The effect of e-WOM on country image and purchase intention: an empirical study on Korean cosmetic products in China

摘要

Country image is viewed as the overall perception of consumers from a particular country, based on their prior perception of the country's production and marketing strengths and weaknesses. Country image affects customer attitudes and purchase intention; however, the pattern of this relationship has not been sufficiently studied. The purpose of this study was to develop and validate the relationships among country image, electronic word-of-mouth (e-WOM) and purchase intention of Korean cosmetic products. In this study, a comprehensive set of constructs and hypotheses were compiled and tested. A questionnaire was constructed and data were collected from 255 customers in Beijing and Shanghai. The results indicated that e-WOM mediated the relationship between country image and intent to purchase Korean cosmetic products.