THE DIMENSIONS OF COUNTRY IMAGE:

A CROSS-NATIONAL STUDY OF COUNTRY IMAGE EFFECTS IN THE INDUSTRIAL MARKET

Researcher

Timo Ranta, M.Sc.(econ)

Turku School of Economics and Business Administration

Department of Marketing

Rehtorinpellonkatu 3

SF-20500 TURKU

FINLAND

Tel. +358-21-638 311

Telefax +358-21-503 131

Summary of the paper

Considerable effort has been expended in ascertaining whether country of origin affects product

evaluations. In general, it has been found that people have significantly different images or general

perceptions about products made in different countries. This holds for products in general, for

classes of products, for specific types of products, and for specific brands. It holds for both

industrial countries and less developed countries and for different markets. In many ways, however,

these research results are problematic. The research design in many of these studies has been

slightly artificial and the findings, therefore, have been more the results of methodology than

reality itself. More importantly, the present theory of country images is largely based on ad-hoc

consumer buying which usually involves little or no information processing. The present study

attempts to find out if country images have a considerable influence as the subjects are

professional buyers in the industrial market. The basic research problems considered are: (1) What

is the internal structure of country images ? (2) How do country images influence behaviour ? and

(3) What is the role of country images in industrial buying. The paper is, to a large extent,

theoretical and it is based on the author's forthcoming Licentiate Thesis 'The Dimensions of

Supplier Image: A Cross-National Study of Image Effects in the Industrial Market'.

9J4

Introduction

Products may be considered as consisting of an array of information cues. Each cue provides

customers with a basis for evaluating the product. Though most observers acknowledge that people

make inferences among product attributes, the influence of such inferences on product evaluation

is much less clear. However, inferences are theoretically important and a potentially troublesome

issue in the modeling and measurement of choice processes.(l)

In the industrial market the situation is even more problematic. The choice processes of industrial

buyers are influenced by a variety of factors, which Webster and Wind classify into four main

groups: environmental, organisational, interpersonal, and individual. To fully understand country

image effects in the industrial market, we have to be able to integrate them in this larger

framework of factors. For the industrial buyer the country of origin is an information cue among

a large number of other cues and, to measure the extent of country image effects, we need

information on these other cues as well. Image variables, however, are not insignificant in the

industrial market either. (2)

The image variable on which this paper focuses is the country of origin of a product. Country

of origin is a very influential image variable - an aspect of the product that is distinct from its

physical characteristics but that is nevertheless identified with the product. It is both a supply-

side variable and a demand-side variable; it influences the way products are presented and the way

they are perceived.(3) What is important is to be aware of this and to be able to take it into

account in international business. This study introduces a framework for considering country

images and their implications.

Composition of Competitiveness and Country Images

Traditionally, country level competitiveness has been viewed as a country's capacity to sustain and

expand its share of international markets and at the same time to improve its people's standard

of living. In other words, competitiveness means a country's capacity to employ domestic labour

and capital at increasing returns without running into balance-of-payments difficulties. Following

this, what a theory of international competitiveness must do is to establish the links between the

935

growth and balance-of-payment position of an open economy and factors influencing this

process. (4)

However, a distinction has to be drawn between competitiveness resulting from the internal

efficiency of an enterprise and that resulting from the national environment. Competitiveness,

originally, is a microeconomic concept but the macroeconomic context determines how much and

what kind of competitiveness is needed. In microeconomic terms, 'competitiveness is the ability

of entrepreneurs to design, produce and market goods and services, the price and non-price

qualities of which form a more attractive package that that of competitors'. National

competitiveness, on the other hand, determines 'how national environments are conducive or

detrimental to the domestic and global compatitiveness of enterprises operating in those

countries'.(5)

Therefore, the actual reasons for the performance of a company are always manifold and

overlapping - the explanation of competitiveness is multidimensional. The supply factors

influencing export performance include: productivity, costs and prices, exchange rates, export taxes

or subsidies, quality improvement, new products, marketing, finance, and the image of country of

origin. Accordingly, it is important to distinguish between the factors that determine the

competitiveness of a country as a production location and those that determine the competitiveness

of firms from that country.(6)

Competitiveness, by definition, includes both the sales aspect and the cost aspect, which, in

international context, are reflected in export performance and profitability.(7) The country-image

effect has an interesting role in this. It can be systematically demonstrated that a strong country

image induces the market to accept high price, which lessens the need for a strong price

competitiveness and widens the scope for competitive action. Country image is eventually related

to profitability (Figure 1).

