f - hh.diva-portal.org1444961/FULLTEXT02.pdf · Page 4 (44 ) 1 Problematization and Introduction...

Master Thesis

HALMSTAD

UNIVERSITY

Master's Programme in Strategic Entrepreneurship forInternational Growth, 60 credits

COUNTRY OF ORIGIN IMAGE APPEALSAND THE PURCHASE PROPENSITY OFCONSUMERS

An experimental study

International Marketing, 15 credits

Halmstad 2020-06-26

Davi Rogerio Waltrick

School of Business and Engineering

Master’s of International Marketing

Halmstad University • PO Box 823 • SE-301 18 Halmstad • Sweden

Phone +46 35 16 71 00 • [email protected] • Org. nr. 202100-3203

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COUNTRY OF ORIGIN IMAGE APPEALS AND THE

PURCHASE PROPENSITY OF CONSUMERS

An experimental study

Dissertation in International Marketing, 60 higher education credits (ECTS)

Author: Davi Rogerio Waltrick.

Supervisor: Ulf Aagerup.

Examiner: Klaus Solberg Söilen.

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ABSTRACT

The purpose of this paper is to investigate how dimensions of Country of Origin Image

(COI) can impact the purchase propensity of consumers. Drawing on the literature of

international marketing, consumer behaviour, and social psychology, an experiment with

a three-product category (experiential, functional, and symbolic) was designed to analyse

purchase propensity of Swedish consumers for Brazilian products. To collect the data,

Swedish consumers divided into three groups were part of the experiment. Each group had

contact with one product category having five advertisements with different appeals,

answering a survey sent via e-mail. Overall, COI appeals was found to have a higher

purchase propensity benefit than no COI. Evidence was found that dimensions have

different purchase propensity benefit among the product categories. The findings offer

evidence that in a cultural distance setting, COI appeals should be implemented for the

increase of purchase propensity, with adaptation based on context.

Key words: Country of origin image (COI), purchase intent, experiment, advertisement

appeals.

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Table of Contents

1 Problematization and Introduction ......................................................................................... 4

2 Theoretical Background .............................................................................................................. 6

2.1 Country of Origin Image ........................................................................................................ 6

2.1.1 Country of Origin Image as a competitive advantage for the firm ...................... 10

2.2 Context of use for products and consumers’ self-image congruity ............................. 13

2.3 Country of Origin and the Country of Destination ......................................................... 15

2.4 Hypothesis development ...................................................................................................... 16

3 Methodology .................................................................................................................................. 19

3.1 Delineating the study ............................................................................................................ 19

3.2 Research Context and design .............................................................................................. 21

3.3 Collection and analyse of data ............................................................................................ 23

3.4 Pre-test ..................................................................................................................................... 23

3.5 Experiment .............................................................................................................................. 28

4 Analyses and Discussion ............................................................................................................ 33

5 Conclusion ..................................................................................................................................... 36

6 Reference List ............................................................................................................................... 38

7 Appendix ........................................................................................................................................ 42

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1 Problematization and Introduction

Global brands are successful expressions of significance and experience delivery,

valued by consumers worldwide (J. B. E. M. Steenkamp, Batra, & Alden, 2003). To be

global is to have an international presence in markets distinct from each other and complex

in their own way, facing firms with the challenge of communicating with consumers in

possession of specific behaviours based on factors such as cultural heritage and

international exposure (Halkias, Davvetas, & Diamantopoulos, 2016).

A brand has functional qualities (Coelho, Bairrada, & de Matos Coelho, 2019), and

the perception of consumers with regards to value will be mediated by brand image

(Diamantopoulos, Schlegelmilch, & Palihawadana, 2011) and brand experience (Payne,

Storbacka, Frow, & Knox, 2009). Adaptation is often needed, in levels depending on the

complexity of the market to be accessed and whether consumers prefer to support local

businesses. Therefore, in this case adaptation would be irrespective of the attributes

displayed by products sold all over the world, such as standardized quality (Winit, Gregory,

Cleveland, & Verlegh, 2014).

To address cultural diversity showcased by consumers throughout markets, firms

will need specific capabilities. Such capabilities are important for a firm to successfully

manage product information and increase consumer’s purchase propensity. Consumer

purchase decisions involves several factors, amongst them for foreign products is Country

of Origin (Costa, Carneiro, & Goldszmidt, 2016). Furthermore, Country of Origin also

plays a major role in determining consumer’s purchase behaviours towards domestic

products (Jibril et al., 2020).

The international marketplace has gained momentum with globalization (Alden,

Steenkamp, & Batra, 2006). The exposure of firms to a variety of contexts puts into

perspective how important is the topic diversity. Firms have been trying to narrow the gap

between offer and customer expectations in terms of brand information, using contexts and

ideas of experience from the home country towards the country of destination (Sharma,

Tam, & Wu, 2018).

The dynamism between differences and similarities among market contexts is such

a big part of the international marketplace that it has served as a motivation for several

authors such as Akaka, Vargo, and Lusch (2013). The authors have developed a framework

to enlighten the social and economic factors of the global marketplace, aiming to provide

international marketing managers with a tool to better comprehend this business scenario.

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A way for firms to ease their way through these complexities that are apparent on

the international marketplace may lie within the multitude of resources they possess. Some

of these resources are used to support the success of communication strategies towards

consumers, enhancing the mix of marketing with more delineated proposals of value,

context and meaning. Among these resources is Country of Origin Image (COI), a

communication tool that is part of the total image of a product (Laroche, Papadopoulos,

Heslop, & Mourali, 2005).

Firms have enhanced their brands with COI for decades with the support from

academia’s research, such as by understanding the real effects of country of origin on

imported and local products, to determine whether consumers may have preferences

(Papadopoulos, Heslop, & Bamossy, 1990). More recently, Lu, Heslop, Thomas, and Kwan

(2016) examined the evolution of Country of Origin Image research, as well as creating

suggestions for future studies.

The evolution of the construct done by academia has brought up new ideas about

its potential, properly guiding marketing managers to use key information on branding so

to create an alignment between what the customers expect and what they experience,

resulting in a successful relationship. Such evolution has, among many results, widened

the brand management perspective towards country of origin effect on consumers’

purchase intentions (Jibril et al., 2020).

Our reasoning for the development of this thesis is that there is still research to be

done on understanding the purchase propensity of consumers reacting to COI appeals.

Globalisation has changed the consumer behaviour with regards to identity, culture, and

disposition of buying something (Cleveland, Rojas-Méndez, Laroche, & Papadopoulos,

2016). In the endeavour of firms building a marketing communication, the origin of a

product matters for trying to build brand value (Suter, De Moura Engracia Giraldi, et al.,

2018), and for customer’s product identification (Jibril et al., 2020). In that sense, it has

been found that trust has a mediation effect on the country of origin, affecting the purchase

intentions of consumers as a matter of quality validation (Jiménez & Martín, 2014).

Recent articles have opened new ventures for COI studies, among them is the article

written by Suter, Borini, Floriani, da Silva, and Polo (2018) addressing the use of COI as

a strategic resource for the firm to build competitive advantages. The authors created a

scale to measure the dimensions of COI within the firm’s context, while also testing this

scale with managers and validating it as a resourceful mechanism for firms to better

develop their branding strategy with the use of COI.

