Explaining country image effects on product image and purchase intention by using the attitude theory

Growing competition force marketers to use even the most neglegible product attributes as a differentiation tool. In this perspective country of origin becomes an important differentiation tool as an extrinsic cue. So understanding the effect of country image on product image and purchase intention becomes more important for marketing professionals. Country image studies to this day have important defects in explaning effect structure of country image. These problems stem from the lack of a clear and coherent definition and inadequate scales. This thesis aims to solve this problem. With the context of the samples, it approaches more comprehensively to country image argument and deals image differentions of three developed country importent for Turkey. To better understand the country image effects, general country image had been decomposed of its coginitive country image component and affective country image component using by attitute theory. Then these two components' effects on product image and purchase intention was analysed saparetely. Based on a student survey conducted in Demirci Campus of Celal Bayar University, the findings reported that cognitive country image is not necessarily consistent with affective country image. In other words, when cognitive country image of a country is positive, at the same time its affective country image may be negative. And through that two components country image has different effects on product image and purchase intention. The cognitive country image influencing purchase through product image, and the affective country image having a direct influence, independent of product image. Such a decomposing effect, analysed by attitude theory, shed light on important theoretical and managerial implications on country image and its impact on purchase intention.