Quest for purposefully designed conceptualization of the country-of-origin image construct

While hundreds of studies have investigated the impact of country image on quality evaluation of foreign products, results have been mutually inconsistent. This study carefully addresses the conceptualization of the country image construct, since poor construct conceptualization may be one of the roots of the controversial results in the literature. We argue that the proper conceptual delimitation and respective operationalization of the construct should consider the theoretical arguments that relate it to other constructs in each given study, instead of deriving from a generic “one-size-fits-all” model. We illustrate the procedure of developing a measure for country image within a specific setting and empirically validate the new measurement model. The main contribution of this study is the theoretical discussion and empirical testing of the domain map and the levels of analysis of the country image construct, thereby increasing construct validity.