Country Of Origin

Seventeen-year-old Halah Ibrahim has always known a privileged life and never had cause to question it until Cairo goes up in flames. Not only does she start to doubt her father and his role in the new military-backed government—but she ultimately decides to flee to America with a young soldier she hardly knows, an impulsive act that has far-reaching consequences on both sides of the ocean. A powerful and universal debut novel about family, identity, and independence, Country of Origin is as much about a nation's coming-of-age as it is about secrets and lies, love and truth.

A dazzling debut novel by the prize-winning author of Yellow, set in the unique and exotic nightworld of Tokyo. In this "poignant story of prejudice, betrayal and the search for identity" (Newsweek International), the trials and tribulations of these three remarkable characters are "at turns trenchantly funny and heartbreakingly sad" (Publishers Weekly). "[An] elegant and haunting debut" (Entertainment Weekly), Country of Origin is a "swirl of action, a whirl of love and sex and race and politics, local and international" (Chicago Tribune)—a "quiet literary triumph" (Booklist) Lisa Countryman is a woman of complex origins. Half-Japanese, adopted by African American parents, she returns to Tokyo, ostensibly to research her thesis on Japan's "sad, brutal reign of conformity." When she vanishes, Tom Hurley, who is half-Korean and half-white, is assigned to her case at the American embassy, as is local cop Kenzo Ota, who is 100 percent Japanese but deemed an outsider.

Inhaltsangabe:Abstract: Consumers have significantly different country images or general perceptions about products made in different countries. Consumers use country image in product evaluation because they often are unable to detect the true quality of a country's products before purchase. Extensive research on the impact of country of origin on buyers evaluations of products has been reported in international marketing literature. This study concerns the German beer industry: threatened by imported 'impure' beer, facing a declining and very competitive domestic market many small and medium sized enterprises are beginning to take exporting as an option into consideration. The question is how German beer is perceived in the UK and whether the country image should be utilised in the promotion of new product offerings. The first part of this dissertation provides an overview of the country of origin (COO) literature by compiling and discussing findings regarding the way it operates, the factors influencing value and magnitude, and limitations of previous studies. The market attractiveness of the UK beer market was assessed and compared to the situation of the German market. The primary research of the second part consists mainly of a consumer based attitudinal survey. The sample was restricted to 18-36 years old premium beer drinkers. For this sample COO has only a minor direct influence on the purchase decision. COO should, nevertheless, be communicated because it is likely to have an influence on the quality perception of beer and foreign origin is a prerequisite for being seen as a premium beer. German beer is perceived as being superior in terms of quality and taste. That is one factor contributing to the attractiveness of the UK market. The market is also attractive in terms of size and future growth. The marketing mix should be consistent with a differentiation strategy of a premium beer. A country image dimension might be part of a unique brand image. Inhaltsverzeichnis:Table of Contents: Introduction and Objectives1 1.1Introduction1 1.2The need for information2 1.3Research objectives and information needs3 1.4Organisation of this report3 Literature Review5 2.1Introduction5 2.2The Effect of Country-of-Origin6 2.2.1Country-of-Origin as an Extrinsic Information Cue6 2.2.2Halo and Summary Construct8 2.2.3Country image as a multidimensional construct9 2.3Factors Impinging on Value/Direction and Magnitude of COO [...]

This book evaluates Country of Origin (COO) research from new critical perspectives, providing insights on how COO shapes both consumer behaviour and business trends, and how marketers can overcome or take advantage of COO in their strategies. The contributors explore a variety of strategies for utilising Country of Origin, including how country image can influence market entry positioning strategies, and how brand heritage can be utilised as a communication tool. There is also a study of what percentage of online products require COO identification, and whether this percentage correlates to customer satisfaction. Several contributors look at consumers’ preference for food in relation to COO and authenticity, and further chapters explore the impact of consumer identification with a nation on how they evaluate brands. As Country of Origin is increasingly evaluated by consumers and used by marketers to safeguard locally-owned products, this book will be of interest to those studying the relationship between country-authentic brands and their promotion in the global marketplace. This book was originally published as a special issue of the Journal of Promotion Management.