Country-of-origin effect on consumer buying decision (the case of beer market)

Abstract

The aim of the thesis is to test varying importance of COO information for different customers. The research tasks are to identify groups (clusters) of customers based on the factors they pay attention to when making purchase decision and to test the association between such variables as age, education level, experience of visiting foreign countries, ability to speak a foreign language, on the one hand, and the importance of COO information for consumer, on the other.

Results of the structured interview conducted in one of the hypermarkets of Saint-Petersburg and subsequent cluster analysis of the data collected allowed identifying 7 groups (clusters) of consumers with different prioritization of factors they use to make a purchase decision. A cluster of COO-seekers was identified, in particular, where consumers paid especial attention to COO information. Using cross-tabulation analysis hypotheses about consumers with higher education and able to speak a foreign language paying more attention to COO information found confirmation. The main hypothesis about varying importance of COO information for different consumers found confirmation as well.