A Strategic Glance on the Role of Country-of-Origin and Ethnocentrism on Trust and Attitude of Iranian Consumers in Appliance Market

Market entry modes, are one of the strategic decisions that the firms should consider them, either at the corporate or at the business unit levels. One of these entry modes is export. The aim of this study is analyzing and evaluating the relationship between reputation, ethnocentrism, trust and consumer attitude. To achieve this, six hypothesis were adjusted and 400 of Iranian buyers, were selected and investigated, as convenience as the sample size. The results of the study show that the reputation of firms from the country–of-origin helps to create trust in international markets and directly impacts consumer attitude. In addition, the current investigation identified the direct effect of ethnocentrism on trust and attitude. Iranian consumers have positive attitudes towards appliances labeled "Made in Korea". In contrast, they do not have positive attitudes towards appliances labeled "Made in Iran".It is hoped that the outcomes of this study can help the firms and stakeholders in our country Iran, not only to produce the Iranian products in a competitive manner but also to think about international market entry modes, such as export, licensing and etc., in a strategic way.