Willingness to buy US products in three Southeast European countries: The effects of cognitive, affective and conative components of country-of-origin image

Abstract

The objective of this research is to present results from a survey conducted in Croatia, Serbia, and Bosnia-Herzegovina, addressing the negative influence of warfare by USA upon consumer behavior in the region. The results show that perceptions generated from USA’s general country image influence consumers’ intentions to buy American-made products. Furthermore, country “goodwill” and “bad-will” create cognitive and affective ambivalence, which concurrently promote and hamper consumers’ willingness to buy foreign products. Facets of USA’s general country image create mixed emotions, which influence approach and avoidance behavior towards US imports. USA’s country image concurrently impacts product-specific perceptions, ethnocentric tendencies, animosity, and admiration/affinity, influencing the propensity to buy American-made products among consumers in Croatia, Serbia, and Bosnia-Herzegovina.