the evaluation of turkish consumers' attitudes towards foreign products

THE EVALUATION OF TURKISH CONSUMERS’ ATTITUDES
TOWARDS FOREIGN PRODUCTS
375
Atılım ONAY, Research Assistant
Anadolu University TURKEY
aonay@anadolu.edu.tr
Atılım ONAY was born in Antakya on 20.06.1978. He graduated from high school
(Ankara Anadolu Lisesi) in 1996 and then joined at the Anadolu University
Communication Sciences Faculty Department of Communication Arts. He took his
master degree from Anadolu University Graduate School of Social Sciences in 2004. He is
still in doctorate programme at Advertising and Public Relations Depeartment. He has
been working at the Communication Sciences Faculty as research assistant since 2001.
Abstract
There are six basic factors affecting the country origin effect. The studies carried out
about this issue can be classified depending on this. Country images and characteristics:
Each country has become identical with their historical culture and various icons and has
formed an image becoming a brand. Many studies which have been carried out so far
have demonstrated that country image in the global market is an important factor in
deciding to buy. Brand attitudes: The effect of country origin directly or indirectly affects
the manner of brand. When it is time for a consumer to decide on a certain brand, the
knowledge about the country origin affects the manners towards that certain brand.
Product knowledge/ characteristics: The studies carried out in the field demonstrated that
while consumers obtain knowledge about a certain product, they give importance to the
knowledge of country origin. Culture: Studies demonstrate that especially consumers in
developing countries can give different meanings to some products produced in
developed countries considering their own cultures. Consumer characteristics: Studies in
the field suggest that the racial and physiographic characteristics of consumers have
caused the country origin effects to be perceived differently. Consumer ethnocentrism:
Consumer ethnocentrism, which is handled and described with different components,
changes the perception of country origin. In this study, the countries, which will be
evaluated, have been determined as Germany, France and Italy, which have the highest
importing rates to Turkey, considering the products reaching the last consumers. We
aimed at determining the consumer attitude and perception in three categories:
marketing efforts of the products, the concept of country origin and the country products.

THE EVALUATION OF TURKISH CONSUMERS’ ATTITUDES
TOWARDS FOREIGN PRODUCTS
Products are produced in “places” or any place ranging from a city to a state; in a
country, in an area, in a continent or in the world as “global” products. This information
about the place where the product is produced is called as country origin. Actually, a
product or brand cannot be thought apart from the place where it was produced, in other
words the country origin.
The social changes and developments and economic changes in world history have also
changed country origin effect and description. For example, the appearance of local
cultures, the increase in the facilities of transportation, and the most importantly the
increase in the easiness of obtaining the desired information have also increased the effect
of knowing about the country origin on consumption and communication studies.
Consumers know about what products are better produced in which areas no more, and
this case affects many factors ranging from brand preference to the money to be paid for
a certain product.
Products are not necessarily made in “countries”. They are made in “places”, or
geographic origins, which can be anything from a city to a state or province, a country, a
region, a continent-or the world, in the case of “global” products. Further, unless viewed
in strictly legal terms, “made-in” can mean manufactured-in but also assembled-,
designed-, or invented-in, made by a producer whose domicile is-in, and often, wanting
to lool like it was made-in . Lastly, “buyers and sellers” can be anything from industrial
and consumer users of products to national governments courting each other in the hope
of establishing closer trade relations. Since the “origin” images of “products” can have so
many facets, it is no surprise that they have been the object of study in disciplines ranging
from political science to cultural anthropology and urban geography (Papadopoulos,
Heslop, 1993).
When we look from advertisers’ and advertising communicators’ point of view, it
becomes an important datum to know about under which conditions the effect of country
origin turns out to be an important factor. For instance, when a new communication
strategy towards products or services is developed, the effect of country origin must be
taken into consideration.
The basic factors affecting the country origin
When the literature in the field of country origin is carefully studied, it is seen that there
are six basic factors affecting the country origin effect. The studies carried out in the field
can be classified depending on this; as country image and its characteristics, attitudes
towards trademarks, product knowledge/product properties, culture, consumer
characteristics and consumer ethnocentrism.
