2. Literature Review
2.3 The Impact of Country of Origin Image on consumer’s purchase intent : examples
2.3.2 The influence of consumers' perception of the country of origin (country
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moderating effect of gender was demonstrated (Anderson and Cunningham, 1972;
Graby, 1982 Schaefer, 1997).
Like gender, age is another demographic variable that may influence consumer behavior on foreign goods. Indeed, some studies have shown that as they ages, consumers are less willing to consume products from abroad (Schooler, 1971;
Bannister and Saunders, 1978; Graby 1982, Johansson et al., 1985) . This finding is linked with the respondents' degree of ethnocentrism, which is assumed to increase with age (Shimp and Sharma, 1987; Sternquist and McLain, 1991).
Finally, two other demographic variables that I will discuss here are the level of income and level of education. It seems that the higher the income of the consumer, the higher the attitudes towards foreign products are positive (Wall et al. (1991).
Along the same lines, Wall and Heslop (1986) conclude that with the increase of income, the consumer is less inclined to buy domestic products.
Similarly, the effect of country of origin decreases with increasing level of education. Already in 1971, Schooler had noticed that respondents who studied longer would generally evaluate much better products from Africa, Eastern Europe, India, Germany and Western Europe. Wall and Heslop (1986) also noted that attitudes towards foreign or imported products were more positive among consumers with a certain level of education. Finally, Morgansky and Lazarde (1987) in their study on the relationship between perception of point of sale and origins of products, came to the same conclusion: the level of consumer education influences favorably the perceptions of product quality, including foreign goods (imports).
2.3.2 The influence of consumers' perception of the country of origin (country image).
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For this study we follow the definition of consumers' country perception’ as
‘beliefs about the characteristics, attributes and behaviors of a certain group’(Hilton and von Hippel, 1996, p.240). Country of origin following the affective process is a stereotype-driven attitude that will influence the product assessment through negative or positive emotional associations and perceptions about the country (Verlegh and Steenkamp, 1999). The perceptions held by consumers can be on countries, individuals, products, brands, companies and are affecting their behavior and assessments. Obermiller and Spangenberg (1989) use the theory of information processing in order to provide a theoretical framework in which the influence of country of origin may be accomplished by cognitive, affective and normative processes. For the purpose of this study we will only look at the affective process by which country perceived image directly influences consumers purchase decision.
Analyzing the influence of country perceived image on consumers purchase intention will help to the understanding of Country of Origin-linked evaluation.
The individual factors presented in the model of Obermiller and Spangenberg (1989) consist of : perceived stereotype associations between country of origin and product attributes; trust in the information on the country of origin and especially trust in consumers knowledge of the country; and the presence of other information from the country. The authors start from the observation that in many research, the labels "country of origin" influence product evaluations or beliefs about the quality of a product. The influence of the label "Country of Origin" is the result of a stereotype processe explained as follow: the perception of a county's image influence product evaluation as from its origin the consumer deduce the level (high or poor) of attributes that in turn affect the purchase intent and quality evaluation of the product.
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2.3.3 The influence of the degree of involvement (knowledge) towards the product.
Han (1989) proposed to schematize the influence of country of origin Image with two analytical models: the first model presents the country image acting as a
"halo"which occurs when consumers are not familiar with products from a certain country; the second model presents the country image as a "summary" in a context of high consumer familiarity with the products. Therefore, the key point in the analysis of Han (1989) is focused on the variable of "familiarity" which will determine the order of appearance of the country of origin image, the beliefs and attitudes toward the product. Both models were tested on two products (TVs and cars) with the method of structural equation and were statistically validated.
