Information search and efficiency of consumer choices of new cars

Abstract

The country‐of‐origin (CO) literature has traditionally focused on consumer product evaluations which are presumed to occur during the evaluation of alternative stages of the consumer buying decision process, where knowledge about product attribute information is either provided or assumed. Purchase behaviour has also mostly been measured by purchase intention. Examines the CO effects by incorporating the amount of prepurchase information search and the post‐purchase efficiency of choice measured by the amount of loss buyers incur for not choosing the same or higher quality car at a lower price. Shows that while CO did not affect the amount of pre‐purchase search, it had a significant impact on the efficiency of consumer choices.