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The Role of Region of Origin in Consumer Decision-Making and Choice Koert van Ittersum Mansholt Studies 23 The Mansholt Graduate School is a Graduate School of Wageningen Agricultural University in the field of Social Sciences for Agriculture and the Environment. The Mansholt Graduate School, named after the former politician and European Union Commissioner for Agriculture Dr. S.L. Mansholt, consists of researchers of the following Groups: - Agricultural Economics and Policy - General Economics - Agrarian Education - Information Technology - Applied Philosophy - Land Use Planning - Communication and Innovation Studies - Law and Governance - Development Economics - Management Studies - Economics of Consumers and Households - Marketing and Consumer Behaviour - Environmental Economics - Operations Research and Logistics - Farm Management - Rural Sociology - Farm Technology - Socio-spatial Analysis and Recreation & Toerism - Forest Policy and Forest Management - Sociology of Consumers and Households The aim of the Mansholt Studies is to publish research reports in English from these Groups. All reports are refereed by the editorial board and external referees. Editorial board: A. van Tilburg, Chairman A. Oude Lansink, Managing Editor C. de Hoog M.C. Hidding C. Leeuwis Editorial secretariat: Mansholt Graduate School Hollandseweg 1 6706 KN Wageningen The Netherlands The Role of Region of Origin in Consumer Decision-Making and Choice Promotoren Prof. dr ir M.T.G Meulenberg hoogleraar in de Marktkunde en Consumentengedrag Prof. dr ir J.C.M. van Trijp hoogleraar in de Marktkunde en Consumentengedrag Samenstelling promotiecommissie Prof. dr M. Besch (Technische Universität München, Deutschland) Prof. dr B. Wansink (University of Illinois, USA) Prof. dr ir J.E.B.M. Steenkamp (Katholieke Universiteit Brabant) Prof. dr ir J.D. van der Ploeg (Wageningen Universiteit) The Role of Region of Origin in Consumer Decision-Making and Choice Koert van Ittersum Proefschrift ter verkrijging van de graad van doctor op gezag van de rector magnificus van Wageningen Universiteit Prof. dr ir L. Speelman in het openbaar te verdedigen op maandag 10 december 2001 des namiddags te vier uur in de Aula. ISSN 1383-6803 ISBN 90-6754-670-4 © Mansholt Graduate School, Wageningen, The Netherlands, 2002 Distribution: LEI Den Haag The Netherlands All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any forms or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without the written permission of the Mansholt Graduate School. Printed in the Netherlands To Marjan i CONTENTS Acknowledgements iii Chapter 1 General Introduction 1 1.1 Introduction 1 1.2 Defining Regions and Regional Products 2 1.3 Problem Statement and Research Questions 3 1.4 Objective 4 1.5 Outline 4 Chapter 2 The Game of the Regional Name; The Region as a Marketing Tool 7 2.1 Introduction 7 2.2 A Historical Overview of Marketing Regional Products: New Opportunities as a Result of Globalization 7 2.3 Consumer Motives for Purchasing Regional Products 10 2.4 Company Motives for Marketing Regional Products 13 Chapter 3 Model and Hypotheses: The Role of Region of Origin in Consumer Decision-Making and Choice 15 3.1 Introduction 15 3.2 Research Framework 15 3.3 Need Recognition 17 3.4 Consumers’ Prepurchase Search for Information 22 3.5 Perception and Evaluation 28 3.6 Choice 44 3.7 Consumers’ Intention to Repurchase and Regional Product Loyalty 45 3.8 Summary and Introduction to Subsequent Empirical Studies 47 Chapter 4 Determinants of the Accessibility of Regional Product Information 49 4.1 Introduction 49 4.2 Conceptual Model and Hypotheses 49 4.3 Scale Development 52 4.4 Hypotheses Testing - Determinants of the Accessibility of Regional Product Information 58 4.5 Conclusions and Implications 65 Chapter 5 Perception and Evaluation 67 5.1 Introduction 67 5.2 Conceptual Model and Hypotheses 67 5.3 Method 70 5.4 Scale Analyses 73 5.5 Results 77 5.6 Conclusions and Implications 80 ii Chapter 6 First-Trial Purchases and Consumption Values 81 6.1 Introduction 81 6.2 Conceptual Model and Hypotheses 81 6.3 Method 86 6.4 Scale Analyses 91 6.5 Results 92 6.6 Generic Regional Products and Branded Cheeses 95 6.7 Conclusions and Implications 96 Chapter 7 Regional Product Loyalty; The Role of “Protected Designation of Origin” Labels 97 7.1 Introduction 97 7.2 Conceptual Framework and Hypotheses 98 7.3 Method 102 7.4 Scale Analyses 108 7.5 Results 108 7.6 Conclusions and Implications 111 Chapter 8 Conclusions, Implications And Discussion 113 8.1 Introduction 113 8.2 Conclusions 113 8.3 Marketing Implications 118 8.4 Discussion and Future Research 121 References 123 Summary 139 Samenvatting (Summary) 145 Curriculum