dubai market

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Dissertation on The concept of country of origin eect on the consumerbehavior in the Dubai market

Executive Summary

Dubai residents were surveyed regarding their perception on country of originas the determinant of consumer behavior and their purchase and preference forlocally or foreign-made products. This study used the Consumer EthnocentrismScale in assessing the variables.

The ndings indicated that the respondents that country of origin aects the

economy of Dubai. Thus! the predominant response indicates that the respondents

prefers to buy Dubai-made products when given a choice between foreign goods.

"oreover! the result showed that despite the in#u$ of international brands in Dubai!

the respondents still prefer to buy locally-made products. %owever! the study also

indicated that it is not only country of origin factors that aects the progress of

Dubai&s economy. There are several factors aecting the progress of the economy of

Dubai such as terrorist attacks! globali'ation! and its business relationships with

other countries.

(sing a t-test analysis! the statistics showed that there is a signicant

relationship in the perception of the respondents to the concept of country of origin

eect on the consumer behavior in the Dubai market. Conse)uently! the t-test

analysis reveals that the concept of country of origin has a signicant eect on the

consumer behavior in the Dubai market. The statistics shows the t-value to be

-*+,. which illustrates that there is a relationship between the variables.

Chapter *

PROBLEM AND ITS BACKGROUND

/ntroduction

Country of origin 0C12 is a potentially powerful image variable that can be

used to gain competitive advantage in international marketing. %owever!

deciencies in the denition and measurement of its facets have contributed to

ineective and infre)uent use of C1 image as competitive tool. Country-of-origin



0C12 image refers to 3buyers4 opinions regarding the relative )ualities of goods and

services produced in various countries3 05ilkey *66! p. $i$2.

Several reasons may account for the relative neglect of C1 image as a

competitive tool. 7irst! the C1 variable is culture-laden! and most managers are

inade)uately trained to address cultural issues despite signicant research

indicating that multinational marketing strategy is ill-served if cultural and

perceptual dierences among countries are not properly comprehended and heeded

0%arris *689 :ale *66*2. Second! translating C1 images into marketing

communication opportunities is di;cult because the relationship between the brand

and its country of origin is potentially more distant than the relationship between

the brand and its rm! store! or advertising. Third! <inkhan and his colleagues4

observations about what constitutes eective measures for image manifestations

and their current state of development are e)ually applicable to C1 image

measures 0Dobni and <inkhan *66+9 =ohnson and <inkhan *66+9 >illanova! <inkhan!

and %yman *66+2.

Consumer behavior on the other hand! depends so much on marketingstrategies and advertisements of "ultinational Companies in order to penetratedomestics markets. 1nce a market is selected! marketing managers must determinewhether a global or local approach should be taken. "ost often! "?Cs uses theCountry of 1rigin strategy in order to market their products as more superior thanthat of domestic products. Their brand strategies involve inherent choices betweenusing a global brand across markets or developing brands for specic markets.

@elevant issues to consider in making these decisions include consumerfamiliarity with the global brand 0and the si'e of the global consumer segment2! thelinguistic implications of the brand name for a new market! consumer culture! thepresence and nature of competing brands within a given category! and the degreeto which the brand is to be positioned on the basis of its country-of-origin 0Alden!Steenkamp and 5atra! *6669 5atra! @amaswamy! Alden! Steenkamp and@amachander! B+++9 upta and ovindaraan! *6669 Shoham! *6662.

/n the case of Dubai! it has assimilated American consumerism 0Tompaine!B++B2 through the years. There is no clash of civili'ations veiled mothers take theirchildren shopping for ?ike sneakers at the city4s malls! stopping for lunch at :7C or"cDonald4s without giving the matter a second thought 0Tompaine! B++B2.

Dubai embraces America4s consumer culture! but carries it out to its logicale$treme. According to Tompaine =ournal 0B++B2 this goes far beyond the presence of (.S.-based fast-food chains -- Coke! Fepsi! :odak or any of the other well-knownsymbols of American globalism 0in the recently opened Dubai /nternet City the mostprominent building bears a "icrosoft logo2. This is evidenced by the perception ofmarketers such as Does store 3A3 have ve brands of >C@ to its competitor4s threeG

This has nothing to do with consumer 4empowerment4. Store 3A3 ust gures thatve choices instead of three may help get you in the door and separate you from



your money. "oreover! every #at surface in Dubai appears to contain advertising. This consumption behavior of Dubai seemed to have been leaning towards theinternationali'ation and liberali'ation not only of goods and products but also on thechoices of the residents themselves.

Backgru!" # t$e Stu"y

"arketers often promote the fact that a product is made in a country with a

reputation for manufacturing high-)uality merchandise. "oreover! e$perimental

studies support the viability of this strategy. Associating a product with a country

that is known for superior workmanship often increases evaluations of this product

0Erickson! =ohansson! H Chao! *689 %ong H Iyer! *66! *66+9 =ohansson! *669

Tse H orn! *66B9 Iall! Jiefeld! %eslop! *66*2. Despite this evidence! however!

country-of-origin eects are not clearly understood under many conditions in which

products are evaluated. A number of factors potentially in#uence both the

magnitude and the direction of the eect that a product4s country of origin can have

on evaluations of its )uality. These factors must ultimately be specied. "oreover!

the cognitive processes that underlie their eects must be identied! and the

conditions in which the processes operate must be circumscribed. (ntil this is done!

the eect of calling consumers4 attention to a product4s country of origin in any

given instance will be hard to predict.

%ong and Iyer 0*66+2! for e$ample! found that the reputation of a product4s

country-of-origin information in#uenced perceptions of a product4s )uality well over

the eects of information about its specic attributes. /n some conditions! however!

country-of-origin information also had an indirect eect on product evaluations

through its mediating in#uence on the way the attribute information was processed.

1nce formed! this concept in#uenced subects4 interpretation of the intrinsic

attribute information they received subse)uently! and so the latter information had

dierent eects than it would normally have 0%ong H Iyer! *66+2. "oreover! when

subects initially learned about a product without an a priori obective of evaluating

it! their knowledge of the product4s country of origin stimulated them to think moree$tensively about the specic attribute information that followed it. As a result! the

attribute information had more impact on the udgments they later reported 0%ong

H Iyer! *662.

The )uality of products that are typically manufactured in a country can alsopotentially serve as a comparative standard relative to which a particular product isevaluated. Thus! a product of average )uality might be viewed as relatively inferior



when compared to products from a country with a reputation for high-)ualitymerchandise. %owever! the same product might be viewed as superior incomparison with products from a country with a poor reputation. To this e$tent! thereputation of a product4s country of origin could have a negative contrast eect onevaluations of the product. Although the use of other e$trinsic attributes! such asprice! as standards of comparison has in fact been detected 0%err! *669 "onroe!

rewal! H Compeau! *66*2! the use of country of origin in this capacity has notbeen identied in research reported to date 05ilkey H ?es! *6B9 1'somer HCavusgil! *66*2.

There is a way in which country of origin might serve as a comparative

standard 0Jynch! Chakravarti! H "itra! *66*2. 1n one hand! it might come into play

after the obect4s features have already been integrated into a subective impression

and subects are asked to report their impression along a response scale. /n this

case! it might be used as an end anchor to construe the range of values to which

the response scale pertains 0%iggins H @holes! *6KL9 1strom H (pshaw! *6L9

Iyer! *6K82. Thus! if the products made in the country are generally favorable!

subects might subectively position the response scale to include a more favorable

set of stimulus values than they otherwise would.

This study seeks to infer these stated aspects of the concept of country of

origin among consumers particularly in an Arab city! particularly the (nited Arab

Emirates& city of Dubai. Dubai! the commercial capital of the (AE! has the largest

tourism market! attracting both business travelers and an increasing number of

leisure tourists. Ihile Dubai enoys the main focus as one of the two most powerful

Emirates along with Abu Dhabi! the other , Emirates! while being completely

dierent to each other in terms of population and economic resources! still have

something to oer and are keen to develop themselves and build their own modern

business and commercial infrastructures.

Stateme!t # t$e Pr%&em

1ne could consider two general ways in which a product4s country of origin

can in#uence udgments. 7irst! it can have an informational in#uence9 that is! it can

be used to infer more specic product attributes or be treated as a desirable or

undesirable feature in its own right. Second! the )uality of products that are

typically made in a country might be used as a standard of comparison to which any

particular product from the country is evaluated. ?ote that the use of country of

origin in this latter capacity would lead it to have a negative contrast eect. That is!



evaluations of the product would be less favorable when it is made in a country with

a good reputation than when it comes from a country with a poor one.

The study intends to investigate the eects of the concept of country of

origin in the buying behaviors of the product consumers in the city of Dubai.

Specically the study seeks to answer the following )uestions

*. Ihat contributes to the formation of C1 images among

the consuming public in DubaiG

B. Ihat is the level of familiarity does the consuming public

of Dubai have particularly in origin of the products sold in the cityG

. %ow salient is C1 image in shaping attitudes and behavior

toward specic products and brands and in aecting choice behavior! both in

absolute terms and relative to other marketing stimuliG

8. %ow much information is provided by the products in

order for them to weigh heavier on the udgment of the consuming publicG

,. /s there a signicant relationship between the )uantities

of information provided by the products in the buying behavior of the consuming

public in the city of DubaiG

L. /s there a signicant relationship between a product&s

country of origin and the buying behavior of the consuming public in DubaiG

'y(t$e)i)

The researcher intends to investigate the implications of country of origin

principles of buying behavior among the consumers in the country of Dubai. This

study intends to prove the following hypothesis



MThe concept of country of origin has no signicant eect on the consumer

behavior in the Dubai "arket.N

Signicance of the Study

This study will primarily benet both the youth and the leaders in the

commercial industry of Dubai. The youth! especially those intent on a career in the

commercial industry will nd out what is e$pected of them by the industry! what

future the industry has for them! and what they have to do to be competitive

career-wise! in this type of industry. As for the established businessmen! this study

will show if their e$pectations and goals can be met by future batches of business

management. Through feedback! they would be able to voice out their concernsregarding the concept of branding and consumer behaviour! which will conse)uently

elevate the )uality of graduates and help the universities cope with their demands

and the ever-changing needs of the industry.

This study would also be of help to those market scientists who are

interested in nding out the social implications of the boom and the bust phases of

the industry as dictated by consumer behaviour.

7inally! this study would benet future researchers in the eld of the market!

education! human resource management! business and the social sciencesparticularly in areas in the Arab region such as Dubai since it depicts the future ofthe consumerism and its varying eects to many sectors of society.

Scope and Jimitation

The study intends to investigate the eects of country of origin concept in thecity of Dubai particularly in the commercial sector of the said (nited Arab Emirates

cosmopolitan. 7or this study! primary research and secondary research will be used.Frimary research will be conducted using anonymous )uestionnaires that will besent to randomly selected product consumers in the city of Dubai. The researcherwill also be conducting focus group interview with market analysts and economistsregarding the possible eects of the concept of country of origin on the consumerbehavior on Dubai. The )uestionnaires will be used to collect )uantitative data andthe interviews will be used to provide )ualitative insights into the data collected.



The data will be analy'ed and compiled for the correlation of the hypothesis.

An indicator of the control group will be individuals at the city of Dubai. The data will

then be presented by means of graphical representations and illustration and the

dierence would be highlighted. A negative correlation between the variables would

suggest that the hypothesis is null! that is! that the concept of Country of 1rigin has

no impact to the consumer behavior of the product consumers of Dubai.

@eview of @elated Jiterature

Country of 1rigin has been illustrated as a factor in consumer choice andproduct evaluation. /t has been researched and proven to aect consumer behaviorparticularly in Arab countries such as the (AE! where culture has been deemed asconservative and tends to resist foreign oensive in their consumer market.%owever! in Dubai! the establishment of the Duty 7ree paved the way for the #ow of

goods and products thus! allowing foreign companies to introduce their respectivebrands. This section shall illustrate the phenomenon of Country of 1rigin 0C112 andhow it aects consumer behavior. /t shall also present an e$amination of (AE andDubai&s political economy and consumer market. 7urthermore! an e$amination ofthe methodological issues! internationalism vs. nationalism! and the consumerperception and evaluation goods based on C11 shall be reviewed.

Country of 1rigin

Systematic research on the country-of-origin 0C112 eect began with thepublication of Schooler4s 0*6L,2 seminal article in the =ournal of "arketing @esearch

03Froduct 5ias in the Central American Common "arket32. Early research on C11

can be described as demonstrational in nature9 most research was only concerned

with documenting the e$istence of the C11 eect under a variety of circumstances

0=olibert and Feterson! *66,2. Statistically signicant C11 eects have been

documented across countries! for a variety of product categories! and for both

industrial buyers and consumers.

