Syfte: Syftet med denna studie är att undersöka vilka effekter COO har på svenska konsumenter gällande varumärken och produkter med ursprung från Kina.  Metod: Studien har utgått från en deduktiv process med en kvantitativ metod. Dock använder studien inte hypoteser utan istället en frågeställning för att ha möjligheten att analysera resultaten mer fritt. Data har samlats in genom en webbaserad enkät som publicerades på sociala kanaler. Totalt kom 112 svar in varav 4 resulterade i bortfall, vilket till följd gav 108 användbara svar. Datan analyserades genom att utföra en korrelationsanalys samt en deskriptiv analys genom statistikprogrammet Jamovi. Resultat och slutsats: Undersökningen indikerar att svenska konsumenters köpbeteende i hög grad påverkas av ursprungslandseffekter (Country-of-origin effects, förkortat COO). Effekterna av COO visade sig vara särskilt stora vid utvärdering av kinesiska produkter, där svenska konsumenter visade sig ha en tydlig negativ uppfattning av produkter med detta ursprung. Detta gällde i synnerhet för den undersökta produktkategorin bilar där få konsumenter kunde tänka sig att köpa en kinesisk bil jämfört med andra ursprung. Trots detta rankade svenska konsumenter ursprung betydligt lägre än andra attribut vid köp, vilket tyder på att effekterna av COO vid bilköp underskattades av svenska konsumenter.  Examensarbetets bidrag: Denna studie bidrar med kunskap om hur COO påverkar svenska konsumenter vid bilköp, samt hur svenska konsumenter uppfattar kinesiska produkter. Den bidrar även med information om hur svenska konsumenter rankar olika attribut vid bilköp. / Aim: The purpose of this study is to examine the Country-of-origin effects on Swedish consumers regarding Chinese brands and products Method: The study is based on a deductive process that uses a quantitative method. The study does not use hypotheses, instead a research question was concluded. This choice was made to have the opportunity to analyze the results more freely. Data was collected through a web-based survey that was published on social channels. A total of 112 responses were received, of which 4 resulted in non-response and 108 usable. The data was analyzed by performing a correlational- and descriptive analysis through the statistical program Jamovi. Result & Conclusions: The results from the study indicates that Swedish consumers purchasing behavior is greatly influenced by the country-of-origin effect. The country-oforigin effect was found to be particularly large when evaluating Chinese products. Swedish consumers were found to have a negative perception of products with this origin. This was particularly true for the investigated product category, where few consumers could imagine themselves buying a Chinese car compared to other origins. Despite this, Swedish consumers ranked origin lower than other attributes when purchasing, which suggests that the countryof-origin effect in car purchases were underestimated by Swedish consumers. Contribution of the Thesis: This study contributes with knowledge about how country of origin affects Swedish consumers when buying a car, as well as how Swedish consumers perceive Chinese products. It also contributes with information about how Swedish consumers rank various attributes when buying a car.

This dissertation study examined the effect of country-of-origin (COO) fit on consumer brand attitude in cross-border strategic brand alliance (SBA). Also, this study investigated the effects of consumer product knowledge by dividing it into subjective and objective knowledge dimensions. It was found that cross-border SBA can be a viable market entry strategy for host and partner brands. Specifically, cross-border SBA creates positive synergistic effects when the COO fit is high. In addition, in a low COO fit situation, the partner brand suffering from less favorable country image would be able to benefit from the established brand equity of the host brand and thus gain favorable consumer product evaluation. Also, consumers with low and high product knowledge are more likely to be affected by COO fit information than those with moderate product knowledge. It was found that subjective knowledge is more related to consumer heuristics and decision making processes than objective knowledge. Implications and suggestions for future research in this area are provided. / text

The purpose of this research was to investigate the country of origin effect on consumers’ perception regarding consumer products from India. Indian consumer products are not well known in Europe and other Western countries. Therefore this research is focusing on the expectations consumers have about a certain product from a certain country and not on the experience. In order to understand those expectations, four interviews were conducted on potential Western European consumers. Those interviews were analysed using a framework which consists of a combination between a country of origin effect model and the brand equity model. The combination of the two models helped to understand the expectations which Western consumers can have regarding foreign products, in the case of this study, consumer products from India. It can be seen that three country of origin mechanisms were existent but not very strongly developed. As an example the cognitive country of origin mechanism had almost no direct influence on the brand awareness, as the interviewees were not able to recall or recognize any Indian brand logo which was shown during the interview. This means that the consumers interviewed in this paper are not extremely negatively nor positively influenced by the country of origin effect of India.