When country image and characteristics are mentioned, the first thing that we recall is
that each country has been identified with different icons including each country’s
historical culture and has created a country image being labeled as a trademark. Many
studies having been carried out so far, have revealed that country image is an important
factor affecting consumers’ choices in purchasing in today’s global market. Image is
defined as “mental picture being formed as a result of a process of being informed”. With
a clearer expression, it means evaluating the obtained knowledge and data, ranging from
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various channels to advertisement, from advertisements to natural contacts, from the
culture in which we live to the prejudices that we have (Özenç, 2002). The image in
human mind about any product, trademark or country can be stated to be effective and
determining in the attitudes and the behaviors of the consumers. In such cases in which
no experience is available about product, consumers mostly determine some
characteristics as their principals like the quality of the product, price, brand image,
producer image, sales outlet image or country origin (Schiffman, Kanuk, 2004).
Some countries have impressive reputation in some kinds of products; such as Japan in
the field of automotive and electronic objects, USA in the field of advanced technological
products, beverages, toys, cigarette and jeans, France in the field of wine, perfume,
luxurious consumption products, are the countries having already deserved reputation.
The fact that country image is mostly preferred and more impressive means that country
origin has a more eye catching role in the introduction of a trademark and in labeling
(Kotler, Jatusripitak & Maesince, 2002)
Research (Schooler, 1965; Schooler & Wildt, 1968; Nagashima,1970; Darling, 1985;
Johansson, Douglas, Nonaka, 1985; Hong & Wyer, 1990; Smith, 1993; Parameswaran &
Pisharodi, 1994; Ahmed & dʹAstous, 1995) indicates that being perceived of a certain
country by people affects the attitudes of people towards the products of that certain
country. The characteristics of that country, the development level of that country in the
field of technology, democratic structure of it, the characteristics of the people of that
country affect the perceptions towards that country. Research shows that positive
impressions attributed to a certain country are mostly reflected to the products produced
in that certain country; similarly negative impressions attributed to that country also
affect the evaluation of the products of that country and attitudes of the people towards
the products of that country. From this point of view, the attitudes of the consumers
towards the country in which the products are made and the knowledge of the
consumers about that country become an important datum for marketing experts and
advertisers.
The studies dealing with attitudes towards a trademark under the frame of country
origin demonstrate that the effect of country origin has affected attitudes towards
trademark directly or indirectly (Han, 1990; Schaefer, 1995; Ahmed & at. Al, 2002). When
deciding on a certain trademark is in question for a consumer, the knowledge about the
country origin affects the attitudes towards that trademark. At this point, the
development level of the countries appears as an important factor in shaping people’s
attitudes towards trademarks. It is seen that the development level or reliability of a
country help the products of that country to be perceived as developed and reliable
trademarks. On the other hand, in the cases in which little knowledge is available about a
certain trademark, the country origin effect appears as a factor in the formation of
attitudes towards that trademark.
The studies carried out in the field of country origin indicate that consumers give
importance to country origin when they want to obtain knowledge about a product. In
some product categories, the knowledge about the country origin seems to have priority
over some properties like the price, warranty of the product in the evaluation of that
trademark in people’s eyes.
Culture appears to be an important factor in explaining consumer behaviors and in
marketing activities. The effect of culture in people’s behaviors and its effect on consumer
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attitudes have been examined in many studies. Studies (Zhang, 1996; Canlı and
Maheswaran, 2000; Parameswaran and Pisharodi, 2002) reveal that the consumers in
developing countries attribute different meanings to the products made in developed
countries. This causes consumers in developing countries to use the products made in
developed countries as a sign of their social statue. In some cultures, it is observed that
the use of native products is approved by the society.
The country origin studies carried out to determine the characteristics of consumers
(Chao and Gupta, 1995) demonstrate that demographic and physiographic properties of
the consumers have caused the effect of country origin to be perceived differently.
Consumer ethnocentrism, which is handled and described with different elements, also
alters the perception of the knowledge of country origin. In the cases in which consumer
ethnocentrism is strong, it is observed that positive attitudes are developed and in the
cases in which consumer ethnocentrism is weak, it is observed that attitudes are formed
with different factors.
Problem
In this study it is aimed to reveal the effect of country origin on Turkish consumers’
attitudes and their perception. The attitudes and the perception of the consumers
towards the countries where the target products are made are unknown; the attitudes
and the perception of those foreign countries towards their marketing activities are also
unknown. Besides, there is no data showing how the country origin is important in the
process of purchasing.
Purpose
With this study, the effect of country origin on Turkish consumers’ attitudes and
perception will be tried to bring to light in a descriptive way.
The possible answers for the following questions will be looked for in parallelism to the
purpose of the study.
1. What are the Turkish consumers’ attitudes towards the products made in
Germany, Italy and France?
