Country-of-origin effects in consumer processing of advertising claims

We propose that country of origin has a dual impact on product evaluations, acting as informational cue, but also as source variable, moderating the impact of ads on product evaluations. In support, we find a direct effect of country of origin on product evaluations, and a three-way interaction between country of origin, claim favorability and ad involvement. Further analyses show that country of origin influences the way in which consumers respond to moderate and extreme claims under conditions of low and high ad involvement. The dual impact of country of origin on consumer behavior emphasizes its relevance to (international) marketing. (c) 2005 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.