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Consumer behaviour induced by product nationality: The evolution of

the field and its theoretical antecedents

The article is called “Consumer behaviour induced by product nationality: The

evolution of the field and its theoretical antecedents” by professors Tanja Dmitrovic
and Irena Vida, try to explain how relevant of the product origin in the consumer's
decision and all the factors that interfere in there, and also all the studies all the
studies that have been done in order to support this theory.

Nowadays, we are living in a globalization world, that has caused not only to the
consumers get to import products, but also companies and countries has created a
status in the global market. That is why the text describes who society has created
different national stereotypes related specially with quality, making a country better
than other, and consequently the consumer chose consciously or unconsciously a
brand from another. Even though many countries have built their reputation like
Swiss with the clocks, sometimes the consumer despise other brands only for the
origin, in spite of the fact that the product could be better than the first option,
because has the text said “...Their empirical analysis showed that, when a country's
image has a strong affective component, its direct impact is stronger on product
evaluations (operationalized as willingness to purchase) than on product beliefs
(operationalized as quality evaluations).”.(p.153)

Nevertheless, the article clam that it could be the opposite, where people prefer only
national product and reject all from the outside, because they consider that national
products are superior, and consequently it makes nationalism and even racism.
Moreover, the article shows another possible reason, and that is the sense of
belonging to a specific group because as humans we want to stay in society, and
sometimes in order to fit in a group we buy a product because it is fashionable, so
we prefer to be “in-group” than “out-group”.

In addition, something that is important to bear in mind is that is mentioned in the

article seven dimensions that interfere in consumer behavior like: the nation's level of
development, feelings about its people, a desire for closer links with the country,
quality, price, the level of market penetration of the country's products, and prior
satisfaction with its products. That make us think about the affected by outside
influences and how irrational could be the purchase decision, because the more
irrational a decision is, the more mistakes we will make in our daily life

Conclusion

In my point of view, everyday we are strongly influence by this globalized world, that
is why consumers have to make decisions rationally and question themselves, at the
moment of buying, and even experience where the only determinate of buying, or
when unconsciously we discriminate national or foreign products. I strongly believe
that we can't disparage or judge somebody or something only for origin, and we
should give the opportunity to try something new.

On the other hand, as consumers we have the responsibility to look into the product
information, in other words, we have to search about the quality, price, size,
materials, benefits and even different alternative options Only if we realize about it,
we can make better purchase decision and get the best choice.

Reference:

Dmitrovic, T., Vida, I. (2010), “Consumer Behaviour Induced by Product Nationality:

The Evolution of the Field and its Theoretical Antecedents”, Transformations in
Business & Economics, Vol. 9, No 1(19), pp.145-165.