After concluding that 3all of the studies reviewed indicate that country of

origin does indeed in#uence buyers4 perceptions3 0p. 682! 5ilkey and ?es set forth

several issues that they believed needed to be addressed to advance the state of



C11 knowledge. These issues stimulated a plethora of wide-ranging research that

sought to establish theoretical e$planations for the C11 eect as well as determine

its antecedents and relative in#uence in the presence of other cues. Several studies

attempted to clarify and understand how individuals used country of origin in the

conte$t of information processing and knowledge activation 0%ong and Iyer! *669

=ohansson! *662. 7or instance! %an 0*662 posited that the country of origin of a

product could serve as a stereotype measure or surrogate for other product

attributes for individuals unfamiliar with it or the product category. 7or individuals

familiar with the product or product category 0e.g.! e$perts2! %an posited that

country of origin could serve as a summary inde$ or heuristic that reduces the

amount of information processing re)uired in making a decision. @ecent research

has focused on the antecedents of the C11 eect 0%ong and Iyer! *66+9 @oth and

@omeo! *66B2 and assessing the relative importance of country of origin as one of

many possible cues 0Thorelli! Jim and Oe! *669 Tse and orn! *662.

I!ter!ati!a&i)m v)* Nati!a&i)m i! C!)umer Be$avir

Ihen a rm decides to e$port products to new markets it faces twofundamental decisions which markets to enter! and whether to use a global or alocali'ed strategy 0:lein! B++B9 =ain! *662. @egarding the rst issue! managersmust identify the intrinsic factors of each potential new market that might predictfuture success or failure. These factors are e$tremely varied and range from mattersconcerning infrastructure and political stability! market si'e and consumer incomelevels! to issues related to the presence of local or previously established multi-national competitors 0C'inkota and @onkainen! *66L9 upta and ovindaraan!*6662.



Two constructs emerging from the marketing literature suggest important

additional factors that the international manager should consider when making

branding decisions consumer animosity toward a producing nation! and consumer

ethnocentrism. Consumer animosity--dened as anger related to previous or

ongoing political! military! economic! or diplomatic events--has been found to aect

consumers4 purchase behavior 0:lein! Ettenson and "orris! *662. Consumer

ethnocentrism is dened as the belief that it is inappropriate! or even immoral! to

purchase foreign products because to do so is damaging to the domestic economy!

costs domestic obs! and is unpatriotic. This construct has also been found to aect

purchase behavior 0e.g.! Shimp and Sharma! *6K2.

@esearch on country-of-origin eects has generally e$amined how a country4s

image 0concerning! for e$ample! workmanship! innovation! and technological

advancement2 is proected on to the features of products produced by that country

05ilkey and ?es! *6B9 =ohansson! *669 =ohansson! Douglas and ?onaka! *6,9

Fapadopoulos and %eslop! *662.

Among the image variables in the international advertiser4s toolkit! the C1

variable is conceivably the most potent if skillfully applied. Fapadopoulos 0*66! p.

$$i2 asks rhetorically! 3/t is often said that brand names like 4"cDonald4s4 are worth

millions. /f so! how many billions is ermany4s image worthG3 A few authors have

)uestioned the magnitude of importance of C1 image in aecting choice behavior

0Ettenson! Iagner! and aeth *69 =ohansson *669 =ohansson! Douglas! and?onaka *6,2! but most acknowledge its salience in overall product evaluation and

as a pro$y for other! more intrinsic! )ualities 0%an and Terpstra *69 Ooo *66B2.

/nternationally! C1 serves as a useful e$trinsic cue and as a surrogate for

di;cult-to-evaluate intrinsic characteristics such as )uality and performance

because consumers tend to be less familiar with foreign than with domestic

products 0%uber and "cCann *6B9 1lson *6KK2. %an and Terpstra 0*6! p. BL2

claim! 3/t has been found that all products originating in foreign countries are

subect to country-of-origin PimageQ eects.3 %an 0*66+! p. B82 further states thatC1-image studies in general show that consumers have signicantly dierent

general perceptions about products made in dierent countries. %ooley! Shipley!

and :rieger 0*6! p. LK2 asserted that international marketers need to understand

these country of origin images as they relate both to their own! and to their

competitors4 products. Specically! they will need to determine whether such



images are positive or negative! whether and how they aect behavior! and how

they can be catered to in the marketing strategy. Oet! few multinational marketers

and advertisers make full use of their products4 favorable C1 image or successfully

overcome the liability associated with an unfavorable one.

Consumer Ethnocentrism and Froduct Choice

Animosity and consumer ethnocentrism can have very dierent implications

for international marketers! depending on the origin of products available in a given

category. /f the choice is between a domestic and a foreign good! then highly

ethnocentric consumers will be likely to chose the domestic product. /f the choice isbetween two foreign goods! one of which comes from a country that is the target of

hostility! then animosity will predict the choice. Consumers can hold non-

protectionist views about foreign products and feel that their purchase is perfectly

appropriate in general! but still refuse to buy the products of a specic country.

1verall! studies of international consumer animosity point to the need for rms to

develop a richer understanding of how current and prospective consumers in

international markets react to goods imported from a particular producer nation.

Country-of-origin has been found to act as an information cue that aects udgments of product )uality! particularly when consumers are less familiar with a

product category 0%an! *669 "aheswaran! *6682! or less motivated to process

product information 0%ong and Iyer! *662. /n general! the country-of-origin is used

by consumers to assess a product4s )uality! and to choose the best option available.

The animosity model of foreign product purchase suggests a very dierent

process by which a product4s origin can have an impact on purchase decisions.

Consumer animosity has been found to have a direct! negative eect on consumers4

purchase behavior! but unlike previously studied country-of-origin eects! consumeranimosity does not drive product attribute udgments or )uality perceptions.

Consumers separate their anger towards a country from their assessment of that

country4s products. /n other words! angry consumers do not distort or denigrate

images of a target country4s products! they simply refuse to buy them 0:lein et al.!

*662.



This fundamental premise of the animosity model--that animosity4s eects on

buying are direct and independent of product )uality udgments--not only diverges

from traditional country-of-origin research! but also from most behavioral

frameworks in marketing which assume a primary relationship between consumers4

product udgments and their purchase behavior 0e.g.! reen and Srinivason! *66+9

Iilkie and Fessemier! *6K2. /n the case of consumer animosity! anger can lead

consumers to eschew a country4s goods in spite of positive product perceptions.

The animosity model also includes the construct of consumer ethnocentrism.

Frevious studies have found an inverse relationship between scores on the

CETSCAJE! which measures consumer ethnocentrism! and consumers4 willingness to

purchase imports. 7urther! consumer ethnocentrism has been found to predict

udgments of the )uality of imported goods 0?etemeyer et al. *66*9 Shimp and

Sharma! *6K9 Sharma! Shimp! and Shin! *66,2. Those who believe that it is wrong

to buy foreign and that only domestic products should be purchased also tend to

denigrate the )uality of foreign goods.

Thus! while consumer ethnocentrism is related to both product udgments

and purchase intentions! animosity aects consumers4 purchase decisions

independently of product udgments. A further distinction between the constructs is

that animosity is comprised of consumer feelings toward a specic country! whereas

consumer ethnocentrism concerns attitudes toward buying goods from all foreign

countries. Ihile some consumers may nd it perfectly acceptable to buy foreignproducts from a variety of countries! they may refuse to buy a product from a

specic nation toward which they feel enmity. Thus! it is not enough for

international managers to understand the degree of consumer ethnocentrism within

a potential market. 7avorable opinions toward buying foreign goods in general could

mask potent attitudes against buying from a specic foreign country.

/t is essential! therefore! to understand the decision conte$ts under which

each construct is likely to play a dominant role. :lein et al. 0*662 measured the

eects of both constructs on general buying measures 0e.g.! 3Ihenever possible! /avoid buying products from =apan32. Oet! it would be more diagnostic to predict

purchase decisions based on consumers4 choice sets. Consumer ethnocentrism

should be particularly relevant when a consumer chooses between a foreign and a

domestic product9 it should! however! be irrelevant for choices between two foreign

products! because both products are bad options for the ethnocentric consumer.



Animosity! however! should be relevant when choosing between goods from foreign

countries! provided that the consumer holds animosity towards one of these

countries. 7urther! one might e$pect that both animosity and consumer

ethnocentrism will play a role when the consumer chooses between a domestic

product and a foreign product from a disliked country. The relative importance of t

he two constructs in this situation is likely to depend upon the predominance of

ethnocentric beliefs and levels of animosity within a given society.

The Folitical Economy of (AE and Dubai

The partnership between the (nited Arab Emirates and the (nited States of

America! upon recognition of (AE4s independence in *6K*! developed ties and havegrown progressively stronger ever since. 0Al-Alkim! %.! et al.! *6662. This partnership

has been the gateway of (AE! particularly Dubai in allowing for the free-#owing of

goods and businesses 0Al-Alkim! %.! et al.! *6662. /n fact! the establishment of

Dubai&s Duty 7ree allowed (AE citi'ens to be e$posed to goods from other countries

and in a variety of brands. /t has been stipulated by Al-Alkim! %.! et al. 0*6662 that it

also shaped the consumption behavior of Dubai residents.

The (AE is what many economic writers call a competition state! a state that

provides a lot of space for entrepreneurial activity and one that pursues supply-sidepolicies 0Tetreault! *6662. A competition state is one that supplies resources capital!

infrastructure! social services for the domestic population and for the economy. A

competition state also supplies e$tranational partnerships or the opportunities to

make such partnerships. The state works to attract foreign states and rms to

engage in long-term! mutually benecial relations with domestic



counterparts 0Tetreault! *6662. 7inally! a competition state provides eective

regimes legal regimes! regulatory regimes and allocative systems! so that the

system works for the domestic population and for outsiders coming in to

invest 0Tetreault! *6662.

The (nited Arab Emirates 0(AE2 boasts a prudently managed and

successfully diversied economy and the country continues to consolidate and build

on its achievements of the past two decades 0Siddi)i! B++*2. 7or instance! the test!

carried out by "adar @esearch roup 0B++2! showed that Dubai was on par with

top European (nion states in the online availability of the basic services oered to

businesses and individuals.

Dubai is the world4s third largest re-e$port centre after %ong :ong and

Singapore! accounting for K+ per cent of the (AE4s non-oil trade 0Siddi)i! B++*2.

During *66-66! its re-e$port business e$ceeded the value of its oil e$ports. Dubai

Duty 7ree has seldom been out of the headlines since its launch in *6 0The "iddle

East! *6682. ?ot only did it lead a revolution in the "iddle East by being the rst to

develop a modern! Iestern style duty free shopping! but it is a key part participant

in the promotion of Dubai as a business and tourist destination.

/n spite of world recessions! the (AE! Dubai in particular! continues to begrowth markets and there are good opportunities in Dubai for foreign companies0The "iddle East! *662. The ulf Emirate of Dubai! armed with what is probably themost attractive foreign investment incentive packages in the region! is aggressively

promoting itself as a regional manufacturing and re-e$port! banking! aviation andeven tourism hub 0The "iddle East! *662. This follows similar foreign investmentand e$port drives over the last few months by 5ahrain! Saudi Arabia! 1man! Ratarand Abu Dhabi - all e$periencing the continuing post ulf war boom.

/n spite of recession in other parts of the world! the ulf Cooperation Council

0CC2 states! including the (AE! continue to be growth markets and in Dubai! in

particular! there are good opportunities for foreign companies as the emirate

continues to invest in infrastructure and to diversity its economy 0The "iddle East!

*662.

Du%ai+) C!)umer Cu&ture

Ialking into a Dubai department store! one is presented with a wide

array of products and brands from dierent countries popular among which is the

(nited States! the European Community and China. These countries provides



dierent products at diering prices. /n Dubai! a consumer is presented with the

dilemma of choosing products and goods based on price! )uality and out of habit.

As a resident of Dubai! / often do my shopping on big departmentstores since it saves me time instead of having to go through several stores to nd

what / need. As one enters the supermarket division! one can see tens of dierent

brands. 1ut of habit though! the rst thing that / pick up is the product that / have

been used to- products made in Dubai. This is no longer out of conscious decision

but rather out of habit. Sometimes though when / have time! / try to look at the

brands and compare it with the one /m using. "ore often! at this times! / try the

product but since / have been used to my old brands! / still prefer to use my tried

and tested products.

