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Research questions:   What are the brand images and brand identities of Renault Trucks, Novembal/Tetra Pak and IKEA? Is there a brand gap? How does country-of-origin have an effect on the perception of the brands? How does the respondent’s sex have an importance in the perception of the brand and the effect of country-of-origin? Purpose:   The purpose of this thesis is to describe, compare and analyze the existence of brand gaps and the effect of country-of-origin with the final intention to provide management recommendations for the studied companies. Method:   A quantitative consumer survey of 42 subjects was collected and analyzed. In addition, interviews were conducted with three Swedish companies, as well as an interview with the Swedish Chamber of Commerce in Lyon. Aaker’s (1997) Big Five model was used in the analysis. Conclusions:    The study demonstrated the brand identities and brand images of the companies. A brand gap is widely present. Aaker’s (1997) model had to be modified and includes new dimensions and traits. Country-of-origin (COO) plays a role in 100% of the consumers’ perception and purchasing process. COO bias, ethnocentrism and animosity are present and play a role in the 42 consumers’ attitudes and purchase decisions in Rhone-Alps. Men      and women have different attitudes and degree of ethnocentrism towards the effect of country-of-origin (COE).

Background: This study will be beneficial for Swedish companies that wish to enter the French market and will also benefit companies in France that have something to do with Sweden or that are playing on the Swedish origin. The outcome of this study will give a perspective on Swedishness in Swedish companies, brands and products with French consumers.References to places and countries such as French wine, Hollywood movies, and Russian roulette are examples of how the origin of countries can create associations influencing consumers' product evaluation and buying behaviour. In the process of understanding French consumers' product country image in relation to Sweden, it is important to map their buying behaviour and associations to Swedish companies, brands and products. The consumer perception of the country of origin can together with other attributes add brand equity to a company, brand or a product. Purpose: The purpose of this study is to understand how Swedishness in Swedish brands and products influences the perception of quality and to assist companies in their decision making on how to market in France. Conclusion: French consumers are influenced by global and national perceptions of countries of origin. Swedishness and Scandinavia have a particularly good reputation with French consumers. This influence is high and influences the consumers' quality-perception process through various influencers. Presentation of figures that can be used as generic figures when considering the influencers of your country's image when marketing cross-nationally.

<p><strong>Background: </strong>This study will be beneficial for Swedish companies that wish to enter the French market and will also benefit companies in France that have something to do with Sweden or that are playing on the Swedish origin. The outcome of this study will give a perspective on Swedishness in Swedish companies, brands and products with French consumers.References to places and countries such as French wine, Hollywood movies, and Russian roulette are examples of how the origin of countries can create associations influencing consumers' product evaluation and buying behaviour. In the process of understanding French consumers' product country image in relation to Sweden, it is important to map their buying behaviour and associations to Swedish companies, brands and products. The consumer perception of the country of origin can together with other attributes add brand equity to a company, brand or a product.</p><p><strong>Purpose</strong>: The purpose of this study is to understand how Swedishness in Swedish brands and products influences the perception of quality and to assist companies in their decision making on how to market in France.</p><p><strong>Conclusion</strong>: French consumers are influenced by global and national perceptions of countries of origin. Swedishness and Scandinavia have a particularly good reputation with French consumers. This influence is high and influences the consumers' quality-perception process through various influencers. Presentation of figures that can be used as generic figures when considering the influencers of your country's image when marketing cross-nationally.</p>

Purpose: How Chinese people behave toward French Luxury Brands? Method: This paper is built on a deductive approach following three main hypotheses. Secondary datawere retrieved from books, studies and articles found in Halmstad library and several databases.Moreover, primary data were also collected through a questionnaire; which shapes the major lines ofour conclusions. Theoretical Framework: The frame of references follows our three hypotheses. First, the culturaldifferences between France and China are highlighted through concepts such as: Hofestede culturaldimensions, Mezirow’s theory and Guanxi. Then, the Mianzi philosophy and the flying geeseparadigm are used to support the hypothesis that brands could be used as social markers. Finally,several theories about the country-of-origin effect are used to analyse the image of French products in China. Conclusion: The authors conclude that French luxury brands are considered on the Chinese south-eastcoast as a mark of high quality, prestige and fashion. These features partly motivate their purchasingdecision, whereas the country-of-origin itself is not a convincing argument. These brands, usuallyexpensive, are nowadays perceived by Chinese as a way to emphasis their wealth and thus socialstatus. This behaviour shows a growing individualism toward French luxury brands ownership in acountry historically ruled by collectivism. The contributions and further studies possible are finallyestablished at the end of this paper.

