International Conference on Applied Economics – ICOAE 2008
827
Effects of Country-of-Origin on U.S. Consumer Preferences for French and British
Products after the Beginning of the Iraq War
Regina Pefanis Schlee1
Abstract
This study examines whether animosity or goodwill towards a country and its people have a significant effect on consumer evaluations of a country’s
products and their willingness to purchase products originating in that country. The tension resulting from the failed negotiations between the United
States and France before the start of the Iraq war in 2003 provided an opportunity to examine whether public animosity toward France and calls for a
boycott had a significant effect on U.S. consumer attitudes towards French products. In contrast, the same time period can be used to determine if
goodwill towards the United Kingdom resulted in positive attitudes towards British products. The research findings reveal that consumer attitudes
towards a country interact with evaluations of products to influence purchasing behavior.
Keywords: country image, boycotts
JEL Codes: D120, F140, M310
1. Introduction
The tension resulting from failed negotiations between the United States and France before the start of the Iraq war in 2003
provides an opportunity to examine if negative attitudes by U.S. consumers against France resulted in lower product evaluations and a
reduced likelihood to purchase French products. Most Americans can remember calls for a boycott of French products during the spring
of 2003 (Chavis & Leslie 2006). In contrast to negative sentiments towards France, the beginning of the Iraq war also ushered an era
where the Britain was hailed as a true ally and friend of the United States. This study examines if negative attitudes towards France and
positive attitudes towards Britain had a longer term impact by influencing consumer attitudes about these countries’ products.
Boycotts of products or services have often been used by consumers to punish an organization, business, or country that is
perceived to have taken inappropriate or unethical actions. In the United States, boycotts increased by approximately fourfold between
the mid nineteen eighties to the nineteen nineties (Putnam 1993). Miller (1992) reports that most boycotts are not very effective with
only about 18% of American consumers engaged in such actions. However, she also reports that consumers who boycott tend to be
college educated and have higher incomes, thus, refusal to purchase a company’s products may have a disproportionate effect on sales
revenues. Additionally, John and Klein (2003) found that more people are likely to participate in boycotts if they believe that there is
general consensus about the validity of such a boycott and perceive a broad level of participation.
Calls for boycotting French products and travel to France in the spring of 2003 appeared to have created a strong consensus
among US consumers. When the U.S. was pleading with the United Nations Security Council to authorize the use of force against Iraq,
France’s ambassador to the United Nations vetoed the request by the U.S. As France appeared to act contrary to the stated interests of
the United States, several popular radio talk shows called for a boycott of French products sold in the U.S. and a boycott of visits to
France by U.S. nationals. Consumers were expressing their anger towards the French government by focusing on anything that was
French. An unidentified male yelling “We don’t need your stinking wine” was featured on CNN and drew much attention and support
(Lou Dobbs Moneyline 2003). In a patriotic fervor, many Americans sought to rid themselves of everything related to France. Even the
name of “french fries” was changed to “freedom fries” in several restaurants including the capital cafeteria (Chavis & Leslie 2006,
Ashenfelter, et al. 2007).
During the first month of the Iraq war, a telephone poll of 1,003 U.S. consumers conducted by a marketing research firm
documented that anti-French sentiments were strong (Frank 2003). Almost two-thirds (64%) of the people interviewed indicated that
they either had a very unfavorable or a somewhat unfavorable opinion of French companies and products. Close to half (46%) said they
would look for substitutes of French products and 29% said they would boycott or avoid buying French products. In contrast, 60% of the
same respondents said they felt more favorable towards British brands. The boycott of French products appeared to have a significant
effect on the purchases of Americans and their travel plans. By April of 2003, the French Government Tourist Office reported that 41%
of Americans with travel plans to France had modified them in some fashion, and that requests for information for travel to France were
down by 34% in the month of March (Horovitz 2003). Horovitz (2003) also reports that French wine imports were down by 10%
following the calls for a boycott of French products, while some French restaurants repeated a 25% drop in business. Ironically, most of
these restaurants were owned by American citizens.
But, would the anti-French and pro-British public sentiment expressed during the early months of the Iraq War have lasting
effects on purchases of French and British products by U.S. consumers? Would U.S. consumers change their travel plans to Europe to
conform to their political beliefs? And, would politically conservative consumers be more likely to remain faithful to these calls for a
boycott than consumers with a liberal political orientation? This study seeks to answer how attitudes towards France and Britain2
affected consumer evaluations of products produced in those countries as well as plans to visit these countries a year after the beginning
of the Iraq war.
