Utilization of the country of origin effect in product-harm crisis management: an overview of literature and a conceptual model proposition

Despite the fact that companies try to put high emphasis on the quality of their products and processes, still, there are unexpected threats to the safety of consumers by failed quality which leads unexpected shock to the normal operation of the company. Product risk can even lead to corporate crisis, mainly because of strategic threats. For the duration of the crisis, companies struggle to minimize the harm brought to their reputation and brand equity. This paper presents a new notion of measuring organizational success when dealing with product-harm crises. It introduces the concept of country of origin as a potential tool in managing the crisis as it gives a comprehensive overview of effects on perceptions and attitudes of consumers towards products from abroad. This can suggest that using positive associations of the country when building a strong brand creates consumers’ positive attitude and perception towards country of origin aspect of the brand. We think that even at the crisis time, perception, attitude, and behavior that lead to willingness of purchase are influenced by aspects related to country of origin. Thus, country of origin has been identified as an important factor that influences successful recovery from a product-harm crisis