COUNTRY

IMAGE

(high/low)

PRICE

(high/low)

PROFITABILITY

(high/low)

Figure 1: The Country Image Effect

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Influence of Country of Origin

Since the mid-1960s, considerable effort has been expended in ascertaining whether country of

origin affects product evaluations. In general, it has been found that consumers have significantly

different country images or general perceptions about products made in different countries. This

holds for products in general, for classes of products, for specific types of products and for

specific brands. It holds for both industrial countries and less developed countries and both

industrial purchasing decisions and consumer purchasing decisions.(8)

This research, however, has had serious limitations. First, most country image studies involve only

a single cue, the country of origin, which tends to bias results in favour of finding a particular

country-of-origin effect. Second, in much of this research the brand-image effects are neglected

because the products are described merely as 'made in (name of country)' - not as specific brands.

Third, semantic scales are used in several of the studies and the validity of attitude measurement

with semantic scales can be questioned. Moreover, Jaffe and Nebenzahl found that country image

studies that have different questionnaire formats may not be comparable, even if the scale items

are the same. (9)

The more recent studies of country-of-origin effects have taken these methodological limitations

into account and adopted a multicue approach in examining the impact of country of origin.

Erickson, Johansson and Chao conducted an empirical investigation to determine the effects of

image variables on beliefs and attitudes in the multiattribute model framework.(10) Johansson,

Douglas and Nonaka presented a system of simultaneous equations (11) and Min Han and Tcrpstra

(12) examined the effects of country-of-origin and brand name cues on consumer evaluations of

uni-national and bi-national products. This, on the other hand, only added to the conceptual and

methodological dispersion in the field.

Furthermore, relatively little is known of how country images work in the industrial market. It has

been found that many buyers are reluctant to buy abroad because of the difficulties that can arise

due to a group of factors. Contact with the supplier is more difficult, the time required for

negotiation is generally longer and the use of foreign currency can cause problems. This, however,

is to a large extent history; there are many good reasons for buying abroad in almost every

industry. Some products are simply not available in the domestic market and, at times, the

937

domestic capacity can be insufficient to meet demand. By buying abroad it is possible to maintain

continuity of supplies during shortages or strikes and in many cases overseas sources are simply

more competitive, i.e. offer lower prices, improved delivery, or better quality. Multinational

companies and reciprocal trading further contribute to the increased foreign sourcing in many

industries and the country of origin is more and more relevant in the industrial market as

globalisation proceeds in every field.(13)

Concept of Country Image

In marketing literature, country images have been conceptualized in a variety of ways. Bilkey and

Nes defined country image as consumers' general perceptions of quality for products made in a

given country.(14) Etzel and Walker (15) and Hafhill (16), on the other hand, emphasize the fact

that such perceptions are typically specific to product categories. Johansson, Douglas and Nonaka

(17) are even more specific and state that these effects occur predominantly in relation to

evaluation of specific attributes rather than overall evaluations.

Min Han and Terpstra integrated country image effects quite eloquently when stating that the

country-of-origin effects are product dimension specific but that distinctive characteristics of

country images at the level of product dimensions appear to travel, or be generalizable relatively

well accross product categories. (18) The most general definition was given by Erickson, Johans­

son and Chao who defined an image variable generally as 'some aspect of the product that is

distinct from its physical characteristics but that is nevertheless identified with the product*.(19)

In the industrial market, the situation is again a bit more complicated. Because of the complexity

of buying abroad the buyer will have to acquire specialist knowledge regarding the country from

which he intends to buy, the supplier from whom he intends to buy, and the legal and commercial

considerations and procedures involved in buying abroad. Therefore, country image in industrial

purchasing can be defined as the perception of factors influencing the process of buying from a

particular country.(20)

Although the extent and the nature of country images seem to be unclear it can be concluded that

country image is the impact of the product's country of origin on product evaluations (Figure 2).

