الفهرس 
CHAPTER ONE: INTRODUCTIONOnly 14 pages are availabe for public view
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Abstract
In an era of market globalization and severe competition, global sourcing and shifting of production to developing and newly emerging countries has become a must. Firms nowadays are looking for cost advantages through cheaper labor and lower taxes, (Hamzaoui and Merunka, 2006). A direct consequence of this has been the proliferation of bi-national products. Those are products branded by a company headquartered in one country yet manufactured in another country, (Kim and Pysarchik, 2000). They involve two countries of origin: the product’s source country that is usually communicated by the ”made in” label, (Bilkey and Nes, 1982) and the initial home country of the brand, which is communicated through the name of the brand itself, (Thakor and Kohli, 1996).
Many studies have shown that a country’s image influences consumers’ evaluations of products made in that country, (Han and Terpstra, 1988; Roth and Romeo, 1992; Verlegh and steenkamp, 1999). Understanding how consumers evaluate products made in different countries plays an important role in determining the appropriate marketing strategies. Thus, the effect of country-of-origin has become one of the most widely studied phenomena in international business, marketing and consumer behavior literature.
Studies on country-of-origin (COO) and Country-of-manufacture (COM) effects found that country stereotypes do exist and that they have an impact on products evaluation and purchase intentions, (Schooler, 1971; Bilkey & Nes, 1982; Johansson, Douglas & Nonaka, 1985; Okechuku, 1994; Haubl, 1996; Chao, 2001; Han, 2001; Hui & Zhou, 2003).
Country-of-origin is an extrinsic product cue – intangible product attribute – that is distinct from a physical product characteristic or intrinsic attribute, (Peterson and Jolibert, 1995). This product attribute serve as a cue from which consumers make inferences about products and product attributes. It triggers a global evaluation of quality, performance and specific product/service attributes, (Bruning, 1997). In other words, it serves as a stereotype measure or surrogate for other product attributes for individuals unfamiliar with the product or the product category. On the other hand, it serves as a summary index or heuristic for individuals who are familiar with the product. They use this cue to reduce the amount of information processing required in making a decision, (Han, 1989).
Similarly, brand name is another extrinsic product attribute that is not of lesser importance to consumer’s product perception, evaluation and purchase intention, (Ahmed, d’Astous and Eljabri, 2001; Hui & Zhou, 2003). It interacts with COO to influence consumers’ quality perceptions and attitudes. Haubl (1996) found that brand name could affect quality ratings such that a highly regarded brand can overcome a negative country image.
Studies showed that more developed nations enjoy a favorable product/brand evaluation with respect to COO, while least developed nations have negative product evaluation, (Bilkey & Nes, 1982; Kaynak, 2000).