COUNTRY-OF-ORIGIN EFFECT ON CHINESE CONSUMERS APPARENT PERCEPTIONS OFFOREIGN-BRAND AND CHINESE-BRAND APPAREL - AN EXPERIMENTAL-STUDY

Many companies are keenly interested in selling in the People's Republ ic of China's market; however, doing business with China is a great ch allenge. To compete successfully, companies must make an effort to und erstand the China market. Unfortunately, research into what Chinese co nsumers want from foreign-brand apparel and how they perceive it has b een lacking. The purpose of this exploratory research was to investiga te Chinese consumers' perceived quality, perceived price, and purchase willingness toward foreign-brand apparel compared with Chinese-brand apparel. The research instrument was administered to 200 male consumer s in Shanghai, China, who answered a questionnaire while they viewed t hree identical men's dress shirts, each with a fictitious country-of-o rigin label. The consumer sample included men of different ages, occup ations, incomes, and education levels. Data were statistically analyze d to determine whether there were significant differences as a result of fictitious brand origins. Findings indicated that Chinese consumers ' attitudes toward foreign-brand apparel were more favorable than thos e toward identical Chinese-brand apparel. Perceived quality, perceived price, and purchase willingness toward foreign-brand apparel were all significantly higher for foreign-brand shirts. Results of this resear ch should help manufacturers and marketers improve the likelihood of s uccess in doing business with Chinese consumers.