Call for Papers:
International Marketing Review Special Issue on
Country of Origin Research Revisited: Seeking New Methods and Variables
Submission Window: March 2nd to March 18th, 2015
A great deal of research attention focuses on the issue of “Country of Origin”(COO), with papers
examining how COO shapes both consumer behavior and organizational behavior, and how marketers
can overcome or take advantage of COO in their strategies. At the International Marketing Review,
a high proportion of the submissions focus on COO topics, and IMR has published many of these,
including papers published in regular issues, two formal special issues covering COO matters
(volume 25, issue 4, 2008 and volume 27, issue 4, 2010), a focused issue covering COO debates
(volume 28, issue 5, 2011), and conferred a best paper award to a COO-focused manuscript
(Riefler and Diamantopoulos 2007).
In recent years, this topic has been reinvigorated by a lively debate on the relevance of COO research
in marketing. Samiee et al. (2005) argue that COO may not be as important as previously assumed,
that COO researchers have been investigating the issue in the wrong way, and often with flawed
methods (Samiee 2009). Usunier (2011; Usunier and Cestre 2008) largely concurs with Samiee and
colleagues, and jointly, their perspectives conclude that COO research is unimportant, atheoretic
and lacks managerial relevance (Samiee 2011; Usunier 2011). However, others argue for the relevance
of COO research, and suggest that there is no crisis or that it is exaggerated (e.g., Herz and
Diamantopoulos 2013a and 2013b; Diamantopoulos, Schlegelmilch and Palihawadana 2011;
Magnusson et al. 2011a and 2011b).
This vigorous debate supports the notion of restarting research on COO with a focus on adopting
new methods, new variables, and seeking to answer new questions. In this International Marketing
Review special issue, we seek papers that advance the COO literature by evaluating COO research from
new critical perspectives, that question basic assumptions regarding the nature of COO, provide new
theoretical insights, and/or that provide solutions in the form of empirical data.
Recent suggestions include the need to focus on Brand Origin (BO) rather than COO (Samiee, 2011).
Usunier (2011) recommends focusing research on the study of country of brand, additional insights into
brand origin recognition accuracy, and confidence in brand origin assessment. Kim and Park (2010)
suggest a need for a better understanding of how various COO dimensions (e.g. country of manufacture
vs. country of brand) affect evaluations and consumer behavior. Moreover, comparing the strength of
impact of various COO dimension, as well as new individual psychological characteristics such as product
involvement and ethnocentrism may help international marketing researchers better understand the factors
underlying the formation of country of origin evaluations. It may also help to uncover the role of brand
awareness and brand preference in the context of country of origin concepts and suggest further research
avenues. Potential topics for this special issue include, but are not limited to:
- The content and dimensionality of COO.
- Examining the empirical COO evidence from a critical perspective.
- Presenting new compelling evidence on COO and its outcomes/or lack thereof.
- (When) is COO useful? Managerial aspects of COO.
- Conscious vs. unconscious use of COO.
- Exploring new ways of studying COO, such as brand origin and brand origin accuracy.
- Conceptualizing unstudied elements of COO.
- Presenting/validating new measures of COO dimensions.
- New conceptual models of COO variables’ boundary conditions.
- Homogeneity and temporal aspect of COO beliefs.
- Effect of country of manufacture and country of brand considering the effect of brand
awareness and brand preference in influencing consumers’ product quality evaluation
and purchase intention.
- Impact of the congruity between country of manufacture and country of brand on consumers’
attitudes.
- Moderating roles of involvement and ethnocentrism.
- Country image and market entry modes.
- Ethics, CSR, and COO.
- Industrial channels: country stereotypes, monitoring and opportunism control mechanisms.
- COO and international buyer-supplier relationships – trust, commitment, and performance.
All submissions will be reviewed in accordance with the reviewing process guidelines outlined
in the Notes for Contributors on the International Marketing Review home page.
The contribution of the paper should be clearly stated in the structured abstract and should be
in accordance with the special issue theme.
Submissions of papers to the special issue commence on March 2nd, 2015, and the closing
date for submission is March 18th, 2015.
Any queries should be sent to the Guest Co-Editors of the special issue at the following addresses:
Professor Byeong-Joon Moon (Kyung Hee University), bmoon@khu.ac.kr
Professor Eunju Ko (Yonsei University), ejko@yonsei.kr
Professor Peter Magnusson (Florida International University), peter.magnusson@fiu.edu
International Marketing Review Homepage: http://www.emeraldinsight.com/imr.htm
References
Diamantopoulos, A., Schlegelmilch, B. and Palihawadana, D. (2011), “The relationship between
country-of-origin image and brand image as drivers of purchase intentions: A test of
alternative perspectives
Herz, M.F. and Diamantopoulos, A. (2013a), “Activation of country stereotypes: automaticity,
consonance, and impact”, Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science, Vol. 41 No. 4,
pp. 400-417.
Herz, M.F. and Diamantopoulos, A. (2013b), “Country-Specific Associations Made by Consumers:
A Dual-Coding Theory Perspective”, Journal of International Marketing, Vol. 21 No. 3,
pp. 95-121.
Kim, S. and Park, H. (2010), “Effects of Country of Manufacture and Country of Brand on Consumers’
Quality Perception and Purchase Intention,” Journal of Korean Marketing Association,
Vol. 25 No 2, pp.19-40.
Magnusson, P., Westjohn, S.A., and Zdravkovic, S. (2011a), ““What? I thought Samsung was Japanese”:
accurate or not, perceived country of origin matters”, International Marketing Review,
Vol. 28 No. 5, pp. 454-472.
Magnusson, P., Westjohn, S.A., and Zdravkovic, S. (2011b), “Further clarification on how perceived brand
origin affects brand attitude: A reply to Samiee and Usunier”, International Marketing Review,
Vol. 28 No. 5, pp. 497-507.
Riefler, P. and Diamantopoulos, A. (2007), “Consumer animosity: a literature review and a reconsideration of
its measurement”, International Marketing Review, Vol. 24 No. 1, pp. 87-119.
Samiee, S. (2011), “Resolving the impasse regarding research on the origins of products and brands”,
International Marketing Review, Vol. 28 No. 5, pp. 473-485.
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