TY - JOUR
T1 - Utilizing country image and well-known products for less-known products
T2 - Perspectives from a country with less-competitive country image
AU - Woo, Hongjoo
AU - Jin, Byoungho
AU - Ramkumar, Bharath
N1 - Publisher Copyright:
© 2017, © Emerald Publishing Limited.
Copyright:
Copyright 2017 Elsevier B.V., All rights reserved.
PY - 2017
Y1 - 2017
N2 - Purpose: Country image determines consumers’ beliefs toward the country’s products, through halo effect. While the relevant literature is predominantly focused on the context of well-known products from traditionally leading exporters, the purpose of this paper is to examine the two levels of halo effect (i.e. country image as halo and a well-known product category as halo) on a less-known product category from a recently developed country. Design/methodology/approach: The purpose of study was carried out by using a quantitative approach. Survey responses were collected from 253 US consumers who are aged between 18 and 67 years. This study only examined South Korea and used the two selected product categories (i.e. cell phones and apparel) as samples for the study. Findings: The results of a series of regression analyses confirmed that the positive images of South Korea and Korean cell phones served as halo, thereby enhancing the respondents’ beliefs toward Korean apparel, which is a less-known product category that they have not yet experienced. Further, the respondents’ positive beliefs toward both cell phones and apparel increased their purchase intentions of those two products. Research limitations/implications: The findings of this study imply that the general country image and the country’s well-known product images are critical in introducing the country’s less-known product to foreign markets. Originality/value: The originality of this study lies in its unique focus on relatively less-known product category of a recently developed country (i.e. Korean apparel), which received limited attention in the past research. This study is also one of the few attempts to examine the role of a country’s well-known products on the country’s less-known products, another level of halo effect in country image.
AB - Purpose: Country image determines consumers’ beliefs toward the country’s products, through halo effect. While the relevant literature is predominantly focused on the context of well-known products from traditionally leading exporters, the purpose of this paper is to examine the two levels of halo effect (i.e. country image as halo and a well-known product category as halo) on a less-known product category from a recently developed country. Design/methodology/approach: The purpose of study was carried out by using a quantitative approach. Survey responses were collected from 253 US consumers who are aged between 18 and 67 years. This study only examined South Korea and used the two selected product categories (i.e. cell phones and apparel) as samples for the study. Findings: The results of a series of regression analyses confirmed that the positive images of South Korea and Korean cell phones served as halo, thereby enhancing the respondents’ beliefs toward Korean apparel, which is a less-known product category that they have not yet experienced. Further, the respondents’ positive beliefs toward both cell phones and apparel increased their purchase intentions of those two products. Research limitations/implications: The findings of this study imply that the general country image and the country’s well-known product images are critical in introducing the country’s less-known product to foreign markets. Originality/value: The originality of this study lies in its unique focus on relatively less-known product category of a recently developed country (i.e. Korean apparel), which received limited attention in the past research. This study is also one of the few attempts to examine the role of a country’s well-known products on the country’s less-known products, another level of halo effect in country image.
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U2 - 10.1108/APJML-06-2016-0091
DO - 10.1108/APJML-06-2016-0091
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:85035124580
VL - 29
SP - 933
EP - 946
JO - Asia Pacific Journal of Marketing and Logistics
JF - Asia Pacific Journal of Marketing and Logistics
SN - 1355-5855
IS - 5
ER -