1.1. Consumer animosity and boycotts
Strong animosity towards a country has been shown to have a negative effect on consumer willingness to buy the country’s
products. Klein, et al. (1998) documented that Chinese consumers who recalled the Nanjing massacre in 1937 where 300,000 Chinese
civilians were killed by the Japanese continued to harbor animosity towards Japan and were unwilling to buy Japanese products, even
though they acknowledged the superior quality of those products. Reifler and Diamantopoulos (2007) further articulated the importance
of animosity on consumer purchases by indicating that the effects of animosity depended on its source (war, economic differences,
1
Professor of Marketing, School of Business and Economics, Seattle Pacific University, 3307 Third Ave. W., Suite 201, Seattle, WA 98119, USA,
[email protected]
2
The name Britain is used interchangeably with United Kingdom, the official name of the country.
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International Conference on Applied Economics – ICOAE 2008
religious differences, etc), as well as the intensity of these sentiments. Thus, the effects of animosity are not expected to be the same
across different cultures and situations.
France appears to have generated consumer animosity at least twice in the last few years. In 1995, France conducted a series of
five nuclear tests in the South Pacific north of Australia. Australians called for wide boycotts of all French products as a protest to these
nuclear tests. As a result of economic and political pressures, the French government suspended these nuclear tests in 1996. In fact, the
results of the Australian boycott of French products were not only significant in the short term, but had lasting negative effects on
Australian consumers’ perceptions of France and their evaluations of the quality of French products (Ettenson & Klein 2005).
The most recent instance of animosity against France occurred in the United States in 2003, during the first year of the Iraq
war. There is no consensus, however, on the effect of the boycott of French products by American consumers in 2003. Chavis and
Leslie (2006) estimate that the boycott of French wines in 2003, reduced weekly sales by 26% at the peak of the boycott and by an
average of 13% for the first six months. But, Ashenfelter, et al. (2007) dispute Chavis and Leslie’s conclusions by taking into account
cyclical and seasonal patterns influencing sales of French wine in the United States. The present research examines whether animosity
towards France persisted after the first few months of the Iraq war and whether it had a broader effect on U.S. consumers’ evaluations of
French products, their willingness to buy French products and travel to France.
1.2. Country-of-origin research
The effects of consumer attitudes on products imported from another country have been documented through research on the
effects of country-of-origin. The country-of-origin (COO) of imported products and services acts as a brand that orients consumers as to
the attributes of the products and services they intend to buy (Erickson, et al. 1992, Han & Terpstra 1988, Papadopoulos & Heslop 2000,
Papadopoulos, et al. 1986, Parameswaram & Pisharodi 1994, Peterson & Jolibert 1995). Thus, consumers tend to regard products made
in certain countries as having better quality, being more reliable, stylish, etc. by virtue of the country-of-origin. In fact, Tan and Farley
(1987) claim that the effect of country of origin on consumer perceptions is the “most researched international aspect of consumer
behavior,” as researchers attempt to understand the mechanisms through which attitudes towards a country influence consumer
evaluations of products made in that country.
Laroche, et al. (2005) summarize a model developed by Papadopoulos, et al. (1988, 1990, 2000) whereby the effects of a
country-of-origin depend on three main factors: (1) a cognitive component which includes consumer perceptions about the technological
development of the country, (2) an affective or emotional component which includes feelings of liking or disliking a specific country,
and (3) a conative component which includes a desire for interacting with the products of the sourcing country. Laroche, at al.’s research
(2005) documented the influence of emotions towards a country on the evaluation of the country’s products. Thus, feelings of hostility
towards a country, France in this case, or goodwill, for Britain, could have an influence on the evaluation of that country’s products.
However, American consumers have not always held negative attitudes towards France. Earlier studies had documented a
positive attitude among American consumers with regard to French products. Leclerk, et al. (1994) found that U.S. consumers responded
positively not only to French products, but to French sounding brand names. These authors write that the “concept of ‘Frenchness”
brings to mind a rich network of associations related to aesthetic sensitivity, refined taste, and sensory pleasure and, in some instances,
elegance, flair, and sophistication (Leclerk, et al. 1994:264). A series of tracking polls conducted by Gallup (2008a) reveal that until
2002, over three quarters of Americans (79%) had very favorable or favorable views of France. Additionally, in 2002, France was the
second most frequently visited country by American tourists traveling overseas. According to the U.S. Office of Travel and Tourism,
10% of the 23,397,000 Americans who traveled overseas in 2002 visited France.
