feminine (e.g. Birdwell, 1968). Batra et al. (1993) reconsider brand.
personality and note that the literature on human personality does not really.
concern itself with the basic demographics of a human being, such as age,.
gender and social class, because these are usually easily observable. They.
observe that the same is not the case with brands, and remark: " the.
demographics of a brand are often its most salient personality.
characteristics" (p. 84). We consider brand origin to be a demographic.
variable, and part of a brand's personality, in the sense that brands can be.
described in terms of their origins - Toblerone as Swiss chocolate, Foster as.
Australian beer, Sony as a Japanese TV - much as a person may be.
identified in terms of place of birth. We present the relationships described.
in Figure 1.
We recognize that origin may be far more salient for some brands than.
others, in that some brands may not have an especially distinct personality.
and/or may rely on appeals founded on other bases than origin (e.g. Compaq,.
Nutrasweet, Weight Watchers). Instances of brands which rely on originbased.
appeals are provided throughout this paper, and examples can be.
found in categories as diverse as beer (Guinness, Lowenbrau, Corona), soap.
(Irish Spring), cars (Porsche ads showing German engineers working on the.
cars), perfume (names like Yves St Laurent signal Frenchness), ice-cream.
(the Pillsbury-owned brand name Haagen-Dazs suggests Scandinavia), and.
others.
Country-of-origin research - a critical review.
In a thought-provoking piece, Johansson (1993) considers why country-oforigin.
research has not perhaps had the managerial impact that it ought, and.
why it continues to be poorly regarded by some practitioners and consultants.
(e.g. Ohmae, 1989). Among possible causes of this lack of regard Johansson.
considers issues of external and internal validity. Most studies in the.
country-of-origin area have been carried out using paper and pencil.