Increased Globalization Decreases Impact of Country-of-Origin Importance

I recently read an article in the Journal of International Marketing titled “Country-Specific Associations Made by Consumers: A Dual-Coding Theory Perspective” authored by Marc Florian Herz and Adamantios Diamantopoulos. The authors discussed past learnings of Country of Origin importance on consumer choices. The article is interesting, especially if your branding approach focuses on the emotional or rational associations of a specific country. However, I found the most interesting finding of the study to be that many consumers (even when asked directly) stated that the country where the product originated did not influence their brand choice. The authors hypothesize this trend is due to increased globalization, multinational production, and global branding strategies. This article makes me think it is worthwhile to understand this aspect of your customer base. Is your target customer one that values the Country of Origin? The answer could very well guide your marketing efforts, as well as helping you tailor other aspects of the customer experience.