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<p>This study investigates how consumers from high-income countries (HICs) and low- and middle-income countries (LMICs) evaluate products manufactured in LMICs. Specifically, it examines the influence of consumers’ subjective knowledge about the country of origin (COO), the comparison to the country of design (COD), and the type of product (hedonic vs. utilitarian). Using experimental designs involving 969 participants from Korea, Vietnam, the United States, the Philippines, Japan, and Malaysia, this study employed ANCOVA and moderated mediation analyses using the PROCESS macro. Results indicate that consumers from LMICs generally hold negative attitudes toward products from other LMICs, particularly when they possess higher subjective knowledge. Conversely, the application of upward COD labels from economically advanced countries significantly improved LMIC consumers’ perceptions. LMIC consumers also reacted more negatively to utilitarian than to hedonic products, whereas HIC consumers’ attitudes remained relatively stable across conditions. This research provides theoretical implications by integrating social comparison, social identity, and optimal distinctiveness theories, and methodological insights through the rigorous use of cross-national experimental methods and advanced statistical analyses.</p>

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Neighbors or rivals?: consumer attitudes toward products from economically similar low and middle income countries

  • 期刊论文

  • 发表日期：

    2025年8月23日

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  • Jeyoung Son,
  • Dongjoo Lee,
  • Sungjoon Yoo

摘要

This study investigates how consumers from high-income countries (HICs) and low- and middle-income countries (LMICs) evaluate products manufactured in LMICs. Specifically, it examines the influence of consumers’ subjective knowledge about the country of origin (COO), the comparison to the country of design (COD), and the type of product (hedonic vs. utilitarian). Using experimental designs involving 969 participants from Korea, Vietnam, the United States, the Philippines, Japan, and Malaysia, this study employed ANCOVA and moderated mediation analyses using the PROCESS macro. Results indicate that consumers from LMICs generally hold negative attitudes toward products from other LMICs, particularly when they possess higher subjective knowledge. Conversely, the application of upward COD labels from economically advanced countries significantly improved LMIC consumers’ perceptions. LMIC consumers also reacted more negatively to utilitarian than to hedonic products, whereas HIC consumers’ attitudes remained relatively stable across conditions. This research provides theoretical implications by integrating social comparison, social identity, and optimal distinctiveness theories, and methodological insights through the rigorous use of cross-national experimental methods and advanced statistical analyses.