Products, brands and countries: Country-of-brand (COB) and product-of-country (POC) constructs in country-of-origin research

Abstract

Country of origin research in cross-cultural marketing has been criticised due to its varying operationalizations. One group of researchers has considered country of origins as the countries that are the origins of brands, while others have assumed that they represent the widely known countries that offer high quality products. In other words, the association of country of origin either with products or with brands and a lack of a clear conceptualization have caused confusion among researchers. This paper aims to suggest newly developed constructs such as "country-of-brand" and "product-of-country" that can be used instead of country of origin variable in future studies. Thus, the factor that is measured can be better explained. Additionally, the other factors that influence consumers' foreign product purchases are explained and a conceptual model is developed.