Country‐of‐Origin and Social Resistance in Host Countries: The Case of a Chinese Firm

Abstract

While China's outward direct investments continue to soar, many Chinese firms reportedly face social resistance in host countries during the internationalization process. We explore this phenomenon from a country‐of‐origin ( COO ) perspective using Fiske and colleagues’ (Fiske, Cuddy, Glick, & Xu, 2002; Fiske, Xu, Cuddy, & Glick, 1999) stereotype content model. Our findings from a recent case in New Zealand show that China's COO emerges as a key variable influencing how local actors view Chinese investors. Specifically, despite China's significant economic and social developments over the past decades, it suffers from a somewhat negative country image in two stereotype dimensions: competence and warmth. This leads to a perception by local actors that Chinese firms are of low quality, which explains the source of resistance in society. To address such a liability of origin, Chinese firms must learn to deal with this form of stereotypical judgment encountered in a host environment. Further contributions and limitations of the study are discussed in the article. © 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.