La valutazione strategica della Country Reputation per le imprese del Made in Italy nel mercato russo

This paper explores the relationship between country of origin stereotypes and consumer evaluations of foreign product attitudes. The constant evolving of the effect of country-oforigin (Coo) (Hong & Wyer, 1989; Papadopoulos & Heslop, 2002) needs to be analysed and its nature as a multidimensional indicator, studied. The research proposes an original conceptualization regarding the multidimensional perspective of country reputation in order to reconstruct and comprehend the whole dynamics of the Coo phenomenon, when examining potential interactions between its different components. Reputation represents a criterion of interpretation at the basis of different influences exercised by Coo on the decisions made by foreign customers. Country reputation expresses a genetic code of a nation, creating meaning to its identity and image. It is hypothesized that the reputation of a country of origin influences the perceptions of foreign customers relative to the foreign supply system, and as consequence, consumer habits too. Starting from a brief analysis of the literature on international marketing in terms of Coo, the aim of our research is to devise an explanatory model of country reputation. Field research tested the model proposed, i.e. a specific case study of the relations between Italy, market of origin and Russia, objective market. Practical implications for corporations of made in Italy products are discussed.