Effects of Country of Origin on Consumer Brand Preference between Italy and China Shoes and Clothes

Abstract

Country of origin (COO) serves as a very important determinant of consumers’ preference behavior towards products and services especially in the international marketplace. Consumers therefore tend to make choices based on their preference for brands and the country of origin. The present study examined the brand preference of consumers for fashion products of Italian and Chinese country of origin (COO). A cross-sectional survey of 400 respondents selected from the population of 1,288,714 people in Alimosho Local Government Area (LGA) of Lagos State was conducted using convenience sampling technique. Hypothesis testing was done using Anova and Independent sample t-Test. The results showed that consumers perceive significant difference on preference for fashion products among the two countries. The findings of the study have salient implications for formulation and execution of strategies in international marketing and especially provided a better understanding for market segmentation in the sales of fashion products