This feelings however is not often shared by some people preferably the

younger populace. This is evident in their choices of clothing! rubber shoes and

other paraphernalia. According to a young professional! his choice of clothes leans

more on the trendy look derived from countries such as the (nited States and

Europe. This dierence is a characteri'ation of the evolving consumer culture in

Dubai as a result of the free-#owing information between countries.

Dubai4s emergence as a maor commercial and industrial location occurred

)uietly 0Ieiss! *66,2. Considering the overregulated! import barrier--ladenconditions prevalent across the "iddle East and neighboring South Asia! it4s easy to

understand why people from both regions #ock to Dubai on purchasing e$peditions.

/ts location and free-trade! low-ta$ environment have forged a cosmopolitan

shopping mecca 0Ieiss! *66,2. Even for Asians and Europeans! prices on many

consumer items--ranging from ewelry to electronics--are far cheaper than at home.

Dubai4s modern shopping malls--along Al @igga @oad or in the Al Dhiyafa section--

rival Iestern counterparts.

Ihile a number of studies have found that consumers! in general! arefavorably biased towards domestic versus imported foreign products 05aughn and

Oaprak! *669 Feterson and =olibert! *66,2! none has e$amined the impact of

nationalistic! patriotic and internationalistic tendencies on such a bias. The origins

of the consumer ethnocentrism construct 0Shimp and Sharma! *6K2 come from the

general construct of ethnocentrism introduced as a psychosociological concept by



Sumner 0*6+L2. Ethnocentrism focuses on a 3we group3 feeling where the ingroup is

the center and all outgroups are udged in relation to it. The ingroup that nurtures

attachment and loyalty is! in this case! one4s country. ?ations 3... achieve personal

relevance for individuals when they become sentimentally attached to the

homeland 0aectively involved2! motivated to help their country 0goal-oriented2 and

gain a sense of identity and self-esteem through their national identication 0ego

involved23 0Druckman! *668! p. L2. The strength of these needs varies from

country to country and from individual to individual 0Terhune! *6L82.

The construct of consumer ethnocentrism was developed as an economic

form of ethnocentrism and encompasses issues such as one4s fear of economically

harming hisher beloved country by buying foreign products! the morality of buying

imported products! and a personal preudice against imports 0Sharma et al.! *66,2.

Shimp and Sharma 0*6K2 developed a multi-item scale to capture consumer

ethnocentric tendencies 0the CETSCAJE2 and showed that consumer ethnocentrism

e$plains why consumers prefer domestic over imported products 0even when the

latter are cheaper and their )uality is evidently better2. %erche 0*66B2 showed that

consumer ethnocentrism can predict 0with varying precision across product-

categories2 consumers4 preferences to buy or own domestic as opposed to foreign

products. /mportantly! he demonstrated that ethnocentric tendencies are better

predictors of import purchase behavior than demographic and marketing mi$variables 0%erche! *6682. %owever! consumer ethnocentrism4s predictive ability of

buying intentions varies from country to country9 for e$ample! ood and %uddleston

0*66,2 found it to be important for Foles4 but not for @ussians4 intentions to buy

foreign products.

@egarding the antecedents of consumer ethnocentrism! several studies have

found that males! better-educated consumers and those with higher incomes tend

to be less ethnocentric 0Sharma et al.! *66,2. The rationale provided for the

observed relationships is that females! older! and less educated people are more

conservative and more patriotic9 moreover! as one4s income increases! the more

likely one is to travel and try more products! and thus! be more open to imported

products 0Sharma et al.! *66,2.



C11 and Consumer Evaluation

There are at least four dierent ways in which the country of origin of aproduct could aect its evaluations 0Ji and Iyer! *6682 0a2 as a product attribute

whose implications combine with other attributes to in#uence evaluations! 0b2 as a

signal to infer more specic product characteristics! 0c2 as a heuristic 0to simplify

the evaluation task2! and 0d2 as a standard relative to which the product is

compared.

"arketers often promote the fact that a product is made in a country with a

reputation for manufacturing high-)uality merchandise. "oreover! e$perimental

studies support the viability of this strategy. Associating a product with a countrythat is known for superior workmanship often increases evaluations of this product

0%ong H Iyer! *66+9 =ohansson! *669 Tse H orn! *662. Despite this evidence!

however! country-of-origin eects are not clearly understood under many conditions

in which products are evaluated. A number of factors potentially in#uence both the

magnitude and the direction of the eect that a product4s country of origin can have

on evaluations of its )uality. These factors must ultimately be specied.

The cognitive processes that underlie their eects must be identied! and theconditions in which the processes operate must be circumscribed. (ntil this is done!


given instance will be hard to predict. %ong and Iyer 0*66+2! for e$ample! found

that the reputation of a product4s country-of-origin information in#uenced

perceptions of a product4s )uality well over the eects of information about its

specic attributes. /n some conditions! however! country-of-origin information also

had an indirect eect on product evaluations through its mediating in#uence on the

way the attribute information was processed.

To the e$tent that a product4s country of origin is used as information about

its )uality! product evaluations should increase in favorableness as the country4s

reputation for manufacturing high-)uality merchandise increases 0Ji and Iyer!

*6682. %owever! this general informational eect could occur for at least three

reasons. 7irst! the country of origin could itself be viewed as a favorable or



unfavorable attribute of the product! which is independent of other attributes 0%ong

H Iyer! *66+9 Ji H "onroe! *66B2. Second! it might be used as a signal to infer

more specic product attributes about which information is unavailable 0 Ji! Jeung!

H Iyer! *669 Ji H "onroe! *66B9 Ji! "onroe! H Chan! *6682. Third! it could be used

as a heuristic basis for udgment that is substituted for other available udgment-

relevant information.

COO a) a Cm(arative T& i! C!)umer Eva&uati!

There are two ways in which country of origin might serve as a comparative

standard 0Jynch! Chakravarti! H "itra! *66*2. 1n one hand! it might come into play

after the obect4s features have already been integrated into a subective impression

and subects are asked to report their impression along a response scale. Thus! if

the products made in the country are generally favorable! subects mightsubectively position the response scale to include a more favorable set of stimulus

values than they otherwise would 0Ji and Iyer! *6682. Conse)uently! any given

stimulus would be evaluated less favorably along the scale than it would if the scale

had been positioned to include a more unfavorable set of values.

Consumer behavior has been dened as the 3ac)uisition! consumption and

disposition of products! services! time and ideas by decision making units3 0=acoby

*6K,! *6KL2.

"uch consumer research relies on surveys! and a considerable amount of

work has been devoted to )uestionnaire and survey design. 5ickart 0*662 and

Simmons et al 0*662 e$amined )uestion order eects in surveys! while "enon! et.

al. 0*66,2 e$amined the memory processes underlying consumers4 responses to

behavioral fre)uency )uestions. @ose et al 0*662 suggest that comparative

measures 0e.g. 3/s 5rand A superior to 5rand 5G32 are more sensitive in detecting

persuasion than noncomparative measures. Iebster 0*66L2 found that response

)uality for surveys is highest when interviewer and interviewee are of the same

gender or ethnicity.

Country of 1rigin Eects and Consumer 5ehavior

7or the past three decades! the eect of a product4s country of origin on

buyer perceptions and evaluations has been one of the most widely studied

phenomena in the international business! marketing! and consumer behavior



literatures 0=olibert and Feterson! *66,2. /ndeed! Tan and 7arley P*6KQ concluded

that the potential impact of the country of origin of a product is the 3most

researched international aspect of consumer behavior3 0p. ,8+2. @ecently an entire

book 0Fapadopoulos and %eslop! *662 was dedicated to the country-of-origin

phenomenon. According to Fapadopoulos and %eslop 0*662! the country of origin of

a product! which is typically operationali'ed or communicated through the phrase

3made in !3 is an e$trinsic product cue - an intangible product attribute - that is

distinct from a physical product characteristic or intrinsic attribute. As such! a

country-of-origin cue is similar to price! brand name! or warranty in that none of

these directly bear on product performance.

As a result of such rapid changes and development in the global business

strategic environment! product country association is no longer ust a single-country

phenomenon. /ncreasingly more products are emerging as a result of multirm and

multicountry eorts 0Chao! *662. Contrary to the traditional country-of-origin

research paradigm which typically assumes that a product can be specically tied to

a country in which it is made! it is no longer as easy to do so in today4s comple$

global reality.

There is a long stream of research on C11 eects. A large number of studieshave reported a consistent pattern of bias toward showing C11 eects on consumerattitudes andor product evaluations 05ilkey and ?es! *6B2. "any have! however!)uestioned the validity of these research ndings derived from mostly single-cuemodels. /n fact! some multiple-cue studies have reported either no signicant oronly minor country-of-origin eect 0=ohansson! Douglas and ?onaka *6,9 Ettenson!aeth and Iagner *62 rendering conclusions regarding C11 eects somewhate)uivocal. Thus! the )uestions of whether country is an important variableimpacting consumer product evaluations and whether the eect! if any! may onlybe transitory continue to linger 0Schellinck *6L9 =ohansson *662.

The impact of price information on consumer perception of )uality has been

studied rather e$tensively 0"onroe! *6K9 "onroe and Dodds! *62. Similar to

country-of-origin studies! no clear picture has emerged to indicate une)uivocally

whether a positive price and )uality relationship e$ists! particularly in cases where

other information cues were also provided to the consumer.

iven that consumers do not possess perfect information! they are likely to

rely on prior e$perience as well as a variety of information cues! other than price

provided! to udge product )uality. /n such a conte$t! for consumers who are more

e$perienced with the product! the price-)uality association is likely to weaken

0Iheatley! Ialton and Chiu *6KK9 @ao and "onroe *62. /t would seem logically



consistent that as the consumer condence in udging product )uality based on

other information cues such as product attributes increases! hisher inclination to

rely on price as an indicator of )uality naturally should tend to decrease.

"ethodological /ssues in "easuring C11

Although numerous dependent variables have been investigated in C11studies! investigations were limited to two broad categories )ualityreliabilityperceptions of consumers and purchase intentions. These two categories capturethe maority of response or dependent variables investigated in C11 studies andwere deemed representative of dependent variables commonly investigated in C11studies. Ihile perceptions and intentions are intuitively related! they areconceptually distinct 07ishbein and A'en!*6K,2 and hence merit separate analysis.Ferceptions are more 3primitive3 than intentions. As such! perceptions areantecedent to! and determinants of! intentions 0e.g.! 5elk 0*6,2! although therelationship is mediated by constructs such as satisfaction 0e.g.! Cronin and Taylor!*66B2. The choice of these particular categories of variables in the conte$t of C11studies has been previously ustied by =ohansson 0*662! and the presentinvestigation4s separate analyses of them is analogous to the approach followed by@oth and @omeo 0*66B2.

Consider the ndings of single- versus multiple-cue studies. Single-cuestudies of the in#uence of country of origin on product perceptions and purchaseintentions have been critici'ed on the basis that the signicant results that havebeen obtained likely re#ect methodological artifacts rather than substantivedierences 05ilkey and ?es! *6B9 =ohansson! Douglas and ?onaka! *6,9 1'somer

and Cavusgil! *66*2. Specically! it has been argued that the eect of a C11 cueshould be greater in a single-cue study than in a multiple-cue study! in part becausedemand artifacts are potentially greater in the former and in part because thepresence of other cues could in#uence study participants4 reactions in the latter.Despite the logical appeal of this argument! empirical results produced to date withmultiple-cue studies are con#icting and inconclusive 0%an and Terpstra! *69 Tseand orn! *662. Even so! while there is no consensus! on balance the evidencesuggests that larger eect si'es should occur for single-cue studies than formultiple-cue studies in C11 research. 1ne obective of the present investigationwas to resolve such con#icting ndings.



C$a(ter ,

MET'ODS AND PROCEDURES

This part of the proposal shall discuss the research methods available for thestudy and what is applicable for it to use. Jikewise! the chapter shall present howthe research will be implemented and how to come up with pertinent ndings.

"ethod of @esearch to be (sed

@esearch re)uires an organi'ed data gathering in order to pinpoint theresearch philosophies and theories that will be included in the research! themethodology of the research and the instruments of data interpretation. /n thisstudy! the @esearch Frocess M1nionN will be utili'ed so that the ndings of the studycan be thoroughly established. The inner part of the onion describes themethodology portion whereas the outer part discusses the strategies that can beutili'ed in interpreting the results of the ndings.

