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Article
Consumer Behaviour Induced by Product Nationality: The Evolution of the Field and its Theoretical Antecedents
Tanja Dmitrovic, Irena Vida
ABSTRACT. In this study we survey, classify and synthesize streams of research that examine the role of national origin of products, brands, services and institutions in consumption. We identify two major subsets of literature related to product nationality: a) country-of-origin studies and b) research that focuses on consumer ideologies. We find that the two subsets adopt different theoretical perspectives and are based on different underlying mechanisms of consumer preference formation. By identifying the similarities in and differences between the two streams of literature, we attempt to establish a firm basis for future empirical evaluations of consumer behaviour induced by product nationality. To this end, we construct an integrative framework that allows the effects of product nationality on consumption to be treated holistically.
KEYWORDS: country of origin, consumer behaviour, consumer ideology.
JEL classification: M31, Z13, M39.