definitions of (pure) Country Image

Bannister and “generalised images, created by variables such as representative pro-

Saunders, 1978, p. ducts, economic and political maturity, historical events and relationships,
562 traditions, industrialisation and the degree of technological virtuosity”
Dichtl, Beeskow,
“The national image is initially formed by stereotypical beliefs about the
and Puls, 1983, p.
225
members of a particular nation.”

“Accordingly, country image was defined as the total of all descriptive,

Martin and Ero-glu,
inferential and informational beliefs one has about a particular
1993, p. 193
country.”
“the perception or impression that organizations and consumers have
Allred, Chakra-
about a country. This impression or perception of a country is based on
borty, and Miller,
1999, p. 36
the country’s economic condition, political structure, culture, conflict with
other countries, labor conditions, and stand on environmental issues.”

Synonyms for “Country Image” are: country perceptions, stereotypical beliefs,

general country attitude (GCA), and country evaluation

Katharina Roth 6
 3.1 Country Image - State of Research I Department of
International Marketing

PROBLEMS: Early studies on COI focused on consumers’ cognitive

perceptions about a country only

However, “country of origin is not merely a cognitive cue for product quality, but also
relates to emotions, identity, pride and autobiographical memories”
(Verlegh and Steenkamp, 1999, p. 523)

Country Image**

Cognition Affect Conation

consumers’ beliefs about
country’s symbolic and consumers’ desired
the country’s industrial,
emotional value to the interaction with the
technological as well as
political background consumer sourcing country

* e.g. Nagashima, 1970; 1977; Wang and Lamb, 1980; Martin and Eroglu, 1993
** e.g. Obermiller and Spangenberg, 1989; Papadopoulos, Heslop, and Beracs, 1989; Parameswaran and Pisharodi, 1994; Verlegh and Steenkamp, 1999; Laroche et al., 2005

Katharina Roth 7
 3.1 Country Image - State of Research II Department of
International Marketing

• From the 23 studies with a COI measure identified in my review, about two thirds
include cognitive measures only
• From the scales including all three facets, the majority* has used two items only to
measure the affective component of COI:
– “people are friendly and likeable”
– “people are trustworthy”
• Thus, cognitive measures prevail
• In several studies** that conceptually distinguish between cognitive, affective and
conative facets of COI, nevertheless mix them up in the operationalization stage
• Moreover such studies conceptualize COI according to the dated tripartite view of
attitude
• Newer studies show attitudes along a hierarchy of effects (e.g. Zinkhan and Fornell,
1989; Solomon, 2002), according to which (formative) beliefs result in subsequent
(affective) evaluations and behavioral outcomes/intentions
* i.e. Papadopoulos, Heslop, and Beracs 1990; Heslop and Papadopoulos 1993; Papadopoulos, Heslop, and IKON Research Group 2000; Heslop et al. 2004; Laroche, Papadopoulos,
Heslop, and Mourali 2005
** e.g. Papadopoulos, Heslop, and Beracs 1990; Heslop and Papadopoulos 1993; Häubl 1996; Laroche, Papadopoulos, Heslop, and Mourali 2005

Katharina Roth 8
 3.2 Antecedents of Country Image Department of
International Marketing

PROBLEMS: Extant country of origin research has focused on the role of COI as an independent
variable, i.e. as a potential predictor of consumers’ product evaluations and buying intentions

ONE KEY AIM OF THE PROPOSED RESEARCH: Identifying and studying the impact of potential
antecedent variables on the formation of country images (i.e. COI as a dependent variable)

Consumer Ethnocentrism
“beliefs held by [country] consumers about the appropriateness, indeed morality, of
purchasing foreign-made products.” (Shimp and Sharma (1987), p. 280)

National Identity
Potential “the set of meanings owned by a given culture that sets it apart from other cultures”
Antedents (Keillor et al. (1996), p. 58)

(Consumer) Cosmopolitanism
“The concept of cosmopolitanism was introduced by Merton (1957) and Gouldner (1957)
to refer to a tendency of people to orient themselves beyond their immediate social
system” (Yoon, Cannon and Yaprak, 1996, p. 211)
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 3.3 Outcomes of Country Image Department of
International Marketing

Example: Impact of COI on product beliefs and buying intentions (Laroche et al, 2005):

Country Beliefs

People Affect Country Image Product Beliefs

Desired Interaction

Purchase Intentions

• Also, several studies have shown that consumer ethnocentrism has a negative
influence on these two factors (Sharma, Shimp, and Shin, 1995; Netemeyer, Durvasula,
and Lichtenstein, 1991)
• One of the three central aims of the proposed research is therefore to explore the direct
and indirect impact of the antecedents of country image on
1. Product Image (= Beliefs)
2. Purchase Intentions
Katharina Roth 10
 3.4 Moderating Factors Department of
International Marketing

• Previous COI research has shown that the impact of country image on product
evaluations and purchase intentions varies along several contextual variables
• For the purpose of my research, two key factors that have consistently shown to
moderate the effect of country image have been selected:

• Knowledge about the country and its products ->

Consumer Knowledge moderating effect

e.g. Bilkey and Nes, 1982; Erickson, Johansson, and Chao, 1984;
Han, 1989; Heslop et al., 2004

• COI studies often use automobiles or other high-

Consumer Involvement involvement products as objects
• Informational cues may work differently ->
e.g. Bilkey and Nes, 1982; Batra, 1984; Laurent and Kapferer, consumers’ levels of involvement with the
1985; Park and Mittal, 1985; Solomon (2002); Arnauld, Price and
message and the centrality of the product area to
Zinkhan (2002)
the individual’s concerns

Katharina Roth 11
 3.5 Control Variables Department of
International Marketing

Various studies evaluating the country of origin effect (e.g. Sharma, Shimp, and Shin,
1995; Balabanis et al., 2001) have found that certain consumer demographics
significantly affect domestic and foreign product acceptance:

Foreign Product
Evaluation

Age
YOUNG: + e.g. Schooler and Sunoo, 1969; Schooler, 1971; Wall and
OLD: - Heslop, 1986; Han, 1988a

Females:
FEMALE: - • more conservative, less individualistic and more patriotic
Gender (Han, 1988b; Howard, 1989; Balabanis et al., 2001) and
MALE: + • tend to evaluate foreign products less favorable than
domestic ones (Baughn and Yaprak, 1993)

Education
HIGHER: + e.g. Anderson and Cunningham, 1972; Wang, 1978; Wall
LOWER: - and Heslop, 1986

HIGHER: +
Income e.g. Wang, 1978; Wall and Heslop, 1986
LOWER: -
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 4. Contribution - Summary Department of
International Marketing

Theoretical Contribution
• Investigation of potential key antecedents of country image
• Link such antecedents to country image, product image and purchase intentions
• Identify distinct impact of cognitive, affective and conative aspects of COI on outcome
variables
• Examine moderating effects of consumer knowledge and purchase involvement on
product image and purchase intentions

Methodological Contribution
• Development of a comprehensive measure of country image
• Validate the new cosmopolitanism scale by Riefler and Diamantopoulos (2005)

Practical Contribution
• Provide empirically based recommendations of „Do‘s“ and „Don‘ts“ of
highlighting/suppressing COO information
• Help companies and public officials to understand how country images are formed

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 Department of
International Marketing

Thank you for your attention!

Questions?

Katharina Roth 14