Effect of origin logos on sales, purchase intentions, and price perceptions of consumer exports

Earler research shows that information on product origin can influence product evaluation and consumer behavior. Many countries try to use origin in generic marketing campaigns for selected product categories, e.g. "Norwegian Seafood". Some studies show t hat such campaigns can influence demand in the category. But not all campaigns have positive effects and we know little about when and why such campaigns are more or less effective. Therefore there is need for research that can provide larger insight into how origin can be used more effectively in marketing communication. There is also little empirical research which would provide insight into how exporters can and should use origin information in communication. In this project we focus on how origin logo s can be used to strengthen product evaluation, purchase intentions, sales and price evaluation. The project will provide three contributions: 1) The choice of logo strategy will be studied. The literature says little about how logos can strengthen the ef fects of marketing communication. In this project we will test different strategies to "load" origin logos, which is important for them to have an effect. 2) We will test the significance of product typicality. E.g. within the category "seafood from Norwa y" "Norwegian salmon" will be perceived as a very typical product, while "Norwegian halibut" will be less typical. There is reason to expect that origin logos will have stronger effect for the less typical products because these products are more weakly c onnected to the origin associations. 3) We will study the effects of logos on cognitive, affective and behavioral variables in the same study and in a realistic setting. Such studies are very rare and offer unique opportunities to study connections betwee n cognitive/affective variables and behavior (sales). In short, the project will strengthen the exporters' knowlegde on how origin can be used in marketing communication.