This impact, of course, can be of any kind or extent.

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Country A

Sender Product X

Country B

] image of 1 country A

Figure 2: The Role of Country Images in Marketing

Country Images and Behaviour

The major concepts for analyzing preference formation are beliefs, attitudes, intentions and

behaviour. A belief is a probability judgement that links some object or concept to some attribute.

The strength of the belief is defined by the person's subjective probability that the object-attribute

relationship exists, or is true. An attitude is an evaluative and affective judgement of an object.

One may have attitudes towards concepts, people, institutions, events, behaviours, outcomes, etc.

An intention is a probability judgement that links the individual to some specific action, i.e., the

individual's belief that he will perform some specific behaviour. Behaviour is an observable

action.(21)

In general, when including beliefs and attitudes in product evaluation models three basic

approaches are available. In the Fishbein model, attitude is determined by beliefs, intention is

determined by attitude and subjective norm, and behaviour is determined by intention.(22) The

behavioural approach concludes that affective reactions are primary, basic, inescapable, irrevoca­

ble and difficult to verbalize, and that affective judgements involve the self, can become separated

from content and need not involve cognition.(23) The third approach suggests that causation could

proceed in the other direction - i.e. from attitude to beliefs.(24) No matter which approach is used,

rather low or non-significant relations between attitudinal predictors and behavioural criteria are

relatively common.(25)

According to Fishbein and Ajzen, there are three kinds of beliefs: descriptive, inferential and

informational. Descriptive beliefs derive from direct experience with the product. They link

physical characteristics with product perceptions. Informational beliefs are those influenced by

outside sources of information such as advertising, friends, relatives, and so on. This study is

9?9

primarily concerned with the remaining type of belief - inferential beliefs. This type of belief is

formed by making inferences (correctly or incorrectly) based on past experience as this experien­

ce relates to the current stimulus.(26) Image variables may have inferential effects on product

beliefs but an image variable could have direct influence on attitude, aswell. Therefore, image

variables might be the 'missing link' between attitudes, beliefs and behaviour - explaining their

ambiguous relationships.(27)

Holsti and Ray integrated this decision making process in the belief system of the subject. A

belief system is an ordered set of ideas, theories, principles, etc. which are regarded as real and

true. They present country images as models used for organizing information which otherwise

would be unmanageable and further integrate country images into belief systems to demonstrate

the process in its entirety. Country images are thus viewed as a filter for processing environmen­

tal information; only after information has been processed in the belief system it can influence

behaviour.(28-29)

To sum up, country images appear to have an influential role in decision making - they help the

subject to relate the current stimulus to past experience. Consequently, they have a self-defensive

function, aswell. Country images make the subject feel in control of the decision making process

and this indeed involves the self, can be seperated from context and need not involve cognition.

Therefore, a relatively behavioural approach is adopted in the present study. The basic framework

is outlined below (Figure 3).

STIMULUS RESPONSE

Environmental information

The belief system

Country imagedirect

indirect

Brand image

Behaviour

Figure 3: The Role of Country Images in Decision Making

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Structure of Country Images

Comstock and Kaufmann have emphasized the importance of images in organizing information.

