Investigation on perceived country image of imported food

Product origin communicates a substantial external message to food shoppers in terms of product quality, and is conceived of as a competitive advantage for firms in global markets. As such, greater understanding of country image and its pertinent dimensions will be beneficial for international food traders and policy-makers in developing marketing strategy. In the current study, two countries (the US and Japan) and two food products (fruit and beer) are investigated based on a stratified sample surveyed in Taipei, Taiwan (N = 200), and three major findings were derived. Distinct image patterns for the US and Japan are firstly justified in fruit and beer, respectively. Next, the influence of product similarity on country image is confirmed; intrinsically similar products from the same country of origin present parallel image patterns. Finally, our results show that greater consumer interest in a foreign country results in higher country image evaluations and, to some extent, greater consumption of imported foods. Managerial implications, limitations, and directions for future research are provided.