產地國效應對台灣民眾的影響：以法國紅酒為例 - 政大學術集成

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(1)國立政治大學國際傳播英語碩士學程 International Master’s Program in International Communication Studies College of Communication National Chengchi University. 治政碩士論文大. 立立 Master’s Thesis. 的影響：以法國紅酒為例. •‧. •‧ 國. ㈻㊫學. 產地國效應對台灣民. Nat. er. io. intention in Taiwan.. sit. y. The Impact of 'Country of Origin Effect' on purchase. al. n. iv n C The case wine. h eofn French gchi U Student : Lisa Chamayou Advisor : 郭貞 Cheng Kuo, Ph.D. 中華民國103年7月 July 2014.

(2) 立立. 政治大. •‧. •‧ 國. ㈻㊫學. n. er. io. sit. y. Nat. al. Ch. engchi. 2. i Un. v.

(3) Acknowledgment I would like to show my gratitude to my thesis advisor, the Dr. Cheng Kuo for the help, advices and guidance she gave me throughought the writing of this thesis. With her support and patience I have been able to complete my thesis despite of the difficulties. Many thanks to Professor Huichuan Liu and Professor Catherine Chen for their support and guidance during all the steps of my thesis.. 政治大 questionnaire as well as the wine shop ( Le Sommelier) for helping share the 立立 I also want to thank the Taiwanese friends who helped with the translation of the. •‧ 國. ㈻㊫學. questionnaire.. Not to forget all the help I received from the IMICS program staff .. •‧. n. er. io. sit. y. Nat. al. Ch. engchi. 3. i Un. v.

(4) Abstract The Impact of 'Country of Origin Effect' on purchase intention in Taiwan. The case of French wine. By Lisa Chamayou. Foreign markets are influenced by positive and negative stereotypes that. 政治大. international companies have to know how to play with. Consumer’s behavior. 立立. towards foreign products can significantly vary from a country to another. Thus it is. •‧ 國. ㈻㊫學. necessary to study the impact that ‘country-of-origin effect’ has on foreign markets. •‧. as it plays a key role on the final purchase intention. A positive image of the country. sit. y. Nat. of origin facilitates product adoption in foreign market.. n. al. er. io. The objective of this research is to analyze the influence of the country image of. v. France on the purchase intention of wine by Taiwanese customers. Throughout this. Ch. engchi. i Un. study I want to introduce the notion of consumer’s sensitivity to the French origin of wine and to identify the variables that influence their purchase intention.. Keywords : Country of Origin Effect, Country image, consumer behavior. 4.

(5) Table of Contents. 1. Introduction.............................................................................................................................7 1.1 Motivation ................................................................................................................7 1.2 Research Objectives .................................................................................................7 1.3 Research Purposes...................................................................................................11 2. Literature Review .................................................................................................................12 2.1 Definition of the terms 'Country of Origin Image' and 'Country of Origin Effect'.12 2.2 Chronological literature review on the ‘Country of Origin Effect’........................15 2.2.1 Mid-1960’s to 1982: Premises of research on the CO Effect...................15 2.2.2 1980’s to early 1990’s : research with multiple co-variables...................16 2.2.3 From the 1990’s to today’s research ........................................................18. 政治大 of used models...................................................................................................19 立立. 2.3 The Impact of Country of Origin Image on consumer’s purchase intent : examples. 2.3.1 The influence of the sociodemographic variables....................................19. •‧ 國. ㈻㊫學. 2.3.2 The influence of consumers' perception of the country of origin (country. image)................................................................................................................21. •‧. 2.3.3 The influence of product knowledge........................................................22. sit. y. Nat. 3. Research Methods ................................................................................................................24. io. er. 3.1 Research Model ......................................................................................................24 3.2 Research Hypothesis ..............................................................................................25. n. al. Ch. i n U. v. 3.3 Data collection method .........................................................................................27. engchi. 3.4 Measurement of research variables ........................................................................28 3.5 Measurement reliability Test ..................................................................................29 4. Data Analysis........................................................................................................................31 5. Discussion.............................................................................................................................36 5.1. Country of Origin effect on purchase intent of French wine.................................36 5.2 Limitation................................................................................................................39 5.3 Suggestions for Future research .............................................................................41 References : ..............................................................................................................................43 Appendix I: Questionnaire (English Version) ..........................................................................48 Appendix II: Questionnaire (Chinese Version) ........................................................................54 5.

(6) List of Tables and Figures. Table 3.1 Factor Loadings and Reliabilities of Measurement Scale...........................29 Table 4.1 Gender of Respondents...............................................................................30 Table 4.2 Age of respondents......................................................................................30 Table 4.3 Highest completed education level.............................................................31 Table 4.4 Average monthly nicole in NT$..................................................................31 Table 4.5 Wine consumption frequency .....................................................................31 Table 4.6 Hierarchical multiple regression analysis of all factors..............................32 Table 5.1 Summary of Research hypothesis and outcomes........................................35. 立立. 政治大. •‧. •‧ 國. ㈻㊫學. n. er. io. sit. y. Nat. al. Ch. engchi. 6. i Un. v.