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Among the gaps for further developments Suter, Borini, et al. (2018) have

suggested to study the operation of firms while carrying on COI communication. More

specifically, to analyse the differences in performance within cultural settings. This

dissertation aims to address this gap by further testing the scale, in order to provide new

theoretical and managerial implications regarding the use of COI and its dimensions.

Therefore, within this paper the author proposes to test the scale empirically with

consumers. For each dimension, one will focus on acquiring information on how

product/country fit combined with home versus foreign market settings may affect the

purchase propensity of the consumer.

This dissertation is also supported through the recommendations given by Costa et

al. (2016), where the authors are suggesting future studies to be conducted regarding effects

of country image over different segments and products. Also, we support our work on

recommendations of Suter, De Moura Engracia Giraldi, et al. (2018) with regards to

working with the distance between the country of origin and the country of destination

moderating the use of country image appeals.

2 Theoretical Background

2.1 Country of Origin Image

People tend to assess stereotyped images about a country, “both foreign countries

and their own, and these images are used as information in evaluating products of various

origins” (Papadopoulos et al., 1990, p. 284). Countries have attributes, and such

attributions work as guidance for people to get an understanding about something, a

reference for a belief depending on the person’s ideals and preferences (Kotler & Gertner,

2002). Depending on the functional and emotional appeals of a brand, consumers can be

triggered to evaluate a product in a specific manner, and the efficiency of such trigger will

depend on how well articulated the advertisement and the underlying country stereotypes

are (Herz & Diamantopoulos, 2013).

In today’s global context, the differences are as varied as the similarities between

people and their consumer behaviour. Multiculturalism is a reason why global

communication for brands has become dynamic towards consumers (Kipnis, Broderick, &

Demangeot, 2014). Brands have incorporated what a country represent through strategic

communication called Country of Origin Image (COI) regarded as having a direct influence

on brand attitude, and an indirect influence on purchase intention according to Fan (2019).

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Such incorporation of country appeals can be done in product categories through

advertisement, product packaging, and promotional displays according to Papadopoulos et

al. (2011).

A country can be the source of strategic communication when firms are attempting

to build their brand internationally (Kotler & Gertner, 2002). A key finding has been

consumers to be more willing to buy products from industrialized nations as a result of

country image (Kotler & Gertner, 2002). Such finding underlines the positive views

consumers have about products exported from developed countries. For example, German

cars, Japanese electronics, and Italian fashion are well known national industries. People

from all over the world welcome the capabilities that the mentioned countries possess,

delivered by their top companies in the form of product experiences and product value. To

this extent, according to Kotler and Gertner (2002) a solid body of research has supported

the impact of country of origin on consumers’ positive attitude towards foreign products.

Even though people tend to prefer products from developed countries, known by

their competitive advantages, COI can be well suited for companies coming from

developing countries as well. According to Papadopoulos and Heslop (1993) among the

positive global phenomena benefiting the use of countries’ image is the globalisation. The

developments in global media, as well as in other technologies can be utilised to promote

the origin of a brand. This is because of an increased country exposure boosted by such

technologies, consequently a greater awareness of consumers towards the presence of

foreign products (Kleppe, Iversen, & Stensaker, 2002).

In the other hand, the relationship between brands and customers has become

difficult to manage, as well as to maintain due to this relationship consisting “of

comparable and competitive offerings of products and services” (Chiang & Yang, 2018).

Therefore, firms need a new approach towards brand communication, one that can provide

new mechanisms to meet the expectations of consumers, and by doing so increasing

purchase propensity.

The approach people might have with analysing a product depends on the

experience with the brand priory. Through country image consideration, Han (1989)

developed two functions potentially influential on people's decision making called the halo

and summary views. Regarding Halo effect, it’s a product evaluation done by consumers

based on country image due to a lack of capability to detect the quality of a product before

purchase (Han, 1989). In contrast, summary approach is based on multiple experiences

with products from a country, creating high order appeals that elevates the information

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towards high stem. (Han, 1989). Furthermore, extrinsic cues gain momentum in the eyes

of consumers when they find it hard to be objective while assessing a product’s quality

(Costa et al., 2016).

The strategic advantage for brands incorporating a country’s image then is

competitiveness. Countries’ information can serve positively to brands, due to the prior

relationship that consumers have had with it, or opinions they may hold (Kleppe et al.,

2002). Countries have managed to develop an image of superiority at something based on

national branding, displaying skills valued by consumers nationally and internationally.

Contributing to that statement Kotler & Gertner (2002) said that “nations compete with

other nations and strive to devise sources of competitive advantage”.

Competition motivates countries towards better understanding their capacities and

how to properly manage the advantages they possess. Firms can advertise these advantages

through Country of Origin Image communication. The process is difficult, it “must involve

government, citizens and businesses, all with a shared vision. It requires setting and

delivering the incentives and managing the factors that might affect place buyers’

decisions” (Kotler and Gertner, 2002, p. 254). The image creating moment as a knowledge

structure for consumers happens as in the figure 1:

Figure 1

The image creating moment, a consumer’s cognitive outcome

Note. Adapted from “Country images in marketing strategies: Conceptual issues and an empirical Asian

illustration”, by I. A. Kleppe, N. M. Iversen and I. G. Stensaker, 2002, theoretical section, Figure 1.

(https://doi.org/10.1057/palgrave.bm.2540102).

Target Market

Characteristics

- Cultural (value, norms,

symbols).

- Psychologic and

sociographic (patriotism,

ethnocentrism, animosity)

- Consumer

needs/preferences

(universal vs unique

needs)

Marketing

Mix

Product Country Image

Image Creating Moment

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Therefore, image creating moment is a consumer cognitive outcome delivered by

the mix of marketing and reinforced by the country image, a calculated effort by firms to

attract and retain consumers’ attention. The mix also includes the characteristics most

welcomed by consumers. According to Kleppe et al. (2002), these characteristics are

design, presentation in the stores, and skills of the sellers. The purpose is to deliver an

alignment between the consumers’ expectations and the products’ attributes.

Research has been done on understanding the magnitude of the effect of COI in

different product classes (Costa et al., 2016, p. 1067). According to Roth and

Diamantopoulos (2009), country of origin image is a multidimensional construct, having

the dimensions different magnitude of effect on consumer’s evaluation and purchase

intention of products. Furthermore, to employ stereotyped values from the home country

in a manner to boost the brand image even if the country has no strong image abroad works

for enhancing the brand evaluation (Magnusson, Westjohn, & Sirianni, 2019). Such

enhancement works through “insulating or circumventing problems associated with an

unfavourable country image” (Magnusson et al., 2019, p. 2).

Competition is a major motivator for the use of image attributions from the country

of origin according to Papadopoulos (2004). The place of origin has become a major asset

for companies to develop strategic communication placing on the brand the advantages of

being from a specific country. In terms of efficacy, such advantages will depend on factors

like the level of globalization of a country (Zhu, Freeman, & Cavusgil, 2018), therefore the

level of cosmopolitanism of consumers and their touch with international standards of

service quality.

The research pushed by the era of globalization on domestic versus foreign goods

have demonstrated the associations countries and companies have been building.

