Country images in marketing

strategies: Conceptual issues and an

empirical Asian illustration
Received (in revised form): 14th August, 2001

Ingeborg Astrid Kleppe

is associate professor in marketing at the Norwegian School of Economics and Business Administration. She is
currently project manager for two projects on country image in international marketing funded by the
Norwegian Research Council. This article was completed during Dr Kleppe’s sabbatical year in 2001 at the
School of Marketing, University of New South Wales, Sydney, Australia.

Nina M. Iversen and Inger G. Stensaker

are both doctoral students at the Norwegian School of Economics and Business Administration.

Abstract
This paper aims to clarify how a country image is established, and how it can be developed. The
authors argue that the marketer seeks to activate specific associations from a country image, and
to match these with important characteristics in the target market through the design of all the
components of the marketing mix. If all these components successfully come together, then it is
likely that the intended image association will be established. It is only when this succeeds, ie when
the image-creating moment occurs, that the country image can develop and eventually become
stronger and more multifaceted. The Norwegian fish industry’s strategy to market fish in Asia is
discussed to illustrate the point that a country-of-origin strategy can be beneficial even if there is
little or no knowledge about the country of origin within the target market.

INTRODUCTION times the country of origin is used

Ingeborg Astrid Kleppe
Norwegian School of Economics
and Business Administration,
Breiviksveien 40, 5045 Bergen,
Norway
E-mail: ingeborg.kleppe@nhh.no
This paper aims to explain the
processes involved when building
country images for commercial
marketing. A framework for analysing
different strategic approaches will then
be presented and used to analyse a case
on Norwegian seafood to the Asian
markets.
Country of origin can be thought of
as a kind of branding strategy, since
both attempt to develop a competitive
advantage based on familiarity with
either the brand name or the country
of origin. Sometimes the country of
origin is used in addition to a brand
name, and this is what Keller1 refers to
as a secondary association. At other
instead of a brand name (ie as the
brand name). The benefit of using a
country-of-origin strategy rather than
a ‘traditional’ branding strategy is
the added dimension of a country
image, since people often already
have a relationship to, or opinions
about, different countries. By spin-
ning on these relationships it is pos-
sible to sell products and services
that would have little opportunity of
making it internationally on their
own. The country-of-origin effect
depends, among other things, upon the
knowledge of the country of origin in
the target market.
The paper will focus particularly on

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COUNTRY IMAGES IN MARKETING STRATEGIES: CONCEPTUAL ISSUES AND AN EMPIRICAL ASIAN ILLUSTRATION
a situation where there is little or no
knowledge of the country of origin in
the target market. At first glance it
can be questioned why small un-
known countries should use country of
origin in their export promotion at
all. Papadopoulos and Heslop2 note
that the higher the level of market
globalisation, the greater the potential
for country of origin to influence
consumer behaviour. This is due to:
increased country exposure in the
media; greater awareness and grow-
ing presence of foreign products;
and serious benefits of simplified in-
formation-processing with increased
complexity in markets and products.
Information on origin is well suited for
these purposes because it can be used
as an indicator of product quality and
acceptability.
For small countries, like Norway, a
country-of-origin marketing strategy
constitutes a possibility to enhance
its international competitiveness with
products and services that otherwise
would be too small to position them-
selves on a global scale. However,
using country of origin within market-
ing entails far more than just putting
a ‘made-in’ label on the products,
particularly when the international
knowledge of the country is limited.
WHAT IS A COUNTRY IMAGE?
A number of different terms are used in
the literature: ‘country of origin’,
‘country image’,3 ‘product-country
image’,4 ‘country equity’,5 ‘made-in
country image’,6 and ‘origin country
image’.7 The authors have chosen to
focus on three concepts representing
two levels of analysis: ‘country image’
and ‘country equity’ refer to the
national level, and ‘product-country
62 䉷 HENRY STEWART PUBLICATIONS 1350-231X BRAND MANAGEMENT VOL. 10, NO. 1, 61–74 SEPTEMBER 2002
image’ refers to the product level.
A country image is defined ‘as the
total of all descriptive, inferential and
informational beliefs one has about a
particular country’.8 An image of a
place is defined as ‘the sum of all those
emotional and aesthetic qualities such
as experience, beliefs, ideas, recollec-
tions and impressions, that a person
has of a place’.9 In this definition, it
is evident that individuals form an
image based on their personal frame
of reference. According to Relph,10 a
common social image of a place can be
established because individual images
are constantly being socialised through
the use of common languages, symbols
and experiences. Images can be class-
ified on a public and private scale
according to whether the image is
shared by others or is peculiar to the
individual. Public images consist of the
shared images of many individuals11
and are those of interest for marketing
purposes.
The term ‘country equity’ was
introduced by Shimp et al.12 to
describe ‘that portion of consumer
affect toward a brand or product
that is derived purely from the
product’s associations with a par-
ticular country’. These associations,
also termed ‘country-related intangible
assets’ by Kim and Chung,13 could
be technical advancement, prestige,
workmanship, innovativeness, design,
economy and service.14 A country’s
intangible assets are associations on
quality dimensions that a country has
gradually acquired through export of
goods and services. They arise from
the consumer’s beliefs that there is
something ‘special’ about, for example,
the labour force, technology or
manufacturing processes within a par-
ticular country. Such images of the
 KLEPPE, IVERSEN AND STENSAKER

