How food products’ country of origin can impact consumer purchase decisions

Genevieve Silk

A product’s country of origin can influence how much a consumer is willing to pay for a given product, a study has found.

A food product’s country of origin can have a marked effect on consumers’ willingness to pay (WTP) for it – a decision which can also be influenced by their religious and political beliefs. 

These were among the findings of a study entitled New Insights into Country of Origin Labeling (COOL): The Effects of Nationalism, Patriotism, and Xenophobia, a working paper from the Marketing Science Institute (MSI), a unit of the Advertising Research Foundation (ARF).

More specifically, the paper explored US consumers’ willingness to purchase grapes from a variety of countries:

  • It used an online survey of 10,049 consumers...

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