The purpose of this research is to examine the subject of country-of-origin labeling in marketing terms. The plan of the research will be to set forth the historical context in which this topic has taken on significance to marketers and then to discuss its current relevance, as well as the strengths and weaknesses of country-of-origin issues in marketing analysis and an assessment of current trends regarding their development. In addition, the research will examine the experience of Chrysler Corporation, an American automobile manufacturer, with marketing-related country-of-origin issues in regard to its activity between 1995 and 2005.
If it is the case that, as Kotler remarks, beliefs and attitudes influence buying behavior (2004), then it follows that an selling organization's marketing activity must take them into account. In regard to some products, the identity of the selling organization per se may be less important with regard to customer preferences than the organization's national identity. That is, a product's country of origin (COO) may loom large in customer evaluations and buying decisions.
COO as a marketing issue is complex for several reasons. For one thing, COO does not achieve the same level of relevance in buying decisions for all products or all product categories, and products may be distinguished by both degree (luxury versus nonluxury product) and kind (Kleenex versus Ford versus Marlboro). In that regard, Hsieh's research (2004) shows that "while luxury brands are distributed in a relatively scattered manner, non-luxury brands tend to relate to each other on the basis of country of origin" (p. 292). In addition, some buying decisions may be made either because of a product's COO or in spite of another product's COO. Some buying decisions may be made less based on COO than on specific-brand loyalty. In other words, effective brand positioning, the length of time the brand has been available, and/or a brand'...