Country image
*
Country equity

halo summary
effect effect

Brand Brand PCI PCI

1 2

* any knowledge about the country that can be used as an heuristic to form beliefs about product
attributes
• country-related intangible assets — associations stored in memory based on experience with
products from the origin country
PCI product-country image

Figure 1 Country image, country equity, and product-country image

manufacturing nation have a sub- the perceived strengths of the country

stantial impact on judgments of
product qualities.15 The more com-
mercially relevant associations within
the country image, the higher the
country equity.
Roth and Romeo16 claim that there
is a relationship between consumer
preferences for a country’s products,
and perceptions of a country’s culture,
economy and politics, and that con-
sumers’ evaluations of a specific
product from country X are based on
the match between product and
country. They suggest the con-
cept of ‘product-country image’ to
capture matches between country
image associations and specific product
categories. German cars represent
a favourable product-country image
match. A consistent and favourable
product-country match occurs when
are important product benefits or
features.
While product-country image is the
image of a country-specific brand,
where national symbols from the origin
country surround the product to shape
its image, it can also be the other way
around. Some individual brands may
be imbued with a strong national
appeal, which infer the country image
(eg Coca-Cola and Levi’s). This na-
tional appeal, however, is referred to as
an interaction effect between the brand
image and the country image.17 Strong
brand names (such as Sony and
Mercedes) may affect the country
image and have spillover effects on
other, less-known brands. Although
not being deliberately induced, this
interaction effect may contribute to the
development of country equity.

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COUNTRY IMAGES IN MARKETING STRATEGIES: CONCEPTUAL ISSUES AND AN EMPIRICAL ASIAN ILLUSTRATION
Lacking or vague CI
* *
Lacking/vague CI
Country image characteristics:
• Few general associations about
the country
• No country equity
• Example: Norway in distant
markets
Marketing implications:
• National programmes to
establish some knowledge about
the country and its products
• Use halo effect to link country
image to product attributes
CI Country image
Figure 2 Image complexity and marketing implications
The halo and summary effect
Han18 identifies two major functions of
the country image:
— Buyers can use the country image
in product evaluations when they
are unable to detect the true quality
of a country’s products before pur-
chase. As such, the country image
indirectly affects product attitudes
through inferential beliefs, which
can be described as a ‘halo effect’.
When this effect occurs, the con-
sumers link country-specific associa-
tions to products, independent of
the products’ implicit product at-
tributes.
— The second function, the ‘sum-
mary effect’, represents associations
based on accumulated experience
64 䉷 HENRY STEWART PUBLICATIONS 1350-231X BRAND MANAGEMENT VOL. 10, NO. 1, 61–74 SEPTEMBER 2002
Simple image Multifaceted image
*
CI * CI * *
* *
*
Simple CI Multifaceted CI
Country image characteristics: Country image characteristics:
• Some generic associations about • Many associations and extensive
the country knowledge about a country
• Country equity built on one • High country equity built on
(strong) or a few country-related many assets
intangible assets • Examples: USA, France,
• Example: Japan Germany
Marketing implications: Marketing implications:
• Repeating a message will • Select appropriate associations
strengthen a simplex country for different product categories
image • Country image extensions across
• Systematically varying the product categories
message creates multiplex
associations
with products from a country over
time. Consequently, the summary
effect is more likely to occur under
conditions of high product-country
familiarity.
From simple to multifaceted images
A country image can be seen as a
knowledge structure with associations
varying in uniqueness, favourability,
strength and salience. The number of
associations related to a country image,
and the number of links between
associations, varies between country
images. Thakor and Katsanis19 propose
that strong knowledge structures lead to
more persistent and resistant attitudes,
and that the transferability of country
equity across product categories is posi-

