• Journal of Global Scholars of Marketing Science
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• v.19 no.1
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• pp.47-58
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• 2009

The marketing environment has become competitive to an extent that requires firms to target their products at markets that span national boundaries. However, competitive clout cannot be achieved in global consumer markets unless firms thoroughly understand and adequately respond to the core values and needs of those consumers. Brand equity is one of the most important assets to a company. Especially in sportswear markets, brand equity is the crucial value added to a product by its brand name. Factors such as country of origin also influence customer's attitude towards brand equity. Therefore, this paper discusses the relationship between country of origin effect and brand equity, and how they influence consumers' loyalty for respective brands. This paper focused on the sports shoes market, because it is an increasing area of opportunity for world manufacturers. The objectives of this study were the following. (1) Test the effect of country of origin on brand equity. (2) Test how brand equity influences consumers' brand loyalty. (3) Find whether there are differences in the effects of country of origin and brand equity among the three countries. (4) Find whether there are differences in the effects of country of origin and brand equity among the different lifestyles. Based on the review of literature results, the hypotheses are concluded as the following: H1-a: Country image has positive influence on country of origin. H1-b: Product perception has positive influence on country of origin. H2-a: Perceived quality has positive effect on brand equity. H2-b: Perceived price has positive effect on brand equity. H3: Country of origin has positive effect on brand equity. H4: Brand equity has a positive impact on brand loyalty. Research model was constructed (see Fig. 1). After data analysis, the following results were concluded: sports shoes purchase behavior showed significant differences among Korean, Chinese, and American consumers for favorite brand, purchased brand, purchased place, information usage, and favorite sports games. The results of this study also extend the research of the relationship among country of origin, brand equity and brand loyalty to the sports shoes market. Brand equity was proven to have a significant relationship with brand loyalty for all countries. The factors which can influence brand equity are different for different countries. The third finding of this paper is that we identified different three lifestyles, adventurer, follower, and laggard, for Korean, Chinese and American consumers. Without the nationality boundary, seeing the emergence of a new group of consumers who have similar preferences and buy similar brands is more important. All of the consumers consider brand equity to keep their brand loyalty. Perceived price is the only factor which can influence brand equity for adventurers; brand is more important for them. The laggards were not influenced by any factor. All of the factors expect perceived price are important for the followers. Marketing managers should consider brand equity when introducing their brand into a new market. Also localization is the basic strategy that all the sports shoes companies should understand. But as a global brand, understanding the same characteristics for each country is more important to build global strategy.

• Journal of Korea Trade
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• v.25 no.3
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• pp.87-115
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• 2021

Purpose - Brand equity has emerged as an indispensable marketing tool for firms engaging their business in developing nations. This study proposes that the country of origin image and advertising will affect the Korean brand equity formation, which leads to repurchase intention of Korean brands. In the study, attitude factors are applied in brand equity theory to predict repurchase intention of Korean brands. Cognitive brand equity, such as brand awareness, brand association, brand image and attitudinal brand equity, such as perceived quality and brand loyalty are considered with regards to their attitude towards the Korean brand. Design/methodology - A total of 178 Myanmar consumers out of 200 participants who have used Korean brands answered the survey and data were analyzed through SmartPLS 3.3.2 version. PLS-SEM is considered a more suitable analysis to pin down and evaluate the cause-effect relationship among all of the constructs with relatively complex models. Findings - Our results substantiate that the country of origin image positively affects brand awareness, brand associations, and brand image and advertising awareness positively affects brand awareness. Brand awareness gives positive effect only on brand association, which sustains a positive effect on brand image and brand loyalty. Brand image only has a positive effect on perceived quality, which again affects repurchase intention and brand loyalty. Brand loyalty also shows a positive effect on repurchase intention. Originality/value - Brand equity dimensions were viewed as cognitive and attitudinal outcomes of brand equity which affects repurchase intention. The drivers of brand equity were considered from the perspective of country of origin image that firms cannot control or mange, and advertising awareness which firms can control and manage. The findings also explored the relationships between cognitive and attitudinal brand equity.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Clothing and Textiles
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• v.24 no.5
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• pp.663-674
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• 2000

