“Foreign brands of course!” An ethnographic study exploring COO image perceptions and its influence on the preference of foreign clothing brands

ABSTRACT This study explores Jordanian women’s preferences for foreign over local clothing brands through exploring perceptions of COO image. An ethnographic approach has been utilized, consisting of 3 data generation stages: interactive group interviews; shopping observations; and one on one responsive interviews. This study highlights new reasons for preference of foreign brands, overlooked in previous studies, stemming from self and social symbolism, consumption symbolism, status and conspicuous consumption and country of origin image. Furthermore, a key outcome of this research is the conceptualization of “Country of Purchase”. Implications are provided for local clothing brands on ways to improve their image in the eyes of Jordanian consumers – particularly women. Recommendations regarding local brands’ pricing, store atmosphere and image, and symbolic value are highlighted and discussed. Previous research is extended by exploring different reasons for foreign brand preference in developing countries and introduces an inductive and interpretive approach to obtain descriptive and rich data providing understanding of the phenomena of country of origin and country of purchase in the fashion industry.