2. What are the Turkish consumers’ attitudes towards the marketing activities of the
products made in Germany, Italy and France?
3. What are the attitudes of Turkish consumers towards the country origin of the
products?
4. Is there any difference among Turkish consumers’ attitudes towards the products
produced in Germany, Italy and France?
5. Is there any difference among Turkish consumers’ attitudes towards the marketing
activities of the products made in Germany, Italy and France?
6. Is there any difference among Turkish consumers’ attitudes towards the origin of
Germany, Italy and France?
7. Is there any relation between the attitudes of Turkish consumers towards the
products made in Germany, Italy and France, the attitudes of Turkish consumers
towards the marketing activities of these products, the attitudes towards the
importance of country origin, gender and the amount of their income?
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8. Is there any relation between the attitudes of Turkish consumers towards the
products made in Germany, Italy and France, the attitudes towards the marketing
activities of these products and the attitudes towards the importance of country
origin?
Limitations
The limitations, which may affect the generalization of the research findings, can be
stated as follows:
1. The study is limited to only three countries, Germany, Italy and France. These three
countries have been chosen depending on the data of the external trading duties
undersecretary. In the categories chosen depending on the data of the year, 2003
(other foodstuffs; drinks, tobacco and its products; products of automotive
industry; office machines and communication systems; other machines and
transportation means; the products of textile industry; ready –made clothing; other
consumption properties), Germany, Italy and France are the countries which
imported the most products. The choice of product categories has been done
considering the latest products reaching consumers.
2. The participants of the study consist of the students from Communication Sciences
Faculty at Anadolu University
METHOD
The descriptive method, in which an already existing case is studied, is used in the study
with the use of questionnaire, observation and interviews.
The participants have been chosen as the 2003-2004 fall –term students at communication
Sciences faculty at Anadolu University. To choose the participants of the study, all the
teaching schedules are taken and all the courses having more than 30 attending students
are listed. Using this list, participants are chosen randomly. The questionnaire is applied
to 178 students in total as 94 male and 84 female.
Data and Data Collection
Attitude scale for country products, the marketing activities of these products and the importance
of country origin: the attitude scale developed by darling and Puetz and consisting of 31
items, is used in the study. In the scale, five –likert- scale is used. (1= strongly agree, 2=
agree, 3= no idea, 4= disagree, 5= strongly disagree). The scale consists of thee main parts.
The items numbered between 1 and 13 aim to measure the consumers’ attitudes towards
the marketing activities of the products of the chosen countries. The items numbered
between 14 and 26 aim to measure the attitudes of the products of the chosen countries
towards the marketing activities. The items 14 and 15 are about services, 16 and 17 are
about packaging, 18 and 19 are about pricing, 20 is about the name of trademark, 21 and
22 are about outlets, 23 is about the locations of the outlets, 24, 25 and 26 are about
advertising and promotions. The items numbered between 27 and 31 aim to measure the
importance of the knowledge of country origin.
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All data is transferred to “SPSS (Statistical Package for Social Sciences) for windows 11.0”
and using this programme, data is analyzed. The analyses used in the evaluation of the
data are frequency analysis, T-test, one-way variance analysis and correlation analysis.
In the piloting carried out after completing the conversion of the scale, the Alfa reliability
level is found to be .82.
As a consequence of factor analysis, the 31-item-scale is lowered to 26 revising some
items. The scale is applied to 178 participants in total as 84 female and 94 male.
RESULTS AND DISCUSSION
Table I: Attitudes towards German, Italian and French products and their standard
deviations.
The products produced in ……….
are favorable for the needs of Turkish
consumers.
The products made in ……… have a
competitive advantage compared
with those made in other countries.
The products made in …….are made
with the greatest of care and have
better workmanship.
In recent years, the products made in
………..seem to have had an increase
in their qualities.
The products made in ……. have
made great progress in the use of
advanced technology.
The products made in …… lacks of
creativity and looks like the products
made in other countries.
The products made in ……… have
many alternatives.
The products made in ……. are
produced by the companies the
primary concern of which is the
physical appearance of the products
rather than their performances.
The products made in ……… have
been produced very wisely with
regards to their color and design.
The products made in …….are mostly
reliable and seem to be long-lasting.