Target market
characteristics
•Cultural
Values, norms, symbols
•Psyco- and sociographic
Patriotism, ethnocentrism,
animosity
•Consumer needs/preferences
Universal vs unique needs
Induced PCI strategy
ᎏ Marketing mix
* whenThe image-creating-moment ᎏ
customer expectations meet the reality of a product
CI Country image
PCI Product-country image
Figure 3 The image-creating moment
tively affected by how multifaceted the
country image is.
Countries with no image or only a
vague image in specific target markets
need coordinated marketing activities
to establish some knowledge of the
country. Multifaceted images, on the
other hand, contain a variety of
country-related intangible assets that
can be relevant for many product
categories. The process of building a
strong and multifaceted country image
is based on conscious efforts by
marketers to stimulate the inducement
of quality dimensions about a country’s
products.
The image-creating moment
Independent of the country image
associations in a target market, a
product-country image strategy will
not work if the consumer does not
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KLEPPE, IVERSEN AND STENSAKER
CI *
* *
*
PCI
perceive the marketed associations as
important or relevant. The term
‘image-creating moment’ is used to
describe the moment when a consumer
is confronted with a marketing mix
designed to evoke a specific image.
Chon20 calls this moment a ‘primary
image’, which reflects a relationship
between the consumers’ needs and
expectations, and the ability of the
image to match these.
Taking advantage of the halo ef-
fect, the marketer seeks to activate
specific associations from the country
image and to match these with impor-
tant characteristics in the target market.
This is done through the design of
all of the marketing mix components.
If all of these components success-
fully come together, it is likely that
an intended image association will be
established.21 It is only when this suc-
ceeds, ie when the image-creating mo-
65
COUNTRY IMAGES IN MARKETING STRATEGIES: CONCEPTUAL ISSUES AND AN EMPIRICAL ASIAN ILLUSTRATION
ment occurs, that the country image
develops and can eventually become
stronger and more multifaceted.
Roth22 finds in a ten-country/60-
region study that cultural characteristics
of regional target groups have a strong
moderating effect on the performance
of image strategies in the market.
Psychographic market characteristics
such as a patriotic bias,23 consumer
ethnocentrism,24 and animosity related
to military, political or economic
events25 negatively influence consumer
buying behaviour towards country-of-
origin-profiled products. This illustrates
that elicitation of both country image
associations and other target market
characteristics is crucial to create an
optimal match.
Since country images are part of the
public domain,26 the marketer has
limited control over the image-building
process. Gartner27 suggests a typology
where he classifies different image-
building agents on a scale from low to
high credibility, and low to high market
penetration. Traditional forms of adver-
tising have typically low credibility, but
can have high market penetration.
News and mass media are classified
as autonomous image agents with
high credibility and medium to high
market penetration. Continuous ex-
posure in the media is, therefore,
seen as a powerful image-building
agent. Personal experience has the
highest credibility but very low market
penetration. Marketing efforts to in-
duce a specific country image are,
therefore, more likely to succeed if they
are consistent with how the country is
portrayed by other image agents.
Reinforcement of a preferred image
also requires that image attributes are
reflected in specific product properties.
Since images consist of both rational
66 䉷 HENRY STEWART PUBLICATIONS 1350-231X BRAND MANAGEMENT VOL. 10, NO. 1, 61–74 SEPTEMBER 2002
and emotional elements, it is important
that all the components in the market-
ing mix — such as design, presentation
in the stores, skills of the sellers, etc —
are consistent, and support the image.
If false expectations are created, the
consumer will react with disappoint-
ment or anger when using the product.
This results in a negative reinforcement
of the image. If, on the other hand,
the consumers’ experiences match or
exceed their expectations, the image of
the product will be positively rein-
forced.
In the next section of the paper
a framework which illustrates optimal
marketing strategies based on product-
country image and the existing image of
the country is presented. The theoreti-
cal discussion and the framework are
then tied together by illustrating how
they can be used practically.
A FRAMEWORK FOR ANALYSIS:
STANDARDISATION VERSUS
CUSTOMISATION
The authors have argued that a
country’s image changes over time as a
target market learns more about the
origin country and/or about products
from that country. Different combina-
tions of standardised and customised
international marketing strategies will
be discussed in the light of a country’s
positioning in developing a country
image.
Marketers can achieve economies
of scale, message consistency, and the
ability to attract common cross-na-
tional market segments through the use
of global standardised marketing pro-
grammes. However, because of sig-
nificant differences in the consumers’
cultural and socio-economic conditions
and market structures, customisation to