Americans have long held a positive attitude towards the British. In a Gallup poll conducted February 11-14, 2008, 89% held a
favorable view of the United Kingdom and only 7% had an unfavorable view (Gallup 2008b). Not surprisingly, Britain has consistently
been the number one destination for Americans traveling overseas (Office of Tourism and Travel 2007). Nevertheless, British products
have not been held in the same esteem as the country of Britain. Heslop and Papadopoulos (1993) found that British products were
evaluated as lower in product integrity, price-value, market presence, and overall response by U.S. consumers.
1.3. Research Questions
What happens when the image of a country changes because of political frictions? Do negative attitudes towards a country and
its government transfer into negative evaluations of a country’s products and services? And, would positive sentiments towards a
country have a positive influence on consumer evaluations of the country’s products? This study examines consumer attitudes towards
France and the United Kingdom, the products produced in these two countries, and respondent willingness to travel to these countries.
Consumer attitudes about products and travel are compared to their political views and the perceived willingness of each of these
countries to be an ally of the United States. This study examines the following hypotheses:
H1. U.S. consumers will hold negative attitudes towards the French.
Hypothesis 1 is based on the research reported by Frank (2003) showing substantial antipathy by U.S. consumers towards
France following the beginning Iraq war. A tracking study by Gallup reveals that the majority of Americans held negative attitudes
towards France throughout 2003 and 2004 (Gallup 2008a). U.S consumer attitudes towards France appear to have subsequently
improved. The Pew Research Center study (2006) and Gallup (2008a) indicate incremental increases in the favorability of France
beginning in 2005 and reaching a 69% favorable rating by 2008. But, as the data for the present study were collected in 2004, the effect
of hostility towards France generated in 2003 is expected to have had a significant effect on respondents’ opinions. This study measures
attitudes towards France by asking consumers to indicate whether their attitude towards France was very positive, somewhat positive,
neutral, somewhat negative, or very negative, and whether they perceived France to be an ally of the United States. Respondents were
also asked to write down attributes or characteristics of the French people.
H2. U.S. consumers holding negative attitudes towards the French will also evaluate French products negatively.
Hypothesis 2 is based on earlier research findings on the effects of country-of-origin on consumer evaluations of a country’s
products (Laroche, et al. 2005). Attitude towards the products of France was measured quantitatively and qualitatively. Quantitative
measures involve consumer ratings of French products in terms of quality, value, and variety using a scale from 0 to 10, where 0 stands
for the lowest possible evaluation and 10 for the highest evaluation. Respondents were also asked to indicate which French products they
had bought during the previous year. In addition, the survey included a hypothetical question where respondents were asked to indicate
which from a list of countries they would visit on vacation, if cost was not a concern.
H3. U.S. consumers who are conservative in their political views will hold more negative attitudes towards the French and
French products.
International Conference on Applied Economics – ICOAE 2008
829
As most of the television personalities and talk show hosts that were calling for a boycott of French products in 2003 were
conservative, this hypothesis assumes that the viewers or listeners of these shows would be the most likely to hold negative attitudes
towards France, French products, and travel to France. Perceptions of whether France is an ally of the United States are also believed to
have a significant effect on attitudes towards France.
The remaining 3 hypotheses focus on the United Kingdom. The same talk show hosts and television personalities calling for a
boycott of French products, were praising Britain’s decision to support the United States in Iraq. Additionally, Americans have long held
positive attitudes towards Britain (Gallup, 2008b). However, do these positive attitudes translate into increased willingness to buy
British products?
H4. U.S. consumers will hold positive attitudes towards the British.
H5. U.S. consumers holding positive attitudes towards the British will evaluate British products more positively than others.
H6. U.S. consumers who are conservative in their political views will hold more positive attitudes towards the British and
British products.
2. Research Methods and Analysis
Section 2.1. Research Method and Sample
The data collection was conducted twelve months following the beginning of the Iraq war in March 2003. A sample of 215
business students, undergraduates and graduates, were asked questions about their attitudes towards the people and the products made in
France and the United Kingdom. The students attended a private religiously-affiliated university in the city of Seattle in the United
States. The School of Business and Economics is accredited by the Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business (AACSB).
