Advancing the country image construct

In today's globalized markets a favorable country-of-origin image (Col) has a considerable impact on consumers' evaluation of products originating from different countries and therefore influences their subsequent buying decisions. The current paper seeks to extend our conceptual understanding of the nature and functioning of the Col construct. The aim is threefold, namely to provide a succinct state-of-the-art picture of country image research in international marketing, to contribute to a better measurement of the country image construct, and, finally, to develop an agenda for future research. (C) 2008 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.