(7) CHAPTER I INTRODUCTION. 1.1 Motivation With the increasing global expand of new markets it is important for companies to understand consumer’s perceptions of the country of origin of their products. Their success depends on having access to the right information about new consumer’s assessment and conceived image on the country of origin of their products. Foreign markets are influenced by positive and negative stereotypes that. 政治大. international companies have to know how to play with. Consumer’s behavior. 立立. towards foreign products can significantly vary from a country to another. Also,. •‧ 國. ㈻㊫學. consumers from the same country can share different impressions about a given. •‧. foreign product. Thus it is necessary to study the impact that ‘country-of-origin. sit. y. Nat. effect’ has on foreign markets as it plays a key role on the final purchase intention.. io. al. n. market.. er. A positive image of the country of origin facilitates product adoption in foreign. Ch. engchi. i Un. v. 1.2 Research Objectives The objective of this research is to analyze the influence of the country image of France on the purchase intention of wine by Taiwanese customers. Throughout this study I want to introduce the notion of consumer’s sensitivity to the French origin of wine and to identify the variables that influence their purchase intention. This study aims to explain the ‘Country of origin effect’ by focusing on the consumption tendencies of French wine in Taiwan. Indeed, French products are very popular in Taiwan where they have a very strong reputation. Numerous factors can. 7.

(8) influence consumer’s perception about product quality, such factors can be brand image, advertisement messages, brand personality and so on. The main purpose of branding is to provide to the consumer enough information on quality, credibility and value about a product. In sum, branding assists consumers in their purchase decision. A strong factor that influences brand and product perception is unequivocally its origin. Such factor is referred as ‘country-of-origin effect’. International marketing research have long time claimed that country associations often lead to customer bias, where such bias come from the country of origin image. 政治大 a country image? What 立立 makes French the best country for wine? Many factors. preconceived in consumer’s minds. This leads to such questions as - What constitutes. •‧ 國. ㈻㊫學. impact the country image and this study will help determine some of these influential factors. The problematic of this work focuses on the understanding of the process by. •‧. which the French origin of a given product can influence the purchase decision of. y. Nat. io. sit. Taiwanese customers.. er. The choice of wine as product of the study can be explained as follows: In fifteen. al. n. v i n years, the landscape of the wine changed dramatically and continues to Cmarket h e nhas gchi U. change with the arrival of new BRICs consumers (Brazil, Russia, India, China). It is therefore in the interest of each wine producer to understand consumers' choice and wonder about the new trends of the wine market. Asian countries such as Taiwan represents new consumer groups and new profiles. It is directly linked to the presence of new technologies and the increasing level of purchasing power, but is also supported by the new ‘gourmet’ features of the wine. Wine has become a commodity of pleasure, used to meet needs, social belonging, recognition and self-esteem. Wine is a cultural product and unlike marketing of mass consumption products, wine adopts more a marketing strategy linked to country of 8.

(9) origin, or region of production depending on consumption patterns of the importing country. Traditional wine producing countries such as France, Italy and Spain adopt a marketing model based on the origin of the wine. As for the new producing countries, such as Argentina, Chile and South Africa, they develop a marketing model of demand by focusing on wine brands. French wine still remains an iconic product, driven by the image of ‘France’ synonym of quality associated with high product value. Taiwan has been a growing economy for more than 20 years and it possesses now a. 政治大 consumption is becoming立立 more Westernized, with strong purchasing power parity. standard of living equivalent to Western Europe. Taiwanese people and food. •‧ 國. ㈻㊫學. (3rd in Asia) and a dynamic market of 23 million people. Taiwan has became a target market for wine producer since the past 5 years (Moussy, 2012).. •‧. According to a market study published by Ubifrance Taiwan in 2012, the. y. Nat. io. sit. consumption of wine in Taiwan is in constant growth and enjoys a mature market. er. with structured distribution network.. al. n. v i n Because of the strong image consumers associate French C hof France, Taiwanese engchi U. wine with luxury and quality, which is France’s greatest asset against its competitors.. Consumption of French wine is also linked to a growing appeal for ‘l’art de vivre’ and gastronomy. France is the 1st wine supplier of Taiwan with 59% of market share and an annual growth of 18% (Moussy, 2012). The maturity of Taiwan market for wine is equivalent to the one of Japan with a growth in wine connoisseur consumers. Wine consumption is spreading rapidly in Taiwan while for connoisseur-consumers, French wine is imposing itself as the best choice. However, there is a growing interest for wine from other countries as connoisseurs-consumers are curious to experience new wine tastes. 9.

(10) This study will contribute to the body of research on country of origin effect and country image on food and beverage products. While there are already a few studies on the effect of France image as country of origin with high involvement products such as automobiles and luxury products, little has been published on French food and beverage products. Moreover, the majority of the research on country of origin effect focuses on North America and Europe. Research on Taiwanese consumer behavior towards country image is very limited and even non-existent when related to French wine.. This study aims to contribute to the country of origin effect. 政治大. literature by understanding the role of country of origin on the perception of wine. 立立. quality and understanding the attitude and purchasing behavior of Taiwanese. •‧ 國. ㈻㊫學. consumers when related to French wine.. •‧. A whole area of International Marketing and Consumer Behavior research focuses. sit. y. Nat. since decades on country of origin issues. Many authors have questioned the. io. al. er. relevance of the country of origin variable in the evaluation process of a product.. v. n. The aim of this thesis is to show if the effects of country of origin on the purchase. Ch. engchi. i Un. intention of French wine in Taiwan occurs when the consumer is already sensible to certain aspects of the national origin/culture of the country and the product. Thus one of the objective of the study seek to identify the factors influencing consumers and how strongly these variables can influence the final purchase intention. The different kinds of perceived images influencing purchase decisions have long been known. In the wine market, the most important attributes of wine and the basis of its qualification is the place of origin and thus the image formed by the consumers upon the country of origin.. 10.

