Country-of-origin effect on Chinese consumers' apparent perceptions of foreign-brand and Chinese-brand apparel: An experimental study

Many companies are keenly interested in selling in the People's Republic of China's market; however, doing business with China is a great challenge. To compete successfully, companies must make an effort to understand the China market. Unfortunately, research into what Chinese consumers want from foreign-brand apparel and how they perceive it has been lacking. The purpose of this exploratory research was to investigate Chinese consumers' perceived quality, perceived price, and purchase willingness toward foreign-brand apparel compared with Chinese-brand apparel. The research instrument was administered to 200 male consumers in Shanghai, China, who answered a questionnaire while they viewed three identical men's dress shirts, each with a fictitious country-of-origin label. The consumer sample included men of different ages, occupations, incomes, and education levels. Data were statistically analyzed to determine whether there were significant differences as a result of fictitious brand origins. Findings indicated that Chinese consumers' attitudes toward foreign-brand apparel were more favorable than those toward identical Chinese-brand apparel. Perceived quality, perceived price, and purchase willingness toward foreign-brand apparel were all significantly higher for foreign-brand shirts. Results of this research should help manufacturers and marketers improve the likelihood of success in doing business with Chinese consumers.