According to Papadopoulos (2004, p. 38) “the nature and results of such campaigns, along

with the broader issues of buyer views about domestic versus foreign goods and consumer

ethnocentrism, have been discussed at length by many researchers”. More recently, as a

country of origin effect, favouritism towards domestic versus foreign brands have being

contrasted by different theoretical explanations, with xenocentrism as a consistent

prediction for consumer preference for both domestic and foreign goods (Balabanis,

Stathopoulou, & Qiao, 2019).

With a considerable development about the preferences of consumers and how

engaging people are towards one’s culture, countries were led to build upon the reputation

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of their images to attract tourists, increase business partnerships, attract investments, retain

assets, especially high valuable people (Papadopoulos, 2004). In these mixes of country

and company image reinforcement, both can benefit from positive correlations between

each other, communicating success stories worldwide, increasing viable outcomes for

business opportunities (Roth & Diamantopoulos, 2009).

The developments of marketing communication and research on COI broad a new

range of attributes to the country image, affective and cognitive components (Maher &

Carter, 2011). Among the necessary range of knowledge, firms must understand the

decision-making process of consumers for branding and communication forms (Jibril et

al., 2020).

As stated previously, country image has been considered a key asset in the strategic

communication mix of firms, both nationally and internationally according to Laroche et

al., (2005). Following, we shall discuss a recent development of Country of Origin Image

research that considers COI to be a viable source of competitive advantage for the firm.

2.1.1 Country of Origin Image as a competitive advantage for the firm

Recently, the developments of Country of Origin Image as a construct have being

researched (Lu et al., 2016). Accordingly, based on the data there has been a decline in the

“appeal of Country Image research” as a result of more of the same. Therefore, the field

was in deep need of new sayings.

Following such quest for firms to successfully achieve brand performance

enhanced by Country of Origin Image, recent research has been done to scientifically

understand the origin of a brand as a strategic resource, building competitiveness upon such

an advantage to communicate value, achieve customer preference, and increase consumers’

purchase intentions. (Costa et al., 2016; Halkias et al., 2016; Chiang & Yang, 2018; Suter

et al., 2018).

While preparing to expand overseas, is important for a firm to have enough

knowledge about the image that the country of origin has on the market of destination. To

be positively perceived, the information communicated must be precise regarding what the

potential consumers have considered as important when deciding to buy a product (Hussein

& Hassan, 2018). For example, countries like the United States and Japan are well known

for their advanced industry, having both solid investments in research and development.

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Positive stereotype images about a country affects consumers’ interest towards

products from that country and their willingness to buy (Karoui & Khemakhem, 2019).

Markets well advanced, offering to consumers worldwide trust through a competitive

capacity to deliver results are known by their top corporations. International marketing

managers properly use quality as an asset to increase the brand’s competitiveness, well

positioning it while elevating the brand’s performance globally. (Hussein & Hassan, 2018).

Consumer’s affinity towards globality involves culture, lifestyle and social

development (Nes, Yelkur, & Silkoset, 2014). A global mindset then contributes to

people’s social identity. Affinity has a positive effect on people’s willingness to buy and is

conceptualised as a two-dimensional construct, sympathy and positiveness towards the

country of origin (Oberecker & Diamantopoulos, 2011). Such topic of study motivated Nes

et al. (2014), improving the construct of affinity by connecting it with a four-dimensional

rationale: Culture, population and lifestyle, music, and entertainment.

The impact of country of origin over people’s perceptions regarding brand image

has a major influence over brand value and perceived attributes, having such a topic

received over the course of the last decade important contribution to sustain the rationale

(Diamantopoulos et al., 2011; Chen, Su, & Lin, 2011; Costa et al., 2016; Suh, Hur, &

Davies, 2016). Therefore, the asset Country of Origin Image has been significant to firms

in international business, more specifically in increase of purchase intentions (Halkias et

al., 2016).

Consumers’ familiarity with a brand has strategic importance for international

marketers according to Türkel, Uzunoğlu, Kaplan and Vural (2016). The level of

familiarity will be mediated by the previous knowledge consumers possess about the

brand’s attributes, among them perceived quality and prestige being directly associated

with country of origin.

An approach towards COI has been to use it as a keen resource for the firm’s

strategy. Suter et al., (2018) have studied the subject as a potentially strong asset for

achieving competitive advantage, validating such an understanding with a scale of twelve

items and four dimensions. The dimensions are presented in the figure 2.

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Figure 2

Dimensions of Country of Origin Image

Note. Adapted from “Country-of-origin image (COI) as a country-specific advantage (CSA): Scale

development and validation of COI as a resource within the firm perspective”, by M. B. Suter, F. M.

Borini, D. E. Floriani, D da Silva, E. Polo, 2018, Method section, Table 1.

(https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jbusres.2017.11.006).

Strategic resource is every available asset amongst the internal capabilities of a

firm. Resources can be reorganized as an answer to market changes, to successfully take

advantage of market opportunities, as well as to neutralize threats. Firms change the use of

resources to develop competitive advantage or sustain current ones. (Barney, 1991).

Country of Origin Image therefore contributes to branding as a powerful resource

for the firm (Suter et al., 2018). COI can be used to disseminate the brand’s global image

across markets, a resource that is shaped according to each market reality. Managers of

international marketing must be prepared to use every resource available to develop

competitive advantage. When the country image is favourable towards purchase

propensity, by for example being relevant for consumer quality assessment of a particular

class of products, the information must be visible (Costa et al., 2016).

According to findings of Costa et al. (2016, p. 1072), country image and product

classes have an interaction effect that determines the effect of country of origin image on

product evaluation. Such interaction means certain aspects of COI (dimensions) are

COUNTRY OF ORIGIN IMAGE

Textual and visual elements

-product packaging -product design -association with

language, expressions, etc.

-Colours or typical sceneries of the country of the

brand

Natural Resources

-Raw material typical of the

country of origin in the production

process -Capacity to transform

commodities into value added

product

Senses -Music in the sales

atmosphere -Product’s design

-Events -Partnerships

Cultural Resources

-Positive cultural myths

-Beliefs -Attitudes

-Aspirations -Customs -Norms

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expected to affect more the evaluation process of consumers (Costa et al., 2016), which is

precisely what is aimed to further test with this dissertation.

Following, we shall focus on context of use and product appeals. More specifically,

brand's advertisement congruence with the expectations of the end customer. Such topic is

of great importance for the understanding of how firms utilize consumer´s affective and

cognitive stimulus in advertisements, with the objective of increasing purchase propensity.

2.2 Context of use for products and consumers’ self-image congruity

In today’s global marketplace firms must deal with a magnitude of factors that

affect brand perception. When effective, the message of a brand will drive purchase

decision and will properly advertise user experience (D. A. Aaker & Joachimsthaler, 2000).

In terms of strategy, firms can choose to further strength the image of a brand

towards a new market by working to develop a new identity (Levi-Europe), by developing

endorsements (Obsession by Calvin Klein), or work with subbrands (Gillete Mach3) (D.

A. Aaker & Joachimsthaler, 2000). The benefits are vast; to leverage brand equity, to care

for the meaning and influence of a brand’s name, and to promote new offerings as

appealing (D. A. Aaker & Joachimsthaler, 2000). In sum, brands hold an image that entails

consumer appeals. Such image consists of functioning, experimental, or symbolic benefits

(Keller, 1993). The image has a critical role in the ability of a company to successfully

communicate value to customers (Payne, Frow, & Eggert, 2017).