This study shall utili'e the descriptive research method which uses

observation and surveys. /n this method! it is possible that the study would becheap and )uick. /t could also suggest unanticipated hypotheses. ?onetheless! it

would be very hard to rule out alternative e$planations and especially infer

causations. This descriptive type of research will utili'e observations in the study.

To illustrate the descriptive type of research! Creswell 0*6682 will guide the

researcher when he stated Descriptive method of research is to gather information

about the present e$isting condition. The purpose of employing this method is to

describe the nature of a situation! as it e$ists at the time of the study and to e$plore

the causes of particular phenomena. The researcher opted to use this kind of

research considering the desire of the researcher to obtain rst hand data from the

respondents so as to formulate rational and sound conclusions and

recommendations for the study.

The research described in this document is partly based

on )uantitative research methods. This permits a #e$ible and iterative approach.

During data gathering the choice and design of methods are constantly modied!

based on ongoing analysis. This allows investigation of important new issues and

)uestions as they arise! and allows the investigators to drop unproductive areas of

research from the original research plan.

This study also employs )ualitative research method! since this research

intends to nd and build theories that would e$plain the relationship of one variable

with another variable through )ualitative elements in research. These )ualitative



elements does not have standard measures! rather they are behavior! attitudes!

opinions! and beliefs.

7urthermore! as we dene the )ualitative research it is multimethod in focus!

involving an interpretative! naturalistic approach to its subect matter. This means

that )ualitative researchers study things in their natural settings! attempting to

make sense of! or interpret phenomena in terms of the meanings people bring to

them. Accordingly! )ualitative researchers deploy a wide range of interconnected

methods! hoping always to get a better $ on the subect matter at hand.

Eva&uati! # Re)earc$ O%-ective)

This study shall use the CETSCAJE in accomplishing the following obectives

*. To determine the factors that contributes to the formation of country oforigin images among the consuming public in Dubai

B. To determine the level of familiarity of Dubai residents in the origin ofproducts sold in the city

. To analy'e the signicance of country of origin image in shapingattitudes and behavior toward specic products and brands and in aecting choicebehavior! both in absolute terms and relative to other marketing stimuli

8. To evaluate the relationship of product information and consumerbehavior

,. to evaluate the relationship between the )uantities of informationprovided by the products in the buying behavior of the consuming public in the cityof Dubai

L. to evaluate the relationship between a product&s country of origin andthe buying behavior of the consuming public in DubaiG

Re)earc$ De)ig! a!" I!)trume!t

An underlying theme of this study is that Dubai consumers& preferences are

simple e$pressions of a more pervasive and generali'ed concept of consumerethnocentrism. Shimp and Sharma 0*6K2 coined the term consumer ethnocentrism

to represent the belief held by American consumers 0for

e$ample2 about the appropriateness! indeed morality! of purchasing foreign

products 0*6K B+2.



Thus! the construct of ethnocentrism relies on the presumption that the

consumers patriotic emotions have signicant eects on attitudes and purchase

intentions and ultimate behavior. To operationalise the concept of consumer

ethnocentrism! Shimp and Sharma 0*6K2 developed a *K-item scale to

measure the construct and named this the Consumer Ethnocentric Tendency

Scale 0CETSCAJE2.

Against this background! the obectives of the current study are! broadly toe$amine the relationships between consumer behavior as measured by theConsumer Ethnocentrism Scale by Shimp and Sharma 0*6K2 and the home countrybias! perceptions of )uality and e$pressed choice for products assembled anddesigned domestically or in foreign countries. The scale used for

measuring consumer ethnocentrism is the original CETSCAJE as developed

by Shimp and Sharma 0*6K2. The CETSCAJE uses *K items to measure the

ethnocentric tendencies of the Dubai residents using a K-point bi-polar scale.

The degree of consumer ethnocentrism among Dubai consumers can beeasily interpreted from the total CETSCAJE score. Total score on the *K pointCETSCAJE might vary due to the use of a K-point Jikert scale. The mean scale valueis the predictor of the intensity of ethnocentrism 0Shimp and Sharma *6K2. Ahigher mean scale value indicates higher consumer ethnocentrism.

T$e Data Gat$eri!g Met$"

The study shall use )uestionnaires and interviews to gather pertinent data."oreover! the researcher shall also use previous studies and compare it to its

e$isting data in order to provide conclusions and competent recommendations.

Data%a)e # t$e )tu"y

The primary source of data will come from a )uestionnaire and interviews

conducted by the researcher. The primary data fre)uently gives the detailed

denitions of terms and statistical units used in the survey. These are usually broken

down into ner classications.

The secondary sources of data will come from published articles from social

science ournals! theses and related studies on market behavior and economics.Ac)uiring secondary data are more convenient to use because they are already

condensed and organi'ed. "oreover! analysis and interpretation are done more

easily.

7or this research design! the researcher will gather data! collate published

studies from dierent local and foreign universities and articles from social science



ournals9 and make a content analysis of the collected documentary and verbal

material. Afterwards! the researcher will summari'e all the information! make a

conclusion based on the null hypotheses posited and provide insightful

recommendations on the dealing with the buying behavior of the consumers in

relation to the in#uence of the concept of country of origin.

The general population for this study will be composed of randomly selected

product consumers in Dubai! numbering ninety 06+2.

Sam(&i!g Tec$!i.ue

7irst! a self-administered )uestionnaire containing * to B+ )uestions and

shall be lled out by the respondents. Another set of )uestionnaires will be prepared

for the interview of e$perts in consumer behavior and economics. /deally! therespondents will grade each statement in the survey-)uestionnaire using a Jikert

scale! with a ve-response scale wherein respondents will be given ve response

choices.

The e)uivalent weights for the answers will be

Ra!ge I!ter(retati!

8.,+ U ,.++ Strongly Agree

.,+ U 8.++ Agree

B.,+ U .86 (ncertain

*.,+ U B.86 Disagree

+.++ U *.86 Strongly Disagree

The researcher opted to use the )uestionnaire as a tool since it is easy toconstruct having the rules and principles of construction are easy to follow."oreover! copies of the )uestionnaire could reach a considerable number ofrespondents either by mail or by personal distribution. enerally! responses to a)uestionnaire are obectied and standardi'ed and these make tabulation easy. 5utmore importantly! the respondents& replies are of their own free will because thereis no interviewer to in#uence them. This is one way to avoid biases! particularly theinterviewers& bias.

/a&i"ity # t$e Data

7or validation purposes! the researcher will initially submit a sample of the

set of survey )uestionnaires and after approval9 the survey will be conducted to ve



respondents. After the )uestions were answered! the researcher will ask the

respondents for any suggestions or any necessary corrections to ensure further

improvement and validity of the instrument. The researcher will again e$amine the

content of the interview )uestions to nd out the reliability of the instrument. The

researchers will e$clude irrelevant )uestions and will change words that would be

deemed di;cult by the respondents! to much simpler terms.

A"mi!i)trati! # t$e I!)trume!t

The researcher will e$clude the ve respondents who will be initially used for

the validation of the instrument. The researcher will also tally! score and tabulate

all the responses in the provided interview )uestions. "oreover! the interview shall

be using a structured interview. /t shall consist of a list of specic )uestions and the

interviewer does not deviate from the list or inect any e$tra remarks into the

interview process. The interviewer may encourage the interviewee to clarify vague

statements or to further elaborate on brief comments. 1therwise! the interviewer

attempts to be obective and tries not to in#uence the interviewer4s statements. The

interviewer does not share hisher own beliefs and opinions. The structured

interview is mostly a 3)uestion and answer3 session.

Stati)tica& Treatme!t # t$e Data

Ihen all the survey )uestionnaire will have been collected! the researcher

will use statistics to analyse all the data.

The statistical formulae to be used in the survey )uestionnaire will be thefollowing

*. Fercentage U to determine the magnitude of the responses to the)uestionnaire.

n

V W -------- $ *++ 9 n U number of responses

? ? U total number of respondents

B. 8Ieighted "ean

f *$* X f B$B X f $ X f 8$8 X f ,$,

$ W --------------------------------------------- 9



$t

where f U weight given to each response

$ U number of responses

$t U total number of responses

The researcher was be assisted by the SFSS in coming up with the statistical

analysis for this study.

C%AFTE@ />

A. F@ESE?TAT/1?! /?TE@F@ETAT/1? A?D A?AJOS/S 17 DATA

Country of origin provides an impetus for consumer behavior particularly in

Dubai where consumers are classied as nationalistic in relation to their

consumption of products made domestically. "oreover! country image plays a

signicant role in consumers4 perceptions of products. Thus! understanding the

dimensions of country image and how it can be operationali'ed is important for

managers whose products and those of their competitors are manufactured around

the world.

Dubai! being one of cities #ocked by international goods! increasingly ndsitself with a variety of products with several brands. This e$posure led to theopenness of information regarding the )uality and price of foreign products. 7orsome! it has recurring eects on the domestic market.

This study sought to investigate the eect of the concept of Mcountry of

originN 0C112 in the market of Dubai. This is the manner unto which the study

accounts the factors and the perception on the criteria themselves. This chapter

discussed the ndings based on the collated information on the survey conducted

by the researcher. The general population for this study was composed of randomly

selected product consumers in Dubai! numbering to ninety 06+2. This chapter

was divided into several parts9 the rst part provided the general description of the

respondents. Farticularly! it discussed the respondents& age! gender! marital status!

educational attainment and monthly income. ?e$t! the second part illustrated the

perception of the respondents pertaining to the Consumer Ethnocentrism Scale

0CET2. The third part was a description on the perception of the respondents about

the problems and solutions encountered in consuming foreign products. 7inally! the

nal part of the study presented the guide )uestions discussing the insight of



the respondents regarding to the eects of country of origin on the consumer

preferences and behavior of Dubai residents.

A demographic prole of the respondents was detailed with the presumptionthat the attributes of the respondents in#uence their behavior and answers on the

survey )uestions. Specically the study sought to answer the following )uestions

K. Ihat contributed to the formation of C1 images among

the consuming public in DubaiG

. Ihat was the level of familiarity does the consuming

public of Dubai have particularly in origin of the products sold in the cityG

6. %ow salient was C1 image in shaping attitudes and

behavior toward specic products and brands and in aecting choice behavior! both

in absolute terms and relative to other marketing stimuliG

*+. %ow much information was provided by the products in

order for them to weigh heavier on the udgment of the consuming publicG

**. Ias there a signicant relationship between the )uantities

of information provided by the products in the buying behavior of the consuming

public in the city of DubaiG

*B. Ias there a signicant relationship between a product&s

country of origin and the buying behavior of the consuming public in DubaiG

Apparently! the researcher evaluated the implications of country of origin

principles of buying behavior among the consumers in the country of Dubai. Thisstudy sought to prove the following null hypothesis

MThe concept of country of origin has no signicant eect on the consumerbehavior in the Dubai "arket.N

Fart /. Frole of @espondents



This section presents the general prole of the respondents in terms of age!gender! educational attainment! civil status and monthly income. The rst to betaken into consideration was the age of the respondents followed by gender! maritalstatus! educational attainment and income. The responses are summari'ed in thegures below.

Exhibit 1. Age of the Respondents

E$hibit * shows the age range of the respondents. The result shows

that fty eight percent 0,V2 of the respondents were BL-+ years old! showing that

most of them can be considered as young adult! si$teen percent 0*LV2 of the

respondents were between *-, years old while fourteen percent 0*8V2 of the

respondents were between L-8+ years old. Conse)uently! very few can be

considered old! this shown by the gure that only LV of the respondents are in the

8+ and above status. Subse)uently! there was no respondent on the ages between

*,-B+ years old. The apparent diversity of the maturity of the respondents re#ects

several implications in the study&s ndings. /n relation of the age bracket of the

respondents! the researcher could presume that in the said percentage! a

considerable number could be among the young adult members of the population.

E$hibit B. ender of the @espondents



E$hibit B. The number of the male respondents 0,*V2 is almost e)ual to the

female 086V2. 5ased on the collated )uestionnaires! over a half of the population

was composed of male respondents while 86V were females. This shows a virtually

e)ual footing in terms of representation of gender regarding the perception of the

respondents to the eect of country of origin in product consumption. The male

respondents outnumber the female respondents by appro$imately BV9 this data

provides a glimpse of the aggregate si'e of women as a consumer.

E$hibit . Civil Status



E$hibit . The above illustration shows the civil status of the respondents.

8KV of the total respondents! the ndings implies that maority of the respondents

are single. "oreover! a signicant number! 8BV comprise those who are already

married. 7urthermore! there is a little percentage of respondents who are separatedor widow. "ost of the surveyed individuals are either married or single. This is due

to the large number of young adult in the sample as compared to those who are

older.