local or national markets may be worth
the additional expense.28 It should be
emphasised that the trade-off between
standardisation and customisation is not
absolute, but should be seen as a con-
tinuum.
Product-country image across target
markets
A standardised product-country image
strategy, across a wide range of target
markets, can only be fruitful if the
selected image attributes are perceived
identically by the specific target groups.
Two problems are associated with this
challenge:
— The degree and content of
knowledge in a product-country
image can vary substantially across
different target markets.
— Each target market is different
with respect to cultural values
and sociopolitical characteristics,
which influence their perceptions
and preferences. Previous research
shows that cultures with certain
characteristics are more susceptible
to certain types of meanings, such as
symbolic or sensory associations.29
This implies that a marketer needs
to know both whether the target
market has specific images of the
origin country, and how they would
respond to different marketing efforts to
promote a country-of-origin message.
Product-country image across
products
A basic requirement for a standardised
product-country image is that the
image should be relevant across
products, but specific enough to
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KLEPPE, IVERSEN AND STENSAKER
differentiate products from their
competitors. The alternative to a
standardised product-country image
strategy is to develop several images
adapted to specific products — a
customised strategy. Customisation
aims to induce an image based on the
attributes that best promote a particular
product. At least two types of
inconsistencies may result, however,
from customising images to specific
products. First, a customised product-
country image may be in conflict with
the country’s generic image. Secondly,
image inconsistencies may emerge
between different industries, for ex-
ample cold clean waters are an
important feature for the Norwegian
fish industry, but may not be a useful
association for the Norwegian tourist
industry.
Cell 1: One strategy for all products
across all target markets
Standardising marketing across
products and target markets represents
the most cost-efficient strategy, since
one would be able to use the same
strategy, material, packing and
promotion for all markets. However,
the risks of adopting a standardised
strategy include both a poor fit with
the product characteristics, and a poor
fit with the target market.
If the target market lacks an image,
or holds only a vague image of the
origin country, then the benefits of a
standardised strategy include supply-
ing a strong and consistent message
about the origin country. The market-
ing challenge consists of inducing
both country knowledge and product
knowledge. If a simple country image
exists, a standardised strategy will serve
to strengthen one particular association,
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COUNTRY IMAGES IN MARKETING STRATEGIES: CONCEPTUAL ISSUES AND AN EMPIRICAL ASIAN ILLUSTRATION

Table 1 Country image qualities and trade-offs between standardised versus customised marketing strategies
across products and target markets

Product-country Product-country image across products

image across
target markets Standardised Customised

Standardised Cell 1 Cell 2

Characteristics: One message for all
products to all target markets
⫹ consistents message
⫺ too general →
poor fit with product characteristics
poor fit with target group
Stimulates universal simplex CI
Characteristics: Different message
for each product. No adjustment
for different target markets.
⫹ good fit with product
characteristics
⫺ poor fit with target market
⫺ conflicting messages
Stimulates universal multiplex CI

Customised Cell 3 Cell 4

Characteristics: The same message used Characteristics: The message is
for all products, but adjusted depending adjusted both for product and
on target market. target market.

