Idag är konsumentmarknaden inne i en globaliseringsfas som ständigt växer. Marknader har idag öppnat upp sig, och hela världen tar del av den internationella handeln. Det pågår även en tydlig förändring i konsumentbeteendet världen över, då informationsutbytet nu når ut till hela världen. Konsumenter nöjer sig inte bara med den standard som erbjuds på nära håll utan det specifika behovet har gjort att tillverkningen av varor och produkturvalet idag är enormt stort och tidsödande att välja mellan.Företag kommunicerar med olika typer av påverkan exempelvis, direktreklam och varumärkesannonser för att nå ut till sin målgrupp. Samtidigt som urvalet av produkter och tjänster växer sig allt större, tenderar varumärkesutbudet att bli något mindre då allt starkare internationella aktörer etablerar sig på den globala marknaden, och köper upp eller konkurrerar ut nationella aktörer på marknader världen över. Kina är ett av världens största länder. Den kinesiska ekonomin förväntas ta över platsen som världens största ekonomi ifrån USA till år 2025. Den kinesiska marknaden erbjuder goda tillväxtmöjligheter genom tillgången till de miljontals potentiella kunder i rätt målgrupp som landet har att erbjuda. Vilka möjligheter har Kinesiska varumärken att etablera sig på de västerländska marknaderna och konkurrera mot västerländska varumärken på deras hemmaplan?Uppsatsen syftar till att undersöka hur svenska konsumenter låter sig påverkas av varumärkesursprung och tillverkningsland, samt vilka attityder som råder bland svenska konsumenter för det kinesiska sport och streetwear varumärket Li-Ning. Uppsatsen ämnar även undersöka hur Li-Ning kan bygga upp sin marknadskommunikation för att på bästa sätt bygga upp positiva attityder hos svenska konsumenter. Två empiriska studier utfördes i syftet att mäta konsumenters attityder om tillverkning och ursprungsland. Enkätundersökningens resultat visar att konsumenter helst väljer svenska eller amerikanska varumärken framför kinesiska och att ursprungsland och tillverkningsland spelar mindre roll under produktevalueringen. Resultatet från fokusgruppintervjun visar att det redan från början finns negativa associationer om landet Kina i jämförelse med Sverige och USA.Genom studien har följande slutsatser framkommit. En produkts varumärkesursprung influerar undermedvetet konsumenternas produktevaluering innan ett inköp görs. Varumärkesursprunget betydelse bidrar till fallföretaget Li-Nings svaga varumärkesstyrka på den svenska marknaden. Generellt har svenska konsumenter en negativ attityd gentemot kinesiska varumärken och en bristande tillit till kinesiska företags ansvarstagande. Dock finns det möjligheter för Li-Ning att, genom väl utformad marknadskommunikation, påverka de konsumenter vars negativa attityder inte är alltför djupt inrotade. Svenska konsumenter uppfattar marknadsföringsformen storytelling som förtroendegivande, något som Li-Ning med fördel kan dra nytta av. Det är även viktigt att Li-Ning på inget vis ämnar dölja sitt ursprung utan använder det som en differentieringsfaktor.Today the consumer market has entered a phase of globalization that is constantly growing. Markets have now opened up and the whole world takes part in the international trade. There is also an obvious change in consumer behavior around the world, where information now can be shared throughout the entire globe. Consumers today does not settle with the product standard offered at close range, the specific consumer needs has led to that the production of goods and product ranges is vast and time consuming to choose from. Companies communicate with various types of marketing such as, advertising and direct mail to reach their target audience. While the selection of products and services are growing, the range of brands tend to decrease as strong international players establish themselves in the global market, and compete with local participants in markets worldwide. China is one of the world's largest countries. The Chinese economy is expected to take over the position as the world's largest economy from the U.S. in 2025. The Chinese market offers good growth potential for companies by providing access to millions of potential customers in the desired target group. Can Chinese brands establish themselves on the Western markets and compete against western brands on their home ground?This paper aims to examine how Swedish consumers allow themselves to be influenced by country of origin and country of manufacture, as well as the attitudes prevailing among Swedish consumers for the Chinese sports and street wear brand Li-Ning. The essay will also examine how Li-Ning can design their market communication in the best way to build positive attitudes among Swedish consumers. Two empirical studies were conducted with the aim of measuring consumer attitudes and country of origin effects.The results of the questionnaire survey showed that consumers preferred Swedish or American brands before Chinese brands and that country of origin and country of manufacture aren’t important factors when evaluating product options. The focus group interview shows that Swedish consumers have negative associations towards the country of China in comparison with Sweden and the United States. Through the study the following conclusions have been drawn. A product's country of origin subconsciously influences consumer’s product-assessments before a purchase is made. The Country of Origin-effect contributes to Li-Ning’s weak brand equity in the Swedish market. In general, Swedish consumers have a negative attitude toward Chinese brands and a lack of trust in the Chinese companies’ social responsibilities. However, there are opportunities for Li-Ning to affect the consumers whose negative attitudes aren’t too deeply entrenched through well-designed marketing communication. Swedish consumers perceive storytelling as a trustworthy form of marketing. This is something that Li-Ning can take advantage of. It’s also important that Li-Ning in no way intends to conceal its origin, but instead uses it as a differentiating factor. / Program: Textilekonomutbildningen

