Country-of-Origin Effects on Consumer Product Evaluation and Purchase Intention: The Role of Objective Versus Subjective Knowledge

TLDR

The study investigates how country‑of‑origin cues influence product evaluation and purchase intention, examining the moderating roles of objective and subjective product knowledge. Results show that consumers with high product knowledge, especially high objective knowledge, are less affected by COO cues, while subjective knowledge does not significantly alter this effect.

Abstract

ABSTRACT This study examines the effects of country-of-origin (COO) cues on product evaluation and purchase intention by considering the role of product knowledge. This research also examines how and to what extent objective and subjective knowledge affect consumers’ information processing when COO cues are present. It was found that consumers with high product knowledge were less likely to be influenced by COO cues in their product evaluation than those with low product knowledge. Also, consumers with high objective knowledge would be less likely to rely on COO cues in their product evaluation. However, there was no significant relationship between COO cues and consumers’ subjective knowledge. Implications and suggestions for future research in this area are provided.