A TRIAL ON THE EFFECT OF COUNTRY OF ORIGIN; HYBRID PRODUCTS AND THE ORIGIN OF THE BRAND

Abstract

The development in transportation and information technologies, which formed at a great speed in the last century, almost
eliminated the physical boundaries between countries and paved the way for rapid globalization. However, with the more
intensive international operations and marketing initiatives, consumers have become be aware of and be able to demand
innovations from all over the world. In other words, the globalization of consumers' needs and choices has led to the emergence
of global products and brands. Consumers' purchasing decisions are influenced by technical, rational and emotional assessments
of a product, as well as the image connotations created by the countries to which the product is belongs. However, with the
globalization of worldwide trade, today's consumers are increasingly encountered with brands / products (hybrid products) with
more and more multi-country relationships. Therefore, it is likely that the concept of country of origin where a hybrid product
is produced is no longer the main shaping factor in evaluating the brand image and product quality. Hence, this study aims to
expand the research of the country of origin that has been done before by conceptualizing “the origin of the brand” as an
alternative assessment tool.