Taiwanese Consumers’ Perceptions of Product Information Cues : Country of Origin and Store Prestige

Reports on a study in which 265 consumers were asked to assign price and quality estimates to women’s sweaters. Uses a 4 x 3 factorial design which incorporates four country cues – the USA, Italy, Japan and Taiwan – and three groups relating to store prestige, which were manipulated. Found that country of origin significantly influenced Taiwanese consumer perceptions of sweater quality. The sweater labelled “Made in Japan” received the highest evaluation and the sweater labelled “Made in Taiwan” the lowest. The cue of store prestige was not significantly related to price estimates and quality evaluations of sweaters. Neither of origin nor store prestige was found to have an effect on price estimates.