CALL FOR RESEARCH PAPERS

Journal of Promotion Management Special Issue:
Revisiting Country of Origin Effects

Guest Editors

• Isaac Cheah – Curtin University
• Ian Phau – Curtin University
• Gaetano Aiello – Florence University

Deadline for submissions: 31 Dec 2016

In the contemporary environment, businesses and customers are increasingly developing multi-faceted relationships nurtured by global drivers, such as international brands, as well as embedded elements, such the impact of specific geographical networks on creativity. As a result, the impact of Country-of-Origin (COO) effects is, once again, a key topic in the global marketing field.

In light of the recent developments involving “food scares” and the importance of “food safety labels,” COO cues have become a striking issue for many consumers throughout the world. From product development to design, to branding and packaging, the COO effect is a powerful tool that can be used to gain competitive advantage in international marketing. In an ever-changing, overcrowded marketplace of multi-product offerings, the new trend in cultivating COO effectiveness is to address the issue of safeguarding locally-owned products and formulating marketing strategies to raise the profile of country-authentic brands. This perception has spawned vigorous debate between the proponents and antagonists of globalisation. This is due to its perceived positive and, sometimes, negative impacts on both multinational corporations and consumers alike. For multinational corporations pursing a global strategy, multinational production rationalisations have produced numerous hybrid products whose COOs are no longer easily identifiable. Thus, the effect that COO has on consumers has continued, if not increased, as one of the focal points of research in this area. We believe that the first step in the process will be to promote greater clarity to reduce consumer confusion and scepticism about genuine COO claims.

Similarly, COO research has expanded from branding products and services to branding entire countries, continents and regions. More recently, studies investigating the effects on a brand’s changing heritage have sparked renewed interests in this area of research. How is the COO effect affected should there be a change in the ethnic ownership of the brand? Furthermore, the notion of authenticity in ingredient branding has made its mark with several media headlines covering Prada, one of the world’s leading fashion houses, campaigned under new “COO” labels (e.g. “Prada Milano Made in India”, delicate dresses with “Chikan embroidery” or gloves handmade with Alpaca wool from Peru). This demonstrated a bold move to promote provenance and authenticity in the company’s products. Lastly, has been a great deal of industry attention focusing on the issue of “owned by” cues. These cues indicate, not where the product is made (unlike the case for the “made in” cue), but instead, identifies where the owner of the firm that makes the product is from. This also brings into play the perceived nationality of that firm. In effect, researchers and practitioners alike are asking: “How can international and domestic firms support the emergence of country-owned development efforts?” “What are the impacts of authenticity in the context of country of origin branding?” “Do these authentic factors generalise across multiple product categories and brands?” “Are these country-authentic beliefs sustainable in the long term?”

In this Journal of Promotion Management special issue, we seek papers that will (1) advance the COO literature by evaluating COO and its effects from new perspectives; (2) critically appraise and question the traditional assumptions regarding the nature of COO; (3) provide new theoretical insights; and/or that (4) contribute to innovative solutions in the form of utilising “large” empirical data.

Potential topics for this special issue include, but are not limited to:

• Social and psychological perspectives of COO
• The content and dimensionality of COO
• Congruity issues amongst COO cues
• COO food labelling and claims
• Cross-cultural issues in a COO marketing context
• COO effects in multinational corporations
• Country image and market entry modes
• Moderating roles of involvement and ethnocentrism
• New theoretical models and conceptual issues of COO variables
• The issue of “authenticity” in marketing and managing global brands
• Heritage branding
• Country image and market entry modes
• Moderating roles of involvement and ethnocentrism
• New marketing issues and trends in COO marketing of global brands
• Development and validation of scales related to COO dimensions
• Ethics, CSR and COO
• Industrial channels: country stereotypes, monitoring and opportunism control mechanisms
• COO and international buyer-supplier relationship – trust, commitment and performance

Submissions should not be more than 6,000 words long (including references). For style guidance and submission details, see

http://www.tandfonline.com/action/authorSubmission?journalCode=wjpm20&page=instructions

The contribution of the paper should be clearly stated in the structured abstract and should be in accordance with the special issue theme. Closing date for submission is December 31st, 2016.

Manuscript enquiries can be sent to the special issue co-editors at the following addresses:

Isaac Cheah (Curtin University), Isaac.Cheah@cbs.curtin.edu.au
Ian Phau (Curtin University), Ian.Phau@cbs.curtin.edu.au
Gaetano Aiello (University of Florence), gaetano.aiello@unifi.it

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