Taiwanese consumers' perceptions of luxury handbags in the country-of-origin effect

The research on the effect of "country-of-origin" (COO) or "Made in..." label has attracted extensive attention from academic researchers and marketers for the past three decades. Moreover, the country-of-origin effect will be more progressively salient in the era of the global marketplace due to multinational companies who are seeking production in lower cost countries. Thus, considering the country-of-origin effect on consumers' perceptions of products becomes more important. This study is the first to examine the country-of-origin effect, and how it may possibly influence Taiwanese consumers' perception and purchase intentions when evaluating a luxury handbag.;The specific purpose of this research study was (a) to examine the effect of the COO on consumers' perception of product quality, prestige, workmanship as well as their purchase intentions; (b) to explore the relative importance of the COO and the brand name when consumers evaluate a luxury handbag; (c) to explore the influences of incongruent information between the COO and brand origin on consumers' product evaluation; (d) to explore consumers' purchase intention and the price they are willing to pay for luxury handbags made in different countries; and (e) to generate practical implication for luxury handbag manufacturers that consider moving their production into less reputable countries.;The findings of this research study indicated that Taiwanese consumers are sensitive to the country-of-origin information when evaluating a luxury handbag. Taiwanese consumers tend to believe that luxury handbags made in well-developed countries will have better quality, prestige, and workmanship than handbags made in less-developed countries. Additionally, Taiwanese consumers have higher expectations from a higher equity brand; thus, the incongruent information between the COO and the brand origin will produce larger negative effects on product evaluation. With regard to the price expectation, Taiwanese consumers are willing to pay a higher price for the reputable COO and expect greater price discounts for the less reputable COO. Recommendations for luxury handbag manufacturers and future study are also discussed.