GERMANY ITALY FRANCE
380
2,5506
(,96271)
2,2697
(,99449)
2,3202
(1,00492)
2,7191
(,88922)
2,1629
(,88386)
3,1067
(1,11226)
2,4719
(,98680)
3,2697
(1,04437)
2,4719
(,95183)
2,0449
(,92559)
2,7978
(,91045)
2,5506
(,87671)
2,5787
(,90635)
2,6292
(,85545)
2,6348
(,80698)
3,3146
(1,00951)
2,3933
(,92813)
2,8483
(,98263)
2,2865
(,85829)
2,5899
(,82702)
3,1404
(,86190)
2,7022
(,95438)
2,6404
(,86026)
2,8090
(,82854)
2,6067
(,81813)
3,2865
(,98688)
2,4888
(,90970)
2,8371
(1,02034)
2,3708
(,86203)
2,6011
(,85925)

The products made in …… are for
luxurious consumption rather than for
basic needs, as their structures
require.
381
3,0674
(,98918)
2,6124
(1,00915)
2,4213
(1,06670)
When the averages of the attitudes towards the products made in the chosen countries
are examined, most of the values seem to be close to 3. In addition, for the statement of
“The products made in ….. generally lacks of creativity and looks like the products made
in other countries”, it seems that averages in three countries seem to be higher than 3. At
the same time, the standard deviations of the values given for the above mentioned
statement are found to be higher than 1.
Table II: The averages of the attitudes of the three countries’ products towards marketing
activities and their standard deviations.
In general, the care and repair
services provided for the products
made in …….. are adequate.
The packages of the products made
in …….. have been designed well
and every size is available.
The etiquettes and the manuals of
the products made in ……..
comprehensible and informative.
The products made in ……. are
cheaper when compared with those
made in other countries.
The brands of the products made in
…….. are easily recognized and
well-known.
The products made in …….. can be
easily found at outlets.
The retails selling the products made
in ……… have a good reputation.
The products made in ……. are
mostly exhibited well and sold at
retails.
The advertisements of the products
made in ………… are generally
persuasive and provide a reliable
source of knowledge about the
product.
The products made in ……… need
more advertisements and promotion
to better inform consumers about
the presence of the product.
ALMANYA İTALYA FRANSA
2,1966
(,93313)
2,5393
(,80333)
2,6011
(1,07009)
3,0337
(1,18798)
2,0674
(,97769)
2,1910
(,89413)
2,3708
(,87504)
2,3764
(,90754)
2,3539
(,91040)
3,0000
(1,03607)
2,6348
(,86770)
2,5562
(,73622)
2,7753
(,98294)
3,4101
(,91769)
2,3258
(,95994)
2,6292
(,85545)
2,4888
(,90970)
2,4438
(,88279)
2,6292
(,85545)
2,6236
(,93815)
2,6124
(,84457)
2,6517
(,78259)
2,8483
(1,05473)
3,4944
(,99290)
2,4494
(,96856)
2,7247
(,90670)
2,5281
(,88413)
2,4326
(,90726)
2,6180
(,89576)
2,5843
(1,02851)

When we examine the averages of the attitudes of the three countries’ products towards marketing
activities for the statement of “The products made in ……. are cheaper when compared with
those made in other countries.” the averages for the three countries seem to be above 3. At the
same time, the standard deviations of the values given to the above mentioned statement seem to
be above 1
Table III: The averages of attitudes towards the importance of country origin of the
products of the countries.
When I go shopping, I usually show
interest to the products made in ........
The fact that I use the products made
in .......... for the purpose of
comparison helps me to wisely choose
what I should buy.
As much as possible, I prefer to buy
the products made in .........
When I compare with other
countries, I am not pleased with the
products made in ...........
I am proud of myself to have the
products made in ...........
ALMANYA İTALYA FRANSA
3,0843
(1,22529)
2,8708
(1,08411)
3,1067
(1,31693)
2,7360
(,99884)
3,6573
(1,32787)
382
3,0787
(1,21873)
3,0899
(,93447)
3,2921
(1,22315)
2,7640
(,95103)
3,7135
(1,27201)
3,3202
(1,15163)
3,1573
(,92546)
3,4157
(1,13803)
2,8090
(,90043)
3,7809
(1,20839)
When we examine the averages of the attitudes towards the importance of the country
origin of the chosen countries, for the statement of “When I go shopping, I usually show
interest to the products made in .............” the averages for the three countries seem to be
above 3. At the same time, the standard deviations of the values given to the abovementioned
statement seem to be above 1.
For the statement of “ the fact that I use the products made in .......... for the purpose of
comparison helps me to wisely choose what I should buy”, The average of Germany is
below 3 and the averages of France and Italy are above 3.The standard deviation for
Germany is above 1, and For France and Italy, it is below 1.