Vitae 151 Appendices 153 iii ACKNOWLEDGMENTS Having worked on my dissertation for five years and having participated in different related research projects, I can honestly say that I am indebted to many people who contributed to the realization of my thesis. First of all, I would like to thank Prof. dr ir M.T.G. Meulenberg and Prof. dr ir J.C.M. van Trijp. Professor Meulenberg, I thank you for your tremendous dedication, patience and commitment in supervising my dissertation. I want to express my admiration for your sense for detail on the one hand and your incredibly broad knowledge base on the other. Your expression “that is an interesting notion” is one I will never forget. And, although I know you do not really like to travel, I enjoyed our trip to Paris to visit our European friends and I hope to welcome you in Urbana-Champaign some time. Professor Van Trijp, Hans, I want to thank you for your great enthusiasm, devotion, persistence and allegiance in supervising my dissertation. Although most of the data collection had already taken place at the time you got involved in my dissertation, you stimulated me to see the bigger picture, which has resulted in the structure of my dissertation as it is. Our discussions, some in the refreshing presence of your oldest son, were always fruitful and inspiring. And, I appreciate how you taught me one of the fundamentals of writing: “schrijven is schrappen”. When I told you that Marjan and I were getting married, you said you were pleased to find that I was able distinguish between the important and the very important things in life. I really appreciated that. Let us now find out how we can actually determine what is important and what is not. I thank both supervisors for their support when I was given the opportunity to go to the United States, even though my dissertation was not yet finished. I realize that, as a result of my leaving the country, a considerable amount of extra effort had to be put in to keep making progress. Neither of my supervisors has ever complained about this. Comments were carefully documented and sent to me by e-mail. I really appreciated that, thanks! I would like to thank dr Math J.J.M. Candel. Math, you were the one who asked me if I would be interested in becoming a PhD student. You explained to me that doing a PhD-study resembled doing a graduation project…times ten. Looking back on my graduation project, which you supervised, as well as my dissertation period, I now know you were right. Nevertheless, I never regretted my decision. Math, I would like to thank you for your support during the first two years of my research. You were my daily supervisor and were always there… always, and that sometimes made things too easy for me, knock, knock, who’s there? Math, I really appreciated our cooperation and look back with good memories. Dr ir P.W.J. Verlegh, Peeter, first of all, I would like to congratulate you on your recent promotion! We shared an office for about two of the four years we were colleagues. But actually, it did not really matter whether we were sharing an office or not. With you studying the country- of-origin effect and me studying the region-of-origin effect, there was always something to talk about, or, rather, to discuss. Turning the chair or walking ten meters, what is the difference? Although we spent quite some time on discussing matters, I know it was a valuable way of spending some of our time. Peeter, I thank you for the critical and fruitful discussions we had, iv whether they were about theoretical aspects, methodological issues or the future path to follow. I hope we will stay in touch and I propose to join efforts soon! I would like to thank Prof. dr ir J.M.E. Pennings. Joost, I thank you for your strong belief in me. You created a tremendous opportunity for Marjan and me, for which we are thankful. I admire your energy and insights, which are very stimulating and valuable. You taught me a lot about academia, for which I am grateful. I truly hope to learn even more from you in the future. Further, I would like to thank ir F.J.H.M. Verhees, dr I.A. van der Lans, dr A. van Tilburg, dr ir H.N.J. Schifferstein, dr ir W.E. Kuiper and drs Y.K. van Dam. Frans, Ivo, Aad, Rick, Erno and Ynte. You were always willing to listen and to help find solutions for research problems I encountered. I really enjoyed having you as colleagues and I appreciate the valuable academic and social discussions we had and the lessons I learned from them. I want to thank my office neighbor J.A. Bijkerk for his support in mining all the data we have gathered during the last few years. Although I often tried to figure out computer problems by myself, the speed with which you provided a solution was very attractive.