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4. Research Design
4.1. Measurement of Research Variables
The main objective of this study is to elucidate the effect of country image and familiarity with a country (Taiwan, Japan, China) on perception of products originating from the countries of study. Other predictor variables, such as consumer‟s involvement with the product category, consumer‟s expertise in product category, consumer‟s experience with country products, as well as the demographic variables, are also included in the multiple regression analysis as covariates. Products are evaluated on the general level, as well as on product category specific level (laptop computers).
A structured, self-administered questionnaire is used for data collection. Virtually all of the questionnaire items are validated measures that have been adapted from previous research. The country / people image and product (general and specific) perception measures were first developed by Parameswaran and Yaprak (1987), and further modified and validated by the original authors (Parameswaran and Pisharodi, 1994) as well as other authors (Lee &
Ganesh, 1999; Knight et al., 2003; Pereira et al., 2005). The external consistency of the test (applicability of the test across countries) has been confirmed by the multiple studies and settings where it was employed. Subjective familiarity with a country is based on an approach used by several past studies (Ahmed & d‟Astous, 2008; Josiassen, 2007; Paswan & Sharma, 2004). The subjective familiarity with a product measure originates in a study by Flynn &
Goldsmith (1999). The objective test of consumer experience with country products is taken from Heslop and Papadopoulos (1993). For the test of objective familiarity with a country, the approach of Hayo (1999) and Paswan & Sharma (2004) was modified to match the needs of the present study. The product category-specific involvement was adopted from a study by Ahmed & d‟Astous (2008).
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For the purposes of this study, country of product origin is operationalized through the
„Made in‟ or „Manufactured in‟ label, in other words as the final points of manufacture of the product, which remains the most common conceptualization of the concept in COO literature (Al-Sulaiti & Baker, 1998). Country image uses the definition of Verlegh & Steenkamp (1999), as “mental representations of a country's people, products, culture and national symbols”, assessing respondents‟ perception of the country and its people. Country familiarity refers to how familiar a consumer is with a particular country. It is measured both as self-reported subjective familiarity, as well as objective knowledge of the country. Experience with country products is measured by consumer behavioral considerations, assessed by product purchases and usage experience. Expertise in a product category is operationalized as a subjective variable, self-evaluated by the respondents. Product involvement is measured by consumer attitudes to a purchase of the product, such as difficulty of purchase, importance of purchase and product information search. Product evaluation includes measurement of general attitudes towards products made in a country, as well as a measurement of attitudes towards a specific product category made in the country.
The questionnaire was assembled in consultation with related literature on questionnaire design (Hague, 1993; Bailey, 1994; Alreck and Settle, 1995). The majority of the survey measures employ a standard Likert scale with 5, 7 and 9 points scales present in the original studies. In order to make the questionnaire user-friendly and easy to follow, all measures using a Likert scale were transformed into 5-point scale answers. A 5-point ordinal scale was used for questions eliciting frequency (1 = never, 5 = very often) and amount (1 = none, 5 = very much).
The first version of the questionnaire was created in English, as all the measures used for its construction come from literature written in the English language. The questionnaire was then submitted for peer review and modified accordingly. It was then translated into Czech
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language, as the research is conducted exclusively among Czech respondents. A pilot study was then conducted with the Czech version of the questionnaire for length, clarity, logical order of questions etc., followed by a final modification, which produced the finalized version of the survey questionnaire. See appendix I and II for the survey questionnaire (in English and in Czech).
4.2. Data Collection
The data was collected from Czech respondents through a web-based survey platform http://www.vyplnto.cz/ between May 12th and May 31st, 2010. The study employed a convenience (non-probability) sample, as obtaining a probability sample was beyond the resources available to this study. The use of convenience sample in this case appears to be acceptable, as “when the country-of-origin effect is inferred from estimated relationships between variables, the use of convenience samples is not a very serious drawback”
(Johansson, 1993, p.79). Most respondents were unsolicited visitors to the survey platform, as well as respondents recruited from internet message boards, discussion forums and social networking sites (Facebook). Precautions were taken to exclude people with unusually high knowledge of Taiwan in my environment (e.g. other Czech students in Taiwan) from the sample. All responses were voluntary and no incentive for filling out the questionnaire was offered. The uniqueness of respondents was ensured by only permitting one questionnaire submission per one IP address. Responses were measured using mostly a five-point Likert scale ranging from 1 - strongly disagree to 5 – strongly agree and 5 points ordinal scale questions for measuring frequency (e.g. frequency of product use) and amount (e.g. amount of information received from a particular source).
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As was pointed out previously, virtually all measurement items in this study are validated items adapted from previous research, and show internal consistency reliability (Cronbach‟s α) as well as internal and external validity. Nevertheless, following the collection of all data, a measurement reliability test was executed to ensure the reliability of multiple-item scales.
Table 4.1 lists the items which were combined into the finalized multi-item scales as well as their factor loadings and Cronbach‟s α values. Cronbach‟s α of the majority of measurement scales are above 0.7, showing acceptable to good reliability (Leech, Barrett, Morgan; 2005).
Alpha values between 0.6 and 0.7 are still considered acceptable, but the α value for Japan‟s specific product perception (0.485) is already quite low. Based on the reliability test, the measurement scale was modified for the „General Product Perception‟ variable, where the exclusion of one item from the scale caused a considerable improvement (at least .2) in Cronbach‟s α for all three countries. The questionnaire item excluded from the scale was:
“Products made in [country] are unreasonably expensive.” The product perception measurement scale was thus reduced from a four-item to three-item scale. Item-factor loadings are estimates of the validity of observed variables, and they show whether the measured items represent their underlying constructs (Hsieh et al., 2004). According to Kline (1994), factor loadings can be regarded as high when they are greater than 0.6 and as moderately high when they are above 0.3. All items in used scales meet this condition.
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Table 4.1: Factor Loadings and Reliabilities of Measurement Scales
Measurement Items Taiwan Japan China
Economically developed country .734 .522 .589
Hardworking people .713 .587 .454
Friendly towards Czech Rep. .881 .553 .527
Well educated people .831 .831 .802
People have high technical skills .896 .781 .846
General Product Perception
.769 .757 .749
Country produces highly technical goods. .875 .845 .873
Country products are immitations. .864 .822 .808
Country products need frequent repairs. .740 .799 .776
Specific Product Perception
.699 .485 .713
Laptops made in country are good value for money .877 .813 .885
Laptops made in country are quality products due
to their technical content. .877 .813 .885
User Experience
.763 .842 .794
I use products made in country. .900 .929 .911
I buy products from country. .900 .929 .911
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