Before Han (1989), many research on the effect of country of origin were explicitly or implicitly assuming the image of the country as a "halo" when evaluating the quality of products from an unknown foreign brand. We can cite the work of Bilkey and Nes (1982) and Erickson et al. (1984). Johansson et al. (1985) were the first to speak of "halo" about a country's influence on the formation of consumer’s beliefs. The main point of view expressed in this work is as follows:
Consumers use the country of origin image when evaluating foreign products because they are unable to detect the actual quality of the product. Indeed, products possess intrinsic attributes (physical) such as design or taste, and extrinsic attributes (symbolic) such as price or brand name (Olson and Jacoby, 1972). Eroglu and Machleit (1988) believe that the country of origin of a product is a part the of extrinsic attributes. Research shows that individuals at first drown toward extrinsic attributes, such as price and origin to deduce a product quality in the absence of other
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information (Jacoby et al., 1971, quoted by Han, 1989) or when they are not familiar with the product. In this case, consumers infer product quality from the image of the country of origin. Thus the country image is directly influencing the evaluation and ranking of product attributes. This analysis is similar to that of Erickson et al. (1984) and Johansson et al. (1985). The country of origin image is seen here as a synthetic constructs ("summary"). Indeed, when the consumer is already familiar with products from a country, the country image will have the same influence as the brand image.
A consumer who evaluates a brand for the first time will record a number of information about that brand in its long-term memory. When he will face again that brand, he will not evaluate again all the attributes but simply recall the previously formed overall assessment. This constructed image can contain a lot of information about the product and can be seen as a "summary" of a number of beliefs. Han (1989) applied the same reasoning to the country of origin. Consumers can intellectualize information about products originating from a country. Thus, when familiar with the products of a country, the image of the country is created by beliefs on product attributes and will directly affect consumer’s attitudes toward the product.
Whatever the model, whether influence is direct ("summary") or indirectly ("halo"), the country of origin image affects consumer attitudes. To conclude, the two models of Han (1989) contributed to the formalization of influence mechanism (direct or indirect) of the country of origin image on consumer’s attitudes and purchase intention of the product.
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CHAPTER III RESEARCH METHODS
The research framework and research hypothesis of the study are addressed in this chapter. To begin with, the research framework is introduced, followed by the hypothesis, research approach, research procedures, population and sample, data collection, data analysis and lastly issues of limitations and future research.
3.1 Research model
VARIABLES
Purchase Intent of French Wine
Sociodemographic variables
Perception about France (country image)
Knowledge about wine H3 H2
H1
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3.2 Research Hypothesis
A summary of the most relevant conclusions made upon the literature review will help us draw the hypothesis of this research. The research objectives being to understand the role of country of origin in relation to other factors such as the influence of the socio-demographic variables, the impact of country image and the level of knowledge about wine that will lead to Taiwanese customers’ purchase of French wine.
The choice of wine as product of evaluation is expected to be strongly linked to country of origin effect. For our subject of study consumers from Taiwan will likely react to a French wine as quality wine and the country of France is often linked as such in people’s mind.
Socio-demographic factors
Many studies have tested the difference in the perceived image of foreign products by consumer's gender. It was shown that women have a more positive attitude towards foreign products than men do (Schooler, 1971; Wall and Heslop, 1986; Wall et al., 1988). Like gender, age is also influencing as consumers are less willing to consumer foreign products as they age (Schooler, 1971; Bannister and Saunders, 1978; Graby 1982, Johansson et al., 1985). Concerning the level of education, it was found that the effect of country of origin decreases with increasing level of education (Schooler, 1971, Wall and Heslop, 1986). Based on the previous finding, hypothesis one is derived as follows:
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H1 : Socio-demographic factors will influence Taiwanese consumers purchase intention of French wine such that women, higher educated, and younger ones will have greater purchase intention toward French wine
Country Image: Perception about France :
Because France has a strong history and knowhow in wine production consumer tend to perceive French wine as of best quality wine. Indeed, Wall et al. (1991) explained that the country of origin driven by stereotypes is influencing the purchase decision more than price and brand. The authors explained that when unable to detect the quality of unknown product, consumers use their perceived country image (stereotypes, awareness and sensitivity to the country) to evaluate the product.
As found by Heslop and Papadopoulos (1993) the cognitive, affective and normative aspects of stereotypes linked to country of origin affect product evaluations. According to the conitive process, stereotype is a heuristic for assessing qualities of a product. As affective process, the country of origin is a positive or negative attribute emotionally associated to specific nation by the consumer. By following the normative process, country of origin is linked to socially behavioral norms hold by the consumers. When any of the three processes exist, country stereotypes will directly influence the product assessment and purchase intent. Based on the previous finding, hypothesis two is derived as follows:
H2: Consumers who have a more favorable country image about France will have greater purchase intention of French wine.