Images make possible simultaneous and independent mastery of extensive, percept-like informa­

tion. Images can be examined and transformed and they can help in remembrance and assist in

perception. Images often appear in new and difficult situations, and they can assist in finding

solutions. However, the nature of this process and the structure of images is still in dispute. A

group of alternative views of this subject are outlined next.(30-31)

The encoding hypothesis maintains that information is encoded into memory in terms of concepts

that can be used to interpret information. Activating a concept, then, has a positive, assimilation

effect on the interpretation of information. However, when features of the information are

dissimilar to those of the activated concept, they may be interpreted as even more dissimilar to

it than they would be otherwise. This produces a contrast effect. Consequently, a product's country

of origin may activate concepts about the country and the general quality of products manufactured

there. If concepts activated by country of origin have a positive effect on the interpretation of

product attribute information, these effects are reflected in the influence of country of origin per

se. If, however, contrast effect occurs, these effects are reflected in more favourable product

evaluations when the attributes are desirable, and more unfavourable evaluations when the

attributes are undesirable.(32)

The heuristic hypothesis suggests that when an object belongs to a category whose members

typically have judgement-relevant attributes, subjects may use category membership as a heuristic

basis for judgements and form stereotypes. This is particularly evident when attribute information

is large in extent and difficult to integrate or when other information is lacking. Accordingly,

subjects who learn that a product was manufactured in a country with a reputation for a high

quality, use this information as a basis for evaluation and ignore information about the product's

specific attributes. Consequently, attribute information has less impact on evaluation than it would

otherwise. (33)

The primacy-recency hypothesis emphasizes the fact that when subjects receive several different

pieces of information to form an impression, they construct an evaluative concept on the basis of

the first information received and later use this concept as a basis for judgements. If a product's

country of origin functions simply as one of several attributes of the product the effects of both

country of origin and product attribute information are relevant. A product's country of origin has

more influence on product evaluation (and specific attributes have less) when the country of origin

is presented before attribute information rather than afterward.(34)

The cognitive elaboration hypothesis suggests that a product's country of origin exites people's

general curiosity about the quality of the product. Therefore the impact of attribute information

on evaluations is increased by prior awareness of a product's country of origin. Subjects who are

familiar with the product's country of origin think more extensively about the product's specific

attributes and assess the desirability of these attributes. As a result, the influence of country of

origin should be similar regardless of information presentation order and subject's processing

objectives. (35)

The halo hypothesis maintains that consumers use country image in product evaluation because

they often are unable to detect the quality of country's products before purchase. Most products

have unobservable attributes and the rise in the complexity of products only increases the

importance of these informational problems. The halo hypothesis has two implications. First, it is

postulated that consumers make inferences about product quality from country image. Second,

country image affects consumer rating of specific product attributes. Thus, the halo hypothesis

views the inferential process as: country image -> beliefs->brand attitude.(36)

The summary construct view maintains that individual elements of information are recoded and

abstracted into higher order units. Therefore, consumers may abstract information about a country's

products because brands with identical country of origin are perceived to have very similar product

attributes. This has two implications, aswell. First, consumers are assumed to make abstractions

of product information into country image. Second, country image directly affects consumer

attitude toward a brand - not indirectly through product attribute rating. Thus, the summary

hypothesis views the process as: beliefs > country image > brand attitude.(37)

The expectancy-value (EV) model posits that an individual's attitude toward an act (A-act) is

a function of a belief-evaluation composite. EV attitude provides an indirect, cognitive measure

of attitudinal responses by assessing a person's beliefs and evaluations about various consequences

of an act. Consequently, product attribute beliefs are likely to become accessible according to the

manner in which attributes are organized in EV attitude. People tend to make inferences about

interdependent attributes and change beliefs about these attributes in order to achieve and maintain

9U2

consistent belief systems. The decision strategy, and even control of the decision making process,

is vested in the mental representation of the decision problem and associated product class. In

short, the way information is organized in memory is held to guide decision. Accordingly, country

image can be viewed as an EV attitude used for organizing product attribute beliefs which are

specific to a decision-making process and to a product class. (38)

The schematic approach maintains that knowledge is organized into packets of information. These

include schemata, scripts, frames, prototypes and exemplars, MOPs (memory organizational

packets), and TOPs (thematic organization points). Schemas are cognitive structures representing

one's expectations about a domain). Scripts contain generalized knowledge about specific events

whereas frames are structures about classes of objects such as automobiles. A prototype is an

abstraction of a particular class of objects while an exemplar is a specific instance that is

considered representative of a set of objects. MOPs resemble scripts because they contain

generalized knowledge about specific events but they also contain linkages to specific events.

