Relationship among China’s country image, corporate image and brand image

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to investigate the effect of China’s image as a country on consumers’ evaluations of brands. Drawing on the literature pertaining to country images and country-of-origin effect, a research model was developed to evaluate country image, corporate image and brand image. Design/methodology/approach To test the model and investigate the effects of country, corporate and brand image on brand attitude and purchase intention, a survey was conducted that examined Korean consumers’ attitudes toward well-known Chinese brands. Findings China’s country image was found to comprise four dimensions: political image, economic image, citizen image and country relationship image. Country image had a direct positive effect on brand attitude, and through brand attitude, country image had an indirect positive effect on purchase intention. Corporate image and brand image had a positive effect on brand attitude and a direct positive effect on purchase intention. In addition, country image had a positive effect on corporate image, while through corporate image, country image had an indirect positive effect on brand image. Originality/value These findings not only offer theoretical evidence for research on China’s country image, but also provide empirical evidence to support the “going global” strategies of Chinese enterprises.