Can products be successful simply on the strength of COO?
Eckhardt: There is a higher willingness to try on behalf of the consumer, if the brand is from a country that has strong positive perceptions. For instance, if there is a new television brand from Japan that nobody has heard of, customers will be more willing to try that rather than a brand that came out of, say, Malaysia. Of course, if the brand is terrible, it will obviously fail. Do customers see the connection between product categories and COO? Eckhardt: Consider Yoga. There is a very positive perception of it being from India. The same is the case with IT outsourcing. When you have a strong connection for the product category and the COO, that’s one way it overcomes any negative global perception of the country in general. But yoga is a millennia-old practice. IT outsourcing has been spoken about for less than a decade. Does longevity of a existing product segment have anything to do with the positive connection with its COO? Eckhardt: In the past, I would have said, yes. But it’
