Explicit and Implicit Country Stereotypes of Consumers

Although extensive research has been conducted on the influence of country stereotypes on product evaluations and purchasing decisions, previous research in this area lacks a sound theoretical basis. In particular, much of the research to date is based on the premise that consumers take into account references to the country of origin of products in their deliberations. For this reason, previous research has relied almost exclusively on explicit (direct) measures of country stereotypes. The present project integrates the `stereotype content model` of Fiske et al. (2002) and the `reflective-impulsive model` of Strack and Deutsch (2004) into a unified overall concept. This new framework is used to systematically analyze the influence of both explicitly and implicitly measured country stereotypes on consumers` emotions and behavior. Based on a series of complementary studies - both survey-based and experimental - the following detailed insights will be provided: (a) reasons for the convergence/divergence of explicitly and implicitly measured country stereotypes and their extent, (b) the relative influence of such stereotypes on deliberative and spontaneous purchase decisions, (c) the role of implicit country stereotypes on attention control and (automatic) approach behavior of consumers, (d) the mediation of (positive and negative) emotions on the relationship between stereotype and behavior, and (e) the relative predictive validity of explicitly and implicitly measured country stereotypes with respect to a wide range of behaviors. The results of the present project extend theories about the influence of country of origin and stereotypes and contribute to the understanding of the processes that explain the importance of country stereotypes in product judgments and product decisions.

Products are often provided with information about the country of origin due to legal requirements, but also for purposes of better marketing. In fact, it was recognized early on that "made in" labels can promote sales, but sometimes also have an unfavorable influence on sales of products. Researchers assume that the positive and negative effects of country of origin labels are based on stereotypes regarding the respective countries. However, much of the research to date has been based on the premise that consumers take into account and consciously consider references to the country of origin of products. For this reason, previous research relied almost exclusively on surveys to capture country stereotypes. However, such surveys require that respondents can identify such stereotypes and also respond truthfully and not simply in a socially-desirable manner. In contrast, social-psychological research has shown that although stereotypes are often used consciously, they can also impact behavior automatically and in an unnoticed way. Moreover, it has been established that even affect people who hardly indicate negative stereotypes in self-reports can have negative association to certain countries and display negative automatic reactions. Hence, the project captured stereotypes in a variety of ways including measuring automatic stereotypical associations, and explored how stereotypes in different situations influence consumers` perceptions. In studies in various countries, the project team systematically demonstrated that assessments of warmth and competence are stereotypically attributed to people from certain countries and systematically influence product assessments and linked purchase intentions. An important finding of the project is that the explicitly reported stereotypes were very clearly associated with product judgments and purchase intentions, but that in spontaneous judgments the effects of automatic associations are also present. In addition, several eye tracking studies showed that consumers often pay attention to country of origin information quite late and that its influence might therefore be lower than previous studies suggest. However, it was also found that the activation of competence goals can enhance the attention to country of origin labels and thus amplify country of origin effects.