The country-of-origin affect on perception of services

Table of Content

1. Introduction

1.1 Services and their Economic Importance

1.2 The Challenging Internationalisation of Services

1.3 Country-of-Origin and its Effects on the Internationalisation of Services

1.4 Purpose of this Work

1.5 Research Questions

1.6 Objective

1.7 Structure of this Work

2. Internationalisation of Services

2.1 Characteristics of Services

2.2 Motives for Internationalisation

2.3 Entry Modes

2.4 Factors Influencing the Selection of Entry Modes

2.5 Approaches to Systematise Services and their Potential for Internationalisation

3. COO Effect

3.1 Critical Analysis of the COO Literature with regard to Products

3.2 Mode of Action of COO Effects

3.3 Critical Analysis of the COO Literature with regard to Services

3.4 COO as Multi-Facet Construct

4. Methodology

4.1 Problem and Research Questions

4.2 Theoretical Framework: Hypothesis, Variables and Manipulations

4.3 Research Design

4.4 Sampling Process

4.5 Research Instrument

4.6 The Pilot Study

4.7 Selection of Services

4.8 Method of Analysis

4.9 Gaining Confidence on the Results

5. Results of the Main Study

5.1 Demographic Information

5.2 Preliminary Work: Calculating the ESQ Value

5.3 Manipulating the CPI Information

5.4 CTI Information in Service Offers with Incongruent CPI Information

5.5 CTI Information to Outbalance Negative Effects based on Incongruent CPI Information

5.6 Summarizing the Results

6. Conclusions and Limitations

6.1 Background

6.2 Conclusions

6.3 Limitations

6.4 Further Research

Research Objectives and Key Themes

This work examines how country-of-origin (COO) effects influence consumer quality perceptions in the service sector, particularly focusing on the challenges posed by incongruence between the company's origin and the origin of the personnel providing the service. It aims to determine if providing information about staff training in the company's home country can mitigate negative impacts on service quality expectations, thereby informing entry mode decisions for international service firms.

• Internationalisation strategies and entry mode decisions for service firms.
• Country-of-origin (COO) effects as extrinsic quality cues.
• The impact of COO incongruence on consumer perception of services.
• Mitigation of negative effects through supplementary information (e.g., training).
• Empirical analysis using SERVQUAL dimensions and Wilcoxon Signed Ranked Tests.

Excerpt from the Book

Summary of Chapters

1. Introduction: Highlights the growing economic importance of the international service sector and outlines the research objective regarding COO effects.

2. Internationalisation of Services: Reviews characteristics, motives, and entry modes for international service firms, emphasizing the role of inseparability.

3. COO Effect: Analyzes existing COO literature for products and services, defining the halo effect and summary construct, and introducing the multi-facet COO approach.

4. Methodology: Describes the design of the online experiment, the formulation of hypotheses, and the use of SERVQUAL dimensions to measure expected service quality (ESQ).

5. Results of the Main Study: Presents the findings from the experiment, showing that incongruent CPI reduces ESQ, while CTI information helps compensate for this effect.

6. Conclusions and Limitations: Summarizes the study’s findings, discusses managerial implications for international service providers, and identifies limitations for future research.

Keywords

Country-of-origin (COO), Internationalisation of services, Service quality (ESQ), Entry mode, SERVQUAL, Consumer perception, Multi-facet construct, Incongruence, Country-of-person image (CPI), Country-of-training image (CTI), Marketing strategy, Cross-sectional research, Consumer behaviour, Foreign direct investment, Globalisation.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is the core focus of this research?

This research investigates how country-of-origin effects impact consumers' quality expectations for services, particularly when there is a mismatch between the origin of the company and the service provider.

What are the primary themes covered?

The work explores service internationalisation, COO effects, consumer quality perception, the role of service personnel, and the potential of training information to mitigate negative perceptions.

What is the main research objective?

The primary goal is to examine if COO still affects service quality perceptions under incongruent conditions and to test if specific information (like training location) can counteract these negative effects.

Which methodology is employed in this study?

The author utilized descriptive, quantitative cross-sectional research, employing an online self-administered experiment with 100 German respondents to test hypotheses through the Wilcoxon Signed Ranked Test.

What topics are discussed in the main body of the work?

The main chapters provide a literature review on service internationalisation and COO theory, a detailed methodological framework, the results of the main experimental study, and subsequent conclusions.

Which keywords best characterize this work?

The core keywords include Country-of-origin (COO), Internationalisation of services, Service quality (ESQ), Entry mode, and SERVQUAL.

How does service personnel origin affect quality perception?

The study finds that consumers tend to associate higher quality with congruent information (where the service provider's origin matches the company's origin) compared to incongruent scenarios.

Can information about staff training compensate for negative effects?

Yes, the results indicate that providing information about staff training in the company's home country can help increase service quality expectations, in some cases fully compensating for the negative impact of incongruent personnel origins.

Are the findings generalizable to all service sectors?

The author emphasizes that the study is limited to "soft" services characterized by high face-to-face contact and does not claim broad generalizability, but rather provides a basis for future empirical research.