E$hibit 8. Educational Attainment of @espondents



E$hibit 8. Jikewise! the respondents were asked for their educational

attainment9 the report shows that ,V of them are college graduates. The survey

indicates that most of the respondents are college graduates. The diversity of the

population is further asserted when the respondents were asked regarding their

professional history. This data illustrates that the respondents are mature

particularly in terms of e$perience. "oreover! due to the higher educational

attainment of the respondents. the )uality of response also signify that the subects

of the study are. 1n the other hand! the apparent youthfulness of the respondents!

provided by their age could not be considered as a deterrence to their responses

considering that the researcher has made sure that the respondents have been

consuming branded products from foreign countries aside from their local

consumption.



E$hibit ,. "onthly /ncome

E$hibit ,. The above gure illustrated the monthly income of the surveyed

individuals. The illustration shows the minimal gap between the ranges of their

income. 7rom the collated data! there were BB.BBV of the respondents whose

monthly income was *+!++* and above dirham. "aority these respondents were

composed of managers! businessmen! young professionals and administrators.

7ollowed by BK.KV whose ranges of income were in between B!*++* to ,!+++

dirham. Then! B.6V of the total respondents have an income between ,!+++ to

*+!+++ dirham. And lastly! there were only B*.*V of the respondents with income

of B!+++ or below.



Part 0* Perce(ti! # t$e Re)(!"e!t) 1 C!)umer Et$!ce!tri)m

Sca&e 2CET3

W

eighted

mean

Interp

retation

1. People in Dubai should always

buy Dubai products instead of imports * , B B +

B.6

8?eutral

. !nly those products that are

una"ailable in Dubai should be

imported., , B

8.*

8Agree

#. $uy Dubai made products.

%eep Dubai wor&ing L L B

8.B

Agree

'. Dubai products (rst) last) and

foremost , B

.B

L?eutral

*. Purchasing foreign+made

products is un+Dubai , L

.

?eutral

,. It is not right to purchase

foreign products + 6 L

8.*

LAgree

-. A real Dubai citien should

always buy Dubai made products , L

.

?eutral

/. We should purchase products

made in Dubai instead of letting other

countries get rich o0 us. 8 6 L

.6

Agree

. It is always best to purchase

Dubai products. 6 , L

8.+

BAgree



12. 3here should be "ery little

trading or purchasing of goods from

other countries unless out of

necessity.

B L

.6

6Agree

11. Dubai should not buy

foreign products because this hurts

Dubai businesses and causes

unemployment.

, L

.

?eutral

1. 4urbs should be put on all

imports L B B

8.+

Agree

1#. It may cost me in the long

run) but I prefer to support Dubai

products.6 *

8.*

+Agree

1'. 5oreigners should not be

allowed to put their products in

mar&ets. B 6

.

+Agree

1*. 5oreign products should betaxed hea"ily to reduce their entry

into Dubai +

.6

BAgree

1,. We should buy from foreign

countries only those products that we

cannot obtain in our own country. 8 K +

.L

8Agree

1-. Dubai consumers who

purchase products made in othercountries put their fellow Dubai6s out

of wor&

, B , 8.L

KAgree

The above table presented the perceptions of the respondents pertaining

to the impact of country of origin in consuming dierent products. The table



above shows that the dominant response was Agree! weighted average in every

statement. According to some respondents! the people of Dubai should buy and

consider their own products in order to contribute to the progress of their

country. The surveyed individuals also agreed that only those products that are

unavailable in Dubai should be imported which was illustrated by weighted

mean of 8.*8. "aority of the respondents agreed on the statements and

signies the high impact of ethnocentrism.

Ethnocentrism! coined by Iilliam raham Sumner! is the viewpoint that

one4s ethnic group is the center of everything! against which all other groups

are udged. Iithin culture! language! behavior! customs! and religion can be a

basis for ethnic distinctions! and sub-divisions. "eaning to say! maority of the

respondents believe that Dubai product were better compared to other foreign

products. %owever the surveyed individuals with .L8 weighted mean alsoaccepted the fact that their country cannot stand alone without the help of

other foreign products since they need to buy from foreign countries only those

products that they cannot obtain in their own country .

The government of Dubai according to the most of the respondents

should employ heavy ta$es to other foreign products that will reduce the entry

into Dubai. "oreover! the degree of ethnocentrism for most respondents was

high since they are looking for great improvement and progress of Dubai. The

respondents agreed that Dubai products rst! last! and foremost. 7or thempurchasing foreign-made products is un-Dubai. The weighted mean concerning

to a real Dubai citi'en who bought Dubai made products was interpreted as

neutral.

7urthermore! this report shows that Dubai citi'ens are really concern to

the development of their country but the impact of nature with full of foreign

products was denitely a great factor to consider because even though they

don&t want to buy this product they are forced to purchase it since they need it

and it is only very limited. They should purchase products made in Dubai

instead of letting other countries get rich o Dubai. There should be very little

trading or purchasing of goods from other countries unless out of necessity.

Dubai should not buy foreign products because this hurts Dubai businesses and

causes unemployment Curbs should be put on all imports. 7oreigners should not

be allowed to put their products in markets. And lastly! according to them Dubai



consumers who purchase products made in other countries put their fellow

Dubai4s out of work.

/n the modern world! however! the crossing of the lines between cultures!

that at one time happened only occasionally! has become an everyday

occurrence. Technological advances in communication have progressively

overcome previous obstacles to communication - physical obstacles that once

helped to keep ethnic distinctions distinct. Ethnic lines still e$ist! and co-e$ist!

and cultures of the world often nd that their central concern! that of

maintaining an identity despite rapid transculturation! was still possible.

The reasons for maintaining an ethnicity are often personal! and relate to the

cohesion of familiar personal and social elements - in other words! attachment oraccustoment. Ie all are born into a human culture! and it is the culture that shapes

our self-awareness and understanding of other individuals. /t also re#ects!

depending on the cultural teaching! customs or patterns of behavior in relating to

other cultures. This behavior can range from universal acceptance or feelings of

inferiority compared with other cultures! to racism! which many consider an aspect

of $enophobia. "arketers often promote the fact that a product is made in a country

with a reputation for manufacturing high-)uality merchandise. "oreover!

e$perimental studies support the viability of this strategy. Associating a product

with a country that is known for superior workmanship often increases evaluations

of this product. Despite this evidence! however! country-of-origin eects are not

clearly understood under many conditions in which products are evaluated. A

number of factors potentially in#uence both the magnitude and the direction of the

eect that a product4s country of origin can have on evaluations of its )uality. These

factors must ultimately be specied.

The cognitive processes that underlie their eects must be identied! and the

conditions in which the processes operate must be circumscribed. (ntil this is done!


given instance will be hard to predict. 7or e$ample! found that the reputation of a

product4s country-of-origin information in#uenced perceptions of a product4s )uality

well over the eects of information about its specic attributes. /n some conditions!

however! country-of-origin information also had an indirect eect on product



evaluations through its mediating in#uence on the way the attribute information

was processed.

To the e$tent that a product4s country of origin is used as information

about its )uality! product evaluations should increase in favorableness as the

country4s reputation for manufacturing high-)uality merchandise increases.

%owever! this general informational eect could occur for at least three

reasons. 7irst! the country of origin could itself be viewed as a favorable or

unfavorable attribute of the product! which is independent of other attributes.

Second! it might be used as a signal to infer more specic product attributes

about which information is unavailable. Third! it could be used as a heuristic

basis for udgment that is substituted for other available udgment-relevant

information.

Although numerous dependent variables have been investigated in

Country of 1rigin Studies! investigations were limited to two broad categories

)ualityreliability perceptions of consumers and purchase intentions. These two

categories capture the maority of response or dependent variables investigated

in C11 studies and were deemed representative of dependent variables

commonly investigated in C11 studies. Ihile perceptions and intentions are

intuitively related! they are conceptually distinct and hence merit separate

analysis. Ferceptions are more 3primitive3 than intentions. As such! perceptions

are antecedent to! and determinants of! intentions although the relationship ismediated by constructs such as satisfaction. The choice of these particular

categories of variables in the conte$t of C11 studies has been previously

ustied by =ohansson 0*662! and the present investigation4s separate analyses

of them is analogous to the approach followed by @oth and @omeo 0*66B2.

Cr)) Ta%u&ati! Re)u&t)

@esearchers have previously e$amined the eect of demographic variables

such as age! gender! education! and income level on consumer ethnocentrism

0Sharma! Shimp! and Shin *66,9 Iall! Jieeld! and %eslop *662. 1lder people aremore likely to e$hibit higher levels of ethnocentrism! as they tend to be more

conservative 05annister and Saunders *6K9 %an *62. Studies in the (nited States

0%oward *662 and Canada 0Iall and %eslop *6L2 have shown that women rate

domestic products more favorably than men. "ore educated people are less likely

to have ethnic preudices 0Iatson and =ohnson *6KB2! tend to be less conservative



0@ay *62! and are more likely to have positive attitudes toward imported products

0Iall and %eslop *6L9 Iang *6K2. Feople who travel abroad tend to e$hibit lower

levels of ethnocentrism 0Iall! Jieeld! and %eslop *662 as foreign travel is likely to

result in more cultural e$changes and broadening of minds. Also! high-income

consumers are generally found to react more favorably toward foreign products

0Iall and %eslop *6L9 Iang *6K2.

C!)umer Et$!ce!tri)m Accr"i!g t Age

The e$tent of ethnocentrism among Dubai residents was tested according totheir age group. 7or the si$ age groups! the absolute value of ethnocentrism was)uite high! meaning that Dubai people tended to be particularly ethnocentric. Thedierence between the si$ sample groups! however! was statistically signicant.Ethnocentrism was greatest on the age group + years old and above! indicatingthe positive attitudes toward Dubai and Dubai-made products. 7or those aged +years old and below! the ndings indicated that their level of ethnocentrism was not

as high.

This nding diered from that found in the previous study! where no

dierence was observed 0Ou and Albaum! *66K2. 1ne possible e$planation was

that the people of Dubai were becoming more local! and this was one way to

e$press themselves as being natives of Dubai. Another possibility is that the

Asian economic crisis has made people from Dubai more aware of what they

have to oer both to themselves and to others.

There was a signicant correlation between ethnocentrism and age. A

possible reason may be the fact that the ranges of respondents4 ages determined

their openness on international goods.

C!)umer Et$!ce!tri)m Accr"i!g t Ge!"er a!" E"ucati!a&

Attai!me!t

7or the most part! the obectives underlying the sampling plan wereachieved. All the people surveyed met the )ualifying age criteria! and the numberinterviewed at each of the data collection points was appro$imately e)ual. /t is notalways possible to obtain a )uota sample that matches e$actly the predetermined)uotas9 this study is no e$ception. The design called for e)ual proportions of male

and female respondents. %owever! there were slightly more females! but genderdierences were not statistically signicant.

Ethnocentrism was found to vary with gender and educational level in Dubai.

Ferhaps the relatively high degree of ethnocentrism found in Dubai was a popular!

contemporary feeling among consumers there that eclipsed the eect of

demographic dierences. Dubai youths who had traveled abroad 0and therefore!



were e$pected to have a greater e$posure to and appreciation for foreign countries

and cultures2 seemed to rise above the popular feelings somewhat! and e$hibited a

signicantly lower level of ethnocentrism that people who had not.

C!)umer Et$!ce!tri)m Accr"i!g t Civi& Statu) a!" M!t$&y

I!cme

7our categories constituted civil status Single! "arried! Separated

and Iidow. Ihen grouped according to civil status! the ndings showed no

signicant correlation between the four categories. This shows that ethnocentrism

and civil status does not aect each other.

1n the contrary! the ndings showed that there was a signicant dierence in

ethnocentrism and monthly income. The result showed that the higher the income

of the respondents! the lower their ethnocentrism. Conversely! those who have a

lower income tends to be more ethnocentric.

Stati)tica& A!a&y)i)

7or greater clarity the researcher also employed guide )uestions.

These guide )uestions reveals the )uality of economy of Dubai. Apparently! the

impact of country of origin of products in Dubai was also discussed.

According to most respondents! the economic situation in Dubai right

now in terms of goods! products and services coming from other countries is in good

condition. %owever there was still a great dominance of foreign products that was a

great competitor of local products. They agreed that local products in Dubai are in

high standards but the only problem was the competition and volume of foreign

products in the market of Dubai.