Estudos têm demonstrado que idéias pré-estabelecidas e estereotipadas dos indivíduos com relação a países podem afetar suas atitudes em relação a produtos oriundos dessas nações. Tal fato é conhecido como efeito país de origem. Nesse contexto, vale destacar que apesar de o Brasil ter assumido nesta década a posição de maior exportador de carne bovina do mundo, seu papel de liderança nesse campo é criticado por muitos europeus, que acreditam que a pecuária brasileira é responsável por grande parte da destruição da floresta amazônica, pela exploração da mão-de-obra barata e até mesmo escrava e, ainda, por realizar baixo investimento na sanidade dos animais. O objetivo geral desta pesquisa é, portanto, analisar a influência da imagem do Brasil na comercialização da carne bovina brasileira na Europa. Este estudo possui uma parte exploratória e outra descritiva, composta por uma etapa quantitativa e outra qualitativa. Além da revisão bibliográfica, foram realizadas entrevistas com exportadores brasileiros, membros de entidades de classe que representam o setor exportador e importador europeu, com o objetivo de complementar os resultados da etapa quantitativa, foco principal da pesquisa. Durante a etapa quantitativa foi realizado um levantamento junto a estudantes e funcionários de universidades na França, Alemanha, Irlanda e Inglaterra, de forma a analisar em que medida a imagem do Brasil pode afetar suas atitudes em relação à carne bovina. Esta pesquisa pôde concluir que crenças em relação a países podem diferir de acordo com o grau de similaridade percebida entre o país do respondente e o país analisado, além de questões demográficas, como local de residência, sexo e faixa etária.Tais fatores também podem moderar a magnitude do efeito país de origem. Conclui-se, também, que os aspectos relativos à comunicação, distribuição e diferenciação dos produtos brasileiros foram os que receberam a pior avaliação por parte dos consumidores que participaram do levantamento, o que significa a necessidade de maior investimento do setor privado e do Governo em ações voltadas para a comunicação dos produtos brasileiros no exterior. Além disso, parece fundamental exaltar nessas campanhas de comunicação, aspectos relacionados às artes e à festividade e amabilidade do povo brasileiro, dimensões bem avaliadas pelos respondentes em todos os países. Observou-se que o total de respondentes avaliou de forma neutra a imagem do Brasil, de uma forma geral, e não houve influência significativa da imagem do Brasil na atitude em relação à carne bovina. Pode-se concluir, portanto, que o efeito país de origem para o total de respondentes foi, apesar de positivo, pouco expressivo. Ao analisar grupos separadamente, observou-se diferenças significativas do efeito país de origem entre as distintas faixas etárias, país de residência, os diferentes gêneros e, entre os grupos com maior ou menor grau de familiaridade e, ainda, envolvimento com o produto. Houve, ainda, diferenças entre os grupos com maior ou menor nível de conhecimento do Brasil. No que se refere às limitações da pesquisa, pode ser destacada a população-alvo definida para esse estudo, tendo em vista que a mesma não abrange outros importantes mercados com os quais o Brasil mantém relações comerciais, como outros países europeus, os Estados Unidos e países asiáticos, ou mesmo diferentes segmentos de consumidores europeus. Pôde-se, com os resultados da pesquisa, avançar no estado da arte nas pesquisas sobre imagem de país e, ainda, colaborar com os profissionais e teóricos de marketing, para que possam melhor gerenciar o construto país de origem como ferramenta de marketing. / In the last years, studies has showed that pre-established ideas and stereotyped from individuals about countries can interfere in their attitudes concerning products from theses nations, phenomena denominated by some authors as the country origin effect. In this context, is important to say that even Brazil has become the main Beef exporter of the world, your leadership in this area has been criticized for some Europeans, who believe that the Brazilian livestock is responsible for Amazon Deforestation, slave work and also, the producers has a low concern with animal health. this position was achieved despite of Amazon deforestation, slave work and not enough animal health care. Brazilian government and the exporter sector have been working to change the image of all productive chain has abroad, showing measures to reduce the environment impact of the activity, in the health care of the animals and in the labor law attendance. Therefore, the main goal of this research is to analyze the influence of Brazilian image in the Brazilian beef trade in Europe. This research is exploratory and descriptive and had a quantitative and a qualitative part. Further the bibliography research, interviews were made with representatives of Brazilian beef exporters and European importer, with the aim of complementing the main focus of this research, the quantitative part. During the quantitative part, a survey was administrated with students and professionals from Europeans universities in France, England, Ireland, and German, in order to know how can Brazilian image affect their attitudes concerning Brazilian beef. This study could conclude that beliefs about countries could be different according the perceived similarity between the respondent country and the analyzed nation, as well as demographic factors, such as place of residence, gender and age. These factors can also moderate the country of origin effect. It also possible to conclude that the aspects related to the communication, distribution and differentiation of Brazilian products receive the worst evaluation from the consumers that had participate of the survey, which means the necessity of improve the investments from the Government and the private sector in this area. Therefore, seems to be very important to give emphasis in theses campaigns, in aspects related with arts, festivity and the friendliness of Brazilian people, dimensions very well evaluated by the respondents. The total of respondents present, in a general way, a neutral evaluation about Brazilian image and the influence of this on the attitude concerning Brazilian beef was not expressive. It is possible to conclude that the country of origin effect, despite of positive, was inexpressive. Analyzing groups separately, it is possible to affirm that the country of origin effect were different between ages, gender and country of residence. It is also different according the level of enrollment and familiarity with Brazilian beef, and between the levels of Knowledge of Brazil. Concerning the limitations from the study, the target population do not achieve others important markets with them Brazil has commercial relations; such as another European countries, Asian countries, USA, even others segments of European consumers. With the results of this study, it was possible to go forward in the state of art in the research about country image and also help marketing professionals and theorist in order to better manage the country of origin as marketing tool.

