CULTURES AS PRODUCT ENDORSERS

Solomon, Bamossy and Askegaard (1999) have asked whether we take care to distinguish between Australian or Chilean wine, take pride in Greek feta cheese, go to some length to convince guests that they will like authentic Italian grappa. If we do, then we are like most consumers, who sometimes pay attention to the influence of a product's country of origin and use this when evaluating and choosing products.

At the cognitive level, there are many products where the issue of country of origin adds little or nothing to the buying decision. We may not care, for instance, if a cheap, functional ballpoint pen comes from Taiwan, Hong Kong, or an Eastern European country, because the simple technology is culturally transparent. Any country can make a ballpoint pen. In contrast we would prefer to buy Armani clothes made in Italy rather than the Philippines. A strong brand name can compensate for a country with a weak manufacturing image. Honda has even shipped cars that were assembled in the US back to Japan, so strong is the Japanese belief in the quality of the American-made Honda!

Country of origin tells the consumer something about the product. It is clear that the "made in..." label is important to many consumers. The reaction to this by manufacturers can sometimes be exaggerated; Peter bought an expensive necktie in Italy recently, to discover that the label said that the tie was indeed "made in Italy." But printed on the label were also the words "label made in Taiwan"... As Solomon et al. state, with the rise of patriotism, regionalism, and ethnic identity around the world, multinational regions and individual countries, as well as sponsored export agencies, will continue to promote the positive associations of their countries .