According to them several countries dominates when it comes to terms of

volume and in terms of sales. 7or e$ample @ussia! Argentina! (SA! =apan! China and

%ong :ong. There are some instances that regions in (AE contribute as foreign

products. The surveyed individuals believed that compared to foreign goods! Dubai-

made products doing well. They also alleged that degradation and total face-out

were the possible implications of Dubai consumers buying more foreign goods thanlocally-made products. 7or some cases there are some observed changes in the

consumption pattern of Dubai residents like the practicality of the consumer and

eect of it to their health and economy because the degree of purchasing of these

products becomes minimal. The respondents also accepted that country of origin

aects the consumption behavior of Dubai residents. The implication of Dubai



residents& consumption behavior to Dubai&s economy will might be a result to rise

and fall of the country in global market.

T-test Statistics

The t distribution is used instead of the normal distribution whenever thestandard deviation is estimated. The t distribution has relatively more scores in its

tails than does the normal distribution. /t is therefore leptokurtic. The shape of the t

distribution depends on the degrees of freedom 0df2 that went into the estimate of

the standard deviation. Iith very few degrees of freedom! the t distribution is very

leptokurtic. Iith *++ or more degrees of freedom! the t distribution is almost

indistinguishable from the normal distribution. As the degrees of freedom increases!

the t distribution approaches the normal distribution. The larger the kurtosis 0the

larger the tails2! the farther out you have to go from the mean in order to contain a

given percentage of the scores. 7or e$ample! to contain 6,V of the t distribution

with 8 df! the interval must e$tend B.K estimated standard deviations from the

mean in both directions. Compare this to the normal distribution for which the

interval need only e$tend *.6L standard deviationsin both directions.

The gure on the right shows t distributions with *! 8! and *, degrees of

freedom. Areas greater than XB and less than -B are shaded. This gure shows that

the t distribution with * df has the least area in the middle of the distribution andthe greatest area in the tails. Thus! it is the most leptokurtic.

The t-test is a test of the same null hypothesis as above. %owever! this time

we have a new inde$ of departure and! hence! a new formula to learn. /n small

samples 0? Y +2! sample standard deviations are biased estimates of their

corresponding population standard deviations. /n other words! s does not estimate s



perfectly -- it is usually to small. Thus! we simply adust the standard error using

something called degrees of freedom 0in this case! df W ? - *2. Substituting these

variations into the traditional ' formula! we obtain the t test formula

(sing the data presented in part B! the researcher tried to determine if the

concept of country of origin has no signicant eect on the consumer behavior in

the Dubai "arket with t-test statistic.

T1te)t a!a&y)i)

The above

tables show the

complete

analysis of the

data presented

in part B. /n t-test analysis! the illustrations of

tables are presented into dierent

sections. As the analysis is concern! we can

see the hypothesis test of data. This shows that

the researcher assumed that the responses of the

respondents have a sample mean score of *++ since it is his null hypothesis. Then!

the researcher will reect the null hypothesis if the computed t-value is less than

*++.

Sample Data

Sam(&e Si4e 56

"e

an ,*67,

Sta

!"ar"

Deviati

! 8*,66

SE

"ean

+.+6*

'y(t$e)i)Te)t)

'8 958

8

'5 958

8

1

58:,*;

7 *L

(1va&ue5*;

E1<8



5ased on the computation and by using the formula presented above! the

calculated t-value is U*+,. i.e. less than *++. Therefore! there is a reason to

accept the alternative hypothesis and reect the null hypothesis. "eaning to say!

the concept of country of origin has a signicant eect on the consumer behavior in

the Dubai "arket. /t is also safer to state that country of origin has an eect to the

respondents.

A!a&y)i) # =i!"i!g)

/n a global marketplace! the competitive position of rms is determined by

many factors. 1ne critical consideration that in#uences this position is country of

origin and its eects on consumer behavior. /n addition! there has been a

proliferation of foreign brands that are manufactured or assembled and marketed in

Dubai by local and foreign-based rms. Customers in Dubai can choose from a set

of brands that includes foreign-manufactured or licensed products covering every

conceivable product category.

After reviewing a large number of studies that have investigated the country-

of-origin eect in various dierent settings! this study highlighted several gaps

within our knowledge of this issue. The role of national identication in home

country bias in Dubai has not yet been e$amined in the marketing literature.

Although there is a positive relationship between national identication and

consumer ethnocentrism! the study shows that these constructs have independent

positive eects on consumers& willingness to buy domestic products in dierent

product categories. The study oers limited support for negative eects of national

identication and consumer ethnocentrism on willingness to buy foreign products.

Ihat aspect of a country of origin makes the country an important in#uence

on consumer behaviorG 1ne suggestion is that country of origin represents one of

many so-called image variables. /mage variables are variables that are distinct from

the actual product itself! but they are strongly associated with or identied with the

product and! as a conse)uence! may be relied on when evaluating various aspects

of the product. 1ften! these variables convey some information about the image

one can proect or attain by using or associating with a particular product. /n

addition to country of origin! other image variables include brand name! product

price! and endorsements by well-known celebrities.



To the e$tent that country of origin conveys something about the image of a

product andor the image one can convey by associating with or using a particular

product! there is reason to suspect that some individuals4 perceptions of product

)uality may be particularly likely to be in#uenced by a product4s country of origin.

@esearch on various aspects of consumer behavior suggested that the individual

dierence variable of self-monitoring may aid in dierentiating those individuals

who may be especially likely to be in#uenced by the image aspects of products from

those who may be less likely to be in#uenced by such variables.

7or instance! demographic shifts may act as a catalyst for social and culturalchanges in both the private and commercial spheres. Also! product knowledge hasbeen recogni'ed as an important factor in the research on consumer decisionmaking. /t has also been acknowledged that there are dierent types of knowledge.

5rands originating from a particular country seem to create intangible assets

or liabilities that are shared by those brands originating from the same country. The

similar image of brands from the same country has been noted to be particularly

important when products cannot be easily evaluated by consumers! as in the case

of automobiles and consumer electronics! where consumers seek e$ternal cues for

drawing inferences. Dierences in terms of country image can be attributed to the

uni)ue characteristics of their home countries in terms of demand conditions! factor

conditions! rivalry! and related and supporting industries. Country-specic

endowments create the environment in which companies are born and learn tocompete eectively in certain areas and! as such! aect essential ingredients for

achieving competitive success 0Forter *66+2.

The reason why country of origin in#uences product udgments can vary

substantially over situations and depend on subects4 processing obectives at the

time they receive information! the time between receipt of information about

country of origin and other product information! the amount and order in which this

information is presented! product familiarity! and decision importance. /t is only

after identifying the processes that underlie country-of-origin eects andcircumscribing empirically the conditions in which they operate that one can begin

to understand how country of origin! and perhaps other e$trinsic product attributes!

aect product evaluations and purchasing decisions.

These results add to a growing body of empirical knowledge concerning thecognitive processes that underlie the eects of country of origin on productevaluations. /n particular! this study provide evidence of the use of country of origin



as a standard of comparison in addition to country of origin4s informational in#uenceon udgments among Dubai residents.

Chapter />

5. Froblems and Solutions

>5* Ihat are the problems and issues challenging the choices for products

for consumption in DubaiG

According to the respondents! despite a relatively small population in the

world 0but has become the most populous city in the (AE! accounting for more than

a third of the urban population at the end of B++*! according to o;cial gures. Anestimated one million people live in this city! almost double the population of Abu

Dhabi which has ust above ,++!+++ residents! the "inistry of Flanning said.2!

Dubai4s total imports e$ceed Z*8 billion. The reason is that Dubai is the maor re-

e$port centre for the region. "eaning to say! the labor force needed by the people

of Dubai was limited! therefore instead of producing basic products needed by the

people! they prefer to buy foreign products since it was more practical and

convenient. The surveyed individuals believed that the government was also

focused to trading and business dealing to other foreign countries. Another problem

encountered was the emirate4s non-oil imports have e$panded sharply in the recent

past. "any of the economies of the region served by Dubai are still at a relatively

early stage of development! so there is plenty of long term scope for diversication

and e$pansion in the future. Another important consideration is Dubai4s rapidly

developing role as a supplier to such emerging markets as /ndia! the C/S! Central

Asia and South Africa.



"ost of the respondents agreed that the easy access of foreign products to

get in to the country was denitely a great factor to consider why the people of

Dubai prefer to buy these products. Some surveyed individuals also agreed that the

)uality of product made in Dubai were not that good compared to other countries.

7or some cases! the consumers did not consider the products made in Dubai since

the competition between foreign products and Dubai product was high. The

dominance of )uantity of foreign products in the country degraded the )uality of

Dubai products. Another problem mentioned by some respondents was the impact

of globali'ation with respect to the trading and business relationship of dierent

countries.

The restructuring of rms and industries on an increasingly global basis

during the *66+s was driven by a combination of economic and technological

factors. Changes in government policies in key areas facilitated the restructuring!

while providing additional incentives for the development of global strategies.

Traditionally! corporations have pursued foreign activities principally with a

view towards lowering production costs andor gaining access to protected markets.

7irms engaged in labor-intensive manufacturing! for e$ample! sought to decrease

costs by locating labor-intensive operations in countries where wages weresubstantially lower. /n addition! formal and informal barriers to trade often provided

further incentives to develop oshore operations! as did advantageous investment

climates that might include ta$ incentives and other forms of support to promote

local economic growth. Ihile these factors continue to play an important role!

others are also in#uencing strategies.

rowing global competition! for e$ample! is re)uiring companies to seek

e;ciencies that may re)uire increasing their scale of operations. 1ften this can be

achieved best not by investing in greeneld plants! but by ac)uiring e$isting

facilities! wherever they may be located. /n a related area! excess capacity in some

sectors has tended to intensify pressures to restructure on a global basis. The auto!

petroleum and chemicalspharmaceuticals sectors are e$amples where mega-

mergers have been pursued to achieve larger economies of scale! while providing



opportunities for rms to phase out non-competitive facilities and rationali'e key

functions U such as research and development! marketing! and distribution

networks. Combining andor accessing strategic intangible assets U such as

management skills! technical know-how and related assets U is also playing an

important role. These arrangements typically serve to enhance the value of a rm4s

assets and to optimi'e returns over the long term! with lesser attention to costs as

such. /n this conte$t! corporations are now dening their value in terms which

include their intangibles. /ncreased attention is being paid! for e$ample! to the

importance of the capabilities of human resources to rm performance U which

would include the knowledge! skills and abilities of systems engineers!

programmers and researchers.

Development and design of automobiles! for e$ample! re)uires high levels of

e$pertise in /CT! materials science! electronics! etc.! which might be best e$ploited

through strategic alliances. Fharmaceutical companies are also active in this area!

outsourcing a maor share of @HD in order to accelerate development of new

products. /n this conte$t! rms can use "HAs to ac)uire key technologies! thereby

avoiding potentially costly research and development.

This is also relevant for /CT rms! where leading rms such as 7uitsu have

become more aggressive in e$ploring and e$ploiting @HD developed outside the

rm 0?e'u! B++B2.

/n addition to the factors discussed above! the speed and scope of global

industry restructuring have been greatly in#uenced by changes in framework

conditions. These changes have tended to facilitate! if not promote! such

restructuring U largely through market liberali'ation and deregulation.

Integration of regional markets in Europe and ?orth America! for e$ample!

has encouraged rms to e$pand their operations geographically! leading to more

"HAs and marketing alliances.

/n product markets! the ongoing lowering of tari and the strengthening ofthe multilateral rules governing trade are promoting a freer e$change of goods. This

is providing new opportunities for companies to e$pand markets! while subecting

them to more intense global competition. Surviving and thriving are thus re)uiring

companies to think increasingly in global terms. This is serving to reinforce the

economic pressures mentioned earlier.



"oreover! the development of complementary rules governing trade in

services has provided a framework for promoting the liberali'ation and e$pansion of

cross-border transactions! which should similarly provide incentives for increased

global co-operation. Regulatory reform in many sectors is playing an important role

in the dramatic increases in strategic alliances by opening up new opportunities.

This has been particularly noticeable in telecommunications! where cross-border

alliances have become common. >odafone roup Flc! a (:-based rm! is a case in

point. Through ac)uisitions and alliances! the company has grown from a small!

local mobile phone operator! to a 5F B*.8 billion rm with interests in mobile

networks in B countries across ve continents 0Jloyd! B++B and >odafone roup

Flc! B++*2.