Regarding the meaning incorporated in a brand, it becomes apparent through

associations with topics like the brand’s name, the perceived product attributes, the typical

projected setting when using the product (context of use), including typical users,

occasions, and origin perceptions, this term being coined as Country of Origin Image

(Iversen & Hem, 2011).

Furthermore, characteristics of brands in terms of meaning will signify which

segment of consumers should be the representatives of the brand. The intended meaning is

a representation of the brand’s personality appeals (sincerity, excitement, competence,

sophistication, and ruggedness) and when consumers can see a fit between brand and

themselves, the result will be consumer preference and usage (Aaker, 1997). The fact that

a match between the brand personality and the consumer’s self-image will result in higher

persuasion towards purchase propensity and customer satisfaction is well supported by

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academia. Such support demonstrates the benefits of the theory for brand managers, such

as by the work of C. Sweeney and Brandon (2006).

There are two types of consumers, the idealized one (Baker & Churchill, 1977) and

the real-world users (Aagerup, 2015). The idealized consumer is a representation of

attractiveness that motivates positive evaluation regarding the product being promoted

(Baker & Churchill, 1977). The idealized consumer is a persuasion intent, promoting the

perfect setting for product use, and human characteristics that match with the brand

meaning (Baker & Churchill, 1977). The real-world users can be defined as people who

may not necessarily fit the image of the ideal customer but will admire the visual aspect of

the brand. Also, such customer will embrace the meaning emanated by the brand, and

therefore will wish to be part of the lifestyle (Aagerup, 2015).

The ideal consumer, the real-world user, and brand personality are topics of interest

for marketers that are operating advertisements in multiple countries, it is a source of

knowledge that can be useful across different cultures. The symbolic meaning of a brand

is shaped by consumer appeals and the connotations promoting the context of use (Aaker,

1997). The context can be promoted with appeals from the country of origin, and such

appeals can work for promoting different industries, such as luxury products (Godey et al.,

2012). These are important for self-image congruity, that is the likeness of a consumer

comparing himself with the appeals of a brand, therefore important for understanding brand

purchase behaviour (Christodoulides and Veloutsou, 2009).

Another topic important for context and brand usage is usage imagery

(Christodoulides and Veloutsou, 2009). It signifies for a consumer the typical use of a brand

and what is considered an appropriate situation regarding such use (Biel, 1993).

Furthermore, usage imagery emphasises the situation in which the brand wants to be related

with, represented in the form of product usage (Biel, 1993).

Self-image congruity and usage imagery are both key on the quest for brands to

achieve consumer attraction. That is because the more people see themselves through the

lens of a brand, where values and experiences are identified and positively perceived,

higher purchase propensity can be achieved (Aagerup, 2015).

Therefore, in marketing communication when the brand is highlighting both the

context of use and brand usage appeals for a product line, it is placing the brand meaning

with associations that can promote brand awareness and purchase propensity towards the

target customers. With proper marketing efforts, firms can reach brand equity, that is the

incremental value of a brand name and what customers know about such brand, holding

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favourable associations with it in memory (Keller, 1993). As we’ve shown, branding can

be promoted with different mechanisms to display symbolic values. The brand’s origin

image can be an attribute to enhance customer awareness of product attributes and to

positively impact purchase propensity.

Following, the focus will be on an important topic for contextualizing the

meaningful differences in terms of culture between the country of origin and the country

of destination.

2.3 Social Context in the Country of Origin and in the Country of Destination

Culture is the main explanation for differences in consumer behaviour across

nations (Cleveland et al., 2016), and Hofstede is the father of cultural distance studies. The

author has developed a scheme of dimensions that can serve as a measurement of cultural

distance between countries. Depending on the mix of attributes, a country can be known to

be more open to international exposure. When studying cultural dimensions through

Hofstede’s work, the lens is the country instead of the individual. This means that a

characteristic that defines a country not necessarily is a description that matches every

citizen of that country; therefore, Hofstede’s cultural distance dimensions are a general

outlook. (Hofstede, 2011).

Furthermore, we don’t question the importance of having other frames of analyses

besides the country, such importance being stated by Craig and Douglas (2006). We agree

with the importance of local identities as stated by Cayla and Arnould (2008). Although

we say that for framing the dimensions of COI in a way to match the target customer’s

expectations, first to understand the social context of countries is important for proper

orientation. Subsequently, to be used the image of the home country as an advantage to the

firm as stated by Suter et al. (2018).

The dimensions of Hofstede are divided into six constructs: Power distance,

uncertainty avoidance, individualism, masculinity, long term vs short term orientation, and

indulgence vs restraint (Hofstede, 2011). Respectively related to human inequality, level

of stress regarding an unknown future, individuals’ integration into a primary group,

division of emotional roles between women and men, the focus of people’s efforts, and

gratification or control over human desires (Hofstede, 2001 p. 8).

Cultural distance is important for this thesis because it brings a vision about the

differences between countries in terms of social context (Beugelsdijk, Kostova, Kunst,

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Spadafora, & van Essen, 2018). More specifically, the importance for firms’

internationalization with regards to culture, political views, etc (Beugelsdijk et al., 2018).

Therefore, it can be said that such a knowledge is of great importance to marketing

managers operating advertisements towards new markets because culture impacts the

decision making of people. Buying behaviour is moderated by cultural factors, such as self-

identity, the ability to supress emotional decisions, and normative influences (Kacen &

Lee, 2002).

More and more brands are acquiring “a role as cultural forms in the international

marketplace, a way of interpreting and organizing the world” (Cayla & Arnould, 2008, p.

88). As symbolic forms, brands can be benefited when firms are willing to understand the

differences among social contexts, so to evolve branding in a way that can meet the needs

and desires of the target customers (Cayla & Arnould, 2008).

Hofstede Cultural Dimensions can provide a solid starting ground for firms to

understand the context of the country of destination, and the differences of such context

with the country of origin. Such approach will benefit the adaptation of the mix of

marketing (COI strategy included) to the reality of the target market.

2.4 Hypothesis development

We have understood the importance for brand effectiveness of a match between

brand communication and consumer’s expectations, generating as a result consumer

attraction and increase of purchase propensity. We’ve seen that a product has a series of

appeals that are meant to represent product experience and communication of values

(Payne et al., 2017) in a calculated effort to match the customer expectations (Aaker, 1997;

C. Sweeney and Brandon, 2006). If the result of the marketing communication is a match

between product attributes and consumer expectations, consumer satisfaction and purchase

intentions are achieved (D. A. Aaker & Joachimsthaler, 2000).

Brand managers have a series of tools to operate marketing communication with.

As shown in this dissertation, for international operations Country of Origin Image (COI)

is one of these tools (Kleppe et al., 2002; Roth & Diamantopoulos, 2009). COI works for

enhancing the brand’s image with appeals from the country of origin that can be positively

perceived by consumers as an indicator of product quality (Halkias et al., 2016), positive

brand reputation (Jiménez & Martín, 2014) and have increased their purchase propensity

(Hussein & Hassan, 2018). Among the line of studies regarding product image effectives,

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there is one that focus on COI as a resourceful mechanism for the firm. If properly used,

COI can provide competitive advantages to the firm. Such mechanism has dimensions

according to Suter, Borini et al. (2018), and the dimensions have different appeals that

should be properly managed, therefore adapting the use of such dimensions based on the

social context of the brand’s target market.