Level of knowledge about wine:
The literature suggests that the ability of a consumer to perceive the quality of a product from information of the country of origin varies with the level of consumer’s prior knowledge (Maheswaran, 1994). Thus, a consumers expert in a product category would not have the same approach in terms of selective information than a novice consumer little capable to recognize the true value of the product.
Expert consumers will tend to have more positive evaluation of the wine when attributes other than country image are higher. Indeed, the influence of country of origin is minimized while other attributes of wine will determine their perceived quality. In the other hand, novice consumers will tend to primarily use country of origin cues to create favorable or unfavorable assessment about the wine quality.
Therefore the influence of country of origin is maximized in comparison to other attributes of the wine. Based on the previous finding, hypothesis three is derived as follows:
H3 : The more consumers are familiar with product, the more favorable will be the purchase intention on French wine.
3.3 Data collection method
In this research study a questionnaire survey was used. Data for this research was collected by an online survey questionnaire because using such a questionnaire allow to wider the range of interviewees in an efficient manner. The questionnaire is targeting primarily at Taiwanese French wine consumers. The targeted respondents for this study are individuals of Taiwan nationality over 18 years old. We used the
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survey website surveymonkey.com to release and distribute the online survey. The survey has been shared trough social network (Facebook) and emails. A list of the client's email of a wine shop in Taipei (Le Sommelier, Taipei) has been used to gather respondents. A total of 202 respondents have answered the online survey throughout 15 days. In order to increase completion rates we offered a coupon to attend a wine tasting evening at a wine shop in Taipei (Le Sommelier, Taipei).
The questionnaires was written in English and then translated in Chinese. The questionnaire contains 5 sections : Part A will include demographic questions; Part B includes the country image perception variables used to test the hypothesis; Part C includes questions corresponding to the variables of Familiarity; Part D includes question related to shopping habits and consumption purpose of the respondent; To finish, part D includes question about the respondent general opinion and attitude toward France. Five point Likert scales is used to enlighten the different patterns between selected statements ranking from 1 - strongly disagree to 5- strongly agree or 1 - very negative to 5 - very positive.
3.4 Measurement of research variables
Country of origin is chosen as the only independent variable for this study. Wine, like no other product is strongly influenced by the country of origin image. In marketing research, country of origin is regarded as an extrinsic cue that forms a part of a positive or negative frame in consumer decision making (Grewal et al.).
Independent variables for this study are socio-demographic, country image and level of knowledge on wine. Purchase intention of French wine is the dependent variable.
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The choice of analyzing wine purchase intention can be explained as follows:
previous research have focused on products that are, as explained by Usunier (2005), over-represented in the work of country of origin image, namely consumer electronics, cars, household appliances, etc. However, no research has integrated studies about wine which, moreover, are very limited (Usunier , 2005). Indeed, as the product category modulates the country of origin effect (Roth and Romeo, 1992;
Insch and McBride, 1998; Piron , 2000), it could explain the low significance of the effect. Finally, we note that the influence on purchase intent emerged in the work of Piron (2000) which focused on several types of products, including wine. The author had noticed that for product such as wine, the "country of origin" effect on purchase intention was stronger compared to other products of basic necessities.
3.5 Measurement reliability Test
The measurement items used in this study have been adapted from previous research and therefore are validated. The measurements have internal and external validity and internal consistency reliability (Cronbach's α). The table 3.1 shows the measurement reliability test conducted for this analysis in order to prove the reliability of multiple-item scales of this study. The table presents the the multi-item scales used in the survey with their factor loadings values and Cronbach's α values.
The Cronbach's α for the five scales are acceptable to good reliability with all the Alpha values higher that 0.5 more preciselly between 0.5 < α > 0.8 (Leech, Barrett, Morgan; 2005). The Factor loadings values for the five scales have a high validity with scores higher that 0.6, between 0.7 < Factor loading > 1 (Kline, 2004).
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Table 3.1 : Factor Loadings and Reliabilities of Measurement Scale.