Privatization is contributing to cross-border merger activity by increasing "HA

opportunities and e$posing rms to heightened competition. Signicant increases in

inward "HAs in Jatin America and in Central and Eastern Europe! for e$ample! are

linked to privati'ation of state enterprises in telecommunications! energy and other

sectors. /n the case of 5ra'il! partly owing to the privati'ation of public enterprises!

inward "HAs increased rapidly in recent years from (SD 8.K billion in *66L to (SD

B8. billion in *66.

"oreover! ac)uisition of privati'ed mills has been the principal vehicle

through which the steel maker /spat has e$panded to become one of the world&s

largest steel producers 0Ficard! B++B2. reater institutional ownership of e)uity and

reforms in corporate governance structures are pressuring rms to e$plore ways to

enhance shareholder value! while the dismantling of anti-takeover defenses has

made corporate management more responsive to shareholder concerns. This is

resulting in more open consideration of cross-border "HAs and alliances.

/n =apan! for e$ample! the evolving nature of corporate relationships with

shareholders! stakeholders and banks has led to record numbers of alliances and

"HAs! both domestic and international. Similar pressures are occurring in countries

where tightly-knit cross-shareholding relationships among companies 0as has been



the case in 7rance! ermany and =apan2 are giving way to more widely dispersed

ownership and greater transparency. The increased openness that this has

prompted has resulted in more active consideration of ways to improve

performance through corporate restructuring. A study of "HAs involving 7rench

rms between *66K and *666! for e$ample! shows that the emerging in#uence and

role of institutional investors has been a principal factor underlying the recent wave

of "HA activity 01ECD! B++*b2.

7inally! access to international nancial markets and risk diversication has

been mentioned as factors in#uencing global e$pansion. /n the case of Jafarge!

being a si'eable industry leader has enabled the company to generate interest from

those institutional investors! who have an interest in managing a diversied

portfolio that may only contain a single cement producer 0Sarra'in! B++B2.

"oreover! foreign holdings have helped the company to moderate swings in

business activity! which! in the case of cement! tends to be highly cyclical on a

country-by-country basis.

!utloo&

As indicated above! the growth in globali'ation has been supported by

governmental policies that! in recent years! have focused on liberali'ing markets

and promoting economic e;ciency. Characteri'ed as a 3business class3 model! thepolicies have aimed at the opening of economies to foreign investment!

deregulation! scal discipline! privati'ation! and trade liberali'ation.

:ey global institutions such as the Iorld 5ank! the /nternational "onetary

7und and the Iorld Trade 1rganisation have supported the widespread acceptance

of the model. Should it continue! one could e$pect tendencies towards integration

to be strong! with weaker and less adaptable countries nding themselves at a

disadvantage in an increasingly global and highly competitive environment. 7or the

business community! the implications could be that competitive pressures would

continue to drive rms to focus even more on core operations! outsourcing other

activities to the e$tent possible.



1n the other hand! it has been argued that the widespread support that the

business class model attracted may have peaked! and that a shift could be

occurring towards a world that is shaped more on economic and culture diversity

rather than shared values. /n such a scenario! countries are seen as taking a more

interventionist role in their economies! basing their policies and actions more on

cultural values and practices than on economic principles and obectives.

Characteri'ed as a 3prism3 model! markets would continue to matter! but their

importance would be balanced by a recognition that governments may need to

intervene to assure that social needs are addressed. /n this conte$t! scal!

investment and related policies would be managed more actively to assure they

were consistent with and contributed to a country&s vision of society. 7or business!

the diversity in framework conditions among countries would re)uire tailoring

initiatives to local conditions! while recruiting and developing competent local stasto implement strategies. lobali'ation would therefore continue! but would be

subect to greater scrutiny.

/nternationally! C1 serves as a useful e$trinsic cue and as a surrogate for

di;cult-to-evaluate intrinsic characteristics such as )uality and performance

because consumers tend to be less familiar with foreign than with domestic

products 0%uber and "cCann *6B9 1lson *6KK2. %an and Terpstra 0*6! p. BL2

claim! 3/t has been found that all products originating in foreign countries are

subect to country-of-origin PimageQ eects.3 %an 0*66+! p. B82 further states that

C1-image studies in general show that consumers have signicantly dierent

general perceptions about products made in dierent countries. %ooley! Shipley!

and :rieger 0*6! p. LK2 asserted that international marketers need to understand

these PC1Q images as they relate both to their own! and to their competitors4

products. Specically! they will need to determine whether such images are positive

or negative! whether and how they aect behavior! and how they can be catered to

in the marketing strategy. Oet! few multinational marketers and advertisers make

full use of their products4 favorable C1 image or successfully overcome the liability

associated with an unfavorable one.

Several reasons may account for the relative neglect of C1 image as a

competitive tool. 7irst! the C1 variable is culture-laden! and most managers are

inade)uately trained to address cultural issues despite signicant research



indicating that multinational marketing strategy is ill-served if cultural and

perceptual dierences among countries are not properly comprehended and heeded

0%arris *689 :ale *66*2. Second! translating C1 images into marketing

communication opportunities is di;cult because the relationship between the brand

and its country of origin is potentially more distant than the relationship between

the brand and its rm! store! or advertising. Third! <inkhan and his colleagues4

observations about what constitutes eective measures for image manifestations

and their current state of development are e)ually applicable to C1 image

measures 0Dobni and <inkhan *66+9 =ohnson and <inkhan *66+9 >illanova! <inkhan!

and %yman *66+2.

>0* Ihat are the implications of these issues to Dubai&s economic healthG

According the respondents! the dominance of foreign products creates

several implications not only to Dubai&s economic health but literally also to the

health of people of Dubai. The country of origin of products plays a great impact to

the economy of Dubai. %owever! the country needs to employ heavy ta$es to the

foreign product so that the collected ta$es will become part of contribution to the

progress of the country. "ost of the surveyed individuals agreed that importation

and e$portation of products increases the )uality of living of Dubai. 1n the other

hand! people of Dubai should be more aware to the products that they buy since it

was a possible threat of foreign diseases that are easily transferred by these

products.

The respondents believed that despite of dominance of foreign products! the

)uality of living in Dubai increases. "oreover! Dubai has been part or one of the

progressive business countries in the world since the good )uality of trading and

business communication to other country was their focus.

>,* Ihat are your proposed solutions to the issues and problems you&ve

mentionedG

According to the respondents! the government should give focus to

the business owners in Dubai especially to those who are selling and manufacturing



products and goods for citi'ens of Dubai. The government needs to employ

reasonable ta$es for foreign products so that the importation of these products

becomes minimal. The respondents agreed that they have to choose their own

made )uality products rather than other foreign products. The surveyed individuals

believed that the government of Dubai should give importance to the citi'ens of

Dubai! especially to their employment and health assistance. Another thing that the

government of Dubai should employ their attention is the easy access of terrorist.

The respondents agreed that one of the biggest factors that the government

needs to consider was not only the impact of country of origin of products but also

the biggest impact of terrorists attack to the economy of Dubai. They believed that

the increase of security to the country would result to )uality economy. %owever!

the country of origin factor of product was denitely a factor to be considered.According the number of respondents! they will try to buy )uality products of

Dubai&s citi'ens but this marketers should give their full eort to produce )uality

products that will might attract consumers to turn on to it resulting to reection of

foreign products. @eections of foreign products will also a possible factor that will

lessen the entry to the country.

C'APTER :

SUMMAR?@ CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATIONS

Country of origin 0C12 is a potentially powerful image variable that can be

used to gain competitive advantage in international marketing. %owever!

deciencies in the denition and measurement of its facets have contributed to



ineective and infre)uent use of C1 image as competitive tool. Country-of-origin

0C12 image refers to 3buyers4 opinions regarding the relative )ualities of goods and

services produced in various countries3 05ilkey *66! p. $i$2. Among the image

variables in the international advertiser4s toolkit! the C1 variable is conceivably the

most potent if skillfully applied. Fapadopoulos 0*66! p. $$i2 asks rhetorically! 3/t is

often said that brand names like 4"cDonald4s4 are worth millions. /f so! how many

billions is ermany4s image worthG3 A few authors have )uestioned the magnitude

of importance of C1 image in aecting choice behavior 0Ettenson! Iagner! and

aeth *69 =ohansson *669 =ohansson! Douglas! and ?onaka *6,2! but most

acknowledge its salience in overall product evaluation and as a pro$y for other!

more intrinsic! )ualities 0%an and Terpstra *69 Ooo *66B2.

The focus of this study to was to e$amine the impact country of origin ofproducts to the consumer behavior in the Dubai "arket and the eects foreignproducts to the market of Dubai. Data collected from the dierent sets ofrespondents provided answers to the )ueries of the researcher. The primary sourceof data came from a )uestionnaire distributed to the consumers! investors andbusiness owners in Dubai. The secondary of data came from an e$tensive review ofthe literature on articles! ournal articles! books! and maga'ines relatingmarketing. The study used purposive sampling as a method of choosing itspopulation. The general population for this study was composed of randomlyselected product consumers in Dubai! numbering ninety 06+2.

The researcher also provided interviews for respondents whose function isdirectly related to the organisation and implementation of the marketing strategy.

The researcher provided the )uestionnaires for the former and conduct interviews

for the latter. Concurrently! the study employed both )ualitative and )uantitativeresearch methods to ensure a #e$ible and iterative approach. The researcher alsouses percentage analysis! the mean and median analysis! analysis of variance andcorrelation statistics to evaluate the collated data.

S(""A@O

5* PRO=ILE O= RESPONDENTS

The respondents were composed of the consumer and business owners&

respondents in Dubai. 7ifty eight percent 0,V2 of the respondents were BL-+

years old! showing that most of them were already considered as young adult.



Si$teen percent 0*LV2 of the respondents were between *-, years old. 7ourteen

percent 0*8V2 of the respondents were between L-8+ years old. @espondents&

aged B*-B, is *LV of the total respondents. 1n the other hand! LV of the

respondents are in the 8+ and above status. Jastly! there is 'ero percent of

respondents who are in the ages between *,-B+ years old. The number of the male

respondents 0,*V2 is closed to the female 086V2 with the total of 8L for male and

88 for female.

There is only 8BV who are married from the ninety respondents. As the gure

was interpreted! there is a little percentage of respondents who are separated or

widow. "ost of the surveyed individuals are either married or single. Jikewise! the

respondents were asked for their educational attainment and the report shows , V

of them are college. 7rom the collated data! there were BB.BBV of the respondents

whose monthly income was *+!++* and above dirham. "aority these respondentswere composed of managers! businessmen! young professionals and administrators.

7ollowed by BK.KV whose ranges of income were in between B!*++* to ,!+++

dirham. Then! B.6V of the total respondents have an income between ,!+++ to

*+!+++ dirham. And lastly! there were only B*.*V of the respondents with income

of B!+++ or below.

0* PERCEPTION O= T'E RESPONDENTS PERTAINING TO T'E

IMPACT O= COUNTR? O= ORIGIN IN CONSUMING DI==ERENT PRODUCTS

5ased on the collated information from the surveyed individuals! there is

a great in#uence of country of origin in consuming dierent products. shows the

dominant agree response as weighted average in every statement. According to

some respondents! the people of Dubai should buy and consider their own

products in order to contribute to the progress of their country. The surveyed

individuals also agreed that only those products that are unavailable in Dubai

should be imported which was illustrated by weighted mean of 8.*8. "aority of

the respondents agreed on the statements and signies the high impact ofethnocentrism.

Iithin culture! language! behavior! customs! and religion can be a basis

for ethnic distinctions! and sub-divisions. "eaning to say! maority of the

respondents believe that Dubai product were better compared to other foreign

products. %owever the surveyed individuals with .L8 weighted mean also



accepted the fact that their country cannot stand alone without the help of

other foreign products since they need tobuy from foreign countries only those

products that they cannot obtain in their own country .

The government of Dubai according to the most of the respondents

should employ heavy ta$es to other foreign products that will reduce the entry

into Dubai. "oreover! the degree of ethnocentrism for most respondents was

high since they are looking for great improvement and progress of Dubai. The

respondents agreed that Dubai products rst! last! and foremost.

The weighted mean concerning to a real Dubai citi'en who bought Dubai

made products was interpreted as neutral. This report shows that Dubai citi'ens

are really concern to the development of their country but the impact of nature

with full of foreign products was denitely a great factor to consider because

even though they don&t want to buy this product they are forced to purchase it

since they need it and it is only very limited.

,* PROBLEMS AND SOLUTIONS IN DUBAIS MARKET

According to the respondents! despite a relatively small population in

the world 0but has become the most populous city in the (AE! accounting for more

than a third of the urban population at the end of B++*! according to o;cial gures.

