The effects of national stereotypes on COO-based product evaluations: A conceptual model and experimental investigation

This dissertation studies the relation between country of origin-based consumer evaluations of the hedonic and utilitarian dimensions of product attitudes and the two dimensions of national stereotype contents ? perceived warmth and perceived competence. Specifically, the conceptual model proposes that the perceived competence dimension interacts with the utilitarian dimension, while the perceived warmth dimension interacts with the hedonic dimension, to produce a stronger effect on product evaluation. A between-subjects experimental study was used to test the conceptual model. The empirical results support the proposed interaction between perceived competence and utilitarian attitudes, but not between perceived warmth and hedonic attitudes. Furthermore, familiarity with a country?s products was observed to have an independent, rather than moderating, effect on product evaluation. The research and managerial implications are discussed, particularly for the marketing strategies of nations as brands.