The purpose of this study was (1) to examine the preference for apparel brands and country of origin, (2) to evaluate the brand equity for domestic and imported apparels as perceived by Korean and American consumers, and (3) to analyze the effects of country of origin and brand equity on consumers' apparel purchase behavior. The sample included 151 Korean and 114 American consumers. The data were collected from respondents by using the mall-intercept method. In addition, the path analysis based on multiple regression analysis was applied to analyze the data. The major findings in this study were as followings; (1) Both of all Korean and US consumers preferred domestic apparel brands to imported brands but the latter preferred apparels made in home country to the former comparatively, (2) Korean consumers evaluated more favorably the brand equity for imported apparels than that for domestic apparels, but American consumers were quite the reverse, (3) To Korean consumers, the direct variable to influence the purchase intention of apparels was the perceived quality and indirect variables were the brand equity and country of origin. On the other hand, to American consumers, the perceived quality and the brand equity for domestics apparel had directly influence on the purchase intention and the brand equity for imported apparels did indirectly. Finally, implications for managerial and marketing strategies were discussed in regard to building an international apparel brand equity and improving exports with high quality apparels.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Clothing and Textiles
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• v.20 no.3
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• pp.538-549
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• 1996

The main purpose of this study was to determine the influence of brand and country-of-origin on consumers' perception of apparel products. $2\times2$ between subjects factorial design with brand (no brand vs. prestigious brand) and country-of-origin (Italy vs. Korea) was used. Consumer ethnocentrism and product involvement were included as covariates in analyzing the data. The stimuus was a double-breasted v-neckline beige jacket. All the labels were removed and a label indicating one of the four brand/country-of-origin conditions was attached. The participants' perception of the jacket was measured in terms of product attitude, product evaluation, purchase intention and expected price. A total of 205 housewives participated in the field experiments conducted in front of four moi or department stores in Seoul, and 202 responses were used in the final analysis. There was no significant difference in product attitude, product evaluation and purchase intention according to brand or country-of-origin. But brand, country-of-origin and the interaction between the variables were significant in explaining the differences in expected price. Consumer ethnocentrism was significant in all the models, while product involvement was significant only in the case of product evaluation. The relationships among demographic variables, consumer ethnocentrism and product involvement were also examined.

• Asia Marketing Journal
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• v.11 no.2
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• pp.193-215
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• 2009

This paper reports the country of origin and brand trust perceptions of 102 Nepali consumers living in Kathmandu. The paper also explores these Nepali consumers' perceptions of global brands. Three major findings are reported: (1) For these Nepali consumers, the importance of buying a global brand is exceptionally important in their purchase decisions. (2) Nepali women consistently rate the importance of buying a global brand higher than Nepali men. (3) The set of global brands most trusted by these Nepali consumers show strong regional, Asian preferences. The paper also discusses the challenges of market research in Nepal.

• Fashion & Textile Research Journal
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• v.22 no.2
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• pp.192-201
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• 2020

This study examined the relationship between Korean male consumers' perceptions of marketing promotion investment such as advertising expenditure and celebrity endorsement are the brand equity elements. It also compared if there were differences on this research model and two groups that selected Korean or foreign country-of-brand-origin in fashion product purchasing. Online survey responses from 414 Korean men in their 20s-30s were analyzed using confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) and structural equation modeling analysis (SEM). Perceptions of advertising expenditures were found to be positively related to brand association in only the group that selected Korean country-of-brand-origin. The results showed a non-significant effect of perceptions for advertising expenditures on perceived product quality in both groups that selected Korean or foreign country-of-brand-origin. The results indicated that celebrity endorsement had a significant effect on brand association for the two male consumer groups. The results also demonstrated that the relationship of celebrity endorsement and perceived quality was significant in only a group that selected Korean country-of-brand-origin. The results also revealed that the effect of brand association and perceived product quality on brand preference was significant in both male consumer groups. This study has useful managerial implications for enhancing the effectiveness of investment in advertising activities.

• Journal of Distribution Science
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• v.11 no.2
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• pp.23-33
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• 2013