Students were asked to complete the questionnaire in class. The data was collected in several undergraduate and graduate business
classes. Respondents were asked their political orientation (conservative, middle of the road, liberal, or uninterested in politics), whether
they believed that France and the United Kingdom were U.S. allies, their likelihood of buying products made in France and the United
Kingdom, previous travel to the countries involved, and interest in future travel to these countries. All students who received a
questionnaire in class agreed to participate in the study. However, 22 of the questionnaires collected were incomplete and were not
included in the sample of 215 surveys that were used in the data analysis.
Most of the students in the sample were in the traditional age groups for undergraduate and graduate students. About 55.1%
were ages 19-21 and 31.4% were ages 22-29. The remainder of the sample was almost evenly divided among all other age groups.
Almost three quarters (73.7%) were business students with the remainder divided among a variety of other discipline groups. There were
47.8% males in the sample and 52.2% females. Because the sample was selected in the School of Business and Economics at a
religiously-affiliated university, students tended to be more conservative and more affluent than the population at large. In terms of their
political affiliation, 43.4% of students indicated they were conservative, 34.9% were moderates, 11.8% were liberal, and 9.9% indicated
they were not interested in politics. Respondents were a sophisticated group with an overwhelming majority having traveled outside the
United States (96.7%). Not surprisingly given the proximity of Seattle to Canada, 87.7% of those who had traveled abroad had traveled
to Canada. Over two-thirds (69.1%) had traveled to Mexico, and a significant proportion had traveled to Europe, especially to the United
Kingdom (29.9%) and France (20.6%).
2.2. Results
Hypothesis 1 posits that in 2004 U.S. consumers held negative attitudes towards France. Attitudes towards France were
examined both by asking respondents to indicate if their impression of France was very positive, somewhat positive, neutral, somewhat
negative, or very negative. Over 40 percent of respondents had a negative attitude of France (10.3% had a very negative attitude and
30.3% had a somewhat negative attitude). A smaller percentage had a positive attitude towards France (12.8% very positive and 26.2%
very positive). Another 20.5% indicated that they had a neutral attitude towards France. Not surprisingly, over half the people in the
sample indicated that France was not ally of the United States (54.6%) and only 9.3% thought that it was a U.S. ally. The remaining
36.1% felt that France was neutral. These findings closely reflect the attitudes expressed in the public opinion survey reported by Frank
(2003) after the beginning of the Iraq war.
Attitudes towards France were also measured by asking respondents to write down words that came to mind when they thought
of the French people. Individuals could list as many words as came to mind. The responses included both positive and negative
attributes, although the negative responses outnumbered the positive. Some of the most common negative responses were: arrogant
(listed by 45.8% percent of respondents), rude (24.1%), negative towards the USA (19.9%), liberal in a negative way (6.0%), hostile/not
friendly (4.8%), selfish (3.6%), and wimps (3%).
The most common positive responses were: fashionable (listed by 16.3% of
respondents), refined (13.6%), romantic (10.2%), artistic (8.2%), attractive (6.4%), patriotic (4.2%), and charming (3.7%). Thus, it
appears that Hypothesis 1 is supported both with the quantitative and qualitative responses. It is noteworthy, however, that when
describing the French people, negative attributes were primarily focused on arrogance and rudeness, rather than the perception of
hostility towards the United States.
Hypothesis 2 assumes that negative sentiments towards France would translate to negative evaluations French products.
Attitudes towards French products were measured by asking respondents to evaluate the quality, the value, and the variety of
these products using a scale from 0 to 10, where 0 stood for a very negative evaluation and 10 for a positive evaluation. Those
respondents who had either a positive or neutral attitude towards France evaluated the quality of French products higher in all three of
those dimensions (see Table 1). It should be noted, however, that while all respondents evaluated the quality of French products
positively (rating of 7 or above on a scale from 0 to 10), evaluations of the value of French products were significantly lower. Those
with a positive or neutral attitude towards France evaluated the value of French products as being 6.48 or higher on a scale from 0 to 10,
while those with a negative attitude rated French products less than 5 on the same scale (see Table 1). In all three attributes of French
products, the differences between those holding very positive, somewhat positive, or neutral attitudes towards France were small, while a
substantial reduction in average ratings occurred for those who had a negative evaluation of France.
