The Country of Origin Effect on The Purchase Intention: A Multidimensional Model

Abstract

Even though the country of origin effect has been extensively researched, the factors influencing it have not been deeply studied. This research considered whether ethnocentrism, patriotism, and internationalism influence the country of origin effect or the perception held towards a product, based on the country where the product was made. The Consumer Ethnocentric Scale (CETSCALE) (Shimp and Sharma, 1987) and the nationalism, patriotism and internationalism scales developed by Kosterman and Feshbach (1989) were used to assess these variables, while 5 different product categories were measured. A total of 564 people from Puerto Rico, the Dominican Republic, the United States and Spain were interviewed, using a 20- minute, self-administered questionnaire. The following are the major results: 1) the country of origin effect varies according to the product category; 2) ethnocentrism influences the consumers’ purchase intention of some product categories; and 3) patriotism and nationalism consistently influence consumer ethnocentrism. Internationalism did not have a significant effect on the products’ purchase intention or the level of ethnocentrism.