“Made in…”: a multi-country study of the factors that influence service-country images

The country-of-origin literature has focused mainly on products and has neglected intangible services. The objective of this study is to examine the impact that country of origin may have on consumer perceptions of services and to explore the variables that explain how consumers form their perceptions of countries as producers of services. Toward this end, we conducted research among adult consumers in Australia, Canada, Italy, Switzerland, and the U.S. that assessed perceptions of sixteen countries with respect to their reputation for nine arts and cultural service offerings. Results indicate that familiarity with a country of origin has a stronger association with positive perceptions of service-country reputation than does familiarity with the service offering, and that openness to foreign cultures, home country bias, and proximity have a positive effect on service-country evaluations, especially when the proximity factor plays a significant role in the consumption of the cultural service. This study extends our understanding of country-of-origin effects in the context of aesthetic, intangible, and complex services that elicit both cognitive and affective responses.