Does country of origin matter for low-involvement products?

This empirical study focusses on consumers' attitude to low-involvement products, bread and coffee, in a newly-industrialized nation. Using data from 236 consumers in Singapore, the study examines the influence of country of origin (COO) relative to other product attributes in consumers' evaluation of domestic and foreign food products. The results indicate that COO does matter when consumers evaluate low-involvement products but, in the presence of other extrinsic cues (price and brand), the impact of COO is weak and brand becomes the determinant factor. In addition, the results suggest that a country's positive image in some product categories does not necessarily carry over to other product categories. The implications of these findings for marketing food products internationally are discussed.