Finally, TOPs represent a higher order organization of events.(39)

Schemas have been demonstrated to have a profound influence on the processing of new

information. Two basic processes that explain how individuals can deal with information are

assimilation and accommodation. Assimilation occurs when a new concept is integrated into the

present mental schema. Accommodation occurs when a new mental schema is created or when the

present schema is modified to interpret a new concept. Correspondingly, country-image assimilation

may occur as a new concept (e.g. a new product) is integrated into the present image of the

country concerned. Country-image accommodation, then, can be used to designate the process

when a new country image is created (e.g. a previously unknown country) or when a country

image undergoes substantial modification (e.g. Eastern Europe, the Soviet Union, Germany).(40)

The holistic view, in general, deals with problems that cannot be adequately described as a sum

of smaller, independent events. Accordingly, an image can be viewed as a gestalt, a coherent

whole with tendencies and properties not discoverable in its isolated parts. Images are part of the

individual's cognitive organization and they are influenced by it. Images in a given culture have

shared and non-shared elements and the amount of shared elements reflects cultural consistency.

Images tend toward the greatest regularity, simplicity, and clarity possible and imagining is a

natural feature of human thinking from the very beginning. Images are structured and modified

by the subject's operational thinking and they are generated sequentially, egocentrically, and a part

943

at a time. As information is being processed in long-term memory it often becomes operational

in images.(41) A holistic summation of country-image effects is presented below (Figure 4).

IMAGE COMPONENTS

Cognitive (Thinking)

Affective (Feeling)

Behavioural (Conative)

Image of Country

Similar Countries Dissimilar Countries

Perception of Product Brand Quality

1Country Discriminators

Economic System Political System Behavioural System

Foreign Product Evaluation

Figure 4: The Quality Perception of Foreign Products

Research Problem

It is quite obvious that country of origin does indeed influence byer perceptions of the products

involved. However, how much influence that cue provides is not yet decided. Olson and Jacoby

refer to several studies indicating that intrinsic cues (the product's characteristics) had a greater

effect on quality judgements than did extrinsic cues (considerations associated with the product).

On the other hand, this was observed in 1972. It would be interesting to know if this still applies

to a generation grown up with TV.(42)

Andrews and Valenzi found that the effects of price on quality evaluations of products tended to

vary inversely with brand name familiarity. A similar relationship might exist between the country

of origin and other extrinsic cues. In general, an interesting issue is whether, and to what extent,

other cues - such as a well-known brand name - can compensate for a negative country-origin cue.(43)

The determinants of country-of-origin biases are unclear, aswell. Are they related to source country

considerations (such as degree of economic development or political climate), to consuming

country considerations (such as import experiences, nationalism, or cultural affinity with the source

country), or to something else? Knowing this would assist in determining whether country-of-

origin biases are deep-seated or superficial and whether it would be more effective to combat them

or to find a way to compensate for them.

And more critically, the multidimensional nature of country images has found little empirical

support yet. Johansson, Douglas and Nonaka concluded that the impact of country of origin may

be considerably more complex than is typically assumed, and that familiarity and other factors

affecting information or experience with a product should be taken into consideration.(44)

Furthermore, Jaffe and Nebenzahl presented a group of factor analyzes which indicated that the

concept of country image is multidimensional. Country-of-origin evaluations cannot be reduced to

a single continuum (eg good - bad).(45)

On the other hand, one is tempted to ask if the concept of country image, which has been

developed by researchers of consumer behaviour has anything to do with industrial purchasing.

Lehmann and O'Shaughnessy point out that companies don't buy anything - even the industrial

buyers are human, which is not necessarily a bad thing. They respond to image and buy from

suppliers and countries which, for some reason, have a reputation for a qood quality and service.