The study of context is also important for brand managers, because the context of

use for products changes with regards to culture, social standards of quality, social norms,

people’s values, beliefs, etc. Such changes in context means a need for change in the

advertisement appeals (Biel, 1993) that will be operationalized with brand usage appeals

and consumer’s self-image congruity (Christodoulides & Veloutsou, 2009) to attract the

target customers. Brand usage is promoted through product experience, and self-image

congruity is the consumer’s self-look and whether he perceives a fit between himself and

the use of a product (Christodoulides & Veloutsou, 2009).

With regards to culture, markets have distance between themselves (de Mooij &

Hofstede, 2010). Sometimes such distance is large, in other cases high proximity between

the country of destination and the country of origin can be perceived, with impact in

advertisement appeals (Zhou, Poon, & Wang, 2015), and preference formation between

global and local brands (Xie, Batra, & Peng, 2014). Such understanding about the

differences in social context with regards to culture is of great importance for an efficient

management of branding and advertisements appeals, so mistakes with promotion of both

customer experience and values aren’t committed. Mitigation of such mistakes have

become more determinant with the increase of global brands due to the globalization of

markets (J. B. Steenkamp, 2014).

We’ve shown that cultural distance dimensions of Hofstede can be a solid first step

to understand how the distance between the home country and the country of destination

looks like (Hofstede, 2011). Having the first lens of analyse towards the country can be an

efficient way of addressing to market differences and how to advertise the brand and the

products in a way to boost consumer attraction and purchase intentions.

Our theoretical support then have included theories from the following topics:

international marketing, consumer behaviour, and social psychology. Such mix of theories

was developed to create a solid theoretical support for the use of country image appeals.

Such appeals are divided into four dimensions according to Suter, Borini et. al (2018), and

we have followed such article’s approach with the goal of testing such dimensions on

consumers. Therefore, based on our theoretical support we present the following: As an

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overall effect of COI appeals on the increase of purchase propensity of Swedish consumers

for Brazilian product, we expect:

H1: Dimensions of COI to have higher benefit for the increase of purchase propensity than

no COI.

According to Kumar and Steenkamp (2013), culture means the descriptions of a

society’s customs, principles, rituals, and beliefs that people embraces and follows. Culture

has a role on peoples’ consumption choices towards self-expression (Kim & Sherman,

2007). It is a country specific advantage (Suter, Borini, et al., 2018), with impact on product

evaluation and purchase intention (Roth & Diamantopoulos, 2009). In consumer self-

expression, identity and affect towards a product are important for brand value (Xie et al.,

2014), and a match between brand identity expressiveness and consumer self-identity

increases consumer attraction and behavioural intentions towards the brand (Xie et al.,

2014).

Being culture part of a country’s image (Fetscherin, 2010), in a cultural distance

setting it can play a major role on how consumers overseas will assess a product depending

on their perception of the country of origin (Cuervo-Cazurra, 2011). Culture can provide a

brand with positive image (Suter, De Moura, et al., 2018), and for a symbolic product,

focused on experience and feeling (Aaagerup, 2015), a match between the country of

origin’s culture and the product image can add value to the product (Suter, De Moura, et

al., 2018), and provide internal meaning to consumers (Holbrook, 2005). Therefore, we

expect:

H1a: The cultural COI dimension will result in a significantly higher purchase intent for

the symbolic item.

The natural resources of a country can serve as a denominator of quality for a

brand’s product. For it to be successful will depend on the firm’s ability to translate

commodities into value added products (Suter, Borini, et al., 2018). If successful, a firm

can expend her brand’s reputation (Kumar & Steenkamp, 2013). The natural resources

dimension can translate the biodiversity of a country by using appeals from the natural

landscape, such as climate and geo-culture (Suter et al., 2017). Being natural resources of

a country, a positive cue perceived locally and internationally, it can be a major competitive

advantage for a brand (Suter, Borini, et al., 2018), providing experience from the country

of origin. We expect such dimension to work better with experiential products because

experiences are judged according to the context (Aagerup, 2015). Therefore:

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H1b: The natural resources COI dimension will result in significant higher purchase intent

for the experiential item.

Textual and visual elements from the country’s brand when well-articulated into

the product communication can be of great value addition (Samiee et at., 2005). For it to

be successful depends on the congruence between brand and country of origin associations

(Samiee, 2011), such as the country flag (Suter, Borini, et al., 2018). The strength of the

textual and visual elements dimension also lies on the endorsement of celebrities (Usunier,

2011) and the country idiom as a textual element (Suter, Borini, et al., 2018). Textual and

visual elements can be a cue for quality validation overseas with the made in stimuli (Roth

& Diamantopoulos, 2009) to tackle the barrier against the relatively unknown. As such, it

can provide major benefit for a functional product because such item has utilitarian value

(Aagerup, 2015). We expect:

H1c: Textual and visual elements COI dimension will result in significant higher purchase

intent for the functional item.

The senses dimension is used when is incorporated psychic oriented strategies to

promote the feeling and experience of brand’s genuinely and authenticity (D'Antone &

Merunka, 2015). Furthermore, to focus on emotional appeals is the resource of senses

dimension (Suter, Borini, et al., 2018). It has an important role on brand experience (Coelho

et al., 2019). Being an experiential product related to what a brand means and how does it

make you feel (Aagerup, 2016), then product experience is important for consumer’s

association with a brand. Therefore, we expect:

H1d: Senses COI dimension will result in significant higher purchase intent for the

experiential item.

3 Methodology

3.1 Delineating the study

With the aim of attending the need for methodological rigor, we here by explain

about the method of choice for this research. For properly reaching the objectives of this

dissertation, we’ve chosen quantitative method as the research approach, and experiment

as the statistical method. According to Seltman (2015) the base knowledge about statistical

analysis are models, meant to work as a tool for observation of characteristics. Furthermore,

Seltman (2015) defines experiment as a “theory of knowledge”. Experiment was originated

in psychology, subsequently bringing implications for many fields through empirical

observations.

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The methodology of choice is very well utilized among international business

research, amongst them the work of Costa et al. (2016), Aagerup and Scharf (2018), and

Magnusson et al. (2019). Therefore, experiment works well for the scientific field of

international marketing and consumer behaviour, being suitable for our quest to test on

consumers the scale of Suter et al. (2018) with regards to dimensions of COI.

We intend to confirm (or not) the relationship between consumer’s increase of

purchase propensity (dependent variable) for three products from the home market (Brazil),

one for each branding communication appeal, following the theory of branding that states

that the image of a brand can entail functioning, experimental, or symbolic factors (Keller,

1993). The independent variables shall be the four dimensions of COI (Suter et al., 2018)

and a control stimulus (no COI).

Therefore, we operate a within-subject for each product category, in line with

Goodwin (2010) suggestions for the care of experiment manipulation, having one

dependent variable and five independent variables. Such design means that the proposed

experiment is a factorial study due to the manipulation of more than one independent

variable towards the response variable.