The research was undertaken to quantify the power of selected extrinsic (price and country of origin) and intrinsic cues (acid in chardonnay and fat in brie) on consumer evaluations of both experienced and expected product quality, and further, to measure the respective influences of objective knowledge, subjective knowledge and self-confidence on these quality assessments. The study also seeks to determine if a survey conducted measuring expectations of quality would yield comparable results with quality assessments based on actual product experience. The study was comprised of sensory experiments using full profile conjoint analysis experimental design to measure quality perception, followed by a survey where only product description profiles were provided. The analysis from both stages show findings that are remarkably similar in most respects. Results of the sensory experiment for chardonnay show both extrinsic cues tested to be more important than acid levels, while results for the survey show price maintained the strongest influence, with comparable expectations regarding the importance of country of origin and acid. For brie (both stages) consumer opinions were consistent; with price found the most influential; and while country of origin was considered relatively important, fat levels were more influential for both groups. Whilst for chardonnay (both stages) respondents held consistent beliefs regarding each acid level tested, for brie respondents experiencing the highest level of fat held an opposite view to respondents assessing quality based on their expected liking for this type of product. The influence of knowledge (objective and subjective) and self-confidence was found to be sporadic and weak, likely due to respondents’ general lack of objective knowledge in both stages of the survey. In the case of self-confidence, results are surprising given that respondents in both studies exhibited reasonably healthy degrees of self-confidence. The research provides important information to marketers seeking to exploit the most attractive aspects of their products and platform for a number of subsequent studies. / Thesis(PhD)-- School of Commerce, 2007

International companies are increasingly taking advantage of the benefits of globalisation such as continuous improvement in transport and communication technologies that in turn lower transportation costs and decrease logistical difficulties. However, the international environment includes business uncertainty in the form of exchange rate volatility as well as political and economic issues. Moreover, ongoing reduction of trade barriers is reversing the previous tendency to integrate business vertically, shifting international business schemes towards outsourcing all except what the company consider its core competence. Supply chain management is a strategic concept that considers the behavioural and political dimensions of conflict and dependence at the purchaser-supplier interface. Nevertheless, there is substantive ambiguity regarding its actual practice. Furthermore, although international purchasers are increasingly becoming more important, the purchasing si de of international trade remains largely ignored in empirical research. This study focuses on understanding the complexity surrounding the commercial relationship between purchasing executives and foreign suppliers. The aim is to investigate what key factors are associated with uncertainty at the cross-national purchaser-supplier interface. Of interest to this research is how purchasing executives deal with those variables. The literature review addresses the discussions of the constructs as it informs the development of hypotheses investigating patterns arising from their interactions. The result was a theoretically driven model addressing the complexity of the purchaser-supplier interface. A survey was conducted to collect data from the membership of a nation-wide professional body of Australian purchasing executives. The richness of the management reality was approached by having recourse to systems theory and the realism paradigm. The model was tested and discussed using structural equation modelling, the supply chain management literature and the responses and comments of the participating purchasing executives buying from over twenty countries. xxii The results include purchaser�s perceptions regarding five latent variables and their concurrent interactions within the uncertainty surrounding international trade. The factors are culture affinity, the strength of the commercial relationship, quality reliability, ISO 9000 certification and the country of origin effect. Findings indicate that culture affinity is particularly important for purchasing executives and that it is a significant driver of the commercial relationship with foreign suppliers of manufacturing products. Nevertheless, culture affinity does not significantly influence perceptions of quality reliability. In contrast, commitment, cooperation and conflict management have a significant influence when assessing foreign supplier�s quality reliability. Trust, traditionally seen as a social aspect of the commercial relationship, was found structurally embedded in the perceptions of quality reliability together with technical dimensions of quality. The commercial relationship between Australi an purchasing executives and foreign suppliers was found to have a high level of maturity. However, the purchasers showed no orientation towards commercial equity, and cooperation was found to be incomplete, overlooking working on cost optimisation. Further, a level of commercial partnership has not been established. It is suggested that a relational approach in the international supply chain is a necessary, but insufficient, condition to progress to the level of commercial partnerships. The study shows that Australian purchasers� perceptions regarding ISO 9000 are surrounded by controversy. However, the Standard is still considered a credible quality management system tool that enhances supplier�s competitive position. Additionally, the majority of the Australian purchasing companies were not engaged in a low-cost country sourcing strategy. Overall, it can be said that the country of origin effect and ISO 9000 certification did not have a significant influence on quality perceptions within the context of an uncertain international environment. By taking a multivariable and multidisciplinary perspective, this research contributes to a deeper understanding of mature commercial relationships in the international supply chain. The findings provide valuable information that assists organisations to tune or balance the supply management philosophy principles in the uncertainty associated with global trade.

