Effect of country image on perceived quality of Turkish service brands in foreign markets:Example of Kahve Dünyası London

This study is related to the assessment of the effect of country image on perceived quality of service brands operating in foreign markets. Based on two component view of attitude theory, effect of consumers' familiarity to country on country image components, the effect of consumer ethnocentrism on perceived service quality and as a result the effect of perceived service quality on attitudinal loyalty were also tried to be determined in this research. London store of Kahve Dunyasi, who is one of the firms registered to Turquality Brand Program, was chosen in order to test the model and data were collected from the customers chosen by convenience sampling using questionnaires and relations between the variables in the model were examined using Structural Equation Modelling. Interviews done after data analysis were also utilized in interpreting the relations. Results of the study revealed that cognitive component of country image has a significant effect on perceived service quality while affective component has no significant effect, showing that country image components may have different effects in consumers' evaluations and it will be better to investigate the effect of country image in component basis instead of examining it as a whole. Results also showed that consumer familiarity is positively related to country image components, there is positive relationship between cognitive and affective components of country image, consumer ethnocentrism has a negative effect on perceived service quality and lastly perceived service quality has positive effect on attitudinal loyalty. Keywords: Country image, Service quality, Consumer familiarity, Consumer ethnocentrism, Attitudinal loyalty.