Figure 3

The design of the study

COI

Appeals Symbolic Experiential Functional

Cell 1

Swedish

Cell 2

Swedish

Cell 3

Swedish

Textual and

Visual

Cultural

Natural

Resources

Senses

No COI

Note. Created by the author

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Generalizations will be avoided so to not overreach the implications of this

dissertation. Such a care for the results is very important, so to avoid distancing from

simplicity towards an unnecessary complexity that pushes research quality away (Dalfovo,

Lana & Silveira, 2008). Quantitative research has been a prime option for scientific work

in the west, being a statistic model to analyse propositions and seek for clarity. The method

parts from theory, being the necessary support for a proper understanding about the subject

of research, as well as for elevating the interpretation of the statistical model (Reynolds,

1996).

3.2 Research Context and design

The research was done with analyses of variance (ANOVA) as the statistical

procedure of choice. The chosen countries were Brazil as the country of origin and Sweden

as the country of destination, cultural distant countries according to the Hofstede Insights

webpage. We intended to use Hofstede cultural distance dimensions to highlight how does

Brazil and Sweden cultural distance looks like when compared to each other. The results

are presented in table 1.

Table 1

Comparing Brazil and Sweden based on Hofstede insights web platform for country

comparison

Note. The data was collected in the web platform The Hofstede Insights. Source: Created by the author.

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

80

90

BR

AZ

IL

SW

ED

EN

BR

AZ

IL

SW

ED

EN

BR

AZ

IL

SW

ED

EN

BR

AZ

IL

SW

ED

EN

BR

AZ

IL

SW

ED

EN

BR

AZ

IL

SW

ED

EN

PowerDistance

Individualism Masculinity UncertaintyAvoidance

Long termorientation

Indulgence

COUNTRY COMPARISON

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Because we are testing the effectiveness of COI in the purchase propensity of

consumers, our experiment is single factor. The test will be completely randomized. Such

test requires that we randomly assign the treatments to the experimental units, according to

Anderson, Sweene, and Williams (1998). The introduced products have high fit with the

country of origin. Each product is a representation for what Keller (1993) states as image

appeals (functional, experiential, and symbolic). Benefits are personal values that

consumers identify products to have (Keller, 1993), and Brazilian bikini was our product

of choice for a symbolic item, being part of the culture of Brazil as an incorporation of the

lifestyle connected to the beach. According to Keller, symbolic items corresponds to an

underlying need for personal expression, and self-esteem (Keller, 1993). Being a typical

Brazilian drink, caipirinha was our product of choice for experiential item. Keller (1993)

states that experiential items relate to product relates attributes, and how felling. And as a

functional product, connected to the Brazilian lifestyle as a resourceful item to have, having

high frequency of use in Brazil, beach parasol drill was our product of choice. Functional

items are all about intrinsic advantages, product-related attributes, problem removal or

avoidance (Keller, 1993).

Furthermore, we’ve narrowed the experiment by location, working with a specific

region in Sweden. The experiment was made in the city of Halmstad. The region has

similarities with what Brazil is internationally known for, the summer experience.

Halmstad is a known place for aquatic tourism in the Scandinavian region, a hotspot for

summer experience. The described region has a high percentage of young people (18 to 30)

due to the local University hosting courses in both bachelor’s level and master’s level. We

have followed similar participants’ profile of Aagerup and Scharf (2018) with regards to

age and country of origin, and Costa et al. (2016) with regards to age, educational level,

and gender distribution. Furthermore, despite Halmstad being part of a Nordic country,

during summer temperatures in the city goes up to 30º degrees and there can be found two

beaches, named Tylösand and Västra Stranden.

In developing the experiment, we cared for achieving as many similarities as

possible between the contexts of choice, so to better isolate the tested dimensions of COI.

The city chosen for the experiment provide an opportunity to, with such a physic and

psychic distance between the country of origin and the country of destination, understand

how effective products being promoted overseas can attract potential customers with the

use of country image appeals to increase purchase propensity.

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3.3 Collection and analyse of data

The study used descriptive statistics, measures of central tendency, and analyses of

variance (ANOVA) between group means in the sample. The data was obtained through

survey, with a five-point Likert scale. The subjects were students at bachelor’s level or

master’s level in Halmstad University. The survey was sent to the subjects by email

collected from the University’s database.

3.4 Pre-test

For the pre-test, 20 questionnaires were answered, five respondents per

advertisement category. The questionnaires intended to test solely the perception of

consumers towards the used appeals. For textual and visual dimension, the Brazilian flag

and the country’s name were the chosen appeals as both represent cues of the country of

origin (Suter, Borini et al., 2018). Being the senses dimension an emotional cue (Herz &

Diamantopoulos, 2013), national music was the chosen element. According to Suter et al.,

(2018), senses dimension can be engaged with music during sales advertisement.

For the natural resources dimension, our aim was to promote the biodiversity of the

country (Suter, Borini et al., 2018). For such intent, we’ve chosen a typical scenario of

Brazilian natural landscape. Lastly, for the cultural dimension, Brazilian art was the

element of choice. According to Suter, Borini et al. (2018, p. 49), art produced by the

country’s citizens is a way for a marketer to incorporate culture into the brand’s strategy.

The respondents had in average similar age (between 18 to 31). All had higher

education (Bachelor’s or Master’s), and the nationalities were varied, but respecting the

necessity for cultural proximity with Brazil or Sweden. Also, there was between the

respondents a distribution in gender.

For each category of country appeals, the respondents had to answer the same

twelve questions with regards to the prominence of the displayed information. The

questions can be seen below:

1. How prominently is Brazil’s flag shown in the ad?

None ( ) Very Low ( ) Low ( ) Moderate ( ) High ( ) Very High ( )

2. To what extent do you associate the colours in the ad with Brazil?


3. How prominently is the country’s name shown in the ad?


4. How prominently is Brazilian art shown in the ad?

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5. The ad uses culture to sell product.


6. The painting in the ad is a form of cultural expression.


7. To what extent does the ad portray Brazilian nature?


8. To what extent does the ad portray Brazilian climate?


9. To what extent does the ad portray Brazilian environment?


10. To what extent does the ad create a Brazilian atmosphere?


11. I feel emotionally connected to Brazil when I experience the ad.


12. To what degree do you associate the music to Brazil?


The communication appeals for each dimension:

Figure 4

Natural resources appeal: A world-wide famous Brazilian scenery

Note. Created by the author.

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Figure 5

Textual and visual appeals: Brazilian flag and the country’s terminology


Figure 6

Cultural appeal: Painting made by a Brazilian artist, Tarcila do Amaral


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Figure 7

Senses Appeal: Music “The girls from Ipanema”


The data was analysed with IBM SPSS. The result of the descriptive analyses was

divided in 4 tables. Each table has the mean value, median, and valid number of answers.

The questions asked were as presented in this thesis previously. On the tables, the result

per question is presented chronologically. Q1 stands for question one, and so on.

Table 2

Textual and Visual Dimension

Note. Data collection

Table 3

Cultural Distance

Note. Data collection.