Previous research has suggested that the country of origin cue is important to consumers during their purchase decision making process; the cue is utilised as an indicator of product quality and thus has an effect on purchase decisions. However, country of origin research has been heavily criticised in terms of methodology and has tended to focus on durable, manufactured products such as automobiles, electronics and apparel. This research investigates whether consumers do utilise the country of origin cue during actual wine purchase decisions and whether consumer perceptions of wine will vary based upon the country from which it originates. In addition, this study also seeks to identify all of the product attributes which are utilised by wine purchasers, and the degree to which these attributes are important to them during the purchase decision process. Finally, the research seeks to understand the influence that individual consumer characteristics (i.e. demographic variables, product knowledge and product involvement) and usage situations will have upon attribute utilisation and importance. In order to examine these broad research questions, a structured survey was developed and administered to respondents in four countries immediately following an actual wine purchase. Analysis of the collected survey data revealed that consumers typically utilised only a small number of attributes during their purchase decisions, and that the attributes which were most frequently utilised were not necessarily the most important to wine consumers. The country of origin cue was the eighth most frequently utilised attribute and the fourth in terms of importance. The majority of consumers could accurately identify the country of origin of the wine they had just purchased and their perceptions of wines were found to vary based upon the country of origin. Individual consumer characteristics were found to have varying effects upon attribute utilisation and importance ratings. Three-quarters of all wine purchases were made to resolve just four usage situations, and these situations were found to moderate the origin of the wine that the consumer selected during their purchase decision. From a theoretical standpoint, this study supports the idea that consumers utilise only a small number of attributes during their decision making process, and that this number will increase as product knowledge and product involvement levels increase. The most important attributes for consumers were found to be intrinsic in nature. Country of origin theory has also been advanced by this study; consumers were found to hold stereotyped perceptions of wine based upon its national origin, and both the nationality and education level of the consumer were found to moderate the utilisation of the country of origin cue. Whilst earlier researchers had suggested that any home country bias may be product specific, this study suggests that it may actually be a product dimension specific phenomenon. The high reliability of the product involvement and subjective knowledge scales should also be of value to future consumer behaviour researchers. Similarly, the idea that the usage situation influenced which product was purchased, but not how it was selected, expands current knowledge. Practical implications arising from this study include the identification of the importance of having previously tried a wine; marketers could increase sales through the provision of wine tasting opportunities for consumers. The significant correlation between involvement and the frequency of wine consumption also provides wine producers with an opportunity to increase sales through initiatives which will increase consumer involvement with wine. The results indicate that the wine industry should focus on the production and marketing of wines which are suitable for consumption in the identified four dominant usage situations and should seek to increase consumption in dining situations in the US. Finally, promotional strategies linking New Zealand wines with high quality appear to have been successful, but these messages will need to be repeated in order to reinforce the positive consumer perceptions.

Authors: JoAnna Caster & Dana Linnes Tutor: Setayesh Sattari Title: Internal Branding in Multinational Firms- A Gap Analysis of Internal Stakeholder Perceptions Background: As globalization increases, the topic of internal branding has grown in popularity, particularly as a way for firms to secure a competitive advantage in the global marketplace. The topic is quite new however, and there are many aspects that have not been fully explored, including the influence of internal stakeholder perceptions on a firm’s internal brand and related support activities. Purpose: The purpose of this research study is to 1) identify whether a gap exists between employee and manager perceptions of a firm’s internal brand and internal branding activities and 2) investigate the influence of a firm’s country of origin on those perceptions. Delimitations: The study was limited to only medium and large sized firms that have international operations. Additionally, only internal stakeholders were included in the study and the research was limited to respondent’s perceptions, and not necessarily the actual internal brand and related supporting processes or structures. Method: The research was qualitative and data was collected via 24 in-depth interviews of managerial and non-managerial employees at 10 medium and large sized firms. The data was then analyzed using a pattern-matching technique. Conclusions: Perceptions of both managerial and non-managerial employees did not indicate significant gaps, however there seemed to be an unclear understanding of what an internal brand is and what respondent’s firm’s internal brand represents. Also, the country of origin did not have a significant influence on those perceptions, as most respondents indicated that they perceived their firm’s internal brand as primarily “global.” Keywords: internal branding, internal brand, international marketing, marketing strategy, stakeholder perceptions, internal marketing orientation, human resource management, country of origin

