The impact of country-of-origin cues on consumer perceptions of product quality: A binational test of the decomposed country-of-origin construct

In light of the conflicting findings in previous research on the effect of country-of-origin (COO) on consumer product perceptions, this paper extends previous research by testing a decomposition of the construct (country of product design (COD), assembly (COA) and parts (COP) manufacture) on Mexican and US consumers. Additionally, several moderators are tested for the first time within the framework of this model. Test results on the three products (television, athletic shoes and mountain bike) indicate that design, assembly and parts origins do have different effects on product evaluations with the COP exhibiting the strongest influence. Furthermore, COO effects vary between US and Mexican consumers-most notably related to product design, introducing the issue of whether fashion and functionality of products, which may vary between societies, cause different COO effects. Finally, age exhibited a strikingly different moderating effect in the two countries. (C) 2002 Elsevier Science Inc. All rights reserved.