(11) 1.3 Research Purposes Before reviewing the literature on 'Country of Origin Effect' I will expose the chosen variables used to analyze the influence of Country of Origin on the purchase intention. The following research questions have been asked in order to understand the correlation between the used influencing variables and the purpose of this study. The research questions follow the purpose of this research which is to understand the factors that will influence the purchase decisions of French wine in Taiwan. In brief, the purpose of the study is to measure to what extent the image of France in. 政治大 Three research questions 立立are proposed:. consumers' minds may influence their decision to purchase French wine.. •‧ 國. ㈻㊫學. 1. How does consumer's perception (country image) about France influence the purchase intention of French wine ?. •‧. 2. Does age, gender and level of education of consumers may influence their. y. Nat. io. sit. purchase intention of French wine ?. n. al. er. 3. How does the level of knowledge about wine play a role on the purchase intention. Ch. of French wine among Taiwanese consumers?. engchi. 11. i Un. v.

(12) CHAPTER II LITERATURE REVIEW The globalization of markets and the proliferation of international agreements madeincreasingly important to understand the factors that influence business success at an international level. Since the mid-60s, researchers seek to better understand the role of the ‘Country of origin effect’ in the process of internationalization. The concept of country of origin image has been studied from different points of views. In sociology and management, there are numerous studies on the relationship. 政治大. between management and culture in an international environment (Adler and Doktor,. 立立. 1986, Hofstede, 1980). While marketing research has focused on the impact of. •‧ 國. ㈻㊫學. country of origin on product evaluation.. The relationship between the perception of a country image and the perception of. •‧. the products has been much studied over the last thirty years (Reierson, 1966;. y. Nat. er. io. sit. Gaedeke, 1973 Krishnakumar, 1974; Schooler, 1971 , Bilkey and Nes, 1982). In 1982, in their literature review Bilkey and Nes were able to say that there is a. al. n. v i n positive relationship between C a country's and the consumer’s evaluation of its h e n gimage chi U. products (Crawford and Lamb, 1981; Wang and Lamb, 1983). They also raised several methodological problems found in previously published studies, which researchers have addressed since. Studies in the 70s were considered too simplistic as they where using a single variable which we know now does not reflect the reality (Ahmed, d'Astous and Zouiten, 1993). Also, researchers have now use multi-variable approaches to better simulate reality. These studies have also been criticized for their lack of scientific rigor (Papadopoulos and Heslop, 1993; Samiee, 1994), relying in particular on convenience samples composed of students (Wall and Heslop, 1986). 12.

(13) 2.1 Definition of the terms 'Country of Origin Image' and 'Country of Origin Effect'.. In early researches, images of country of origin were deduced from images of products originating from these countries. We could thus consider that the image of the country of origin was a latent construct (Nagashima, 1970, 1977). These definitions have been adopted by many researchers during the first twenty years of research on the subject. Here are some examples:. 政治大 professionals and consumers 立立 attach to products of a specific country. This image is. - The image of the country of origin refers to the reputation, the stereotypes that. •‧ 國. ㈻㊫學. created by such variables as typical products, national characteristics, economic and political past, history and traditions (Nagashima, 1970).. •‧. - The image of the country of origin refers to general perceptions of consumers. y. Nat. al. v i n country C of origin is caused by the body hengchi U n. - The image of the. er. io. Nes, 1982; Han, 1989; Hong and Wyer, 1989).. sit. regarding the quality of products made in this country (Reierson, 1966; Bilkey and. of knowledge and. representations associated to products originating from that country (Narayana, 1981). -. The image of the country of origin is the set of perceptions that consumers have on products originating from a particular country. These perceptions are based on their initial assessment of the country’s production and its strengths and weaknesses in business (Roth and Romeo, 1992). From these definitions, it is clear that the image of the country of origin and the image of the products originating from that country are strongly linked, almost inseparable. However, it is possible to differentiate the two and measure the relationship between the country's image and the product’s 13.

(14) image. This was the approach of Martin and Eroglu (1993) mentioned in the previous section, where the country's image was measured through three dimensions: political, economic and technical. The term ‘Country of Origin Effect’ can be seen as part of the intangible barriers that regulate the relations between different countries. It is also taking part in the purchasing behavior of consumers putt in contact with the products of these countries, etc.. (Wang and Lamb, 1983). The term "barrier" is used to stress the effect that the "country of origin" has on the consumers minds. Indeed, that effect is caused. 政治大 will be based on the consumer’s 立立 own opinions regarding the quality of a product, but by positive or negative images of a country (Bilkey and Nes, 1982). These images. •‧ 國. ㈻㊫學. also on the brand image or services from that country, as well as based on its personal beliefs . (Han and Terpstra, 1988). Nebenzahl, et al. (1997) speak of visions. •‧. leading to establish a generalized stereotype associated with that country.. y. Nat. io. sit. The advantages of understanding the "country of origin effect" variable can be. n. al. er. counted among both consumers and producers. For customers, taking this variable. Ch. into account allows a gain of time and reduce. engchi. v i n their efforts U. spent on evaluation. process (Han, 1989; Johansson et al., 1985; Johansson and Nebenzahl, 1986). For producers, understanding the controllable and uncontrollable factors of the country of origin effect can bring them light on the choices to be adopted for export (Papadopoulos and Heslop, 2002; Pisharodi and Parameswaran, 1994) In accordance with other studies, such as those of Pisharodi and Parameswaran (1992), the country of origin effect is considered a multi-dimensional constructs that incorporates not only the evaluation of products originating from a given country but also the general attitudes towards this country. Thus, Häubl (1996: 77-78) distinguishes two dimensions of country of origin: the general perception of the 14.