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Table 1. Effects of evaluation of France on Evaluation of French Products
Attitude Towards France
Very
Somewhat
Neutral
Somewhat
Very
Positive
Positive
Negative
Negative
Evaluation
of
Quality of French
8.83
8.59
8.13
7.00
7.06
Products *
Evaluation
of
Value of French
6.75
6.48
6.76
4.98
4.00
Products*
Evaluation
of
Variety of French
7.74
7.23
7.07
5.63
4.81
Products*
* Mean ratings on a scale from 0 to 10; 0 stands for very low rating, 10 for very high rating
** Value of F statistic for Analysis of Variance (ANOVA)
** * Statistically significant above the .001 level of significance.
F-stat.**
Sign.
7.73
.00***
8.66
.00***
10.78
.00***
However, when respondents were asked what French products they had bought, the difference between those who had a
negative and those who had a positive attitude towards France appeared to be small or non-existent for most product categories. Table 2
summarizes the differences between the most frequently purchased French products by those holding positive, neutral, or negative
attitudes towards France. As individuals could report purchasing a variety of products and brands, the results were summarized using the
Multiple Response Crosstabs function of the Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS). No significance tests can be applied to
Multiple Response analyses, thus, the percentages reported are evaluated on a qualitative basis. The most popular categories of French
products purchased by respondents were wines, cosmetics, food items, toiletries, and clothing items. Those with negative attitudes
towards France were about as likely to purchase French products as those with a positive attitude towards France. In fact, a negative
attitude did not appear to keep respondents from purchasing the French products they wanted. For example, a third of respondents
(33.3%) with a very negative attitude towards France reported having bought French wines, and 55.6% of those with very negative
attitude had bought French food items such as cheese. Some of the other products purchased by respondents are shown in Table 2.
These findings support the conclusions reached by Ashenfelter, et al. (2007) as consumers continued purchasing the types of French
products they preferred (wine, cheese, cosmetics, perfume, etc.) even though they reported negative attitudes towards France.
On the other hand, respondents’ attitude towards France appeared to influence their choice of vacation destination.
Respondents were asked which countries they would they prefer to travel to, if the cost of the trip was not a concern. Respondents were
given a list of 7 countries (Britain, Canada, France, Germany, Japan, and Mexico), plus an option to select “travel in any country.”
Overwhelmingly, those with a very positive attitude towards France would prefer to travel to France (54.5%), compared to 5.0% of those
with a very negative attitude towards France (see Table 3). Britain appeared to be the beneficiary of negative attitudes towards France as
those with a very negative attitude toward France chose Britain as their preferred vacation destination (45.0%). Thus, it appears that
travel to a country is influenced by a different set of criteria than purchases of products originating in that country. Perceptions of
quality, uniqueness, style, etc. have a significant and independent effect on the choice of products that consumers buy from a certain
country. In the case of France, travel to that country appears to be significantly affected by consumer evaluations of the country itself.
Table 2. Effects of Attitude towards France on Purchases of French Products
Attitude Towards France
Products
Very Positive
Somewhat
Neutral
Somewhat
Purchased
by
Positive
Negative
Respondents in
Percent*
Food
23.5%
71.9%
53.4%
10.3%
Wine
5.9%
25.0%
13.3%
13.7%
Cosmetics and
Perfume
47.1%
31.3%
46.7%
24.1%
Clothing
27.7%
34.4%
20.0%
0.0%
* Multiple response items; percentages were calculated based on the total number of respondents
Table 3. Effects of Attitude towards France on Preferred Travel Destination
Attitude Towards France
Preferred travel Very Positive
Somewhat
Neutral
destination
if
Positive
costs were not a
concern
Britain
18.2%
17.6%
15.4%
Canada
4.5%
3.9%
2.6%
France
54.5%
47.1%
33.3%
Germany
22.7%
3.9%
17.9%
Japan
0.0%
11.8%
2.6%
Mexico
0.0
15.7%
28.2%
Χ2 =44.87, p=.006
Somewhat
Negative
17.2%
0.0%
24.1%
17.2%
8.6%
31.0%
Very Negative
55.5%
33.3%
22.2%
0.0%
Very Negative
45.0%
5.0%
5.0%
20.0%
0.0%
25.0%
Thus, Hypothesis 2 is partially supported. In the quantitative analyses reported in Table 1, respondents who had negative
attitudes towards France evaluated French products more negative than those who had a positive attitude, though most respondents felt
that the quality of French products was very good. It is probably for this reason that respondents continued buying many French
International Conference on Applied Economics – ICOAE 2008
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products such as wine and food items (cheese, etc.) regardless of their attitude towards France. However, travel to France appears to be
more susceptible to negative attitudes towards France, as only those with positive attitudes towards France would select that country as
their preferred travel destination.
