COO is a construct that refers to the country which a consumer associates a certain product or brand as being its source, regardless of where the product is actually produced. Scholars like Magnusson et al. (2011) argue that COO is a salient cue in consumers’ product evaluation and purchase intention. In contrast, Usunier (2006; 2011) and Samiee (2010) criticize the COO effect, by explaining that due to multinational production, integrated worldwide supply chains and global branding there are other cues that have become more salient in consumers’ decision- making process. The purpose of this thesis is to extend the understanding about the relationship of COO in consumers buying process. The research questions followed: To what extent does country of origin influence consumers’ product evaluations and purchase intention? To what extent does the level of involvement affect the relationship between country of origin and consumers’ product evaluation? To what extent does the level of involvement affect the relationship between country of origin and consumers’ purchase intentions. Applying a deductive approach, a quantitative research has been chosen for this thesis involving survey as the source for data collection in order to test this research four main concepts: COO, product evaluation, purchase intention and product involvement. The findings indicated that COO has a significant direct effect in consumers’ product evaluations and purchase intention. The results also indicated on that when consumers’ perceive products to be low involvement, the COO effect is greater in consumers’ decision-making process.

Master thesis, Master's degree program Marketing, Economic School Linnaeus University, Växjö Sweden, Spring semester 2015. Author: Andersson Anthon, Guntell Robin Tutor: Soniya Billore Examiner: Anders Pehrsson Title: Advancing the COO Construct From an Affective Dimension: The Application of Projective Technique Purpose: The purpose in this article is to break from traditional research and its accompanying cognitive research methods in order to advance the COO field from a more accurate perspective that also involves an affective dimension as well. Design/methodology/approach: Drawing from prior research in the COO field, the methodology accounted for assumptions that were tested in collage technique and ad copy technique. Findings: The results shows that some people only seems to be susceptible to COO influence when communicating emotional CSAs nonverbally, whilst some people only reveal rational CSAs when being cognitively asked about COO influence in a directed manner. As a result, the present findings might suggest that prior research in the academic field might suffer from bias. Practical implications: In the light of COO, managers should bear in mind that some people cannot be targeted with solely rely on a cognitive marketing communication strategy. More specifically, the ad copy technique provides guidelines for appropriate design of advertisements when one consider to serving the brand’s origin as salient cue in consumers’ minds. Originality/value: Advancing the COO construct with using collage technique, this study is to the best our knowledge the second to account for an affective dimension as well.

Als Reaktion auf die Verbreitung von globalen privaten Lebensmittelstandards gehen einige Entwicklungsländer mit der Gründung eigener nationaler Food Standards einen Weg, um sich in wichtigen Exportländern zu positionieren. Allerdings wirken negative Herkunftsimages dem Aufbau von Glaubwürdigkeit und Anerkennung bei wichtigen internationalen Akteuren entgegen. Diese Studie untersucht die Wirkung von Herkunftsland-Effekten auf die wahrgenommene Glaubwürdigkeit der nationalen Lebensmittelstandards und beurteilt die Benchmarking-Strategien, wie sie von GLOBALG.A.P. und der Global Food Safety Initiative (GFSI) angeboten werden. Die Daten von 301 Lebensmittel-Managern aus Industrie- und Entwicklungsländern wurden durch eine Online-Befragung im Frühjahr 2010 erhoben. Die Befragten wurden gebeten, verschiedene Aspekte der Glaubwürdigkeit von Standards generell zu beurteilen sowie die Glaubwürdigkeit der Food Standards von acht Ländern spezifisch zu bewerten: Australien, China, Ghana, Indien, Italien, Mexiko, dem Vereinigten Königreich und den Vereinigten Staaten. Durch eine Faktorenanalyse und eine lineare Regression wird ein empirisches Modell zur Glaubwürdigkeit von Lebensmittelstandards analysiert. Im Ergebnis zeigt sich, dass "Benchmarking-Signale" erheblich dazu beitragen können, die Glaubwürdigkeit von Lebensmittelstandards in entwickelten Ländern und in Entwicklungsländern zu verbessern.

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This thesis seeks to examine what cultural work is done on behalf of the state by the Safe Third Country Agreement and Bill C-31’s designated country of origin policy? I will be drawing on the work of Critical Race feminists and Critical Security Studies theorists to examine the concept of safety, systems of domination, and the parameters of national belonging. I will be performing a discourses analysis of the government’s and the Canadian Council for Refugee’s year one report of the Safe Third Country Agreement. I will also be performing a discourse analysis of the Citizenship and Immigration Canada website’s discussion of designated countries of origin. I will argue that state exaltation constructs the state, refugees, and safety in a way that reifies systems of domination.