(15) country measured by the affective appraisal (emotions, feelings) and the cognitive appraisal (evidence-based) as well as the country’s appraisal related to a specific category of products originated from that country.. 2.2 Chronological literature review on the ‘Country of Origin Effect’. The country of origin effect has been the subject of many research and international marketing studies for about three decades. According to Papadopoulos and Heslop (2002), the scientific contributions to the subject are nearly 766,. 政治大 including 361 journal articles published over the year period 1952-2001. More 立立. •‧ 國. ㈻㊫學. recently, Usunier (2005) brought the number of publications in academic journals to over 400, this figure can go up to 1000 contributions if we include conference papers. •‧. and dissertations on the subject. Usunier (2006) offers a chronological presentation. Nat. sit. y. of the evolution of research on the effect of "country of origin" by distinguishing. n. al. er. io. three main periods. I will take the same chronological division for my analysis.. Ch. engchi. i Un. v. 2.2.1 Mid-1960’s to 1982 : Premises of research on the ‘country of origin effect’. During this period, research on the ‘country of origin effect’ are in their genesis. Schooler (1965) was the first to demonstrate the importance of country of origin while studying its effects on fruit juices. The author proposed to a sample of Guatemalan students to evaluate fruit juices from which the indicated country of origin was different (El Salvador, Costa Rica, Mexico and Guatemala). He realized that the evaluation of respondents directly varied depending on the country of origin indicated on the box, while in fact they were identical juices. For example, 15.

(16) Guatemalan students would value less juices from El Salvador and Costa Rica compared to the one from Mexico and Guatemala. As a conclusion, Schooler (1965) reported the strong probability that the sample students had "overall negative attitude towards the people of El Salvador and Costa Rica". In other words, they were influenced by stereotypes towards these countries. A year later, Reierson (1966) conducted a survey on American students by questioning them on the quality of products from different countries. His conclusion was similar to that of Schooler : in their evaluations of foreign products, American. 政治大 It will take until 1968 to assist 立立 the first quasi-experiment meant to highlight the effect consumers relied on country-image stereotypes.. •‧ 國. ㈻㊫學. of "country of origin effect". It is the work of Schooler and Wildt (1968) through which the authors proposed to evaluate sample opinion on two identical glasses: one. •‧. with the words "Made in USA" and the second "Made in Japan". The authors. y. Nat. io. sit. concluded that, as both products were identical, the differences in evaluation were. er. related to prejudice against the country of manufacture of these products. The two. al. n. v i n authors expressed the "bias" induced C h by the countryUof origin. engchi. During the same period, other studies emerged such like those of Nagashima (1970 and 1977). The work of this author is still referred today, most particularly because of his measurement scale listing twenty items and five dimensions of a product. Nagashima’s scale was made to help measure the country of origin image of a product or brand. The five dimensions used by Nagashima are: price and value, service and engineering, advertising and reputation, design and style and consumer profile. Nagashima has conducted two studies where he questioned Japanese and American businessmen about products manufactured in the United States, England, Germany, 16.

(17) France and Japan. Both studies provided longitudinal research on the effect of "country of origin". The results especially showed that Japanese businessmen where drowned to French products because their image about the country was associated to the " beautiful, unique, expensive and luxurious."Nagashima, (1977). All the studies listed above are focused on an unique variable that only takes under evaluation the ‘country of origin’ of products, which inevitably leads to overestimation of the effect of "country of origin ". During the next period, scholars agree that consumers do not only take into account the ‘country of origin’ during the. 政治大. decision process and that other variables come into play.. 立立. •‧. •‧ 國. variables.. ㈻㊫學. 2.2.2 1980’s to early 1990’s : Beginning of research with multiple co-. According to Usunier (2006), this second period marks the current research on the. y. Nat. io. sit. "country of origin effect’. Bilkey and Nes (1982) conducted the first literature review. er. on the subject since the work of Schooler and Wildt (1968). They noted the existence. al. n. v i n of a significant influence that aCcountry of origin hasUon product evaluation in general hengchi. (Gaedeke, 1973) and on different classes of products (Reierson, 1966; Nagashima, 1977). Finally, the influence of moderating variable began to be considered, such as sociodemographic variables (age, education and income) which can modulate the evaluation of products originating from different countries (eg, work Schooler, 1971). However, Bilkey and Nes (1982) proved to be extremely critical on the scope of results cited in the original studies: indeed, the attribute "country of origin" was always considered as isolated, as if it was the only factor of influence on consumer ‘s evaluations of products. This was overestimating the influence of country-of-origin 17.

