THE INFLUENCE OF THE BRAZIL'S IMAGE IN ATTITUDES RELATED TO BRAZILIAN PRODUCTS: AN EMPIRICAL INVESTIGATION OF COUNTRY OF ORIGIN EFFECT

Abstract

The effects related to the country of origin refer to the influence of the information about the country of origin on the attitudes and behaviors with regards to a product or a brand. The vast majority of the studies about the country of origin effect on consumers’ process of purchase alternatives evaluation refers to non-Brazilian products. Conversely, this research proposes to study such effects for Brazilian products that are marketed abroad, by means of a quantitative research with Dutch undergraduate students. The analyzed Brazilian products were cow meat, fresh fruits, shoes and furniture. In conclusion, it was verified that the country of origin effect does not exist for the Brazilian cow meat, which means that the image respondents have about Brazil does not affect their attitudes towards this product. On the other hand, for the other products investigated in this research, it was observed the existence of the country of origin effect. These results can help Brazilian firms that deal with questions related to the country of origin in their international marketing activities, since it is verified whether Brazil’s image favors or harms the Brazilian products investigated in this study.