For the statement of “I am proud of myself to have the products made in ...........”, the
averages of the three countries seem to be above 3.5. The standard deviation of the values
given to this statement is above 1.
Gender
In this phase, the connection between the overall attitudes towards gender, the products
made in these three countries, the marketing activities of these products, the importance
of the country origin and overall attitudes is analyzed with the use of T-test.
As a result of the test, a significant connection has been found between the overall
attitudes of the three categories made in Germany and gender. As can be seen in the
group statistics, the proportion of the overall attitudes of the female participants (71,8214)
towards the products made in Germany, when compared with that of male participants

(65,3441), their attitudes towards the marketing activities of these products and their
attitudes towards the country origin can be stated to more negative.
The analysis of the overall attitudes towards country origin, the marketing activities of
these products and the products.
The overall attitudes towards the products made in these three countries, the marketing
activities of these products and their country origin have been investigated with the use
of one-way variance analysis method. Then, the connections among the attitudes towards
the importance of the country origin, the marketing activities of the products made in
these countries and the amount of income and country products have been investigated.
When the overalls of the attitudes towards the products made in Germany, Italy and
France are evaluated, it can be stated that these three countries differed in the evaluation.
In this respect, it can be stated that consumers have different attitudes and perceptions
towards the products of these three countries, the marketing activities of these products
and the country origin.
Income
As a result of the ANOVA analysis, a significant connection has been established
between the attitudes towards the marketing activities of the products made in Germany
(overall for marketing in Germany), the attitudes towards the marketing activities of the
products made in Italy (overall for marketing in Italy) and the amount of income of the
participants. For other countries, no significant connection has been found.
The correlations among the attitudes towards the products, the marketing activities of
the products and the importance of country origin.
At this phase, the relations among the attitudes towards the products made in the
country, the marketing activities of the products and the importance of the country origin
have been investigated with the use of correlation analysis.
In almost all of the evaluations, a connection has been determined. This connection can
be described as a positive connection. The strong connection among the stated attitudes
indicates that the participants have utilized both attitudes similarly. Any participant
utilizing any of the stated attitudes as positive has also utilized the second attitude as
positive; if negative, the second one is also utilized as negative, if the participant is
neutral for any of the attitudes, s/he is also neutral for the second attitude.
The Averages of the attitudes towards the importance of country origin, the marketing
activities of the products, products and the averages of the attitudes of all categories.
In this part, the averages of the attitudes towards the importance of country origin, the
marketing activities of the products, products and of all categories are investigated. It can
be stated that the general attitudes towards the products made in Germany are more
positive than those of France and Italy. It can also be stated that the attitudes towards the
marketing activities of the products made in Germany are more positive than those of the
products made in France and Italy. It can be stated that participants have similar
evaluations about the countries with regards to their attitudes towards the importance of
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country origin. In spite of this, Germany seems to have been evaluated more positively in
terms of the attitudes towards the importance of country origin.
With regards to the overalls, Germany has been determined as the most positively
evaluated country out of the three countries. Italy is the next and then France comes.
RESULTS AND SUGGESTIONS.
This study is a descriptive research aiming to reveal the attitudes towards the products
made in Germany, France and Italy, the marketing activities of the products and the
importance of country origin.
The results of the study suggests that participants evaluated the products made in
Germany as appropriate for the needs of Turkish consumers, having a competitive
advantage when compared with the products made in other countries, carefully
produced and having better workmanship, showing great progress in the use of
advanced technology, having many alternatives in models, being used very wisely with
regards to the use of color and design, reliable and long-lasting.
Participants evaluated the products made in Italy as having a competitive advantage
compared with the products made in other countries, carefully produced and having a
better workmanship, having many alternatives in models, being utilized carefully with
regards to color and design, for luxurious consumption rather than for basic needs as
their structures required.
Participants evaluated the products made in France as having competitive advantage
compared with the products made in other countries, carefully produced and having
better workmanship, having many alternatives in models, being used very wisely in
terms of color and design, reliable and long lasting, for luxurious consumption rather
than for basic needs as their structures required.
When the attitudes and perceptions towards the marketing activities of the products
made in Italy, France and Germany are examined; participants evaluated the marketing
activities of the products made in Germany as sufficient with regards to caring and
repairing services provided by the seller, having a clear and informative etiquette and
manual, having an easily recognized brand and known well, being easily available at
retails, having retails with good reputation, exhibiting the products and selling well,
advertising the products in a persuasive way and giving a reliable source of knowledge.