(18) on consumer’s purchase decisions: in the absence of other information about the attributes of a given product, consumers felt "forced" to use the single attribute available, namely the "country-of-origin". This is particularly true when consumers are not familiar with the product (Erickson et al., 1984). Bilkey and Nes (1982) insisted that other attributes must also enter into play: they may be intrinsic, ie integral part of a product (eg, color, taste, performance, etc. .), or extrinsic, ie the potential sources of information presented to the consumer before consumption (eg, price, brand image or the location of sale). With this new attributes. 政治大 should therefore be reduced. 立立 It is from this period that the research grew, becoming taken into consideration, the relative importance of "country-of-origin" attribute. •‧ 國. Nat. y. •‧. 2.2.3 From the 1990’s to today’s research.. ㈻㊫學. larger and more complex ("multi-attribute").. er. io. sit. This last period was marked by many literature reviews and meta-analyzes on the. al. effect of "country-of-origin". Among the most significant contributions, I have to. n. v i n C mention those of Samiee (1994)hasehe proposesi anUintegrative model that involves ngch. not only the image of the "country-of-origin" (country stereotypes) but also its history, which creates a less reductive vision of reality. I should also mention two meta-analyzes that are still reference work today on "country-of-origin effect" research. Namely the work of Peterson and Jolibert (1995) and that of Verlegh and Steenkamp (1999) . Finally, we saw emerging during the last decade interest on research of regional products and the impact of the region of origin image, and not strictly the country-of-origin (Koert et al. 2003). I will further develop these points in the following section.. 18.

(19) . 2.3 The Impact of Country of Origin Image on consumer’s purchase. intent : examples of used models. The country of origin or rather its image is part of marketing variables that consumer uses during purchasing decisions. So when Samiee (1994) refers to the effect of "country of origin", he refers to "Country-of-Stereotyping Effect", ie a bias caused by consumers when evaluating product on the basis of the country of origin of the brand or the country of manufacture of the product. This bias is due to the previous experience they had with products from these countries : from travels, their. 政治大. level of knowledge about the country, political opinions, ethnocentric tendencies or. 立立. simply fear of the unknown in front of product from unfamiliar origin.. •‧ 國. ㈻㊫學. But how does this bias acts ? What is the mechanism that explains the influence of. •‧. the country of origin image during product’s evaluation ? Several models have been. sit. y. Nat. proposed by researchers, but the most important are those of Han (1989), Obermiller. io. n. al. er. and Spangenberg (1989) and Samiee (1994). I will present them further in detail.. i Un. v. 2.3.1 The influence of the sociodemographic variables.. Ch. engchi. Among the sociodemographic variables that may modulate the effect of country of origin, we can include gender, age, place of residence, income level and education level. Many studies on the effect of "country of origin" discussed the differences in the perceptions of foreign products by consumers gender. Liefeld, (2004) notes that while evaluating imported clothing, men and women do not use the same way the attributes of these products, including the country of origin. In some studies, it has been shown that women perceive foreign products more positively than do men (Schooler, 1971; Wall and Heslop, 1986; Wall et al., 1988). But for other authors, no 19.

(20) 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).. 政治大 income and level of education. 立立 It seems that the higher the income of the consumer, Finally, two other demographic variables that I will discuss here are the level of. •‧ 國. ㈻㊫學. 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.. y. Nat. io. sit. Similarly, the effect of country of origin decreases with increasing level of. er. education. Already in 1971, Schooler had noticed that respondents who studied. al. n. v i n longer would generally evaluate from Africa, Eastern Europe, C hmuch better products engchi U. 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). 20.

(21) 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. 政治大 country of origin may be accomplished by cognitive, affective and normative 立立 processing in order to provide a theoretical framework in which the influence of. •‧ 國. ㈻㊫學. 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. Nat. er. io. sit. y. will help to the understanding of Country of Origin-linked evaluation. The individual factors presented in the model of Obermiller and Spangenberg. al. n. v i n (1989) consist of : perceived C stereotype associations h e n g c h i U 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.. 21.

(22) 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. 政治大 order of appearance of the country of origin image, the beliefs and attitudes toward 立立. of Han (1989) is focused on the variable of "familiarity" which will determine the. •‧ 國. ㈻㊫學. 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. y. Nat. io. sit. explicitly or implicitly assuming the image of the country as a "halo" when. er. evaluating the quality of products from an unknown foreign brand. We can cite the. al. n. v i n work of Bilkey and Nes (1982) C hand Erickson et al.U(1984). Johansson et al. (1985) engchi. 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 22.

(23) 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. 治政 brand, he will not evaluate again all the attributes 大 but simply recall the previously 立立. formed overall assessment. This constructed image can contain a lot of information. •‧ 國. ㈻㊫學. 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. sit. y. Nat. intellectualize information about products originating from a country. Thus, when. n. al. er. io. familiar with the products of a country, the image of the country is created by beliefs. i Un. v. on product attributes and will directly affect consumer’s attitudes toward the product.. Ch. engchi. 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.. 23.

(24) 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. 政治大. Sociodemographic variables. VARIABLES. ㈻㊫學. •‧ 國. 立立. H1. •‧. n. er. io. sit. y. Nat. al. Perception about France (country image). Ch. Knowledge about wine. e nH2g c h i. H3. 24. i Un. v. Purchase Intent of French Wine.

(25) 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. 政治大. country of origin effect. For our subject of study consumers from Taiwan will likely. 立立. react to a French wine as quality wine and the country of France is often linked as. •‧ 國. ㈻㊫學. such in people’s mind.. •‧ sit. y. Nat. Socio-demographic factors. n. al. er. io. Many studies have tested the difference in the perceived image of foreign products. i Un. v. by consumer's gender. It was shown that women have a more positive attitude. Ch. engchi. 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:. 25.

(26) 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. 政治大 the quality of unknown立立 product, consumers use their perceived country image decision more than price and brand. The authors explained that when unable to detect. •‧ 國. ㈻㊫學. (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. y. Nat. io. sit. evaluations. According to the conitive process, stereotype is a heuristic for assessing. er. qualities of a product. As affective process, the country of origin is a positive or. al. n. v i n negative attribute emotionallyCassociated to specific nation by the consumer. By hengchi U. 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.. 26.