Purpose - Numerous studies have tried to assess the role of a warranty as an explanatory instrument for product quality. While one study argued that manufacturers signal their superior quality to consumers by extending the duration of a warranty, quality is not necessarily related to warranty and a warranty for a short duration is a sign of high product quality. However, there are limitations to measuring product quality in terms of a single variable such as a warranty. Some other studies have evaluated the influence of brand power or value and price on the supposed quality of a product while the influence of warranty was found to be insignificant. Research design, data, methodology - The study analyzes the influence of brand power and the country of origin effect on consumers' perception of product quality in line with warranty and establishes a priority strategy. Especially, consumer experience has a significant influence on state of the art technology products like applied home electronics as these goods are generally quite expensive and consumers expend significant energy in purchasing them, so the associated warranty and brand can have a critical role in the decision making process. The price of the product was excluded in this discussion as it continually varies with the market share of the product. Results - The results of the analysis are as follows: First, each of the factors such as the standard of the warranty, brand power, and country of origin effect influences the degree of satisfaction of an individual. Second, the factors brand power and quality of the warranty interact both complementarily and synergistically at a time, depending on the brand power. As brand power is more significant, the degree of satisfaction is greater in case of products with low quality warranty compared to those with high quality warranty. Third, the brand power and country of origin effect present a complementary interaction. Fourth, the country of origin effect and quality of a warranty interact synergistically. Conclusions - Thus, the higher the quality of warranty, greater is the increment in the degree of satisfaction. The comprehensive study on the effect of the country of origin on the purchase decision process and the degree of satisfaction compared to the other elements shows that in case of Japanese and Korean markets the brand power of a company is desirable in sustaining the quality of warranty to the industrial average. Also, there is no significant improvement in the perceived quality of the product when the quality of the warranty is lowered. Therefore, the warranty effect diminishes when the value of the brand is known, while it perishes when both the brand power and the country of origin effect are strong enough.

• The Research Journal of the Costume Culture
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• v.20 no.2
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• pp.208-221
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• 2012

The purpose of this study is to identify the effects of sportswear brands' country-of-origin on purchase intention (PI) in terms of brand personality as perceived by Chinese university students. Chinese students preferred to shop for sportswear at specialty stores, liked Nike and Adidas most, design was the most important factor when selecting, selected their sportswear themselves, and gathered information from TV ads. With regard to perceptions of brands country-of-origin, America was perceived as a developed country, influential to the world, but as having a bad relationship with China. Germany was perceived as a developed country and as having a well-developed civic culture, good people image, high technology, high influence on the world, and a good relationship with China. Italy was perceived as a developed country with the highest civic culture. China was perceived as a developing country, as having a good people image, and low technology and low influence on the world. Japan was perceived as a developed country with high technology. Factors of brand personality were sincerity, competence & sophistication, and excitement. Nike was perceived as having high competence & sophistication and excitement, Adidas as having high competence & sophistication and excitement, Lining as having high sincerity, and Mizuno's brand personality was very low. People image, competence & sophistication and excitement became higher, PI of Adidas increased. If people image, competence & sophistication and excitement became higher, PI of Kappa increased. If a country was developed and competence & sophistication and excitement became higher, PI of Lining increased. If civic culture, people image, technology, competence & sophistication and excitement became higher, PI of Mizuno increased.

• The Journal of Asian Finance, Economics and Business
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• v.9 no.4
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• pp.121-129
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• 2022

This study intends to analyze the impact of the country of origin on the intention to ingest COVID-19 vaccinations by measuring Vietnamese people's perceptions of India in the manufacture of COVID-19 vaccines. The research is done using a quantitative method, and primary data was obtained using a conventional manner based on the willingness of the research respondents, who are Vietnamese persons aged 18 and up, to contribute information. The findings revealed that perceived brand association and perceived brand quality directly positively impact the COVID-19 vaccine's consumption intention and willingness. Meanwhile, while the perceived country image component has no direct effect on consumption intention, it does have a positive indirect effect on consumption intention through perceived brand linkage and perceived brand quality. The findings also emphasize the importance and significance of a country's image in brand association and quality perception. The study's findings imply that to increase consumers' willingness to buy India's COVID-19 vaccination, the country should develop communication initiatives to improve consumer perceptions of the country's image, the perceived value of the brand association, and brand quality.

• Journal of Distribution Science
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• v.11 no.7
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• pp.47-56
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• 2013

Purpose - In the academic literature, the researches on a comparative study on purchase behaviors of the consumers from emerging and mature markets remain limited. Therefore, this empirical study is attempted to examine the effects of country of origin (COO), brand image and corporate image on the purchase behavior of Chinese consumers (as from emerging market) and Korean consumers (as from mature market). Research Design, data, methodology - In total, 615 valid questionnaires were collected from the main cities of China and Korea respectively, and a multiple group analysis was conducted to test the hypotheses with SPSS 16.0 and AMOS18.0. Results - Chinese consumers are not influenced by country-of-origin effect, whereas Korean consumers are sensitive to it. Both Chinese and Korean consumers are sensitive to brand image, whereas corporate image does appear to influence Chinese consumers but not Korean consumers. The effects of country-of-origin are not more influential in less developed market (China) than more developed market (Korea). Conclusions - According to the results of this empirical study, the country-of-origin effect does impact Korean consumers but not Chinese consumers' purchase behavior. Therefore, multinational companies are relatively free to make the decision, if Chinese consumers are the marketing targets, when choosing manufacturing sites.