Background: Some brands have reached popularity much because of their origin and the "made-in" label can possibly generate a positive differentiating effect to the brand. Adequate examples are the British Burberry or the Italian Gucci, the French Chanel or the American Apple. All these brands strategically communicate their origin as part of their brand and the inspiration for this thesis arose form the Country-of-Origin phenomenon in international marketing (COO). This refers to that brands use cues related to their origin as a component of their brand message. Even the Swedish origin can be a competitive advantage and more companies could perhaps benefit from turning to a COO strategy, as there is a current trend of being local in a global context. This would promote the using of firms' Swedishness to succeed in establishments on foreign markets. The authors of this thesis believe that if more Swedish companies would clearly distinguish as Swedish this could perhaps also enhance the positive image of Sweden. Therefore, this thesis is exploring to what extent some Swedish fashion apparel brands work with their origin as part of their international marketing. Research Question: How do companies exploit their Country-of-Origin as part of their brand in their international marketing communication? Purpose: The purpose of this thesis is to explore the exploitation of a Country-of-Origin effect in Swedish fashion apparel brands' international marketing. Methodology: The study ha taken a primarily qualitative research design, which has included two research techniques. A pre-study was conducted, that consisted of a focus group interview where the following issues were discussed: the general view of Sweden, Swedish brands and companies, and their examination with the Country-of-Origin label. The pre-study gave important insights that were used in the main study - semi structured interviews with Swedish companies working in the fashion apparel industry. From the whole population of companies in the Swedish fashion industry, a first sample of 57 companies was made. From this sample a second sample of 11 companies was drawn, that represented approximately 20 percent that was argued to be a fair number of respondents to be able to see some patterns. The data from the interviews were analyzed and interpreted in a qualitative analysis procedure that focused on the finding of keywords and patterns. Results: The results showed that a clear majority of the random interviewed companies, 9 of 11 use their COO in their brand and 8 companies said it is a more or less explicit strategy. The exploitation of their COO was made by using country-related cues in their marketing. The reason why these companies have turned to a COO strategy was that it could give them competitive advantages, since there was a positive match between associations of their brand and Sweden. The general conclusion that could be made was that the benefits from using a COO strategy differ with the product and the country. It can also be assumed that more Swedish companies could benefit from realizing  the potential in using a COO strategy.

This study will examine the importance of Country-of-Origin, Price, Quality and Expiration date, in the consumer decision making process for fresh meat. Country-of-Origin has earlier been investigated, however the research has been focusing on manipulating one single cue. With the recent scandals in the fresh meat industry, were animals being abused and expiration dates being changed, it is interesting to investigate how important the consumers find the four attributes; Country-of-Origin, price, quality and expiration date.In order to answer the research questions, and fulfil the purpose, the authors will use a mix of different data collection methods. Qualitative data will be gathered by performing interviews and quantitative data will be gathered by conducting a pilot study and an experiment. The data will be retrieved with the use of SPSS 17.0 and the conjoint analysis procedure. Country-of-origin has been found to be the most preferred attribute for consumers in their purchasing process for fresh meat, closely followed by expiration date. The consumer did find price and quality to be of importance, however the attributes were not found to be as important as Country-of-Origin and expiration date. As Country-of-Origin was found to be the most significant attribute for consumers in their decision making process, this indicates that the consumers are ethnocentric in their behaviour, i.e. they consider their own country and culture to be above others, which leads to a purchase of Swedish meat. It has also been found that the purchasing process of fresh meat is of great complexity, especially with the negative attention the fresh meat industry has induced.

