This thesis reports research in the Country-of-Origin (COO) area of international business, into the postulated phenomenon of Negative Image. Image has been regarded as a potential purchase decision influencing factor but to date not investigated in-depth. Research was carried out in the business to business area, across cultures and between developed and developing countries, using an example from Zimbabwe. The primary research methodology comprised semi-structured elite interviews with Zimbabwean footwear exporters and UK footwear importers. A questionnaire incorporating sections on topics related to the international image of manufactured goods exporters based in Third World countries was also administered to the UK footwear importers. This dealt with political, commercial and image aspects of importer-exporter relationships and also addressed directly the issue of Third World businessmen's image. Results from the field work demonstrate that the Negative Image of Third World manufactured goods exporters directly affects importer decision making and that Negative Image has an exclusively negative impact. Data from inductive analysis of interviews and supporting correlations arising from the questionnaire were used to construct a model of the relationships and formalise the concepts and constructs of Negative Image. These included disparities in exporter and importer expectations of quality, price, delivery and performance. In addition unreliability, inefficiency, professionalism, lack of both marketing skills and social conversation contribute to the phenomenon. A potential conflict was identified at the individual level between personal and professional perspectives and a reciprocal Negative Image of importers was identified from the Zimbabwean exporters' perspective. Suggestions are made regarding the key factors in exporter-importer relationship development and conclusions are then drawn suggesting that improvement to levels of importer-exporter contacts and information flows can be useful in ameliorating the Negative Image effect. Scenarios for image improvement are offered at government, firm and individual levels. Finally, limitations of the research are discussed and recommendations for further research are given

Chinese companies have been an important issue in the world economy development, since China belongs to the group of emerging countries that had been gaining prominence in the last years. To gain market, ranges of companies are going abroad, aiming to develop their brands internationally. Brand positioning plays an important role when the goal of the company is to gain competitive advantage and to be positioned in the consumer’s mind. Furthermore, when Chinese companies decide to internationalize, they have to deal with the COO (country-of-origin) effect, which might influence the consumer’s perception when purchasing a product. The aim of this study is to examine how the effects of COO influence brand positioning of Chinese firms when going international, and how they deal with these COO effects. In this context, a theoretical framework presenting the brand positioning drivers with the combination of the COO effect is developed. A qualitative case study that incorporates four interviews in two different Chinese companies with subsidiaries in Brazil, called JAC Motors and ZTE, are settled. The findings from the case study are compared and contrasted with the theoretical framework, developing a cross-case analysis, identifying and complementing the elements of the theoretical framework. In this regard, it was identified that Chinese companies position their brands with a cost-benefit approach, due to the COO effect caused by different general attributes from China. The brand positioning drivers, in a certain way, are defined taking in consideration the COO effect, although the drivers were not totally affected by the COO. In order to deal with the COO effect, most drivers oppose a negative effect of the COO when it is caused by the perception of lack ofquality from Chinese products; or the COO effect is highlighted in the strategy, when it is caused by the perception of low price. These findings are eventually depicted by a theoretically anchored and empirically guided model, which allows the authors to describe the international brand positioning of Chinese brands and how they deal with the COO effect in its international brand positioning.