Country-of-origin effects on industrial purchase decision making: a systematic review of research

Abstract

Purpose This study aims to provide a contemporary, holistic and systematic review regarding the impact of country-of-origin on industrial purchase decision-making by ascertaining, synthesizing and evaluating theoretical, methodological and empirical dimensions of studies on the subject. Design/methodology/approach After the collection and refinement of 43 studies that appeared in marketing, business and management literatures during 1970-2017, systematic review was applied to discover the current situation and future research directions on the subject. Findings The vast majority of the existing studies obtained data from a single source even though industrial purchase decisions are mainly made by a large group of decision-makers. Moreover, the existing literature contains few over-studied theoretical perspectives while lacking integration of the subject with the more contemporary ones. Additionally, in the literature, combination of developing countries as source countries, and developed ones as target countries, is under-examined, and the differentiation between country-of-design and country-of-assembly is mainly avoided during operationalization. Finally, majority of the studies lack investigation of antecedents and mainly investigated few over-examined constructs as outcomes. Research limitations/implications - This study provides a conceptual synthesis of existing studies. A meta-analysis may be applied to empirical studies for providing a further detailed framework. Originality/value - This study contributes to industrial marketing literature by providing a compiled and synthesized inventory of knowledge for scholars; deriving a comprehensive analysis of research designs, methodologies and findings addressed by researchers in the field; noticing various theoretical, methodological and other gaps to be examined; and providing future research directions.