Consumer Evaluations of Bi-National Products in the Global Market

The global market today is characterized by the proliferation of binational products, or products that are branded in one country while actually manufactured in another. This paper investigates how consumers evaluate the quality of such products under two different situations. In Study 1, where brand name and country-of-manufacture were the only pieces of information given about a product, it was found that consumers used both pieces of information in evaluating the product. In Study 2, however, where specific attribute product information was available as well as brand name and country-of-manufacture, it was revealed that consumers relied heavily on the brand name information. The implications of the results for marketing, manufacturing, and sourcing strategies are discussed.