⫹ consistent message ⫹ good fit with product

⫹ good fit with target market characteristics
⫺ poor fit with product characteristics ⫹ good fit with target market
⫺ inconsistent
Stimulates unique simplex CI ⫺ confusing

Stimulates unique multiplex CI

CI Country image

but it will not contribute to broadening unique country associations requires

the country image. When the initial
situation is a multifaceted country
image, standardisation will not make it
possible to exploit the potential ad-
vantages of market segmentation and
product differentiation. The strategy in
cell 1 thus facilitates the initial stages of
image building by focusing on a clear
and consistent message, but it does not
develop the image further to become a
multifaceted image.
— P1: If the existing country image
is lacking or vague, a standardised
strategy will serve to establish and
strengthen country associations.
— P2: Building strong, salient and
a consistent country-of-origin mes-
sage across products over time.
Cell 2: Strategies adjusted for
product, but standardised across
target markets
Employing a strategy based on
product-specific marketing represents
one way to increase the number of
country-related intangible assets. Since
there is no adjustment for different
target markets, however, the message
may not sell equally well in all market
situations. If different products are
marketed based on conflicting

68 䉷 HENRY STEWART PUBLICATIONS 1350-231X BRAND MANAGEMENT VOL. 10, NO. 1, 61–74 SEPTEMBER 2002

associations, then confusion may
occur.
Confusion hampers the image
development for a vague country
image, and can be detrimental in the
stage of establishing a country image.
If, on the other hand, the country
image is simple, the risk of confusion is
less acute and the strategy can
contribute to broadening the country
image. Being based on only a few
associations, the simple image remains
fragile, however. With a multifaceted
country image, the risk of confusion is
minimal, since many diverse associa-
tions already exist within the country
image. Thus, the strategy in cell 2
seems more suitable the further one
has come in the image-developing
process.
— P3: A strategy adjusted for product,
but standardised across target
markets, can be used to increase the
number of country-related intan-
gible assets and thus broaden the
country image.
Cell 3: Standardised strategy across
products — adapted to target
markets
The strategy in cell 3 entails the use
of market segmentation, but no
product differentiation. Since this
strategy is based on the same message
for all products, single associations may
be strengthened, but the strategy
cannot serve to broaden the country
image.
This strategy represents an oppor-
tunity to reach a target market by
customising the message. A consistent
message would then reflect consumer
characteristics in a particular market. If
the message varies too much for
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KLEPPE, IVERSEN AND STENSAKER
different target markets, however, then
the long-term consequence in today’s
global world may be confusion. As
stated previously, confusion poses the
greatest threat in the initial stages of the
development process. For the simple
and multifaceted country image, the
need for a consistent message is
reduced and the strategy represents an
opportunity to strengthen existing as-
sociations.
— P5: Standardised country image
strategies across products that are
adapted to various markets (cell
3) serve to strengthen existing
country-related intangible assets,
but cannot broaden the country
equity by adding new assets.
Cell 4: Strategies adjusted for both
nations and products
In this situation, it is necessary to
employ market segmentation and
product differentiation simultaneously.
The result can be both a strengthening
of existing associations, and an