Hypothesis 3 focused on the effect of the political orientation of respondents on their attitude towards France and French
products. As most of the talk show hosts who were calling for a boycott of French products were conservative, this hypothesis is based
on the assumption that their conservative viewers and/or listeners will be those most likely to hold a negative attitude about France and
would be most likely to boycott French products. Political orientation was measured by asking respondents to indicate if they were
conservative, middle-of-the-road , liberal, or if they did not care about politics. Respondents were also asked about whether they
considered France an ally of the United States or not.
Political orientation did not have a statistically significant effect (at the .05 level) on respondents’ attitudes about France.
However, the belief that France was not an ally of the United States appears to have a significant effect on consumer attitudes towards
France. Of those who believed that France was not ally of the United States (54.6% of the sample, see H1 discussion), 37.1% had a
somewhat negative attitude towards France and 17.1% had a very negative attitude. In contrast, among those who believed that France
was neutral towards the United States (36.1% of the sample), 24.6% had a somewhat negative impression of France and 2.9% had a very
negative impression (see Table 4). Thus, respondent perceptions that France was working against the United States appear to have a
significant effect on attitudes about France independently of each person’s political orientation.
Table 4. Effects of Beliefs about France as an Ally of the United States on Attitudes towards France
Belief about France as an Ally of the United States
Attitude towards France
Ally
Neutral
Very Positive
29.4%
8.7%
Somewhat Positive
41.2%
37.7%
Neutral
11.8%
26.1%
Somewhat Negative
17.6%
24.6%
Very Negative
0.0%
2.9%
Χ2 =28.52, p=.00, statistically significant at the .001 level
Not an Ally
10.5%
17.1%
18.1%
37.1%
17.1%
Hypothesis 4 posits that U.S. consumers will hold positive attitudes towards Britain. Consumers’ attitude towards Britain was
measured by asking respondents if their impression of this country was positive, somewhat positive, neutral, somewhat negative, or very
negative. In contrast to attitudes towards France, over three quarters (76.1%) of the sample held a positive attitude toward the United
Kingdom (30.7% very positive and 45.4% somewhat positive). Equally important was the fact that only 3.9% had a somewhat negative
attitude towards the UK, and no one had a very negative attitude. Similarly, an overwhelming majority of respondents felt that Britain
was an ally to the United States (94.6%), 4.9% believed that Britain was neutral, and 0.5% felt that it was not an ally of the United States.
Thus, respondents had a very positive attitude towards Britain.
The qualitative assessment of consumer attitudes towards the British gave a more varied view of how these people are viewed
by U.S. consumers. There were many positive attributes noted by respondents that described the British people such as having good
manners/being proper (25.3%), being traditional and having a royal family (21.8%), being classy/sophisticated (16.0%), having quaint
accents (19.5%), being polite (13.7%), fashionable (11.5%), having a good sense of humor (9.2%), and being well educated (6.9%).
However, there were also several negative attributes that we used to describe the British such as snobby (21.1%), uptight (13.7%), rude
(6.8%), unattractive (6.3%), with bad teeth (5.1%), and bad humor (4.6%).
Table 5. Effects of Evaluation of United Kingdom on the Evaluation of British products
Attitude Towards Britain
Very
Somewhat
Neutral
Somewhat
Very
Positive
Positive
Negative
Negative
Evaluation
of
Quality of British
8.50
7.43
7.61
6.50
NA**
Products *
Evaluation
of
Value of British
6.81
6.16
6.46
5.67
NA**
Products*
Evaluation
of
Variety of British
6.28
5.43
5.50
4.20
NA**
Products*
* Mean ratings on a scale from 0 to 10; 0 stands for very low rating, 10 for very high rating
** No one in the sample had a very negative attitude towards the United Kingdom.
** *Statistically significant at the .001 level of significance.
F-stat.
Sign.
