Country Of Origin as an antecedent of brand love

: a case study on the brand DCK boardshorts

Abstract

Country Of Origin has been recognized as a significant cue for consumers to evaluate andassess a brand, and ultimately influence and affect their behavioral intentions towards it.The ultimate and ideal outcome of this, together with other adjacent factors, would resulton the creation and development of a love relationship with the brand, where theconsumers end up becoming loyal, engaged and committed to it. These two topics wereaddressed and studied through a case study on the Portuguese male boardshorts brandDCK. On one hand, the present dissertation sought to study this concept of Brand Lovein order to understand its main attributes and outcomes, as well as assess how consumersperceive this brand. On the other hand, this dissertation also sought to study the conceptof Country Of Origin as a possible antecedent of Brand Love, i.e., determine if this factorhad any influence or impact upon the consumers´ purchase intentions. In line with this,once established whether or not DCK could fit the loved brand category, as well aswhether or not the Country Of Origin contributed to it, this dissertation further analyzedthe communication and marketing strategies of DCK. In order to answer the the researchquestion, “How does the factor Country Of Origin influence the perception of Brand Loveamong consumers?”, the case study on the brand DCK encompassed an interview withthe responsible for the marketing and communication of the brand, as well as an onlinesurvey aimed at the consumers of such brand. The results of the study show that, eventhough the brand does not consider the country of origin an important asset in itscommunication strategy, the consumers of DCK do in fact value it, considering it as oneof the most influential factors when it comes to purchase products from it.

Date of Award	21 Feb 2022
Original language	English
Awarding Institution	Universidade Católica Portuguesa
Supervisor	João Simão (Supervisor)