Measurement Items Factor Loadings Cronbach's α
Country Image
France is economically developed 0.831
France has a rich culture 0.815
French people are hard working 0.808 0.681
French people are friendly 0.832
Overall opinion about France 0.706 Knowledge about wine
Knowledge about wine 0.815
Interest in wine 0.689 0.831
Others ask your advice on wine
0.755
Since all the measurement items used in this study are examined to assure appropriate reliability, I also constructed composite measures by summating the multiple indicators of each essential research variable. Then, these composite measures are used in the final regression analysis.
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Of the 202 respondents, 93 (46%) were male and 109 (53%) were female. The average age in the highest respondent group is between 21 and 29 years old. All income and education groups were represented in the sample.
Table 4.1 to 4.4 provide the exact numbers of the respondents demographic data.
Table 4.1 : Gender of respondents
Frequency Percent Cumulative Percent
Female 93 46 46
Male 109 54 100
Total 202 100
Table 4.2 : Age of respondents
Frequency Percent Cumulative Percent
18 to 20 years old 6 3 3
21 to 29 years old 81 40 43
30 to 39 years old 74 36.6 80
40 to 49 years old 32 16 96
50 to 59 years old 7 4 99
60 years old and over 2 1 100
Total 202 100
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Table 4.3 : Highest completed education level
Frequency Percent Cumulative Percent
High school and below 27 13.4 13.4
Undergraduate 121 59.9 73.3
Graduate and above 54 26.7 100
Total 202 100
Table 4.4 : Average monthly income in New Taiwan Dollar
Frequency Percent Cumulative Percent
< NT$20,000 24 11.9 11.9
20,000 - 49,999 64 31.7 43.6
40,000 - 59,999 65 32.2 75.7
60,000 - 79,999 37 18.3 94.1
80,000 - $99,999 6 3.0 97
> 100,000 6 3.0 100
Total 202 100
Table 4.5 : Wine consumption frequency
Frequency Percent Cumulative Percent
Daily 6 3 3
Few times a week 49 24.3 27.2
Few times a month 89 44.1 71.3
Once every few descriptive socio-demographic data was explored using descriptive analysis. In order to test the research hypotheses, a hierarchical multiple regression analysis was used to examine the significance of the three independent variables--socio-demographic
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factors, the perception about France (country image) and the knowledge about wine
—in predicting the purchase intention of French wine among Taiwanese consumers.
The hierarchical multiple regression analysis contains three types of predictors:
socio-demographics, country image and knowledge ability about wine.
Table 4.6 Hierarchical multiple regression analysis of all the factors (N = 202)
Model
β
t Sig.(p)•‧
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Hypothesis 1 : Influence of gender factor on country image.
Based on the literature review, the research about demographics factors influencing country of origin effect shows that younger women with higher education level are the most responsive to the French origin of the wine during the purchase. According to the result of regression analysis presented on Table 4.6, gender is significantly predicting the consumers' country image at a low level of (β=0.155, p<0.05)， while age and education level are not significant predictors for
this study. Hypothesis H1 is partially supported as gender showed significant influence but the two other socio-demographic variable of age and level of education are not significant in this study. We can conclude that women are more sensitive to the French country image of the wine than men. Therefore hypothesis 1 is partially supported as women's purchase intent is more influenced by the French country of origin of the wine than men's.
Hypothesis 2 : Country Image
Country image perception was tested with a five-item index, with all items measured on a five-point Likert scale (from 1 = strongly disagree to 5 = strongly agree). The five measurement items evaluated France's economical development and cultural level, French people's friendliness and work capabilities. The dependent variable is the likeliness to buy French wine.
The hierarchical multiple regression test for hypothesis H2 examines the influence of all country image measurement items on the final purchase intent. The result indicates that model 2 is statistically strongly significant. The composite measure of
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the five country image items is significantly related to the purchase intent of French wine. The result shows that respondents evaluated France with an overall positive country image. The result of this analysis also shows that the perception of France is a significant predictor of the final purchase intent of French wine in Taiwan. In this case, the relationship between country image and purchase intent of French wine is strongly significant (β=0.467, p<0.001). Hypothesis 2 is therefore supported:
consumers with overall positive country image have greater purchase intention of French wine.
Hypothesis 3 : Expertise about wine
Wine expertise is measured using a three item measurement index from the respondent's indication of level of expertise on their level of knowledge, interest and
Wine expertise is measured using a three item measurement index from the respondent's indication of level of expertise on their level of knowledge, interest and