6.49
.00***
1.84
.14
2.26
.08
Hypothesis 5 posits that the positive attitudes reported towards the United Kingdom would translate to positive attitudes
towards British products. Just as with the analysis of French products, there was a quantitative (scaled) and a qualitative assessment of
British products. The quantitative assessment involved using a scale from 0 to 10, where 0 indicates the lowest possible evaluation and
10 the highest possible evaluation to rate the quality, value, and variety of British products. The analysis of variance that was performed
revealed one statistically significant relationship (see Table 5). Individuals with a very positive attitude towards Britain held a very
positive view of the quality of British products (8.50 rating on a scale from 0 to 10), while those with a somewhat negative view of
Britain evaluated British significantly lower (6.50 on the same scale). There were no statistically significant differences in the evaluation
of the value and variety of British products.
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Table 6. Effects of Attitude towards Britain on British Products Purchased
Attitude Towards Britain
Products
Very Positive
Somewhat
Neutral
Somewhat
Purchased
by
Positive
Negative
Respondents in
Percent*
Clothing
38.6%
15.8%
8.4%
0.0%
Food
36.2%
18.5%
13.5%
20.0%
Tea
14.3%
10.5%
8.3%
0.0%
Liquor/Beer
7.2%
2.6%
4.2%
0.0%
* Multiple response items; percentages were calculated based on total number of respondents
** No one in the sample had a very negative attitude towards the United Kingdom.
Very Negative
NA**
NA
NA
NA
When it came to actual purchases of British products, attitude toward Britain appears to influence consumer purchases of
products. Purchases of British products were primarily made by those who really liked the country of Britain (Anglophiles). Table 6
shows the percentage of respondents who had bought different types of British products. The cross-tabulation was made using the
Multiple Response function of SPSS. The percentage of respondents who indicated they purchased a specific type of product is reported,
but no statistical tests can be applied to this analysis. Those with a very positive attitude towards Britain were often twice as likely to
purchase clothing, food, liquor and beer made in the United Kingdom than those with a somewhat positive attitude towards Britain (see
Table 6). This finding stands in contrast to the equivalent results (Table 2) for French products. It appears that while French products
stand on their own regardless of consumers’ attitude towards France, purchases of British products are closely tied to an overall liking of
the country of Britain.
Table 7. Preferred travel destination by attitude towards Britain
Attitude Towards Britain
Preferred travel Very Positive
Somewhat
Neutral
destination
if
Positive
costs were not a
concern
Britain
36.2%
12.1%
14.6%
Canada
3.4%
2.2%
2.4%
France
27.6%
35.2%
41.5%
Germany
15.5%
16.5%
7.3%
Japan
3.4%
6.6%
7.3%
Mexico
13.8%
26.4%
26.8%
Χ2 =22.92, p=.19, not statistically significant
* No one in the sample had a very negative attitude towards the United Kingdom.
Somewhat
Negative
37.5%
0.0%
12.5%
25.0%
12.5%
12.5%
Very Negative
NA*
NA
NA
NA
NA
NA
Attitude towards Britain, however, did not appear to have a significant effect on interest in traveling to that country (see Table
7). Britain has always been the number one travel destination for Americans traveling overseas (Office of Travel and Tourism 2006).
The percentage of respondents indicating they wish to travel to the United Kingdom in Table 7 appears to be equally high among those
who hold a very positive attitude towards Britain as well as among those with a somewhat negative attitude towards Britain. Thus, it
appears that Britain, as a travel destination, appears to be attractive independent of one’s attitude towards the country, their government,
and their people.
Hypothesis 6 focused on the effect of the political orientation of respondents on their attitude towards Britain and British
products. The same conservative talk show hosts who were calling for a boycott of French products in 2003 were praising the support
that the U.S. government was receiving from the Blair government in the UK. However, the praises towards the British government
were not extended to support for buying British products. Just as in the analysis of attitudes towards France, one’s political orientation
did not have a significant effect on one’s attitudes about Britain. Conservatives, liberals, and moderates appeared to have a generally
favorable opinion of the United Kingdom. Similarly, as close to 95% of respondents believed that Britain was an ally of the United
States, that variable did not have a statistically significant effect on attitudes towards Britain and travel to Britain.
3. Conclusion
The results of this study indicate that U.S. consumers appeared to have substantially different attitudes towards Britain and
France a year after the beginning of the Iraq war in March 2003. Britain received much higher overall ratings than France, with only
3.9% of the sample indicating they had a somewhat negative attitude towards the United Kingdom, while 40.7% of the sample indicated
they had either a somewhat negative or very negative opinion of France. However, qualitative assessments of the French people focused
mostly on their perceived arrogance and/or rudeness, and not on their government’s lack of cooperation with the American government.
