Product Country Images

This is the first-ever book about product and country images. It goes considerably beyond what was known until now about these images on buyer behavior and international market strategy. Thousands of companies use country identifiers as part of their international marketing strategy and hundreds of researchers have studied the ways in which these identifiers influence behavior. As markets become more international, the more prominently the origin of products will figure in sellers’and buyers’decisions. The time is ripe for practitioners and academicians to delve into the insights offered in this seminal volume so as to better prepare for meeting the competitive challenges of the global marketplace. National stereotyping and consumer biases in favor or against countries, based on image, have been known for some time to influence their marketplace decisions. Businesspeople who want to learn how to use country identifiers effectively, when to use them and when to avoid them, and how country images affect the behavior of consumers in their target markets will want to read this book cover to cover. Product-Country Images discusses the nature and role and influence of product-country images in international marketing strategy and consumer behavior. It is a wide-ranging and state-of-the-art book offering specific information and case studies to further understanding of the various aspects of this complex topic. Written by the world’s preeminent researchers in the field from both academic and business sectors--a total of twenty-nine researchers from eleven countries--Product-Country Images presents the work of some of the best minds in the area--Johansson, Morello, Nebenzahl and Jaffe, Crawford and Lumpkin, Yaprak, Liefeld, and Wall, and the editors, Papadopoulos and Heslop, who have also authored some of its chapters. The chapters cover areas related to the main theme from both theoretical and practical perspectives and address questions of international marketing strategy, public policy, and research methodology. The subject is treated at a level suitable for business executives, public policymakers, academic researchers, and university students. Generally, the influence of product country images is so pervasive that this will be an indispensable reference and guidebook to anyone interested in understanding better, and/or enhancing the effectiveness of, international consumer behavior, international marketing, and international marketing strategy. Academic researchers specializing in country-product images, international marketing, and other fields, such as decisionmaking, cultural anthropology, international behavior, and perhaps most importantly, social psychology for international relations, will find readily applicable information and new directions for further research. International business marketing practitioners and public policymakers will find the practical information on the role and importance of country image in attracting foreign investment, promoting a nation’s exports, protecting domestic markets from imports, and capitalizing on major international events for promoting national image immediately useful in formulating strategies and policies. International marketing/business students will be better prepared for a competitive world from being exposed to this field of knowledge and its implications which are relevant to many subdisciplines. The made-in notion is a matter of tremendous importance in international marketing strategy, public policymaking, and research. With this in mind, editors Papadopoulos and Heslop take special care to achieve a blend of practice and theory and of the strategic, policy, and research perspectives. As such, Product-Country Images is divided into five main sections so that readers will be able to find the information they need: In the first section, the chapters that introduce the subject, provide an overview of the field,

Country image and related constructs, such as country reputation, brand, and identity, have been subjects of debate in fields such as marketing, psychology, sociology, communication, and political science. This volume provides an overview of current scholarship, places related research interests across disciplines in a common context, and illustrates connections among the constructs. Discussing how different scholarly perspectives can be applied to answer a broad range of related research questions, this volume aims to contribute to the emergence of a more theoretical, open, and interdisciplinary study of country image, reputation, brand, and identity.

This book integrates new thinking on the image, marketing, and branding of places at all levels, from town squares to cities and countries, and of the products and peoples associated with them, thereby bridging the ‘country’ and ‘place’ silos in place-related research and practice. Insightful contributions from top scholars reflect fresh theorizing and provide a critical appraisal of conventional wisdom by juxtaposing intriguing contexts, questioning commonplace practices, and challenging methodologies and theoretical assumptions.

Alexander Buhmann develops a new model for measuring the constitution and effects of country images by combining well-established concepts from national identity theory and attitude theory with a recent model from reputation management. The model is operationalized and tested in two surveys. Results show how different cognitive and affective dimensions of the country image affect each other and ultimately lead to the facilitation of behavioral intentions. The book introduces a theory-grounded approach to clarify the dimensionality of the country image. It is the first to operationalize and test the dimensions of the country image by combining formative and reflective measures in a mixed-specified model.

When the East set off to join the West in a common Europe, its economic and political oddities became increasingly visible in the rapprochement. So what does the West make of the East? How does ex-communist Europe come across through the lens of the Western media? This book presents research conducted on all material concerning Bulgaria on the BBC website over a period of five years: starting with the early years of EU accession in 2007, up to the hysteria regarding a wave of Bulgarian immigrants to the UK in 2012. Three types of methodologies are applied: namely, content analysis, critical discourse analysis, and corpora techniques. Several coding categories are employed for the content analysis, including what type of stories are published about Bulgaria in comparison with countries of a similar size and standing; which stories were not covered by the BBC; and what areas are of specific interest in the coverage of former communist countries. A new taxonomy is established for thematic threads and continuous coverage, which sets off significant value-laden aspects of news reporting. Critical discourse analysis reveals that Bulgarians are construed via a different set of referential terms â " while English people living abroad are called â oeex-patriotsâ , Bulgarians are â oeimmigrantsâ . In its plentiful criticism of Bulgaria, â oeEuro Speakâ is reproduced where nominalisations such as â oewe cannot delay their integrationâ reveal a mental frame of rejection, not integration. The BBC uses EU jargon between inverted commas â " the effects of Bulgariaâ (TM)s integration into the Schengen zone are â oegraveâ â " instead of a factual, taxonomic adjective naming the actual consequences. Thus, the language used reveals hidden attitudes. Corpora techniques include establishing words whose frequency in the articles about Bulgaria is higher than in a balanced corpus of English. Such nouns in the five-year corpus include CORRUPTION, POOR and POOREST. Maybe the BBC reporters believed they were covering events as they happened but the results evoke a grim picture, prompting unfavourable attitudes to Bulgarians. That is why the images spawned by news coverage need to be monitored and moderated â " for which this book offers an array of methodologies.

This book features in-depth analyses of interactions between brand, country and product images; real-life examples of country branding; and guidelines for managerial action, making it a usful resource for students of International Marketing, International Business and Consumer Behaviour as well as for international marketing managers, industry leaders and government officials. Subjects covered include: Consumers' perception of countries as sources for brands and products; how to utilize country try image by the firm; how to manage national promotion campaigns of country image; country of origin labeling requirements; the use of the made-in label as a trade barrier; and the future role of brand and country images in the age of eCommerce. Eugene D. Jaffe is Professor and Israel D. Nebenzahl is Associate Professor, both at the Graduate School of Business Administration, Bar-Ilan University, Israel.