RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN COUNTRY OF ORIGIN, BRAND IMAGE, AND CUSTOMER PURCHASE INTENTIONS

Today the world has become a small village.Products manufactured in one country are being sold in every country all over the world. Manufacturers are using all the tools to build a different brand image of their brands in the new country. This paper therefore examines the effect of country of origin and brand image on purchase intentions of customers. The current study is based on the responses received from 150 respondents selected on the basis of non-probability (Purposive) sampling technique. The results indicated that country of origin negatively affects the purchase intention of a customer while buying a fridge and the effect becomes significant when country of origin is evaluated along with brand image at the same time.Also, it was found that brand image positively affects the purchase intentions of a customer while buying a fridge.Therefore,themanufacturing companies should concentrate on building a positive and strong brand image of their products in the minds of customers so that the country of origin cannot affect the purchase intentions of a customer.