<p>This study will examine the importance of Country-of-Origin, Price, Quality and Expiration date, in the consumer decision making process for fresh meat. Country-of-Origin has earlier been investigated, however the research has been focusing on manipulating one single cue. With the recent scandals in the fresh meat industry, were animals being abused and expiration dates being changed, it is interesting to investigate how important the consumers find the four attributes; Country-of-Origin, price, quality and expiration date.In order to answer the research questions, and fulfil the purpose, the authors will use a mix of different data collection methods. Qualitative data will be gathered by performing interviews and quantitative data will be gathered by conducting a pilot study and an experiment. The data will be retrieved with the use of SPSS 17.0 and the conjoint analysis procedure. Country-of-origin has been found to be the most preferred attribute for consumers in their purchasing process for fresh meat, closely followed by expiration date. The consumer did find price and quality to be of importance, however the attributes were not found to be as important as Country-of-Origin and expiration date.<strong> </strong>As Country-of-Origin was found to be the most significant attribute for consumers in their decision making process, this indicates that the consumers are ethnocentric in their behaviour, i.e. they consider their own country and culture to be above others, which leads to a purchase of Swedish meat. It has also been found that the purchasing process of fresh meat is of great complexity, especially with the negative attention the fresh meat industry has induced.</p>

Although COO has been a topic of central interest in international marketing research, most work has focused on consumers in western countries. The concept of product usage experience, though often implied in COO research, has yet to be investigated more directly and explicitly. The goal of the study is to examine the relationships among COO perceptions, product usage experience and purchase intention among Chinese consumers. The study examined two kinds of product usage experiences (usage variety and frequency) pertaining to products (products in general and laptop computers in specific) made in two countries (America and China). Empirical data gathered from a survey were used to test two sets of research hypotheses pertaining to America and China respectively. The results supported the hypothesized interactions between COO ratings and product usage experiences in predicting purchase intention of American products among Chinese consumers. The interactions between COO ratings and usage experience in predicting purchase intention of Chinese products among Chinese consumers were partially supported.

Europos Sąjungos sudaryti preferenciniai susitarimai su trečiosiomis šalimis importuojant atitinkamos kilmės šalies prekes, leidžia joms taikyti sumažintą, ar net 0 proc. importo muito tarifą. Taip skatinamas Susitariančių šalių ekonomikos augimas. Preferencijos taikomos prekėms, kurios numatytos atitinkamuose susitarimuose ir atitinka preferencinės prekybos prekių kilmės taisykles. Kadangi Lietuva yra Europos Sąjungos narė, mūsų šaliai yra aktualūs preferencinių susitarimų taikymo ypatumai, sąlygos ir perspektyvos. Magistro baigiamojo darbo tikslas yra kompleksiškai išanalizuoti teisinius ir organizacinius prekių kilmės kontrolės reglamentavimo principus, teorinius bei praktinius aspektus ir atskleisti praktines jų įgyvendinimo spragas bei problemas. Darbe keliami uždaviniai: išnagrinėti ES preferencinių prekybos susitarimų teisinio reglamentavimo sistemą, jų įtaką prekių importui ir eksportui, atskleisti prekių kilmės esmę ir jos nustatymo metodus bei kontrolės formas, atlikti prekių kilmės tikrinimo ir kontrolės analizę Lietuvos muitinėje ir nustatyti trūkumus taikant prekių kilmės kontrolę bei apibendrinti taikomus prekių kilmės kontrolės teisinius ir organizacinius aspektus ir numatyti jų tobulinimo kryptis. Darbe naudojami teorinės medžiagos analizės ir sintezės, grafinio vaizdavimo, statistikos duomenų analizės ir sintezės metodai. Remiamasi tiek oficialiais, tiek antriniais informacijos šaltiniais. Teiginiai iliustruojami statistiniais duomenimis, sudaromos diagramos... [toliau žr. visą tekstą] / The work was produced in Vilnius, in 2007. Scope of this conclusive work is 80 pages. The work consists of introduction, tree parts and is concluded by giving conclusions and proposals. The report of work are 17 pictures, 3 tables in this work, as well as list of literature, summary and 9 annexes. Preferential arrangements of EU with the third countries importing some products with origin, allow to use reduced tariff or 0 ℅ rate of duty of import. So it is the prime to pump the developing of economy of contracting parties. The preferences are applied to products which are covered by respective agreements and adequate the rules of origin in preferential trade. Lithuania is the member of EU so it is actual for our country the use of general peculiarity of preferential origin, conditions and perspectives. Goal of this conclusive work is the integrated analyse of juriducal and organizational control of proof of origin, theoretical and practical aspects and the point is to show the practical breaches and problems of their realization. Tasks are raised in this work is to study the preferential agreements of trade of EU, the systems of regulation, their influence for import and export, to show the substantiality of origin, methods, forms of control and evolution of control in Lithuanian customs and to establish directions of their perfection. The aim of this work was reached by the analysis and synthesis on theoretical, repository and statistical material. In conclusion work were... [to full text]