Q 1 Q 2 Q 3 Q 4 Q 5 Q 6 Q 7 Q 8 Q 9 Q 10 Q 11 Q 12

Valid answers 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5

Mean 5.40 5.60 4.80 2.60 3.20 2.60 1.60 1.40 1.40 3.80 4.00 1.00

Q 1 Q 2 Q 3 Q 4 Q 5 Q 6 Q 7 Q 8 Q 9 Q 10 Q 11 Q 12

Valid answers 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5

Mean 2.00 4.40 1.80 5.40 5.00 5.20 3.60 3.80 3.20 3.60 3.80 1.00

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Table 4

Natural Resources Dimension


Table 5

Senses Dimension


As we can see, for each advertisement category the consumers’ answers goes in

accordance to the theory in Suter et al. (2018) with regards to perception of the appeals.

For textual and visual COI dimension, the questions with higher perception score (mean)

were the first three, in accordance to the definition of such dimension; prominence of the

flag, association between the country and the colours in display, and the country’s name.

For cultural COI dimension, the respondents gravitated towards the questions 4, 5 and 6,

exactly how we anticipated for answers based in cultural elements; prominence of art, to

use culture as a sales mechanism, and art as a form of cultural expression. For Natural

resources COI dimension, questions 7, 8, and 9 had the highest mean, respectively

addressing climate, environment, and atmosphere. And for senses dimension, regarded as

to provide consumers with the brand’s meaning and experience, questions 10, 11, and 12

had the highest mean, respectively addressing to Brazilian atmosphere, emotional

connection, and national music.

The results validate our purpose to develop advertisement appeals that can address

the theory in Suter et al. (2018) with regards to COI dimensions and the perception of

consumers for such appeals. In the following section, a description of the experiment is

made. Our purpose is twofold; to verify the purchase propensity of consumers towards the

advertisements, and to see the differences in purchase intent among the product categories;

Brazilian beach parasol drill as a functional item, caipirinha as an experiential item, and

bikini as a symbolic item.

Q 1 Q 2 Q 3 Q 4 Q 5 Q 6 Q 7 Q 8 Q 9 Q10 Q11 Q 12

Valid answers 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5

Mean 1.80 2.40 1.00 2.00 2.80 2.60 5.40 5.00 4.40 3.80 3.00 2.00

Q 1 Q 2 Q 3 Q 4 Q 5 Q 6 Q 7 Q 8 Q 9 Q 10 Q 11 Q12

Valid answers 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5

Mean 1.60 1.60 2.40 3.40 4.60 3.40 2.00 2.80 2.20 5.20 5.00 5.20

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3.5 Experiment

The survey had three outlines, one with the four-dimensional appeal of Suter et al.

(2018) towards Brazilian bikini, one with the same appeals as the previous but towards

Brazilian caipirinha, and another following the same design for the two previous but

towards Brazilian beach parasol drill. For each product category, we also included a control

unit (no COI), the 12 questions from the pre-test for addressing to how the respondents

perceived the advertisement to be, and some manipulations check (gender, nationality,

parent’s nationality, place of birth, and age). Respectively, the advertisements were sent to

the respondents in a video package. Each video package contained a product with five

advertisements. Each video unit had 15 seconds. In total, the experiment contained 15

advertisements.

Figure 8

Cultural appeal


Figure 9

Textual and Visual appeal


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Figure 10

Natural resources a


Figure 11

Senses appeal


Figure 12

No COI dimensions


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Figure 13

Cultural appeal


Figure 14

Textual and visual appeal


Figure 15

Natural resources appeal


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Figure 16

Senses appeal


Figure 17

No COI dimensions


Figure 18

Cultural appeal


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Figure 19

Textual and visual appeal


Figure 20

Natural resources appeal


Figure 21

Senses appeal


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Figure 22

No COI dimensions


Groups of respondents were formed, one for each product category. In total, each

group had 118 participants responding to the survey. The survey had as questionnaire 1

towards functional product, questionnaire 2 towards symbolic product, and questionnaire

3 towards experiential product. The questionnaires were the same for the three groups, with

the only difference lying on the questions specifically addressing the respectively product.

Therefore, respondents in group 1, for instance, were asked specifically about the

functional item when questions were directed to it. Following the collection of data, from

a total of 354 participants, incomplete questionnaires were assigned off. From group one

we collected 62 fully answered questionnaires, group two corresponded to 58 fully

answered questionnaires, and group three accounted for 71 complete questionnaires.

4 Analyses and Discussion

For each product category was measured the purchase intent of a group of

consumers per advertisement. Furthermore, respondents in each group answered for

purchase intent towards 4 advertisements with COI appeals, and one advertisement with

no COI appeals. The analyses have in its core the descriptive statistics for each group of

respondents. That includes the mean and the significance of purchase intent between

dimensions, when computed. Table 9 has the results of a computed total score for the four

dimensions of COI against a computed total score for no COI dimension. The purpose for

that is to verify significance of COI in purchase intent (if any) against no COI.

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Table 6

Computed mean score for the 4 dimensions of COI versus no COI

N=191 Mean Std. Deviation Mean difference Sig.b

COI 2.10 .952 .264* .000

No COI 1.83 .996

*. The mean difference is significant at the .05 level.


As we can see, COI appeals have indeed benefit for the increase of consumers’

purchase propensity. In table 9, we can see the mean value computed for the four

dimensions of COI, against no COI, which has significant difference, as shown. We than

have confirmation that COI appeals have higher purchase benefit than no COI, with p-

value of .000, validating H1. This is to be highlighted because indeed COI appeals can

represent a strategic advantage to the firm, in line with Suter, Borini, et al. (2018).

Nonetheless, some dimensions have higher benefit than others to each product category.

As shown in tables 7, 8, and 9, for each product category some significance was computed.

Further details among the dimensions can also be seen.

Table 7

Functional item and the five advertisement appeals

Note. Data collection. Further details can be seen in table 11 at the appendix.

H1c stated that, for a functional item, textual and visual COI dimension would have

represented the highest purchase intent. The highest mean was natural resources COI

advertisement, with significance against textual and visual advertisement, as well as against

cultural advertisement. Furthermore, Senses ad and No COI ad have had both significance

against the cultural ad. Thus, H1c was not supported. One alternative explanation for the

no validation of the hypothesis is that of context. Perhaps, it was easier for Swedes to relate

to some of the dimensions instead of others.

Purchase Intent

Textual &

Visual Ad

Purchase

Intent

Cultural Ad

Purchase Intent

Natural Resources

Ad

Purchase

Intent

Senses Ad

Purchase Intent

No COI Ad

N=62

Mean 1.66 1.45 2.18 1.81 1.87

Sig. against Textual & Visual Ad

Cultural Ad Cultural ad Cultural ad

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Table 7

Symbolic item and the five advertisement appeals

Purchase Intent

Textual

&Visual Ad

Purchase Intent

Cultural ad

Purchase Intent

Natural

Resources ad

Purchase Intent

Senses ad

Purchase Intent

No COI ad

N=58

Mean 1.84 1.50 2.07 1.93 1.83

Sig. against Cultural ad


H1a stated that for the symbolic item, cultural COI dimension would have had

higher purchase propensity benefit than the other dimensions. After the analyses, we can

see that the highest impact on purchase intent was achieved by the natural resources COI

dimension, with significance against cultural dimension. No other significance was

computed for the product category. Thus, H1a was no supported. Perhaps, Swedes can

perceive natural resources from Brazil to be more indicative of value and quality validation

than the art representing the culture of Brazil.

