This study discusses the consumer choice behavior for foreign products from the viewpoint of country image, consumer patriotism, and survey methodology. The first chapter is the introduction of this thesis, and the second chapter summarizes the theoretical background and relevant literature of this thesis. Chapter three analyzes the underlying dimensions of country image and their roles in purchase decision for foreign products, chapter four proposes and tests a consumer choice model for foreign products, and chapter five examines survey methodological issues in country image studies.
In chapter three, it is argued that country image contains a symbolic as well as a functional dimension. In examining this argument, surveys were conducted with a quota sample of Belgium adult consumers on automobile brands from U.S., Japan, Germany, and Korea. The brands were evaluated on consumers' ratings of symbolic and functional attributes, attitude toward brands, and purchase intentions. And then factor analysis were carried out on country image attributes both functional and symbolic, to find out the underlying dimensions of country image. Finally, a series of regression analysis were run to reveal the role of underlying dimensions of country image in purchase decision. The results suggest that country image may include both functional and symbolic dimensions and each dimension may play a significant role in consumer choice for a foreign brand. Finally, marketing implications of the findings are addressed.
The fourth chapter proposes and tests a model of consumer choice for foreign products. Specifically, this chapter examines the roles of the functional dimension of country image, the symbolic dimension of country image, and consumer patriotism in consumer choice behavior for foreign products. To test the proposed model, surveys were conducted with a quota sample of U.S. adult consumers on automobile brands from U.S., Japan, Germany, and Korea. The test results suggest that all three factors (functional country image, symbolic country image, and consumer patriotism) may have significant effects on purchase intention for foreign products. The results also suggest that functional country image and consumer patriotism influences purchase intention through brand attitude, while symbolic country image affects purchase intentions through subjective norm. Finally, the role of subjective norm in purchase intention for foreign products were found to be stronger than that of brand attitude.
The next chapter empirically examines how the choice of a survey mode affects subjects' attribute ratings of products made in different countries, their attitudes toward products, and their intent to purchase products. Three surveys were conducted which employed different modes (personal, telephone, and self-administered) with samples drawn from the same consumer population. The study found significant interactions between the survey mode and products' country of origin. Specifically, the study examined six patterns of response variations across survey modes implied by social desirability biases, demand artifacts, and haloing biases. The findings indicate that personal interviews may be susceptible to demand artifacts, and self-administered surveys may be vulnerable to haloing biases. Although tentative, the findings also suggest that social desirability biases may be more likely to occur in telephone interviews than in other modes.