Participants evaluated the marketing activities of the products made in Italy as having
easily recognized and well known products, having retails which have good reputation,
exhibiting and selling the products well at retails, and consumers also stated that they
need to be informed about the products with more promotion and advertisements.
Participants evaluated the marketing activities of the products made in France as having
easily recognized and well known products, exhibiting and selling the products well at
outlet stores, and they also stated that they need to be informed about the products with
more promotion and advertisements.
When participants’ attitudes towards the importance of country origin, it is seen that no
significant view has appeared. The proportions of the participants evaluating as negative,
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positive and neutral seem to be very close to one another. On the other hand, the item
which states that “I am proud of having the products made in……..” has been evaluated
negatively for the three of the countries. This case can be justified with consumer
ethnocentrism. In the related literature, it is found that the characteristics of the
consumer ethnocentrism may differ among the consumers living in cities. When we
consider that this study was carried out on a group of people living in Eskişehir and
studying there, it can be stated that these characteristics could affect the evaluation of the
country origin.
Although no significant connection has been found between the questioned attitudes,
perception and gender, it is seen that the female participants in Germany had a more
negative evaluation compared with that of male participants.
As a result of ANOVA analysis, it was found that participants evaluated each country
differently from the others. The fact that each of the evaluated countries is a developed
European country did not stop the evaluations from differing from one another.
Likewise, when the related literature was examined, it was seen that the products of the
developed countries have been found to be evaluated positively. Although the countries
have been evaluated differently in this study, most of the participants in three countries
either had positive evaluations or were neutral in the three of the investigated categories.
As a result of the ANOVA analysis, the only connection found in the study is between the
attitudes/perceptions towards the marketing activities of the products made in Germany
and Italy and the amount of income of the participants. No significant connection was
found between the attitudes/perceptions of the other country and category and the
amount of income of the participants. In this respect, as participants’ income increases, it
can be stated that the attitudes and perceptions towards the marketing activities of the
products made in Italy and Germany may change negatively. This case can be justified
with the parallelism between the amounts of the income of the participants and
purchasing the product. As income increases, consumers may have the products and thus
they may have the chance to try the product directly. In such a case, the importance of
some facts influencing the evaluation of the products like country origin will decrease.
The attitudes/perceptions consumers have before buying a certain product and after
buying that product may be stated to be different.
In the crosswise table prepared for the purpose of establishing relations among all the
categories, each attitude and perception category for each country has been found to be
related to one another. In this case, it can be stated that the participants have done their
evaluations relating to the three countries. The fact that three of the countries are
European countries can be stated to have affected the result. It was observed that
participants have evaluated each country in three of the categories in the same way
(positive/negative). In this respect, it can be stated that participants have done their
evaluations for each country in a certain consistency.
When the general evaluations are considered, Germany appears to have been evaluated
in each attitude and perception in a more positive way. This case can be handled in a
versatile way. When the case is reconsidered from historical point of view, it is seen that
relations with Germany are more intense compared with the other two countries. For
example, the fact that there was a group filled with admiration for Germany in Ittihak
and Terakki Party, and the fact that the two countries were allied during the I. World
War can also be considered as factors. This case historically may have caused Germany to
385

e perceived as a friendly and ally country rather than as enemy country. From another
point of view, another issue we should consider about is the migration of many people
from Turkey to Germany in 1960s. Today it is well known that more than 2.000.000
Turkish people live in Germany. When we consider the fact that these people (they are
also called as “almancı”) bring many products to Turkey whenever they have a chance to
visit, it can be stated that the introduction of German products to Turkey started in 1960s,
much before the legal introduction of German products. When we consider about the
facts that Turkey had a closed economical structure till 1980, that European products
were hindered with the increase of custom taxes or sold with high prices, that these
products, which cannot be legal parts of Turkish economy, or cannot get in touch with
Turkish consumers as a consequence of above mentioned obstacles, were brought into
the country by migrants, German products can be stated to come into Turkish market in
an advantageous way. In addition to the above mentioned factors, the fact that more
German tourists than Italian and French visit Turkey each year can be considered as
another factor. Tourism can also be stated to have made both cultures very familiar to
members of each culture.
Considering the fact that no participants with majority have evaluated any of the
countries in any of the categories negatively, the products of these countries planning to
enter the Turkish market can be advised to regard their country origin as an important
factor
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