- Country of origin
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For the legal term from European law, see Country of origin principle.
"Swiss Made" label on a TAG Heuer chronograph
Country of origin label for a product designed in the US and manufactured in ChinaCountry of origin (often abbreviated to COO), is the country of manufacture, production, or growth where an article or product comes from. There are differing rules of origin under various national laws and international treaties.
Contents
Country of origin as a marketing strategy
From a marketing perspective, country of origin is a way to differentiate the product from the competitors. Schooler (1965)[1] is generally considered as the first researcher to empirically study this effect. He found out that products, identical in every respect except for their country-of-origin, were perceived differently by consumers. Since then, more than 1000 studies have been published on this subject.[2] This research shows that the country of origin has an impact on consumers' quality perceptions of a product, as well as ultimately preference for and willingness to buy that product. Furthermore, several studies have shown that consumers tend to have a relative preference to products from their own country[3] or may have a relative preference for or aversion against products that originate from certain countries (so-called affinity[4] and animosity[5] countries). The effect of country of origin is however debated,[6] with some studies[2] questioning the relevance of academic research on country-of-origin effects for business managers. Overall, academics seem to conclude that the country with which a product is associated with, the so-called country-of-association[2] significantly impacts consumers' product evaluations and choice, but that given the number of publications available, care should be given whether yet another study on that effect is needed.[7]
Country of origin contextual importance for consumer choice
Consumers tend to utilize the country of origin more when they are less involved and less familiar.[8] Consumers further tend to use country of origin more as a decision tool when they consider luxury products.[9]
Country of origin labeling requirements
The requirements for Country of Origin markings are complex and depend both domestic rules permitting the designation 'Made in X', 'Product of X' etc.; and the import country requirements for disclosure.
While many products made within the European Union carry the country of origin label or marking "Made in EU" or "Made in EC", some disreputable manufacturers in European countries that are not part of the EU may use "Made in Europe". A similar marking, "Made for Europe", is used by some manufacturers outside Europe. These vague and sometimes deliberately confusing labels can lead to consumer deception, whereby buyers not proficient in English may come to believe from looking at the label that the non-European product they are interested in is made in Europe. Similar labels are 'Made in/for North America', 'German Designed' - but manufactured and assembled elsewhere, and the infamous 'Made in PRC' label briefly used to disguise the Chinese origin of said product.
Country of origin in international trade
When shipping products from one country to another, the products may have to be marked with country of origin, and the country of origin will generally be required to be indicated in the export/import documents and governmental submissions. Country of origin will affect its admissibility, the rate of duty, its entitlement to special duty or trade preference programs, antidumping, and government procurement.
Today, many products are an outcome of a large number of parts and pieces that come from many different countries, and that may then be assembled together in a third country. In these cases, it's hard to know exactly what is the country of origin, and different rules apply as to how to determine their "correct" country of origin. Generally, articles only change their country of origin if the work or material added to an article in the second country constitutes a substantial transformation, or, the article changes its name, tariff code, character or use (for instance from wheel to car). Value added in the second country may also be an issue.
Further information: Rules of originCountry of origin in movie and television production
The International Federation of Film Archives defines the country of origin as the country of the principal offices of the production company or individual by whom the moving image work was made.[10] No consistent reference or definition exists. Sources include the item itself, accompanying material (e.g. scripts, shot lists, production records, publicity material, inventory lists, synopses etc.), the container (if not an integral part of the piece), or other sources (standard and special moving image reference tools).[11] In law, definitions of "country of origin" and related terms are defined differently in different jurisdictions. Europe, Canada, and the United States have different definitions for a variety of reasons, including tax treatment, advertising regulations, distribution; even within the European Union, different member states have different legislation. As a result, an individual work can have multiple countries as its "country of origin", and may even have different countries recognized as originating places for the purpose of different legal jurisdictions.[12] Under copyright law in the United States and other signatories of the Berne Convention, "country of origin" is defined in an inclusive way to ensure the protection of intellectual rights of writers and creators.[13]
See also
References
- ^ Schooler, R. D. 1965. Product Bias in Central American Common Market. Journal of Marketing Research, 2(4): 394-397.
- ^ a b c Usunier, J.-C. 2006. Relevance in Business Research: The Case of Country-of-Origin Research in Marketing. European Management Review, 3: 60-73.
- ^ Shimp, T. A. & Sharma, S. 1987. Consumer Ethnocentrism: Construction and Validation of the CETSCALE. Journal of Marketing Research, 24(3): 280-289.
- ^ Oberecker, E. M., Riefler, P., & Diamantopoulos, A. 2008. The Consumer Affinity Construct: Conceptualization, Qualitative Investigation, and Research Agenda. Journal of International Marketing, 16(3): 23-56.
- ^ Klein, J. G., Ettenson, R., & Morris, M. D. 1998. The Animosity Model of Foreign Product Purchase: An Empirical Test in the People's Republic of China. Journal of Marketing, 62(1): 89-100.
- ^ Josiassen, A. & Harzing, A.-W. 2008. Descending from the Ivory Tower: Reflections on the Relevance and Future of Country-of-Origin Research. European Management Review, 5: 264-270.
- ^ Roth, K. P. & Diamantopoulos, A. 2009. Advancing the Country Image Construct. Journal of Business Research, 62(7): 726-740.
- ^ Han, C. M. 1989. Country Image: Halo or Summary Construct? Journal of Marketing Research, 26(2): 222-229.
- ^ Aiello, G., Donvito, R., Godey, B., Pederzoli, D., Wiedmann, K.-P., Hennings, N., Siebels, A., Chan, P., Tsuchiya, J., Rabino, S., Ivanovna, S. I., Weitz, B., Oh, H., & Singh, R. 2008. An International Perspective on Luxury Brand and Country-of-Origin Effect. Brand Management, 16(5/6): 323-337.
- ^ "Choice of Original Release Title in Country of Origin as Main Entry". http://www.itsmarc.com/crs/arch0898.htm. Retrieved 2007-01-14.>
- ^ "Sources of information". http://www.itsmarc.com/crs/arch0326.htm. Retrieved 2007-01-14.
- ^ "Coordination of certain of the Member States' provisions on television broadcasting". European Parliamentary. http://www.europarl.europa.eu/sides/getDoc.do?pubRef=-//EP//TEXT+TA+P6-TA-2006-0559+0+DOC+XML+V0//EN&language=EN. Retrieved 2007-01-14.
- ^ "Copyright Law of the United States of America". U.S. Copyright Office. http://www.copyright.gov/title17/92chap1.html#104. Retrieved 2007-01-14.
External links
- Overview of "Swiss Made" from the Federation of the Swiss Watch Industry
- Complying with Made in USA from FTC
- Detailed analysis of the international treaties applying to country of originPDF (192 KiB)
http://business.ftc.gov/documents/bus03-complying-made-usa-standard
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