Abstract

Considerable effort has been expended by researchers in ascertaining whether country of origin affects product evaluations. The majority of studies indicate that COO does indeed affect the way consumers perceive and evaluate products. One of the recent contributions to research in this area is the study conducted by Leclerc, Schmitt and Dubé (1994) which focused on the effects of foreign branding--the strategy of spelling or pronouncing a brand name in a foreign language. The major conclusion of the Leclerc et al. (1994) study was that foreign branding can be an effective means of influencing consumers' perceptions and attitudes. The present research is the first attempt to replicate and extend those findings. Experimental stimuli similar to that used in the Leclerc et al. (1994) study were administered to subjects to examine their reactions to products with English, French or Man brand names originating from four different geographic regions. Only partial support was found for the findings of Leclerc, Schmitt and Dubé (1994). The results revealed a significant gender effect with females liking French names more than males. Foreign branding also appeared to increase levels of perceived product hedonism among males but to have the reverse effect on females. The findings also seemed to suggest that foreign branding was more effective than COO information in influencing product evaluations.