An estimated one million people live in this city! almost double the population ofAbu Dhabi which has ust above ,++!+++ residents! the "inistry of Flanning said.2!

Dubai4s total imports e$ceed Z*8 billion. The reason is that Dubai is the maor re-

e$port centre for the region. "eaning to say! the labor force needed by the people

of Dubai was limited! therefore instead of producing basic products needed by the

people! they prefer to buy foreign products since it was more practical and

convenient. The surveyed individuals believed that the government was also

focused to trading and business dealing to other foreign countries.

7or the respondents! the dominance of foreign products creates severalimplications not only to Dubai&s economic health but literally also to the health of

people of Dubai. The country of origin of products plays a great impact to the

economy of Dubai. %owever! the country needs to employ heavy ta$es to the

foreign product so that the collected ta$es will become part of contribution to the

progress of the country.



They said that the government should give focus to the business owners in

Dubai especially to those who are selling and manufacturing products and goods for

citi'ens of Dubai. The government needs to employ reasonable ta$es for foreign

products so that the importation of these products becomes minimal. The

respondents agreed that they have to choose their own made )uality products

rather than other foreign products. The surveyed individuals believed that the

government of Dubai should give importance to the citi'ens of Dubai! especially to

their employment and health assistance. Another thing that the government of

Dubai should employ their attention is the easy access of terrorist. The respondents

agreed that one of the biggest factors that the government needs to consider was

not only the impact of country of origin of products but also the biggest impact of

terrorists attack to the economy of Dubai.

<* Perce(ti! # t$e Re)(!"e!t) 2Gui"e >ue)ti!)3

The economic situation in Dubai right now in terms of goods! products and

services coming from other countries was in good condition. %owever there is still a

great dominance of foreign products that has proven to be competition with local

products. They agreed that local products in Dubai are in high standards but the

only problem was the competition and volume of foreign products in the market of

Dubai.

CONCLUSION

5ased on the ndings of this study! the researcher concludes the following

*. The respondents who took part in this study are already mature in

age! responsible and reliable. They are also aware of what&s happening in the hotel

industry and are deeply concerned about the improvement economic market in

Dubai specically to the impact of country of origin of products.

B. The respondents have given an overall rating of Agree to each of

the criteria. "ost of the respondents believe that the country of origin of products

has a great relationship in economy of Dubai. This shows that respondents knew the

importance ethnocentrism to the progress of their economy. 7or them locally-made

products should be the rst thing to consider instead of other foreign products.



. The statistics show that there is no signicant dierence or there is

a signicant relationship in the perception of the respondents to the concept

of country of origin eect on the consumer behavior in the Dubai "arket.

8. There are several factors aecting the progress of the economy of

Dubai. The factors to be considered in Dubai&s market include terrorist attacks!

globali'ation! and its business relationships with other countries.

,. The t-test analysis reveals that the concept of country of origin has

a signicant eect on the consumer behavior in the Dubai market. The statistics

shows the t-value to be -*+,. which illustrates that there is a relationship

between the variables.

@EC1""E?DAT/1?S

Country images! built over long periods! are intangible assets that make apositive contribution to market sales or share by in#uencing the eectiveness ofmarketing variables on sales. iven a country-specic brand image! some strategicchoices will prove more eective than others.

This empirical study generally suggests the following for those brands or

rms in Dubai that wish to be strong contenders in a global market in the twenty-rst century

[ Dubai should recogni'e and monitor over time country! image! which is

uni)ue! and dierentiate themselves from those of other countries-of-origin.

Country image tends to arise initially from certain uni)ue resource endowments in

the home country of a foreign rm or brand. The image is strengthened or improved

by the performance over time of the brands from the same country

[ Dubai companies should e$amine the pattern of interaction between

image and marketing variables.

[ Dubai brands should start by building market share! and nd out key

factors that positively aect market share for brands from dierent countries9

advertising popularity were the e$amples in our case. Do not neglect the universal



factors! but focus more on the key factors that dierentiate and uni)uely position

the brand by creating intangible assets.

[ Dubai companies should ne-tune marketing strategy! according to the

mechanism by which intangible assets are created and in#uence marketing eorts.

/n short! understanding the dynamics of intangible assets is critical in

marketing strategy development for long-term success in a global market! where

brands originate from various dierent countries that have dierent 3home bases3

or dierent invisible resource endowments.

Although this study did not use cross-national samples! several importantstrategic implications were proposed for Dubai companies to successfully competein the long run. 7uture research including cross-national samples is likely togenerate some additional interesting results.

Since this study looked the Dubai market! the ndings may not begenerali'ed to other markets. 7uture research should provide some important! moregenerali'able strategic guidelines on how to compete eectively for long-termsuccess in a global market! in the presence of country-related intangible assets.

"any businesses have achieved large market shares in the global marketplace of the imported product categories such as automobiles! consumerelectronics! and apparel. As manufacturing and marketing become increasinglyglobal! the understanding of consumer behavior with respect to purchase of foreignproducts takes on greater importance. Thus! understanding of consumer productevaluations in relation to products4 country of origin and other information cues haspragmatic implications.

"arketers can use country of origin in the positioning of their products! fore$ample by linking a product to relevant characteristics of the origin country. /tshould be noted that consumers use country of origin not only as a piece ofinformation in itself! but also as a source of other product information. /nadvertising! the source credibility of country of origin moderates the in#uence ofadvertising claims on product evaluations. "arketers choosing to emphasi'ecountry of origin should acknowledge the e$istence of home country bias. /ndomestic markets! this bias would of course be benecial! but in foreign marketscare should be taken to minimi'e psychological resistance to foreign products. /tmight be benecial to develop dierent positioning strategies for segments thatdier in the strength of consumer ethnocentrism and national identication! asthese variables determine the strength of home country bias.

The results reported in this paper can have important decision making

implications for Dubai domestic rms that are trying to maintain their competitive

position in relation to international competition posed by developed countries.

"oreover! the ndings suggest that Dubai rms should strive to gain an e)uivalence

with brands from =apan! (nited States and the European Community on perception



of )uality! technology sophistication! brand recognition! and advertising

image. Country-of-origin perception still remains an important consideration. iven

the halo eect reported in the literature! the country-of-origin perception can be

strengthened by improving the perception of the other marketing variables.

/n addition to e$panding the knowledge of the relations between self-monitoring and product perception! the results may also shed some light on theunderstanding of the role of country of origin on product perception. Country oforigin! as well as other image variables! may in#uence product perception becauseit is! in part! appealing to those consumers who chronically strive to present themost appropriate image in each social situation in which they nd themselves.

Thus! one of the reasons that country of origin aects product perception may bethat the country of origin of a product does indeed convey information about theimage one can proect and attain by using any given product.

The study&s results also highlight the potential utility of addressing an issue

such as the impact of country of origin from an individual dierence perspective.?ot only can we learn more about the particular individual dierence variable under

consideration! but! as our ndings suggest! we can also gain additional insight into

the phenomenon itself by understanding more specically the characteristics of

those individuals who are dierentially likely to demonstrate the phenomenon.

%owever! / do not claim that the study is a bullet-proof characteri'ation of

country of origin eects and consumer behavior since the data provided by the

respondents may not always be accurate and truthful. Thus! future researches can

verify the changes in these attitudes.

@eferences

Al-Alkim! %.! Al-Sayegh! 7.! Al-Shamsi! 7.! ause! .! =ahshan! :.! :echichian! =.!

"allet! @.! Rasimi! 7.! @ichards! A. and Tetreault! ". 0*6662 A Century in Thirty Oears

Sheikh <ayed and the (nited Arab Emirates. Middle East Policy >ol. >/.

Alden! D.J.! Steenkamp! =. H 5atra! @. 0*6662. 5rand Fositioning Through

Advertising in Asia! ?orth America! and Europe The @ole of lobal Consumer

Culture. !ournal of Marketing! L 0=anuary2 K,-K.



Appendi$ *. Timetable

TASK "onth

*st

Bnd

rd

8th

,th

Lth

Kth

th

6th

Select topic

(ndertake preliminary

literature search

Dene research

)uestions

Irite-up aims and

obectives



Select appropriate

methodology and locate

sources of information.

Conrm access.

rite1u( Di))ertati!

P&a!

(ndertake and write-up

draft critical literature review.

Sec!"ary a!"

Primary Data Detai&e"

Sources

Consulted

Re)earc$ =i!"i!g)9

Analy'ed

Evaluated

Iritten-up

Di)cu))i!9

@esearch ndings

evaluated and discussed in

relation to the literature

review

Met$"&gy written-up

0including limitations

and constraints2

Mai! %"y # t$e



re(rt written-up and

checked for logical structure

C!c&u)i!) drawn

Recmme!"ati!)

made

/ntroduction and

E$ecutive Summary written-

up

7inal format and

inde$ing

Frint

Appendi$ B. Ruestionnaire

C11(?T@O 17 1@//? A?D C1?S("E@ 5E%A>/1@

Oou were chosen as a respondent to answer this survey U

)uestionnaire on the eects of country of origin on the consumer preferences and

behavior of Dubai residents. Oour answers will provide the data needed in this study.

@est assured that your answers would be treated with utmost condentiality. Thank

you very much.

Thank Oou.

Fart *. Frole of @espondent



Directi!9 Flease ll up in all the necessary information about yourself. Don&t

leave any item unanswered.

a. Age

b. ender

"ale 0 2 7emale 0 2

c. "arital Status

Single 0 2 "arried 0 2 Separated 0 2 IidowIidower 0 2

d. Educational Attainment

Elementary 0 2 %igh School 0 2 College 0 2 raduate Studies 0 2

e. "onthly /ncome

0 2 B!+++ and below dirham 0 2 B!++*-,!+++ dirham

0 2 ,!++*- *+!+++ dirham 0 2 *+!++* and above dirham

Fart //. Consumer Ethnocentrism Scale 0CET2

Direction Encircle the number corresponding to your answer

, - Strongly Agree

8 - Agree

- (ncertain

B - Disagree

* - Strongly Disagree



*. Feople in Dubai should always buy

Dubai made products instead of imports

B. 1nly those products that are unavailable in Dubai should be imported.

, 8 B *

, 8 B *

. 5uy Dubai made products. :eep Dubai working

8. Dubai products rst! last! and foremost

,. Furchasing foreign-made products is un-Dubai

L. /t is not right to purchase foreign products

K. A real Dubai citi'en should always buy Dubai made products



. Ie should purchase products made in Dubai instead of letting other

countries get rich o us.

6. /t is always best to purchase Dubai products.

*+. There should be very little trading or purchasing of goods from other

countries unless out of necessity.

**. Dubai should not buy foreign products because this hurts Dubai

businesses and causes unemployment.

*B. Curbs should be put on all imports

*. /t may cost me in the long run! but / prefer to support Dubai products.

*8. 7oreigners should not be allowed to put their products in markets.

, 8 B *

, 8 B *

, 8 B *



, 8 B *

, 8 B *

, 8 B *

, 8 B *

, 8 B *

, 8 B *



, 8 B *

, 8 B *

, 8 B *

*,. 7oreign products should be ta$ed heavily to reduce their entry into

Dubai

*L. Ie should buy from foreign countries only those products that we

cannot obtain in our own country.

*K. Dubai consumers who purchase products made in other countries put

their fellow Dubai4s out of work

, 8 B *



, 8 B *

, 8 B *

FA@T ///. Froblems and Solutions

*. Ihat are the problems and issues challenging the choices for products

for consumption in DubaiG

B. Ihat are the implications of this issues to Dubai&s economic healthG

. Ihat are your proposed solutions to the issues and problems

you&ve mentionedG



Appendi$ . uide Ruestionnaire

uide Ruestionnaire

07or economics and marketing e$perts to be interviewed2

*. Can you brie#y e$plain the economic situation in Dubai right now interms of goods! products and services coming from other countriesG

B. Ihat country or countries usually dominates Dubai in terms of volume

and in terms of salesG

. Ihat about Dubai&s local productsG Ihat is the development in relation

to the past yearsG

8. Compared to foreign goods! are Dubai-made products doing wellG

,. Ihat are the possible implications of Dubai consumers buying more

foreign goods than locally-made productsG

L. At this point! can you observe changes in the consumption pattern of

Dubai residentsG Ihat are theseG

K. To what reasons are these attributed toG



. /n terms of country of origin preferences! to what country does Dubai

consumers usually defer toG

6. Does country of origin aects the consumption behavior of Dubai

residentsG

*+. Ihat do you think is the implication of Dubai residents& consumption

behavior to Dubai&s economyG

dubai market

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