Signaling and Attribute Effects of Country-of-Origin Information: Roles of Consumer Knowledge and Involvement

Today, an increasing number of products made in countires other than the country in which the product is consumered. Products made in a particular country may be preferred to products made in other country because consumers perceive them as being of higher quality and/or because consumers have a favorable image toward the “made in” country. Regarding these country-of-origin effects, recent studies have suggested that country-of-origin information can be treated as an extrinsic cue of product quality (a signalling effect) or as a product attribute that can provide consumer benefits (an attribute effect). However, no reported research has yet provided a causal model that describes the purchase decision-making process with both signaling and attribute effects of the country of origin. Thus, we proposed a structural equation model and tested the model with a consumer data set. By dividing the data set into consumer groups, we conclude that signaling and attribute effects of country-of-origin may be influenced by the level of consumer knowledge as well as consumer involvement.