Does Country of Origin Matter for Chocolate? Ethnocentrism, Involvement, and Perceived Risk for Turkish University Students

ABSTRACT

The goal of this study is to explore the importance of country of origin (COO), ethnocentrism, perceived risk, and product involvement on consumers’ chocolate preferences, and also to reveal the interrelationships between these factors. Using taste test and survey, a quantitative method was employed to reveal whether the taste perception of respondents for the same chocolate will be differentiated with regard to the COO information and whether the buying intention of respondents for the same chocolate will be differentiated with regard to the COO information. Also, the role of consumer ethnocentrism, perceived risk, and product involvement on COO effect was tested. Turkish university students constituted the sample for the study. Univariate and multivariate statistical methods were used. With important implications for COO research, results help to improve our understanding for situations in which COO effect, ethnocentrism, and other variables can become effective for chocolate products. To our best knowledge, this is the first study that has empirically demonstrated the role of COO on taste perception and explored the underlying factors of COO, product involvement, consumer ethnocentrism, and perceived risk interaction for chocolate products.

KEYWORDS:

• Country of origin
• consumer ethnocentrism
• perceived risk
• product involvement
• Turkey
• chocolate
• taste test