(27) 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 27.

(28) 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. 政治大 includes questions corresponding 立立 to the variables of Familiarity; Part D includes includes the country image perception variables used to test the hypothesis; Part C. •‧ 國. ㈻㊫學. 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. y. Nat. io. sit. between selected statements ranking from 1 - strongly disagree to 5- strongly agree. n. al. er. or 1 - very negative to 5 - very positive.. Ch. engchi. 3.4 Measurement of research variables. i Un. v. 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.. 28.

(29) 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. 政治大 had noticed that for product 立立such as wine, the "country of origin" effect on purchase Piron (2000) which focused on several types of products, including wine. The author. •‧. •‧ 國. ㈻㊫學. intention was stronger compared to other products of basic necessities.. 3.5 Measurement reliability Test. sit. y. Nat. n. al. er. io. The measurement items used in this study have been adapted from previous. v. research and therefore are validated. The measurements have internal and external. Ch. engchi. i Un. 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).. 29.

(30) 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. French people are friendly. 0.832. Overall opinion about France. 0.706. 0.681. Knowledge about wine Knowledge about wine Interest in wine. 立立. 治政 0.815 大 0.689. Others ask your advice on wine. •‧. •‧ 國. ㈻㊫學. 0.755. 0.831. Since all the measurement items used in this study are examined to assure appropriate. sit. y. Nat. reliability, I also constructed composite measures by summating the multiple indicators of. al. n. regression analysis.. er. io. each essential research variable. Then, these composite measures are used in the final. Ch. engchi. 30. i Un. v.

(31) Chapter IV. Data Analysis 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. 治政 Percent 大. Cumulative Percent. 93. 46. 46. Total. ㈻㊫學. Male. 立立. •‧ 國. Female. 109. 54. 202. 100. •‧ sit. y. Nat. io. Frequency. Percent. n. al. 6. Ch. 21 to 29 years old. 81. 30 to 39 years old. er. Table 4.2 : Age of respondents. 18 to 20 years old. 100. n U engchi 3. Cumulative Percent. iv. 3. 40. 43. 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. 202. 100. Total. 31.

(32) 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. 60,000 - 79,999. 37 立立 6. Total. 75.7 94.1. 3.0. 6. 3.0. 202. 100. 97. ㈻㊫學. > 100,000. 3. n. Few times a week. y. a6l. 49. Ch. e n g c 24.3 hi 44.1. sit. Percent. io. Frequency. Cumulative Percent. er. Nat. Table 4.5 : Wine consumption frequency. Daily. 100. •‧. •‧ 國. 80,000 - $99,999. 政治32.2 大 18.3. i Un. v. 3 27.2. Few times a month. 89. Once every few months. 51. 25.2. 96.5. Never. 7. 3.5. 100. 202. 100. Total. 71.3. For this study, the data analysis was conducted using SPSS software. The 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. 32.

(33) 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). β. t. Sig.(p). .062. .816. N.S. -.021. N.S. 1.093. N.S. Model 1 Gender. 立立. 政治-.002 大 Age. Education Level. Education Level. 0.082. io. n. al. Country Image R = 0.463. Ch. i Un. .468. engchi. y. -.043. v. *. -.631. N.S. 1.278. N.S. 7.082. ***. sit. Age. 2.368. er. .164. Nat. Gender. •‧. 2. •‧ 國. Adjusted R² = 0.11. ㈻㊫學. R = 0.103. .078. Adjusted R² = 0.215 3 Gender. .155. 2.263. *. Age. -.068. -.997. N.S. Education Level. .025. .372. N.S. Country Image. .467. 7.145. ***. Wine Knowledge. .161. 2.356. *. R = 0.487 Adjusted R² = 0.237 Note: * p < .05, ** p < .01, *** p < .001, N.S = not significant. 33.

(34) 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. 政治大 influence but the two other 立立socio-demographic variable of age and level of education this study.. Hypothesis H1 is partially supported as gender showed significant. •‧ 國. ㈻㊫學. 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. y. Nat. n. er. io. al. sit. origin of the wine than men's.. Hypothesis 2 : Country Image. Ch. engchi. i Un. v. 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 34.

(35) 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.. 政治大 Hypothesis 3 : Expertise 立立about wine. •‧ 國. ㈻㊫學. 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. sit. y. Nat. if friends and relatives are asking for their advice when purchasing wine.. n. al. er. io. The path coefficient of this variable, expertise about wine, is also significant. v. (β=0.161, p<0.01). This data analysis confirms the prediction that consumers will use. Ch. engchi. i Un. their country image to evaluate the wine. Therefore, the more positive is the country image, the more favorable is the purchase intention on French wine. The more knowledgeable consumers are about wine, the more they will be likely to buy French wine because of their positive country image. Hypothesis H3 is therefore supported.. 35.

(36) V. Discussion In this chapter we will summarize the results of the conducted data analysis and discuss the implication of the findings. We will also stress the limitations and suggestions for the purpose of future research on country image. Table 5.1 : Summary of Research Hypothesis and Outcomes Research Hypothesis. Outcome. H1: Socio-demographic factors will influence Taiwanese consumers purchase intention of French wine such that women, higher educated, Partially and younger ones will have greater purchase intention toward French supported P<0.05 wine. 立立. 政治大. •‧. •‧ 國. ㈻㊫學. H2: Consumers who have a more favorable country image about Supported France will have greater purchase intention of French wine. P<0.001 H4: The more the consumer is knowledgeable about wine, the more Supported favorable is the purchase intention of French wine. P<0.01. sit. y. Nat. er. io. 5.1. Country of Origin effect on purchase intent of French wine.. al. n. v i n C hthrough the analysis The discussion of results is done e n g c h i U of the impact of country of origin on Taiwanese consumers' attitudes toward French wine. The analysis showed that the overall impact of country of origin on the purchase intention of French wine is positive. It would appear that a positive image of the country of origin of the wine is a positive determinant to final purchase decision. The report table 4.5 on wine consumption frequency shows that 96% of respondents are wine consumers with a consumption of at least one time every few months. Because a part of the respondents were selected from the email database of a wine shop's clients we can understand the high level of wine consumers.. 36.

