Étude des effets combinés de l'affect et des croyances stéréotypiques sur les évaluations des produits par les consommateurs

** Summary of Key Research Findings**

The economy and politics are just two of the many factors that have kept the issue of country of origin in the limelight in the media over the past few decades, and researchers have been studying the effects of a product's country of origin on consumer attitudes for several decades now. However, globalization and business practices contribute to a consumer environment that is not very conducive to voluntarily considering this information. In fact, despite the fact that research in this area continues to be based on the rational actor paradigm and the resulting cognitive models of deliberate information processing, there is a significant gap between reality and much of the research that has been conducted.

This doctoral research aims to contribute to a better understanding of the effects of a product's country of origin in a more natural shopping context.

Theoretical Framework

Drawing on the stereotype content model (Fiske et al., 2002) and the elaboration likelihood model (Liberman and Trope, 2003), this research study focuses on two key independent variables, chronic country affect and stereotypical associations between country and product, and examines their effects on consumer product evaluations. The operationalization of these variables was based on the choice of country of origin. The theoretical development that follows is based on:

1. the dominant perception associated with citizens of the product's country of origin (more "warm" or more "competent")
2. the "hedonic" or "utilitarian" perception of the product (Chattalas et al., 2008; Chattalas and Takada, 2013; Chen et al., 2014).

Research Design and Methodology

Based on the importance of the affective path highlighted by numerous authors (see, for example, Derbaix, 1995; Derbaix and Filser, 2011; Derbaix and Gregory, 2004; Pham et al., 2001; Poncin and Derbaix, 2009), this doctoral research aims to contribute to the development of knowledge in this specific area by focusing on the following:

1. Country affect developed over the years, potentially dormant and not very salient but nevertheless capable of being rapidly activated
2. Integration of cognitive elements into this mechanism of influence, particularly through stereotypical country-product associations

Results

1. From a theoretical point of view, this research contributes to our understanding of the role of country affect in the mechanism of influence, which remains incomplete to this day. Specifically, the question of the potential effects of chronic country affect developed over the years, potentially dormant and not very salient but nevertheless capable of being rapidly activated, remains unexplored, to our knowledge. In addition, the integration of cognitive elements into this mechanism, particularly through stereotypical country-product associations, extends the efforts of certain authors through the distinctions made regarding the perception of citizens of the country of origin ("warm" or "competent"), but also regarding the perceived nature of the products ("hedonic" or "utilitarian") (Chattalas et al., 2008; Chattalas and Takada, 2013; Chen et al., 2014).

2. Results suggest that chronic country affect based solely or essentially on a perception of warmth would not be perceived as directly relevant to product evaluations (see diagram 12 below). In order to make hypotheses about the influence of country affect in this situation, the authors draw on the elaboration likelihood theory (Labroo and Patrick, 2009; Liberman et al., 2002; Liberman and Trope, 1998, 2003), and then suggest that when this type of affect (based on perceived warmth) is positive, consumers tend to rely on heuristics to evaluate products, while a negative affect would lead to a less global level of representation, leading consumers to rely on details, such as the evaluation of product characteristics. The effect of a country affect based on a perception of warmth would therefore be indirect, via the analysis of product attributes or via stereotypical country-product associations, depending on whether the valence of the country affect is negative or positive.

3. the mere presence of an indication of origin. Their results, obtained using the process dissociation procedure, do indeed suggest the existence of a country-of-origin effect that would occur under conditions of very low attention to information about the origin. Shortly thereafter, Martin, Lee, and Lacey (2011) implemented so-called "implicit" measures (Implicit Association Task), and were able to observe once again the "automatic activation" of stereotypes associated with the country. One of the important aspects of this recent work is that it departs from traditional approaches generally based on information processing that requires a high level of attention to the "country of origin" stimulus. Continuing in the same vein, Herz and Diamantopoulos (2013a) in turn report an "automatic activation" of stereotypes, and note an impact on brand evaluation that can occur even outside of an intention to take into account the origin information. Their study also reveals the importance of advertising and the nature of brand evaluation (more cognitive or more affective), which should be matched to the nature of the stereotype evoked (functional or emotional, respectively) in order to reinforce the impact of origin.

Additional Key Points

• Since the 1960s, research on “country of origin effects” has grown considerably and remains particularly dynamic and productive (Pharr, 2005; Usunier, 2006).
• Several distinct facets of the concept of origin have thus emerged (Insch and McBride, 1998), and new components of the mechanism of influence have been identified.
• It is important to note that the raw data will be subject to a series of detailed checks in the fifth chapter. Beyond the exclusion of certain observations, such as a few outliers, several important decisions will result from these checks.
• Firstly, from a theoretical point of view, the understanding of the role of country affect in the mechanism of influence remains incomplete to this day.
• In particular, the question of the potential effects of a chronic country affect developed over the years, potentially dormant and not very salient but nevertheless capable of being rapidly activated, remains unexplored, to our knowledge.
• Furthermore, the integration of cognitive elements into this mechanism, particularly through stereotypical country-product associations, extends the efforts of certain authors through the distinctions made regarding the perception of citizens of the country of origin ("warm" or "competent"), but also regarding the perceived nature of the products ("hedonic" or "utilitarian") (Chattalas et al., 2008; Chattalas and Takada, 2013; Chen et al., 2014).
• Firstly, from a theoretical point of view, the understanding of the role of country affect in the mechanism of influence remains incomplete to this day.
• In particular, the question of the potential effects of a chronic country affect developed over the years, potentially dormant and not very salient but nevertheless capable of being rapidly activated, remains unexplored, to our knowledge.
• Furthermore, the integration of cognitive elements into this mechanism, particularly through stereotypical country-product associations, extends the efforts of certain authors through the distinctions made regarding the perception of citizens of the country of origin ("warm" or "competent"), but also regarding the perceived nature of the products ("hedonic" or "utilitarian") (Chattalas et al., 2008; Chattalas and Takada, 2013; Chen et al., 2014).