Images are means of storing information - images are not inherently subconscious, subjective, or

superficial. Images are a important factor in every market; it is just that we don't really know how

they work.(46)

To sum up, the most acute problem in this field definitely is the country image itself. Not much

is known about how foreign countries are actually represented in our minds. Min Han (47)

concludes that we should really examine how people form country image: what types of informa­

tion are used to form a country image and how stable this country image is. Hong and Wycr (48)

point out that country image seems to play a major role in organizing and interpreting attribute

information. What we don't know, however, is how this actually happens - what a country image

really is.

945

This study approaches the subject on three levels, which are conceptually interdependent. An

attempt is made to integrate country images in the general framework of information processing.

First, the concept of country image is decomposed. The basic dimensions used in evaluating

foreign countries are identified and a general framework for analyzing country images is

constructed. In practice, the factors that seem to explain variance most reliably are defined and

a general perceptual space for country images is outlined. The theoretical problem considered is

what are the entities of attitudinal predictors.

Second, country images are related to preferences. The impact of brand image is integrated in the

evaluation and the relevant models outlined earlier are evaluated. In general, an attempt is made

to identify which theory concerning the role of country images in product evaluation can predict

behaviour most reliably. The theoretical problem considered is what is the degree of

correspondence between the attitudinal and the behavioural entities.

Third, the concept of country image is integrated in the larger framework of industrial purchasing.

The environmental, organisational and interpersonal factors are included in the analysis and country

image effects are measured in relation to other factors influencing the choice of suppliers in the

industrial market. The theoretical problem considered is what are the entities of evaluative criteria.

The purpose of this study is to define the composition of country images and to identify their role

in behaviour. Three basic research problems considered are:

1. What is the internal structure of country images ?

2. How do country images influence behaviour ? and

3. What is the role of country images in industrial buying ?

Empirical Investigation

In general, when analysing attitudinal entities researchers have usually tried either to classify

responses into different types or to identify the dimensions in which these different types may be

located. However, as pointed out by Osgood, the typology and dimension approaches are not only

alternatives: (49)

946

" is not a matter of cithcr-or but of both. Given a space defined by several

dimensions, the labels ~ may be represented by points within the space, each point

having some projection onto each dimension ~ if the distribution of the points

representing labels were homogenous, there would be no clusters and hence no

defendable Hypes' if, on the other hand, the labels did fall into clusters - and the

space were thus unevenly populated - the 'types' could be identified and confirmed. 11

This study attempts to isolate country image effects in three ways. First, beliefs concerning foreign

countries are collected. The subjects are asked to express their mental structures of foreign

countries by thinking extensively about choosing favoured supplier countries - a very realistic

situation. This procedure follows the schema and mental paradigms and the theoretical problem

considered is what are the entities of evaluative criteria.

Second, an attempt is made to isolate attitudes towards foreign countries. This is done by

examining preferences for different products, suppliers and countries. The subjects are asked to

motivate their answers as a major theoretical aim of the study is to find out if beliefs and attitudes

are consistent or not. This procedure follows the belief-attitude paradigm and the theoretical

problem considered is what are the entities of attitudinal predictors.

Third, the actual behaviour of the subjects is inquired. This is done on two levels. The subjects

are asked to give an account of their normal patterns of behaviour when dealing with suppliers -

the routines, the contacts, and the problems. On another level, they are asked to express how

they actually use information - how they find out about products, companies, and countries. This

is done in order to place country images in a natural perspective, which is a world of trade-offs,

networks, and complicated human relations. This is, it is claimed, something that no previous study

of country images has done. This procedure owes a lot to the behavioural school in marketing

and to the network and interaction perspective. The theoretical problem considered is what is the

degree of correspondence between the attitudinal and the behavioural entities.

As is evident, this process involves a group of very elaborated thinking tasks. Therefore, the

choice of professional buyers as the target group is only natural. The incoherent nature of the

country image literature can largely be attributed to the fact that the studies have dealt with non-

elaborated choices, i.e. ad-hoc consumer buying. This has often led to a simplifying approach and

stereotyped results.