This thesis investigates the effects of immigration status, country of origin, and duration in Canada on three main health outcomes, namely health care utilization, occurrences of hypertension and heart disease, and body mass index. The first two chapters are cross-sectional studies that utilize data derived from linked national health survey and Ontario databases, whereas the third chapter is a longitudinal study which draws data from the longitudinal National Population Health Survey (NPHS). The first chapter examines the role of immigration status and country of origin in explaining the use of three types of health services: primary care physicians, specialists, and hospitals. The findings suggest that immigrants, especially those who are male and have low educational attainment, use more primary care physicians than comparable non-immigrants. However, immigrants are found to use fewer expensive health services, i.e. specialist and hospital care, compared to Canadian-born residents. Likewise, immigrants from non-traditional source countries make even fewer visits to specialists than do those who came from traditional source countries. The second chapter investigates the associations of immigration status, occurrence of hypertension, and occurrence of heart disease. Findings from this chapter show that immigrants have comparable odds of hypertension and heart disease to those of Canadian-born residents after adjusting for other factors. The third chapter examines the effects of time since arrival in Canada on the change in BMI over the 14-year period. This chapter shows that, holding other factors constant, an additional year in Canada leads to a 0.14% increase in an individual’s BMI. This association is found to be more pronounced for women than men and for married than non-married individuals. The effect of time since arrival in Canada on the change in BMI is reduced to 0.07% after controlling for sample selection bias, suggesting that by ignoring the sample selection issue, the effects of time since arrival in Canada on the change in BMI may be overestimated.

This thesis investigates the effects of immigration status, country of origin, and duration in Canada on three main health outcomes, namely health care utilization, occurrences of hypertension and heart disease, and body mass index. The first two chapters are cross-sectional studies that utilize data derived from linked national health survey and Ontario databases, whereas the third chapter is a longitudinal study which draws data from the longitudinal National Population Health Survey (NPHS). The first chapter examines the role of immigration status and country of origin in explaining the use of three types of health services: primary care physicians, specialists, and hospitals. The findings suggest that immigrants, especially those who are male and have low educational attainment, use more primary care physicians than comparable non-immigrants. However, immigrants are found to use fewer expensive health services, i.e. specialist and hospital care, compared to Canadian-born residents. Likewise, immigrants from non-traditional source countries make even fewer visits to specialists than do those who came from traditional source countries. The second chapter investigates the associations of immigration status, occurrence of hypertension, and occurrence of heart disease. Findings from this chapter show that immigrants have comparable odds of hypertension and heart disease to those of Canadian-born residents after adjusting for other factors. The third chapter examines the effects of time since arrival in Canada on the change in BMI over the 14-year period. This chapter shows that, holding other factors constant, an additional year in Canada leads to a 0.14% increase in an individual’s BMI. This association is found to be more pronounced for women than men and for married than non-married individuals. The effect of time since arrival in Canada on the change in BMI is reduced to 0.07% after controlling for sample selection bias, suggesting that by ignoring the sample selection issue, the effects of time since arrival in Canada on the change in BMI may be overestimated.

Background Country of origin (COO) has developed over the years and so has the definition, from the manufacturing COO and has now developed more into the COO of the brand. This development has led to a gap in research surrounding COO effects in combination with the decision-making process. Purpose The purpose of this study was to understand and explore which product information cues COO effects, along with how these cues influence the consumer's cognitive decision-making process. Leading to recommendations for companies, of how they can then use these effects in their favour. Method An interpretivism philosophy was used as part of this study, along with an inductive approach. Exploratory research was conducted to analyse the qualitative data during the experimental setting within three focus groups to gather in-depth views and opinions of participants. The research was gathered using convenience sampling, with limitations including the pre-bias participants had surrounding a COO. Findings The three most important information cues were quality, price and brand when it comes to what information consumers need to make a purchase. There is a difference in willingness to pay, perceived brand image and value surrounding COO from the COO experiment conducted between Germany and Poland. Research participants would pay on average 104 Euros more for the same product if it was a German brand over a Polish one. COO effects consumers in both a direct and indirect way, the subliminal use of COO, suggesting that the decision-making process is not completely cognitive. Similarly, consumers do not initially perceive COO as an important factor until it is brought up. However it can be said to be at the back of their minds at all times. It was also suggested that consumers have a ranking of countries within their minds and use it to aid their decision-making process. Consumers want to use the rational (intrinsic) cues (quality, design), however the extrinsic cues (brand, price) were identified as being more important. Conclusion In conclusion it can be said that COO is an important influencing factor on the consumers' decision-making process. COO is a factor effecting and influencing the different information cues which consumers identify as being important to their purchase. COO is seen as an influencing factor continuously effecting information cues, but more specifically price, brand and quality. Brands with 'higher' perceived COO's can thrive under their competitive advantage, whilst brands with a 'lower' perceived COO do not do as well.

By exploring determinants of perceived wine quality and seeking possibilities to overcome Chinese wines’ negative COO effect, this paper aims to give insights to current research field about perceived quality and Country of Origin (COO) effect. Adopting an abductive approach, the researchers conducted qualitative semi-structured interviews separately with 11 respondents in different age, nationality and occupation. The results show that consumer perception on wine quality is influenced by four extrinsic cues (Country of Manufacturing, price, credible endorsements, brand) and four intrinsic cues (package, taste, aroma, wine legs). Hence, this paper conclude that it is possible for Chinse wine to improve its overall consumer perception by improving competence in other determinants of perceived wine quality.

Die vorliegende Arbeit befasst sich mit dem Zusammenhang zwischen Internationalität und Unternehmenserfolg. Im Zentrum steht dabei die Analyse der Heimatlandfaktoren. Ziel ist es, den Einfluss der Rahmenbedingungen im Heimatland auf den Zusammenhang zwischen Internationalität und Unternehmenserfolg zu quantifizieren.