No description available.

Place branding scholars and practitioners increasingly highlight the influence that corporate image can exert on the image of the country of origin (COI). Yet, there is remarkably little theoretical and empirical research on this influence. In this qualitative and quantitative study the researcher aims (1) to analyse whether corporate image affects COI; (2) to identify consumer-related and company-related factors that affect the influence of corporate image on COI; (3) to examine the influence of corporate image- (net valence and consistency) and corporate-related factors (number of corporate brands and accessibility) on COI; (4) to investigate the moderating effects of corporate familiarity, business familiarity and consumer ethnocentrism on the influence of corporate image-related factors on COI; and (5) to describe the COI not only in terms of lists of attributes, but also in terms of holistic impressions. This study focuses on the case of Spain and is based on empirical evidence provided by undertaking, firstly, in-depth interviews with 13 place branding experts and, secondly, a face-to-face survey of 300 British people aged 18 and over living in London or Greater London, selected using a multi-stage area sampling technique. The findings reveal (1) the statistically significant positive impact of corporate image on one dimension of COI (political beliefs); (2) six consumer-related (awareness of the corporate brand’s COO; power of the corporate brand image; strength of the corporate brand-country association; brand image fit; brand image unfit; strength of the industry-country association) and four company-related (extent to which the company plays up or down its COO; the company’s international and market visibility; the number of corporate brands operating in the market) factors that influence the impact of corporate image on COI; (3) that corporate image- and corporate-related factors explain collectively 10 per cent or over of variance in the affective dimensions of COI and a smaller proportion of variance in the cognitive dimensions of COI; (4) that business familiarity has a significant effect moderating the influence of net valence on COI; and (5) that tourism is the dominant element of the image that British people have of Spain. Theoretical (conceptual model, first study testing the influence of corporate image on COI) and managerial (guidelines for selecting corporate brands to be included in country branding campaigns) implications of these findings are considered, and finally, limitations of the study and future research directions are suggested.

<p>Research Question: What is it that determines if large companies in the same country and industry use their Country of Origin or not when they want to attract new customers abroad?</p><p>Purpose: Our purpose with this Minor Field Study is to find out if companies within the Brazilian textile industry are using their COO and identify which factors that determine why they use it or not. By analyzing these factors, if and why they are important or not, we can develop a model with the purpose to give companies an idea of how close they are from to being able to use their COO. </p><p>Method: We have worked with a qualitative research method where we interviewed two Brazilian companies, CI Hering and Karsten, which is working within the Brazilian textile industry.</p><p>Theoretical framework: Our theories are mainly concerning the subjects of branding, nation brands, COO and competitive identity. We have also studied the so called Nation Brands Index and its hexagon. We will use theories of nation branding and COO to illustrate their importance to a country’s international companies. </p><p>Empirical framework: This part will show the outcome of our interviews with Hering and Karsten but also present some data on the nation brand of Brazil and activities linked to it.</p><p>Conclusion: We have found that there are six factors that mainly determine if a company will use its COO when trying to attract new customers abroad, and how appropriate this will be. The six factors are: Strong identity/image, brand awareness, knowledge, consistent and strong nation brand, research and willingness. Our final conclusions are that international companies that want to manage their reputation can benefit from relating their identity to some of the aspects in the national identity of their country. Associating to your COO is a way of doing this that aligns your company´s image to the image of your home country.</p>

<p>Sverige är i ekonomiska sammanhang ett litet land, en begränsad hemmamarknad tvingar företag utomlands för att möjliggöra en expansion. Sverige är internationellt känt som en designnation och uttrycken ”Swedish Grace” samt ”Swedish Modern” har blivit synonymt med kvalitet, säkerhet och nytänkande. Problemet som denna uppsats ämnar att undersöka är i vilken utsträckning svenska design-</p><p>företag anpassar eller standardiserar svenskheten vid en utlandsetablering.</p><p>Syftet med uppsatsen är att med en jämförande studie utvärdera och analysera hur tre stycken små och ett stort svenskt designföretag väljer marknadsföringsstrategi</p><p>vid en utlandsetablering. Vi har ingående studerat dessa fyra företag och datainsamlingen har skett med hjälp av kvalitativa intervjuer med representanter från företagen.</p><p>Vår undersökning har visat att valet att anpassa eller standardisera svenskheten är kunskap- och erfarenhetsstyrt, men även beroende av företagets storlek. Skillnaderna vi sett mellan det stora och de mindre företagen kan följaktligen kopplas samman med ekonomiska förutsättningar samt deras erfarenhet från den nya marknaden.</p>