Table 8

Experiential item and the five advertisement appeals


H1a stated that for the symbolic item, cultural COI dimension would have had

higher purchase propensity benefit than the other dimensions. After the analyses, we can

see that the highest impact on purchase intent was achieved by the natural resources ad

against the cultural ad. No other significance was computed for the product category. Thus,

H1a was no supported.

Towards the experiential item, H1b and H1d stated that respectively Natural

Resources COI dimension and Senses COI dimension would have had significantly higher

benefit in purchase intent. Despite both having the highest means for the experiential item,

Purchase Intent

Textual &

Visual ad

Purchase Intent

Cultural ad

Purchase Intent

Natural

Resources ad

Purchase Intent

Senses ad

Purchase Intent

No COI ad

N=71

Mean 2.59 2.14 2.90 2.73 1.80

Sig. against Cultural ad, No

COI ad

Cultural ad, No

COI ad

Cultural ad, No

COI ad

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with significant benefit for purchase intent against cultural advertisement, and so against

no COI advertisement, the dimensions haven’t had overall higher benefit in purchase intent.

Furthermore, textual & visual ad had also significance been computed, that against cultural

ad. Therefore, we haven’t found evidence to validate both hypothesis H1b and H1d. The

results can mean that both the senses dimension and the natural resources dimension are

perceived as higher inferential of product quality against the no COI communication.

Furthermore, perhaps such dimensions with higher increase in purchase intent were

perceived as more indicative of positive product attributes, more appealing to Swedes.

Therefore, despite the no validation of the hypothesis on the dimensional level, the

results corroborate with the theory in Suter, Borini et al. (2018) stating that the dimensions

have different benefits that should be properly managed, with adaptation based on context.

Furthermore, adaptation based on self-image congruity (Christodoulides & Veloutsou,

2009). Next, we present the conclusions for the work done on this thesis.

5 Conclusion

According to Keller (1993) the benefit that consumers see in a product is based on

the value with regards to expectations that people might have about what the product can

do for them. Furthermore, as we have presented on this thesis, Keller (1993) states three

underlying motivations for the consumers to relate with a product; functional benefit,

experiential benefit, and symbolic benefit.

Our goal was to understand more about how a consumer sees value in a product

when cultural distance is a factor, and how appeals from the country of origin can impact

the purchase propensity of consumers in the country of destination. Having worked with

the three-product category of Keller (1993), and as a moderator the cultural distance

championed by Hofstede (2011), we have found interesting results from the experiment

operated.

Evidence was found that in a cultural distance setting between the country of origin

and the country of destination, an overall higher purchase propensity benefit can be

achieved with the use of COI appeals rather than no COI. With the significance computed

in the experiment, we have also seen that dimensions have had different benefit to the

purchase propensity of the products, further validating that COI dimensions requires

adaptation (Suter, Borini, et al., 2018) and can provide firms a competitive edge with

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benefit for purchase intent (Suter, Borini, et al., 2018). Nonetheless, in some cases no COI

have had also significance, which tells us that cultural distance indeed plays a factor in how

appealing (if any) COI can be for the marketing communication.

As for theoretical implication, one important thing to mention is that COI still is a

frontier of research with work to be done. Indeed, throughout the last couple of years, a lot

of work has been done on understanding the relative importance of country of origin,

country of destination, and consumer’s quality validation and increase of purchase

propensity. Diamantopoulos et al. (2011) and the relationship between brand image and

COI appeals, Zeugner-Roth and Žabkar (2015) and the country of origin image and

destination image as an unifying research stream to test the importance of cognitive,

affective and symbolic connotation; Costa, Carneiro, and Goldszmidt (2016) and the

country of origin positive image impacting the quality validation and increase of

consumers’ purchase intentions, and Coelho et al. (2019) functional brand qualities and

perceived value, all of which have added value to the importance of COI as an asset for

international marketing management. This thesis further takes the importance of such topic,

bridging knowledge between international marketing, consumer behaviour, and social

psychology.

Our quest was to further validate the use of communication of country attributes in

a product advertisement strategy, when internationalizing to a high culturally distant

country. By further studying COI as a strategic advantage to the firm based on the work of

Suter and Borini et al. (2018), we have successfully found evidence of COI appeals having

an overall higher purchase propensity benefit against no COI. Nonetheless, this thesis had

had limitations, which is acknowledged by suggesting future research to be conducted on

different cultural scenarios in terms of distance between the country of origin and the

country destination. Furthermore, we suggest working on different implementations of

products with the three-product category of Keller (1993).

We finish this thesis by once again saying that Country of Origin Image is an asset

for firms internationalizing. Furthermore, the purchase propensity of consumers as a topic

has gained further connotations due to the achievements reached by this thesis, in a scenario

of high cultural distance between the country of origin and the country of destination,

which we hope can be further studied in the future.

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7 Appendix

Table 11

Within Subject analyses – Functional item

Dimensions

Mean

Difference Std. Error Sig.b

D1 D2 .210 .083 .145

D3 -.516* .123 .001

D4 -.145 .110 1.000

D5 -.210 .113 .683

D2 D1 -.210 .083 .145

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D3 -.726* .115 .000

D4 -.355* .113 .026

D5 -.419* .104 .002

D3 D1 .516* .123 .001

D2 .726* .115 .000

D4 .371 .135 .077

D5 .306 .155 .530

D4 D1 .145 .110 1.000

D2 .355* .113 .026

D3 -.371 .135 .077

D5 -.065 .110 1.000

D5 D1 .210 .113 .683

D2 .419* .104 .002

D3 -.306 .155 .530

D4 .065 .110 1.000



Table 12

Within subject analyses – Symbolic item

Dimensions

Mean


D1 D2 .345 .131 .111

D3 -.224 .137 1.000

D4 -.086 .158 1.000

D5 .017 .136 1.000

D2 D1 -.345 .131 .111

D3 -.569* .139 .001

D4 -.431 .148 .051

D5 -.328 .148 .313

D3 D1 .224 .137 1.000

D2 .569* .139 .001

D4 .138 .169 1.000

D5 .241 .169 1.000

D4 D1 .086 .158 1.000

D2 .431 .148 .051

D3 -.138 .169 1.000

D5 .103 .147 1.000

D5 D1 -.017 .136 1.000

D2 .328 .148 .313

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D3 -.241 .169 1.000

D4 -.103 .147 1.000



Table 13

Within subject analyses – Experiential item

Dimensions

Mean


D1

D2 .451* .140 .020

D3 -.310 .144 .350

D4 -.141 .153 1.000

D5 .789* .128 .000

D2

D1 -.451* .140 .020

D3 -.761* .143 .000

D4 -.592* .128 .000

D5 .338 .122 .071

D3

D1 .310 .144 .350

D2 .761* .143 .000

D4 .169 .140 1.000

D5 1.099* .139 .000

D4

D1 .141 .153 1.000

D2 .592* .128 .000

D3 -.169 .140 1.000

D5 .930* .127 .000

D5

D1 -.789* .128 .000

D2 -.338 .122 .071

D3 -1.099* .139 .000

D4 -.930* .127 .000


Note. Data collection

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