Transformations  in
Business & Economics

Country of Origin Effects in the Context of Transformations: Nostalgia, Ethnocentrism and Animosity
Sigitas Urbonavicius, Vytautas Dikcius, Justina Gineikiene, Mindaugas Degutis

ABSTRACT. During the last two decades numerous societies have experienced major political, economic and social transformations. Many of them resulted in splitting of the former states and formation of new political units. New countries often emerged or re-emerged after the breakdown of the multinational political entities that had been founded on certain historical events and political power. This process has created new sets of attitudes towards countries and their products among the consumers of the countries that previously belonged to the same political unit. We presume that the most complex scope of perceptions has been developed towards the countries that previously were assumed as possessing formal or informal superiority over others in the conglomerate. When evaluating the products from such countries, consumers may be influenced by the product country-of-origin (COO) factor in a more complex way than usual, where ethnocentrism, nostalgia and possible animosity towards the country are involved.

The research disclosed some unexpected findings. Unlike in the other studies on animosity, the analysis showed a correlation among animosity towards the country and the evaluation of its products. In addition, nostalgia appeared to be an important antecedent to animosity and was linked with ethnocentrism. Although these findings may be interpreted on the basis of the specific context analysis, our study outlines several directions for further research rather than draws firm conclusions.

KEYWORDS: country animosity, ethnocentrism, nostalgia, country of origin (CCO) effect, product valuation.

JEL classification: C12, D12, M31.