Effects of Country – of - Origin on Customer’s Buying Intention: A case study of the Vietnamese market

Abstract

Due to globalization, customers are now dealing with a variety of choices of goods and services and in such situations, the country of origin (COO) has become a useful tool which supports consumers in making wise buying decisions. Previous studies have also shown a consensus on the significant relevance between the country image and consumers purchase intention. However, due to several existing limitations and recommendations for further studies on the subject, it is relevant to understand how consumers in emerging economies perceiving the COO image as well as to which extent their perception of the country image influence purchase intention in more details.

The present paper examines the perception of Vietnamese consumers towards the COO as well as their consumer ethnocentrism level, to understand the effect of those two factors on consumer purchase intention, which in turn, giving a better insight for enterprises into the role of the COO cue and helping them in building an efficient strategic plan for their business operation in Vietnam. Results are based on the analysis of quantitative data collected from 143 Vietnamese respondents focusing on food and beverages products imported from three countries: Thailand, Japan, and the USA. Findings suggest that country of origin has a statistical connection with buying intention for foreign products. However, demographic factors found no relevance to the country of origin, and though ethnocentrism exists among Vietnamese consumers, it just influences consumers' purchase intention to some extent.