The Effect of Cultural Orientation and Country of Origin Image on Purchase Intention

Abstract

This research aims to examine the effect of cultural dimensions and country of origin image on consumers’ purchase intention. This study is conducted on the individual level and hypothesizes that masculinity and uncertainty avoidance, two dimensions of Hofstede’s framework of national culture, and country-of-origin (COO) image have a significant impact on purchase intention. The study also explores the mediating effect of product evaluation and the perceived quality of Japanese cars. The data collected in the scope of this study puts forward an online survey questionnaire of 430 Tunisian consumers. At a preliminary stage, an Exploratory Factor Analysis (EFA) was run using SPSS, then a Structural Equation Modelling (SEM) was conducted using AMOS. The findings show that COO has a significant positive effect on purchase intention of Japanese products, whereas masculinity has a significant negative effect. The results also confirm that uncertainty avoidance has no substantial direct effect on this purchase intention. The study’s prominent contribution is to empirically determine the extent to which consumers’ intent to purchase Japanese products is driven by their cultural orientation, product origin, and quality judgment.