The purpose of this thesis is to explore how the country image influences Swedish brands in their promotion strategy. The thesis will explore what underlying factors come to influence the country of origin effect in the brands promotion and which cues are used when communicating their origin with consumers. To address the purpose of the thesis, the following question will be answered: How does the country of origin influence Swedish brands in their promotion strategy?In regard to the research question and purpose, the theoretical framework includes previous studies related to different dimensions of country of origin and the effect it has on consumer affinity, different stereotypes regarding country image as well as different COO-strategies. To answer the research question, this thesis contains a qualitative research approach, with an inductive method and a multiple case study design. We interviewed 3 companies, within 3 different product categories which gave us valuable insights regarding how the Swedishness is communicated to consumers and how the Swedish country image is perceived internationally on different product categories. An analysis was made with the empirical findings together with the theoretical framework, with comparisons between the companies as well as pointing out differences and similarities between the case companies. The overall findings from this thesis is that Sweden holds a positive image internationally and that it is beneficial for companies to promote their Swedishness. The different companies also emphasize different cues in their promotion, to get a match between product category and country image, hence use the Swedishness in different ways.

The aim of this diploma thesis is to compare the influence of the country of origin effect on Czech products between Czech and Austrian university students. The first part includes description of existing theories in this field and also presents theoretical possibilities of brand and product origin communication. The empirical part introduces both markets, selected brands Škoda Auto and Pilsner Urquell and presents the interpretation of the data obtained from the questionnaire and its quantitative analysis. In the proposal part, the conclusions of the hypotheses constructed based on the empirical research in the first chapter are interpreted, the differences between both groups of respondents are discussed and author’s proposals are presented.

The presented dissertation thesis deals with the issue of national image and its influence on increasing of competitiveness of domestic producers in the domestic wine market. Customers are currently affected by many factors that companies try to use to gain their competitive advantage and strengthen their competitive position in the market. The thesis is divided into three main parts. The first part defines the main objectives of the thesis, as well as the milestones, through which the main objective is accomplished. Furthermore, the research assumptions, which are verified on the basis of statistical hypotheses, are defined here and in the end, the research methods that will lead to the fulfilment of the main goal of this work are defined. This work combines several approaches to achieve the most accurate results. The second part summarizes the current literature point of view on the main topics of the work. It is divided into three sub-units, the first unit focuses on the definition, measurement and shaping of the national image. The second sub-unit deals with consumer behaviour, models of consumer behaviour according to the traditional and the modern concept and using online media to influence customer attitudes. The third sub-unit describes the concepts of competitiveness which are available in the literature. The third part is the research part. The research is carried out in the area of customers, producers and external organizations that are involved in raising awareness of domestic products of the wine industry on the domestic market. For each of the areas the key findings are set out at the conclusion, which are then followed by the creation of the concept of competitiveness usable in the wine industry and the creation of functioning communication models tailored to the specifics of the wine market.

