Introduction
The problem of the way customers evaluate products has interested scholars for many years. The clarification of what are the main features consumers pay attention to may lead to the revolution in the marketing sphere. The country-of-origin effect is an interesting phenomenon that is worthwhile investigating. In the following report, two papers representing the same issue are going to be analyzed. The academic paper introduces significant research of the country-of-origin effect while the news article exemplifies the findings in practice.
An overview of the academic paper
The academic paper under consideration entitled “Country-of-origin Effects on Product Evaluation” was written by Warren J. Bilkey and Erik Ness. The authors provide readers with information about the effect of country of origin on product evaluation. “Made in…” — that is the line that indicates the country. Customers pay attention to this fact. The choice of outputs is often predetermined by stereotypes one has towards the country of origin. Countries of origin may be of two types: more developed countries (MDC) and less developed countries (LDC). For instance, the USA, Germany, Sweden, Japan, and Finland belong to the MDC group.
In the following part, the authors go into detail, introducing the fact that people do not equally evaluate products made in MDC. A simple example can be a situation in which a resident of the US will assess US products higher than those made in European MDC. When buyers compare MDC and LDC products, a preference is given to MDC. However, this regularity may be violated in some cases. The proper illustration is freeze-dried coffee made in Brazil. The country belongs to the less developed countries. An average buyer knows this information and avoids buying Brazilian products, but freeze-dried coffee is an exception in these circumstances. Brazil has a reputation as a country that is famous for its coffee. That is why the customer makes a decision and purchases freeze-dried coffee made in Brazil.
Nevertheless, Bilkey and Ness point out that there are the so-called “methodological limitations”, which impede the proper conducting of the research. First of all, all respondents made their judgments only according to the country of origin. Second, during the research, respondents heard verbal descriptions of the products. Their choice could be different in real situations. The third limitation deals with reliability and validity problems.
An overview of the news article and causes
The news article running under the title “China Shaking off Stereotype Perception of Poor Quality” presents information about the ways China is getting rid of negative stereotypes. China ranks number nine in “Made In” research carried out by the FutureBrand. As it has been reported, the country of origin information is of great significance for customers. A lot of buyers consider the country of origin information even more important than the price, style, or availability of the product. China’s rank in the 9th position is good news for Chinese manufacturers. The whole world accepted the “made in China” label as something of poor quality. Nowadays, producers are trying to overcome this stereotype and obtain a new, positive one.
It should be noted that some companies have already moved towards the changing of these stereotypes. Here belongs Lenovo, Xiaomi, and Geely carmaker. Besides, a lot of American and European products are made in China. This truth can be easily explained. China is famous for having a cheap labor force. It also has tremendous industrial potential in technological development. China aims to become a high-tech, trustworthy country of origin.
The causes of China’s products perception as of bad quality ones have a well-grounded basis. First of all, when the country started its worldwide manufacturing, it belonged to the LDC. Secondly, it was known that China’s producers specialized in making cheap and low-quality products. An immense number of products were sold in the markets, cheap shops throughout the world at a low price.
Conclusion
The news article under consideration may be looked at from the perspective of the research, represented by Warren J. Bilkey and Erik Ness. According to the study, China should be referred to as LDC. The current aims of most China manufacturers are to shake off negative stereotypes and make people believe that China belongs to MDC. However, the country-of-origin bias sometimes disappears due to the reputation of the country. Thus, electronic calculators made in Hong Kong may entail less feeling of the risk among customers. Though modern producers are trying to change their attitude towards China, they still face a lot of prejudices. The best decision for them is to fit the LDC supplier (China) of industrial goods into a situation that presupposes low-risk purchasing. As a result, price advantage will be improved in contrast to the location disadvantage. Such technique should be carried out carefully with the constant improvement of quality and price relations, which should lead to a change in China’s perception as a country that produces low-quality goods. Also, a lot of people are becoming aware of the fact that American products are very often produced in China plants. This knowledge influences and annihilates the considering of the “made in China” goods like those that are deficient in quality.
Bibliography
Bilkey, Warren J., Ness, Erik., ‘Country-of-origin Effects on Product Evaluation’, Journal of International Business Studies, vol.13:Issue1, 1982, 89-99.
FutureBrand, ‘China Shaking off Stereotype Perception of Poor Quality’. Web.