Gains and Losses from the Misperception of Brand Origin: The Role of Brand Strength and Country-of-Origin Image

Abstract

Mounting empirical evidence shows that consumers often associate brands with the wrong country of origin (COO) or are unable to classify a brand to any COO. In this study, the authors investigate the consequences of brand origin misclassification and nonclassification on consumers’ brand image evaluations and associated purchase intentions. Drawing from categorization theory, the authors test hypotheses regarding the impact of brand strength and COO image on misclassification gains and losses on a sample of U.K. consumers. The results show that both misclassification and non-classification have mostly adverse consequences on both brand evaluations and purchase intentions. The findings further show that strong brands are not immune to misclassification and stress the importance of ensuring that consumers are aware of a brand's true COO.