introduction of new associations. As
such, it is the most complex strategy,
and it can contribute to further
development of a country image.
However, this type of strategy is also
the one that runs the highest risk of
confusion and inconsistencies. In order
to be able to profit from this strategy,
a country needs already to have a
certain amount of assets. In the initial
stages of the image-development
process, this strategy would be difficult
to employ due to the risk of not
getting any of the customised messages
across.
— P6: If the country image is lack-
ing or vague, a customised strategy,
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COUNTRY IMAGES IN MARKETING STRATEGIES: CONCEPTUAL ISSUES AND AN EMPIRICAL ASIAN ILLUSTRATION
both across products and markets,
can lead to inconsistency and con-
fusion.
— P7: If the country image is multi-
faceted, then this strategy can both
strengthen and broaden the country
equity.
DISCUSSION OF A NORWEGIAN CASE
STUDY: EXPORT OF NORWEGIAN
SALMON TO THE ASIAN MARKETS
This discussion is based on data from
1998. In 2000, the Norwegian Seafood
Export Council (NSEC) implemented
a new logo and image programme.
The NSEC represents an effort to
coordinate the marketing of Nor-
wegian seafood based on a country-of-
origin strategy. The Norwegian fish
industry consists of many small (at least
on a worldwide basis) producers, fish
farmers, fishermen and exporters. Due
to the fragmented market, those in the
industry saw possibilities of increas-
ing their international competitiveness
through a joint marketing effort. Na-
tional origin is a common factor, and
some types of Norwegian fish already
have a ‘name’ in the international
arena.
Asia is a high-priority market for
Norwegian seafood. Due to the as-
sumed market potential based on the
vast amount of people and their
fish-consuming traditions, the Nor-
wegian fish exporters are looking at
how to gain entrance to these markets.
The NSEC is attempting to establish a
long-term profile for Norwegian fish
products in Asia, particularly Nor-
wegian salmon. A substantial share of
the NSEC’s marketing budget for
salmon and trout goes towards creating
awareness in Asian markets. The main
target market is Japan, where Nor-
70 䉷 HENRY STEWART PUBLICATIONS 1350-231X BRAND MANAGEMENT VOL. 10, NO. 1, 61–74 SEPTEMBER 2002
wegian seafood already has an estab-
lished market position. The rest of the
Asian countries (Hong Kong, Taiwan,
Singapore and China) represent new
markets.
Target market and product
characteristics: Norwegian fish to
Asian markets
Research on cultural differences has
shown that Asians are perhaps the
most image-conscious consumers in
the world. They rely on, and abstract
meaning from, symbolism to a much
larger extent than consumers in the
west. Due to pressure to conform
from small reference groups as well as
the extended family, Asians tend to
rely more on word-of-mouth and
informal channels of communication.
This means that mass communication
has less impact in Asia. Combined
with a high degree of risk aver-
sion, Asians are regarded as the most
brand-loyal consumers in the world.30
This implies that Asian consumers
will be receptive to product-country
images based on extensive symbolism
rooted in social rather than functional
or experiential meanings. Moreover,
they will probably best be reached
through personal independent sources
of market communication, which per-
haps is why the NSEC is targeting
opinion leaders such as chefs, res-
taurants, hotels and catering companies
in the initial entry phases.
Individual food products can ac-
cording to theory31 be classified as
low-involvement products, since they
usually have low per-unit costs,
comprise a small share of consumers’
total budgets, and involve little emo-
tion or complex decision making. This
is particularly true for unprocessed

