COO in print advertising: Developed versus developing market comparisons

Abstract Country-of-origin (COO) research is criticized for its lack of practical relevance. Literature largely focuses on consumers' responses to COO, while relatively little is known about whether and when companies actively choose COO in their marketing mix. This research makes predictions about COO usage versus non-usage and the number and type of COO cues used in a developed versus developing country context. We test the hypotheses with a content analysis of ads published in three major magazines in France and India, respectively, involving 2181 print ads published over a 12-month period. The results reveal surprising differences between a developed and an emerging country in terms of relevance and usage of COO, but also between theoretical predictions from the literature and actual applications by companies. This research provides companies with guidelines for the use of COO in marketing communication and contributes to the discussion on COO relevance by taking a novel perspective.