Countering negative country of manufacturing effects for bottled foods: how extrinsic product cues matter to consumers

ABSTRACT

A same-brand bottled food sold by competing retailers may be produced in different countries. This investigation offers an empirically-based view of how consumers evaluate a bi-national bottled food product which carries a brand associated with a developed country but is manufactured in a developing country, as opposed to its home-country-made variants; and also seeks to identify extrinsic product cues which may moderate their responses. Results show that perceived quality erodes because of an off-putting COM image, while a short shelf life improves its evaluation. Such effect, however, is limited to small-size and glass packaging. In addition, shoppers’ product quality perceptions raise their willingness to pay.

KEYWORDS:

• Country of manufacturing (COM)
• shelf life
• package size
• packaging materials
• perceived quality
• willingness to pay

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Hsuan-Hsuan Ku

Hsuan-Hsuan Ku is a professor of Department of International Business, Soochow University, Taiwan. She holds a PhD in marketing from National Taiwan University. Her research interests include consumer behaviour and marketing strategies. She has published in The Service Industries Journal, Industrial Marketing Management, Psychology & Marketing, European Journal of Marketing, Journal of Advertising, Marketing Letters, Managing Service Quality, Journal of Consumer Behaviour, Journal of Marketing Management, Marketing Intelligence & Planning, and Journal of Service Theory and Practice among others.

Hsin-Yu Chen

Hsin-Yu Chen holds a MBA with a specialisation in international business from Soochow University, Taiwan. Her research interests include consumer behaviour and marketing strategies.