947

Furthermore, country image studies have more often than not used a slightly unrepresentative

sample - housewives in a city, college students, paid laboratory testers, etc. The present study

attempts to avoid this problem on three dimensions. First, two nationalities are used; this gives

two inherently different perspectives on the problem. Second, the samples are geographically

representative in the two countries - people from the east, the west, and the north. This makes it

possible to find out if intra-nation and inter-region differences exist, and to what extent. Third, the

sample provides a nice cross-section of industries. It is tailored to represent the major companies

in a group of geographical areas, which has led to a situation where often one company per

industry is contacted.

To get the whole picture some data is collected from the supply side as well. In-depth interviews

are conducted among marketing/sales managers in some major foreign suppliers of industrial

products in both countries. The purpose of these interviews is to find out how suppliers view the

market and what is the role of country of origin in their industry.

To sum up, the purpose of this study is to define the composition of country images and to

identify their role in behaviour. To investigate the research problem semi-structured interviews are

conducted among purchasing managers in Great Britain and Finland, and three types of data are

collected: (1) image data, i.e. beliefs concerning foreign products, suppliers, and countries

(primary), (2) preference data, i.e. attitudes towards foreign products, suppliers, and countries

(secondary), and (3) behaviour data, i.e. intentions and behaviours related to foreign products,

suppliers, and countries (tertiary). The data will be encoded and transformed into meaning-units

and higher-order categories of description. Then an image-bank, a preference-table, and a

behaviour-matrix will be constructed. As the data will have both qualitative and quantitative

properties, a group of association and correlation measures will be used. Main emphasis, however,

is on the interpretation of differences and similarities, regularities and irregularities in the data.

This, it is hoped, will eventually increase our understanding of country images and industrial

marketing.

Preliminary Results

As 75 per cent of the data is collected some general observations can be made at this stage

already. It has to be remembered, however, that these are first impressions only and none of the

conclusions would stand in a statistical testing, yet.

As regards beliefs concerning foreign countries, professional buyers are quite reluctant to express

anything they can't verify in reality. Country images are, to a large extent, based on past

experiences or contacts and it is very hard for many respondents to differentiate between factual

and evaluative data. Suppliers are evaluated first according to the information they and their

references provide but the final image is really constructed by examining the whole environment

of their production - factories, management, representatives, and the general atmosphere. Some

countries indeed have clearly identifiable images but, in general, country images are based on

actual experiences.

Attitudes in the industrial market almost invariably have a behavioural content. Negative

evaluations are always explained by some occurrences in the past, which have either decreased

trust in foreign suppliers or ended the relationship altogether. Therefore, the behavioural approach

to image analysis is strongly supported; attitudes do not come from 'nowhere' - they are outcomes

of past behaviour. Attitudes can be changed only through behaviour or, as one respondent clearly

stated, '...they'll promise you anything.'

And interestingly enough, this reliance on experience does not depend on nationality, location, or

industry. When it comes to explaining trust in some countries or suppliers and lack of trust in

others, industrial buyers are alike no matter where they come from. No piece of written or spoken

information can convince them until the supplier has delivered them acceptable products in time

for two years.

Following this, what will be said about behaviour is very logical: the correspondence between the

attitudinal and the behavioural entities is very clear and consistent. In the industrial market,

attitudinal entities are really constructed through experience. Images of suppliers or countries are

not vague, latent or intervening variables - they are means of storing information which is

invaluable for the competitiveness of production. If attitudes change through experience - for better

or for worse - this is almost immediately reflected in behaviour. The supplier is informed of the

949

dissatisfaction and, if nothing happens, a new supplier is found. And most importantly, this may

cause major problems for the suppliers from the same country if they happen to approach the

unsatisfied customer in the future.

This process, luckily enough, works the other way around also. If some foreign country has a

reliable supplier other suppliers from the same country are more easily accepted than in the case

where the country is unknown or has a bad reputation. Therefore, the heuristic hypothesis, Ihe

summary construct view, and the holistic view seem to work in the industrial market. There are,

however, many other interesting points in the data and the author welcomes requests for additional

material of the study in the future.

950

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