Titel: Harmonisering av global hållbarhetsredovisning - vilka möjligheter och hinder finns det? Nivå: Examensarbete på grundnivå (kandidatexamen) i ämnet företagsekonomi Författare: Emma Magnfält och Martina Bäckstedt Handledare: Asif M. Huq Datum: 2024 – Maj  Syfte: Studiens syfte är att undersöka möjligheter och hinder för harmonisering av global hållbarhetsredovisning med utgångspunkt i intressenters remissvar till IFRS General Requirements for Disclosure of Sustainability-related Financial Information (IFRS S1). Metod: I denna studie har en kvalitativ metod med en abduktiv forskningsansats tillämpats, som innefattar en innehållsanalys av 39 remissvar avseende feedback på första utkastet av IFRS S1. En jämförelseanalys av utkastet och den utfärdade standarden IFRS S1 har utförts. Resultat och slutsats: Resultatet visade att det finns både likheter och skillnader i de åsikter intressenter har på utkastet till IFRS S1. Skillnader mellan geografiska områden kan hänföras till institutionella faktorer vilka bottnar i tvingande isomorfism och länders olika utvecklingsgrad, medan skillnader mellan intressentgrupper hänförs till normativ isomorfism. Likheter hänvisas till tendenser av normativ isomorfism. Det visade sig även att ISSB kategoriserar intressenter och till viss del tillgodoser intressenternas behov. Examensarbetets bidrag: Studien bidrar med ett aktuellt perspektiv över förutsättningarna för harmonisering av global hållbarhetsredovisning. Bidrag ges även i form av teoretiska insikter i hur såväl tvingande som normativ isomorfism påverkar möjligheterna till harmonisering av global hållbarhetsredovisning. Studien möjliggör ett bredare perspektiv av ISSB:s standardsättarprocess. Förslag till fortsatt forskning: Framtida forskning kan undersöka intressentgruppers synpunkter mer djupgående än vad denna studie fick möjlighet att göra, samt undersöka utfallet av den globala hållbarhetsredovisningen som efterföljer den utfärdade IFRS S1.  Nyckelord: Harmonisering, hållbarhetsredovisning, intressentteorin, institutionell teori, isomorfism, country-of-origin effekt / Title: Harmonization of global sustainability reporting - what are the opportunities and obstacles? Level: Student thesis, final assignment for Bachelor Degree in Business Administration Author: Emma Magnfält and Martina Bäckstedt Supervisor: Asif M. Huq Date: 2024 – May  Aim: The purpose of the study is to investigate opportunities and obstacles for harmonizing global sustainability reporting based on stakeholders' comment letters to IFRS General Requirements for Disclosure of Sustainability-related Financial Information (IFRS S1). Method: In this study, a qualitative method with an abductive research approach has been applied, which includes a content analysis of 39 comment letters regarding feedback on the first draft of IFRS S1. A comparative analysis of the draft versus the issued standard IFRS S1 has been made. Results and conclusions: The results of the study showed similarities and differences in the feedback stakeholders left for the draft of IFRS S1. Differences of opinions in geographical areas stems from institutional factors created by coercive isomorphism and countries' different developmental stages. Differences between stakeholder groups relate to tendencies of normative isomorphism. Similarities of opinions also depend on normative isomorphism. The study also revealed that ISSB categorizes stakeholder groups and accommodates stakeholder needs to a certain degree. Contribution of the thesis: The study contributes with an updated perspective of harmonizing global sustainability reporting. Theoretical contributions are given through the insights in how coercive and normative isomorphism affects the possibilities for harmonizing global sustainability reporting. The study brings insights into ISSB's standard-setting process. Suggestions for future research: Future research can examine the views of stakeholder groups in more depth than this study was able to, as well as investigate the outcome of global sustainability reporting that follows the issued IFRS S1. Key words: Harmonization, sustainability reporting, stakeholder theory, institutional theory, isomorphism, country-of-origin effect