The incentive to investigate the origin of meat products and their related consumer atti-tudes have shown to be a serious and debated topic especially after receiving a lot of focus in media. The specific origin discussed in this thesis lies within the suggestion of introducing an EU origin marking or what also can be referred to as “Made in EU” labelling. During the investigation of whether this creates a negative or positive attitude many factors are needed to be considered. The nationalistic feelings that still exist within the member states is one of the major obstacles but also information and consumer awareness concerning what EU stand for. The focus is on Swedish consumers’ perspective and the effects of implementing “Made in EU” are considered solely on the Swedish market. The theoretical framework is constructed around the central concept of country of origin (COO) that can be noted as of key relevance when investigating consumer behaviour. An analysis model is also introduced to give a deeper understanding of the connections between findings and the theoretical concepts. The fundamental methodology that was cho-sen in order to investigate these attitudes was found to be through the use of focus groups. These were carried out in combination with a secondary data analysis for the clarification of knowledge concerning the topic. What results shown from this study and the connected conclusions can be summarised in a few lines. First, Swedish consumers had generally a negative attitude towards introducing this label. The reason was that the consumers on one hand could not associate the origin as EU at the same time as Swedish consumers prefer to buy Swedish meat which is related to the Swedish model. Secondly, the factors brought forward that were influencing the COO shows what the attitude consist of, for instance stereotypes and perception. Thirdly, this research has managed to bring together new findings, previous COO studies with theoretical concepts and thereby created knowledge about Swedish ethnocentrism and cultural and economical aspects the Swedish consumers use when evaluating meat. Finally, the research method and theoretical concepts can be applied to other areas such as different products or countries.

Sverige är i ekonomiska sammanhang ett litet land, en begränsad hemmamarknad tvingar företag utomlands för att möjliggöra en expansion. Sverige är internationellt känt som en designnation och uttrycken ”Swedish Grace” samt ”Swedish Modern” har blivit synonymt med kvalitet, säkerhet och nytänkande. Problemet som denna uppsats ämnar att undersöka är i vilken utsträckning svenska design- företag anpassar eller standardiserar svenskheten vid en utlandsetablering. Syftet med uppsatsen är att med en jämförande studie utvärdera och analysera hur tre stycken små och ett stort svenskt designföretag väljer marknadsföringsstrategi vid en utlandsetablering. Vi har ingående studerat dessa fyra företag och datainsamlingen har skett med hjälp av kvalitativa intervjuer med representanter från företagen. Vår undersökning har visat att valet att anpassa eller standardisera svenskheten är kunskap- och erfarenhetsstyrt, men även beroende av företagets storlek. Skillnaderna vi sett mellan det stora och de mindre företagen kan följaktligen kopplas samman med ekonomiska förutsättningar samt deras erfarenhet från den nya marknaden.

Research Question: What is it that determines if large companies in the same country and industry use their Country of Origin or not when they want to attract new customers abroad? Purpose: Our purpose with this Minor Field Study is to find out if companies within the Brazilian textile industry are using their COO and identify which factors that determine why they use it or not. By analyzing these factors, if and why they are important or not, we can develop a model with the purpose to give companies an idea of how close they are from to being able to use their COO. Method: We have worked with a qualitative research method where we interviewed two Brazilian companies, CI Hering and Karsten, which is working within the Brazilian textile industry. Theoretical framework: Our theories are mainly concerning the subjects of branding, nation brands, COO and competitive identity. We have also studied the so called Nation Brands Index and its hexagon. We will use theories of nation branding and COO to illustrate their importance to a country’s international companies. Empirical framework: This part will show the outcome of our interviews with Hering and Karsten but also present some data on the nation brand of Brazil and activities linked to it. Conclusion: We have found that there are six factors that mainly determine if a company will use its COO when trying to attract new customers abroad, and how appropriate this will be. The six factors are: Strong identity/image, brand awareness, knowledge, consistent and strong nation brand, research and willingness. Our final conclusions are that international companies that want to manage their reputation can benefit from relating their identity to some of the aspects in the national identity of their country. Associating to your COO is a way of doing this that aligns your company´s image to the image of your home country.