(37) Finally, our results were not much influenced by socio-demographic variables except for the gender of respondents. On the managerial level, this work provides a real answer to the question on the impact of image brought to the country of origin of a product. Such study tries to educate professionals on the risks and benefits of country of origin effects. It gives a general track of actions to play with when exporting wine in Asia.. The main goal of this research was to understand Taiwanese consumers perception of France and its impact on their purchase intention.. 政治大 View from abroad, France has always had a specific image. Sometimes admired for 立立. •‧ 國. ㈻㊫學. its cultural influence, envied or criticized for its unconditional commitment to its lifestyle, pointed at for its endemic social issues or just misunderstood because of its. •‧. way to do things differently, namely, in "the French way.". Nat. sit. y. France's influence is taken in a very general sense, and in this definition,. n. al. er. io. stereotypes about France are often strong. France's foreign policy, its economic and. i Un. v. social model, its cultural influence, or the its social and economic weight are all. Ch. engchi. factors that can influence public opinion. On the other hand, it is difficult to compare the actual level of influence of a country image in the international scale. The goal is to understand if its influence is seen as mainly positive or negative by the public opinion. The test results for this study have shown that Taiwanese people have a overall positive image of France. Only 2,5% of respondents reported having a negative opinion about France with almost 58% of respondents having a positive image. Even though as much as 72% of the respondents have never visited France before and 32% feel not knowledgeable about France, it shows that Taiwanese people's positive 37.

(38) opinion about France comes from their perceived image. Thanks to such positive overall image, France posses advantages at the international level. Such advantages are used by companies to expand in new markets which is one of the reason why French wine is forcing exportations in Asia.. If we consider the fact that products made in France own a strong quality image worldwide it is interesting to notice that Taiwanese respondents expressed a very high opinion on French products. Indeed, 64% of respondents are having positive opinion on Made in France products (14% very positive). In regard to their opinion. 政治大 of French wine, the results are even higher with 44% of respondents having a very 立立. •‧ 國. ㈻㊫學. positive opinion about French wine (45% positive). Such high opinion on a single product is extremely encouraging knowing that 39% of the respondents don't feel. •‧. knowledgeable about wine. The study shows us that the country of origin of wine. Nat. sit. y. remains a very important factor of quality evaluation for Taiwanese consumers,. n. al. er. io. although can be price is also a meaningful factor when purchasing wine for personal. i Un. v. purpose. Indeed, the results of H6a/b show that Taiwanese consumers attach. Ch. engchi. importance to the country of origin of the wine when purchasing for social purpose rather than for private consumption. This finding goes in line with Yang's (1989) research explaining that Chinese culture consumers are in low-involvement purchase when buying for private purpose and therefore they will be first influenced by the price. Taiwanese wine market is growing but remains small in terms of consumption per capita. The fact that Taiwan market it not yet mature for wine can explain somehow the lack of familiarity with French wine which helps understand the strong influence of the wine's country of origin cues when at the time of purchase. 38.

(39) As predicted and analyzed on the test novice consumers having an overall positive opinion about France have expressed a strong likeliness to purchase French wine (M = 4). In the other hand, experts about wine are not directly influenced by the French origin of the wine which could be explained by their knowledge about wine in general. It does not mean they will not buy French wine but instead evaluate the other attributes of the wine such as the grape used to make the wine or the year of bottling. We can infer that despite the clear influence of country of origin of the wine, country of origin is not the only predictable we have to take into account. Moreover,. 政治大 low sample, not sufficient立立 to analysize effectively the influence country image on the. only 8% of the respondents indicated that they had an expert level which is a very. •‧. •‧ 國. ㈻㊫學. level of expertise.. 5.2 Limitations. y. Nat. er. io. sit. In our review of the literature on the "country of origin" effect, we presented. al. several models to understand the influence of the image of the country of origin on. n. v i n C h models, thereUwas the one of Obermiller and consumer evaluations. Among these engchi Spangenberg (1989) and of Samiee (1994). Both models incorporate a multitude of variables including two more significant for this research. The first comes from the model of Obermiller and Spangenberg (1989) which refers to the importance of the country of origin, ie the identification and use of the label indicating the origin of the product by the consumer. The second variable is derived from the model Samiee (1994) which also constitutes its input variable, namely the consciousness of the country of origin or the importance accorded to it by the consumer. This author also states that when the consumer is not sensitive to information about the country of. 39.

