The country-of-orgin effect on Toyotas made in Japan, the USA and Mexico

Abstract

Country of Origin (COO) effects refer to consumers' reliance on COO information in evaluating the quality of products from various countries and making their decisions on product purchases. This study examined the COO effect of Toyota Corolla, Camry and Avalon and further explored the relationship between consumers' purchase intentions and their perceived product images in conjunction with political images.

The findings in this research support the assertion that COO influences consumers' product evaluation of automobiles made in different countries. This study also found that US consumers who prefer pressuring the Japanese government over improving US business competitiveness in dealing with the US-Japan trade issues tend to have less of an intention to purchase the Japanese automobiles.