The country of origin effect on retailer buying behavior: a cross-country analysis on Italian footwear

The paper analyzes the effect of country of origin (COO) multidimensionality on the intention to buy Italian footwear in samples of retail buyers operating in three different countries, namely Spain, Russia and China. Specifically, it proposes a model aimed at testing the relationships among three different country image dimensions – Country Image (CI), Product–Country Image (PCI), and Country-Related Product Image (CRPI) – and the retail buyers’ intention to purchase products originating in Italy, while also verifying the effect of product–country congruity (FIT). A total of 483 questionnaires were collected from samples of Spanish, Russian, and Chinese fashion retailers and processed applying Structural Equation Modeling (SEM). Results show that COO influences retail buyers through a causal link within the three COOs’ dimensions, reinforced by the FIT, as the CI effect is fully mediated by PCI. Theoretical and managerial implications for fashion firms are derived.