Influence of design, workmanship, and familiarity on perceptions of country-of-origin apparel brands: A study of consumers in the US, China and Japan

This research examines how consumers (N = 627) from the three largest world economies, the US, China and Japan, perceive two major apparel brand image dimensions (design and workmanship) in conjunction with brand familiarity for country-of-origin (COO) apparel brands. Using the summary construct theory, this study examines how consumers from three major markets perceive COO brands from five different countries (US, France, Italy, Japan and China). Although results showed design and workmanship to have significant influence on consumers’ brand attitude for most COO brands, these two dimensions did not necessarily determine brand attitude for all COO brands. The relationship between brand familiarity and brand attitude was strong for almost all COO brands across the three sample groups. However, consumers from the three markets perceived and evaluated COO brands differently. Only a few cases of interaction between design and workmanship on familiarity were found for the US and Chinese groups. The results offer information to global brands concerning differences in COO brand image perceptions within these respective consumer markets.