Determinants of Chinese Brand Evaluation of Korean Home Appliance Products: Focusing on the Moderating Effect of the Level of Consideration on the Brand Country of Origin

Abstract

This study has two research aims. The first aim is to empirically analyze the relative impact of relevant independent variables both at national and firm levels on the Chinese consumers’ evaluation of Korean products, in consideration of the Korean companies’ effort to enhance international competitiveness in the global market in the face of the prospective conclusion of the Sino-Korean FTA. The second aim is to verify the country of origin effect of brands as a separate, important factor that impinges upon the Chinese consumers’ evaluation of Korean products. One of major findings of the empirical analysis is that Korea’s country image significantly and positively affects the Chinese consumers’ evaluation of products. Secondly, good corporate images of Korean firms, including those associated with advanced technology and proactive CSR(corporate social reponsibility)-related activities, were found to have a significant, positive impact on product evaluation. The last finding of this paper is that the country image effect upon product evaluation is moderated by the level of consideration that Chinese consumers pay to the country of origin of each brand to be assessed.