food (eg unprocessed Norwegian fish),
where product variation is small.
Marketers worldwide assume a rela-
tively high level of consumer in-
volvement in food-purchase decisions,
however, due to the perceived risks
of food consumption such as con-
tamination, and health and nutrition
concerns. Product-country images that
extend an ‘aura of risk’ to food
products are a serious problem to
marketers.32 Many authorities require
origin labelling of food products to
protect consumers (eg the new EU
directives for origin labelling of meat
due to mad cow disease). A country-
of-origin strategy can give advantages
based on the low risk affiliated with
a rich, politically stable country such
as Norway.
Country image and product-
country image have traditionally been
important in the marketing of food
products, such as French wine and
cheese, German beer, and Swiss
chocolate, because the origin is then
used as the most important evaluative
heuristic. A product-country market-
ing strategy can contribute to creating
more differentiating qualities for food
products through all the marketing
mix components, and as such further
facilitate the evaluation process.
However, to stimulate reinforcement
of a preferred product-country image
for Norwegian fish products, it
is crucial that image attributes
are reflected in concrete product
properties. For instance, firm fish meat
with a pleasant smell matches the
Norwegian image of a cold and clean
environment. However, if the fish is
packed in thick plastic to preserve the
freshness of the fish, the aesthetics of
the packaging do not reinforce the
cold, clean image.
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KLEPPE, IVERSEN AND STENSAKER
The country image and
product-country image of Norwegian
fish products
Market analyses carried out by the
NSEC in the new Asian markets show
that Norway’s image is fairly weak.
The NSEC therefore aims to en-
hance the long-term recognition of,
knowledge of, and preference for
Norwegian seafood in these markets.
The associations they want to link to
Norwegian seafood are quality and
good taste based on the cold, clean
waters in Norway. A standardised
marketing strategy is used to ac-
complish the above. In such a strategy
the same message should be used for all
products (salmon, trout, shrimp, mack-
erel, dried fish) across all markets (and
nations). However, Norwegian fish
exporters tend to combine their own
brand and the generic country brand.
This creates a ‘noisy’ combination of
messages. This practice does not sup-
port the strategy of maintaining a
simple and clear message over time in
order to build a Norwegian country
image in the Asian target markets.
Campaigns and activities are based
on a centrally developed concept,
although smaller adjustments to the
local market are accepted (such as
changing the word for ‘salmon’ in the
Taiwanese brochures). At the same
time, however, the marketing reflects
the strategic situation in the target
market. If the fish products hold a
dominant market share in the target
market, then the focus is to increase
total consumption (although with the
same message). If the fish products are
being introduced to a new market
(such as the Asian markets) then the
main effort lies in increasing recogni-
tion and selection of the products.
Because of a rather weak image in
71
COUNTRY IMAGES IN MARKETING STRATEGIES: CONCEPTUAL ISSUES AND AN EMPIRICAL ASIAN ILLUSTRATION
Asian markets, Norway is at the very
beginning of the process to develop
a country image. This position im-
plies a need to establish and strengthen
the country image. The authors have
argued that if an image of the country
is lacking or vague, then conveying a
clear and consistent message will be
crucial. Cell 1 and cell 3 in Table 1
of their framework represent strategies
where the message will be consistent
and non-conflicting. Descriptions of
the strategy of the NSEC most closely
resemble the standardised strategy in
cell 1, which is in accordance with the
suggestions in the framework.
In spite of the NSEC’s aim to use a
standardised strategy, the individual
exporters still heavily promote their
own brands. This indicates that cell 2
— standardised across nations and
customised across products — per-
haps better reflects how the market-
ing is actually done. This strategy
is not optimal for a country with
a vague/lacking image. Based on
propositions one and two, the strategy
in cell 1 seems to be the most
appropriate for NSEC upon entering
the Asian market. As stated previously,
this is also in accordance with its
intended strategy.
CONCLUSION
Optimal use of country of origin
requires the marketer to focus on
the image-creating moment and the
components therein. This paper has
identified these critical components
and analysed the relationships between
them. The image-creating moment
occurs when the marketer success-
fully designs a marketing mix which
matches the product-country image
with the target market characteristics.
72 䉷 HENRY STEWART PUBLICATIONS 1350-231X BRAND MANAGEMENT VOL. 10, NO. 1, 61–74 SEPTEMBER 2002
The product-country image ideally
draws upon an existing country image
within the target market. Since a
country image changes over time,
however, it could be optimal to use a
country-of-origin strategy even if the
target market initially lacks associations
about the origin country. A country
image can be developed over time to
contain many strong associations. In
this paper the authors have argued that
the country image develops in stages
which depend on reoccurring image-
creating moments. In order to obtain
this image development, the marketer
has to acknowledge and take into
account the existing knowledge struc-
tures in the target market when
designing the marketing mix.
The authors presented a framework
for the analysis of different marketing
strategies, and propositions based on
the knowledge of an origin country in
a target market. With a case analysis, it
has been argued that if the country
image is lacking or vague, then the
main focus should be on establishing a
country image. This can be achieved
with consistent country-of-origin mes-
sages across target markets and products
over time.
Further research on how this
framework can be used in an analysis of
the trade-off between standardising
versus customising country-of-origin
strategies on a national or industry level
is needed. The argument for coor-
dinating the international marketing
activities of all products and services
from a country is challenging. In
addition, the possibility of transferring
a country image from an established
market to a new market requires
further investigation. When a country
image has proved to be effective in a
target market, it might be useful to try

to transfer this existing image to other
target markets. One approach would
be to use a positive market position in
‘established’ markets as a reference to
new markets. For example, to use the
strong position of Norwegian salmon
in the French market as a selling point
in Asian markets.
Acknowledgment
An earlier version of this paper has been
published before.33
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