The effect of attitudes towards each of these countries on the evaluation of the products of the two countries was mixed.
People with a negative attitude towards France appeared to rate French products lower than others in terms of quality, value, and variety,
but actual purchases of products did not appear to be affected by consumer attitudes. For example, among the people who reported
having a very negative attitude towards France, 55% reported having purchased French food items, such as cheese, and 33% reported
having purchased French wines. This finding supports the research by Ashenfelter, et al. (2007) who found that purchases of French
wines did not substantially change after the calls for a boycott. The one area where a negative attitude towards France appears to have a
significant effect was travel to France. Over half (54.5%) of those with a favorable attitude towards France would want to travel to that
country, if cost was not a concern. But, those with a negative attitude towards France tended to favor travel to Britain. Thus, the effect
of country-of-origin on travel to France appears to be stronger than its impact on purchases of French products. One possible explanation
of this finding could be that when people travel to a certain country, they consume the “country” itself. In contrast, a country’s products
International Conference on Applied Economics – ICOAE 2008
833
can often stand independent of the country. For example, preference for French wines, cheese, cosmetics, and perfume is not affected by
consumer perceptions that France is not an ally of the United States, nor by the belief that French people are arrogant and rude.
The findings of this study illustrate the complexity of analyzing the effect of the image of a certain country on consumer
product purchases. In the case of France, consumers with a negative overall attitude towards France provided lower evaluations when
asked to rate the country’s products. However, when asked about the products they had actually purchased, it appeared that evaluation of
the country did not have an impact on purchases of many products. Consumers did not want to give up their favorite wine, cheese, or
cosmetics because of their attitude towards France. Travel to France, on the other hand, appeared to be subject to a different set of
dynamics. Only those with a positive or neutral attitude towards France wanted to travel to France, and those with a negative attitude
towards France indicated a preference for other travel destinations. Attitudes towards Britain, however, seemed to have a different
impact on consumer attitudes about British products and purchases. While attitudes about Britain only seemed to affect perceptions of
the quality of British products, most people who actually purchased British products tended to be those with the most positive attitudes
towards Britain. Thus, the term “Anglophile” appears to be appropriate for a segment of the respondents to this survey. Anglophiles like
British fashions, buy British jams, and drink tea packaged by British companies. The value of these products appears to be interwoven
with favorable attitudes towards the country of Great Britain. But, outside this segment of Anglophiles, positive sentiments towards the
United Kingdom were not translated into increased purchases of British products. In contrast, when U.S. consumers buy French products,
many buy them independently of their beliefs about France and their political orientation.
Thus, the effects of a boycott may depend on the reason products are purchased. If a product gets purchased because
consumers believe it is a superior product to other offerings in the marketplace, it is possible that the boycott will have a limited effect.
On the other hand, if a person buys a product or travels to a country because of a positive affective (emotional) association with that
country, then grievances towards the country and calls for boycotts could have a more significant effect. However, all other things being
equal, negative feelings towards a country appear to have a stronger effect on consumer attitudes and behaviors than positive feelings.
It is also important to note that the findings of this research were based on an educated and sophisticated segment of the U.S.
population. The majority of respondents to this survey had traveled abroad and had bought imported products. It is possible that other
segments of U.S. consumers would have had a different response to calls for a boycott of French products. Of course, from a pragmatic
point of view, boycotts are only effective if they resonate with the segments of the population most likely to buy these products. Thus, if
the segments most likely to implement a boycott of French products do not buy French products, then such a boycott will have a very
limited impact.
However, it is important to point out that consumers in other parts of the world may have a very different response to calls for
product boycotts than the ones noted in this research. For example, the Nanjing massacre by the Japanese that is cited by Klein, et al.
(1998) has had a more substantial and long-lasting effect on Chinese consumers than the France’s lack of cooperation in the United
Nations Security Council has had on U.S. consumers. Ultimately, as Riefer and Diamantopoulos (2007) posit, it may be difficult to
construct a scale that measures animosity across all countries and situations. Anger may be experienced differently in each country.
Statements made during a television show such as, “We don’t need your stinking wine” (Lou Dobbs Moneyline 2003) probably do not
reflect strong enough anger among consumers to make substantial and long-lasting changes in their purchasing behavior.
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