(40) origin of the products, the model becomes irrelevant. In addition, we have also seen that the problem of the consumer's sensitivity to information on the origin of a product was raised in the surveys conducted by COFREET and CTCOE in the textile sector, which show that the origin of the products directly attracted the attention of consumers for 36% of them and only when compared to other product information. Therefore, the fact that we only address in this study the influence of country of origin information on the wine without taking into account the other importent criteria necessary for the evaluation of a wine may seem limited.. 政治大 This study also shows立立 limitations in the following: the questionnaire survey was. •‧ 國. ㈻㊫學. not conducted in an actual purchase situation, instead, it was a survey conducted on the internet. This situation can have several bias because we can't be sure that in a. •‧. real context of purchase, the respondent would proceed in the same way to evaluate. io. sit. y. Nat. the wine.. er. Firstly, the lack of physical wine bottle in the study could have affected the results. al. n. v i n of the study. Indeed, all evaluations relied on the analysis of C h of the respondents engchi U. their. opinion on the characteristics of French wine. However, the literature on the "country of origin" effect shows that in the absence of stimulus (product) during the study, the "country of origin" effect is generally stronger than when product is present (Peterson and Jolibert, 1995). This is especially important in terms of assessments of perceived product quality. It is possible that some of our results were affected by the lack of physical product. Obviously, given the mode of administration of our investigation (online) but also for reasons of high cost in an experiment with real products, we were not able to offer a physical product to our members in the survey.. 40.

(41) In regards to the analysis limitations, each independent variable was treated separately from other independent variables. However, this approach might prevents to highlight the joint effect of all independent variables on the dependent variable. Our findings might have been different or more nuanced. However, as it was the first empirical work on the influence of country image on wine purchase intention in Taiwan, this study was foremost an exploratory approach.. The sample of respondents for this study may have, in some ways limitations. Admittedly, the sample respondents possess the necessary characteristics to be. 政治大. considered actual or potential consumers of wine. Nevertheless it raises the question. 立立. of the representativeness of the sample to the target population. In addition, several. •‧ 國. ㈻㊫學. characteristics of the respondents proved to be too homogeneous, which did not. •‧. allow us to operate certain treatments, including their level of knowledge about France and familiarity with products made in France. These two variables are usually. y. Nat. er. io. sit. taken into account in the work on the "country of origin" effect as they can influence. al. the purchase behavior of individuals. Therefore, extrapolation of our results to the. n. iv n C U entire population of consumers ofhwine Other research to new e ncould g c hbei problematic. respondent audiences should be conducted to confirm these findings.. 5.3 Suggestions for future research. This study can give rise to different research approaches that are worth exploring. First, it aims to overcome some limitations that we have just stated, and second, to propose new analysis of the impact of the country of origin of wine on consumer's shopping behavior. 41.

(42) For future research we suggest to take into consideration other factors than the country of origin of the wine. In this research, we have considered only one criteria for the assessment of the wine: the country of origin. As exposed previously in the limitation it could be interesting to expand and take into account other aspects than the origin, such as grape wine, the year of bottling , the region of production...etc.. Moreover, as presented in the limits of this research, we noted that the study did not use test product physically present and did not place respondent's in an actual. 政治大 Jolibert (1995) to explain立立 that in the absence of physical product, the "country of purchase situation. We relied on the literature including the research of Peterson and. •‧ 國. ㈻㊫學. origin" effect might be overestimated. For their part, Liefeld (1993) and Samiee (1994) they argue that the consumer pays less attention to information on the country. •‧. of origin in real purchasing situation. It could be interesting to investigate. y. Nat. n. al. er. io. purchase behavior.. sit. respondents' attitude in real or alike purchase situation in future research on wine. Ch. engchi. 42. i Un. v.

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(48) Appendix I : Questionnaire (English version). Hello ! This survey is conducted for the purpose of my International Communication Master's thesis research at the National Chengchi University in Taipei. The purpose of this study is to understand the effect of French country image on the purchase intention of French wine in Taiwan. I would appreciate your taking the time to complete the following survey in order for me to successfully conduct my research. The questionnaire will take 10 minutes to complete. All the responses are voluntary and will be kept confidential.. Part A : 1. Age. 立立. •‧ 國. a. Male b. Female. a. b. c.. io. sit. y. Nat. 5. Marital Status. n. al. er. 4. Monthly Income a. Less than 20,000 b. between 20,000 and 49,999 c. between 40,000 and 59,999 d. between 60,000 and 79,999 e. between 80,000 and 99,999 f. 100,000 and above.. High school and below Undergraduate Graduate. •‧. 18 to 25 26 to 35 36 to 45 46 to 55 66 and over. 3. Education Level. ㈻㊫學. a. b. c. d. e.. 政治大 2. Gender. Ch. a. n U e n g c h i b. c. d.. iv. Single Married Separated Divorced. 6. I have visited France before : YES / NO - If YES : How many times ? : 7. With regard to level of expertise on wine, do you consider yourself : a. Novice c. Expert. 48.

(49) 8. How do you consider your consumption frequency of wine: a. Daily b. A few times a week c. A few times a month d. Once every few months e. Never. Part B : In this section please indicate your own perception of France and French people by circling the number which best correspond to your opinion. Follow the scale from 1 (strongly disagree) to 5 (strongly agree).. 5 5 5. 3. 4. 5. 3. 4. 5. 2. 10. France in general is a successful country. 1. 2. 3. 4. 11. France has a rich culture. 1. 2. 3. 4. 12. French people are well educated. 1. 2. 13. French people are hard working. Ch. Nat. io. n. al. 3. sit. •‧ 國. 1. y. 4. 9. France is an economically developed country. •‧. Strongly Agree. ㈻㊫學. Agree. er. 立立. 治政 Disagree 大Neutral. Strongly Disagree. n U 1 e n g c 2h i. iv. 14. French people are creative. 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 15. French people are friendly and likable. 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 49.