UK Consumers’ Attitudes towards Imports: The Measurement of National Stereotype Image

Abstract

Attitudes towards a specific product or brand could be substantially changed, both favourably and unfavourably, when the country of origin of the product/brand was revealed to the consumer. States that countries have images too, perhaps not so far removed from the marketers' concept of 'brand image'. Aims in this study, to reveal the current stereotypical attitudes of UK consumers towards domestic products and the product offerings from a selection of foreign countries highly active in the UK domestic market. Leans heavily on the cumulative refinements arising from studies conducted in Japan and the USA owing to lack of similar research in the UK. Discusses this in some detail citing the major players in references and showing both methodology and results from the UK, West Germany, Japan, France, Italy, the USA, and the USSR. Concludes that stereotype represents a simple and effective measure for revealing the impact of such changes (nationalism or re-emphasis on national traits) on the strength of a nation — offering a basis for the development of individual marketing strategies.