Effects of country variables on young generation's attitude towards American products: a multi‐attribute perspective

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to examine the country‐of‐origin (COO) effect and consumer patriotism on young generation's attitude toward American products with multi‐attributes: across different cultures and different product categories. Design/methodology/approach – A 2 × 2 research design (Taiwan/Indonesia)×(high‐tech products and non‐high‐tech products) and LISREL technique are employed to examine the effects. Findings – The results of the study find that both Taiwanese and Indonesian cases show that country‐of‐origin (COO) has a significantly positive effect on the attitude toward American‐made products. Moreover, Indonesian respondents who demonstrate higher patriotism show negative attitudes toward American products. The effects of COO on purchase intentions are product‐specific and consumer consuming‐specific. Stronger product attitude exists for Taiwan's sample than for Indonesia's, primarily due to higher cultural identification with America. Originality/value – The “Made in USA” slogan could be used to promote American products to people from younger generations. COO may have a different effect on consumer purchase intention between high‐tech and non‐high‐tech products and between different consuming countries. Marketers using the “Made in USA” slogan as a promotion tool should show special concern for the product category as well as for cultural identification factors.