The Country-of-Origin Effect in the Personal Care Market : A study on Swedish consumers’ perception of Chinese products

Sammanfattning: Title: The Country-of-Origin Effect in the Personal Care Market  Level: Final assignment for Bachelor’s Degree in Business Administration Author: Simon Andersson and Gustaf Persson Supervisor: Jonas Kågström Date: 2019 – January Aim: The study aims to analyse Swedish consumers’ perceptions on the Country-of-Origin effects regarding Chinese products. Method: The study is based on a quantitative method. The data collection was done with a questionnaire with a deductive approach. The empirical data was collected through a web survey which was published on social media e.g. Facebook and LinkedIn. The data was then processed in the statistical program IBM SPSS Statistics (SPSS) to form models, figures and values. A descriptive-, correlation-, factor- and cluster-analysis was then formed. Result & Conclusion: The results showed how different variables correlate, different factors which the variables were grouped in and five different clusters of respondents. The conclusion is that there is a so-called COO-effect for Swedish consumers subconsciously. Furthermore, Swedish consumers are aware of the origin, but rank other quality and price as higher cues. Contribution of the thesis: This study aims, with help of previous research and a conducted survey, examine how Swedish consumer perceptions of Chinese personal care products regarding the COO-effect. Furthermore, it provides information on how Swedish consumers ranks certain cues. The study is unique since it provides insight on a market that has not yet been analysed with regard to the COO effect (Sweden) and with a certain product group where there is no current research available in relation to COOeffects. Furthermore, the study contributes to general COO-research, with certain implications deriving from previous research. There are both theoretical and practical contributions of importance, illustrating Swedish consumer perceptions of Chinese products. Suggestions for future research: This essay is limited to the Swedish market and focused on a particular product group. There are several other products groups that are yet to be researched in regard to COO-effects/consumer perception. Further research could compare two different product groups with high involvement to analyse the difference between certain product types. A comparison between two (or more) different countries would provide a vertical view of COO-effects, analysing the differences between different consumer perceptions and what cultural variables that may be vital for purchasing decisions. Keywords: Country-of-origin (COO), Country-of-origin effects, Product evaluation, Cultural differences, Made in China, Consumer behaviour, Purchase decision, Trust