County of Origin Knowledge: Insights into Consumers’ Knowledge

The effect of the country of origin of a product is an important influence in consumers' product evaluations and has been studied for more than 40 years. Marketing practice shows that consumers ascribe abilities to certain countries (e.g. "German Engineering," "French Cheese") and use such positive perceptions in the formation of purchase decisions. It becomes, however, more and more difficult for consumers to actually know the correct country of origin of their products and brands. Moreover, as consumers are faced with an extensive amount of information, it is likely that origin information is not always playing an important part in the formulation of the purchase decision. Is "made in" still important for consumers? Do they actually know the origin of their products and brands? This book puts consumers' country of origin knowledge to a test and discusses the importance of origin information in an up-to-date context. The conclusions drawn in this book are significant for marketing scholars and professionals as well as students interested in international marketing. The book also serves as a solid literature review and offers a framework for future research.