Abstract
The main purpose of this study was to determine the influence of brand and country-of-origin on consumers' perception of apparel products. $2\times2$ between subjects factorial design with brand (no brand vs. prestigious brand) and country-of-origin (Italy vs. Korea) was used. Consumer ethnocentrism and product involvement were included as covariates in analyzing the data. The stimuus was a double-breasted v-neckline beige jacket. All the labels were removed and a label indicating one of the four brand/country-of-origin conditions was attached. The participants' perception of the jacket was measured in terms of product attitude, product evaluation, purchase intention and expected price. A total of 205 housewives participated in the field experiments conducted in front of four moi or department stores in Seoul, and 202 responses were used in the final analysis. There was no significant difference in product attitude, product evaluation and purchase intention according to brand or country-of-origin. But brand, country-of-origin and the interaction between the variables were significant in explaining the differences in expected price. Consumer ethnocentrism was significant in all the models, while product involvement was significant only in the case of product evaluation. The relationships among demographic variables, consumer ethnocentrism and product involvement were also examined.