The Economic Impact of the UK Film Industry - BFI - British Film ...

10.3. The indirect effects on trade from UK film
Economic Contribution of the UK Film Industry
July 2007
It is likely that the demand for some products will be influenced by an overall impression of the country
from which they come, so that alongside the importance of product brands, ‘country brands’ will also be a
factor in determining overall demand. For example, Italy has a particular reputation for sports cars and
fashion, Japan has a reputation for consumer electronics, while France has a reputation for fine wine.
There is an extensive academic literature that finds ‘product-country image’ or ‘country of origin’ effects in
trade. These studies suggest that the source of a particular product is important in determining its overall
demand. For example:
• Ahmed et al (2002) 44 studies the effect of country of origin (CO) and brand effects on consumers'
quality perceptions, attitudes, and purchase intentions, finding that country of origin effects were found
to be stronger than brand effects for quality and attitude ratings, while brand was more significantly
correlated with purchase intentions.
• Verlegh and Steenkamp (2004) 45 found evidence of country of origin effects, through their influence on
perceived product quality.
• Heslop et al (2005) 46 found that country image and product beliefs jointly affect product evaluations
regardless of consumers' level of familiarity with a country's products. Their findings also indicated
that the nature of country image influences product evaluations both directly and indirectly through
product beliefs.
• Arpan and Sun (2006) 47 investigated how country-of-origin effects help consumers form impressions of
countries and their major exports over time. These general evaluations can serve as stereotypes or
judgement shortcuts invoked by consumers when they consider a product purchase or their attitude
toward a given product. The study found that evaluations of an organisation and its behaviour were
based more on overall evaluations of the country in which the organisation was headquartered.
• Verlegh (2007) 48 found evidence of home country bias in product evaluation, in part driven by a need
for self-enhancement. This influence is stronger for consumers who identify more strongly with their
own country, and is complementary to the effect of consumer ethnocentrism, which provides an
economic motivation for home country bias.
Film plays an important role in establishing and reinforcing country brands, which may then have positive
spillovers or ‘externalities’ on trade in general. In this regard, UK film has a particularly important role in
44
Ahmed Z.U.; Johnson J.P.; Ling C.P.; Fang T.W.; Hui A.K. , (2002) International Marketing Review, Volume
19, Number 3, pp. 279-302(24)
45
P.W.J. Verlegh & J.-B.E.M. Steenkamp (1999). A review and meta-analysis of country-of-origin research. Journal of
Economic Psychology, 20 (5), 521-546.
46
Laroche, Michel, Nicolas Papadopoulos, Louise Heslop and Mehdi Mourali, “The Influence of Country Image
Structure on Consumer Evaluations of Foreign Products,” International Marketing Review, 22(1), 2005, 96-115.
47
Arpan, L. and Sun, H., (2006) The Effect of Country of Origin on Judgements of Multinational Organizations Involved
in a Crisis. Journal of Promotion Management Volume: 12 Issue: ¾ pp 189 – 214.
48
P.W.J. Verlegh (2007). Economic and socio-psychological motives for home-country bias in consumer product
evaluations. Journal of International Business Studies, 38(3), 361-373.
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