The Dual Nature of Country-Of-Origin Effects - a Study of Australian Consumers’ Evaluations

Abstract

This study examines the dual effect of country-of-origin (in terms of the country of source or manufacture and country of brand) on Australian consumer evaluations of uni-national and bi-national products. The product selected for this study was an apparel item, a shirt, which can be described as a relatively low involvement product category. The country of manufacture was found to have a dominant influence on product evaluations, suggesting that product quality perceptions generated by the brand do not compensate for the effect on image when production is sourced in less developed countries. Strategic implications are discussed.