The Effect of Country of origin Misclassification Awareness on Perceived Quality, Perceived Value and Perceived Risk, Caused by Cognitive Dissonance An Applied Study on Fashion Industry in Egypt

Abstract

This research tackled the misclassification of Country of Origin, where 79% have misclassified Charles & Keith brand to a different Country of origin than Malaysia. The quantitative approach used with surveys to measure the effect & significance of the research variables, the perceived quality, risk and value, The survey is collected from women only, through mall intercept Infront of Charles & Keith Stores in Cairo, Giza,6th of October city. This research help getting insightful results that guide managers and companies to the importance and significance of Country of origin effects. Based on the conceptual framework and research questions, the results showed that Country of origin misclassification had significant effect on Cognitive dissonance, which means that consumers felt discomfort and regret after knowing the real Country of origin of Charles & Keith. Moreover, cognitive dissonance had positive strong relationship with perceived risk after consumer were aware of the misclassification of Country of Origin, which predicts that risk involved with buying from Charles & Keith became significantly higher, leading to unfavorable behavior 5.2 Research Discussion This research aimed to study the effect that the misclassification of Country of origin has on perceived quality, value and risk, drawn by the cognitive dissonance theory. Prior research induced that country of origin influence consumer behavioral intentions, and as well that consumers oftenly misclassify the country of origin of most of the brands, sometimes intentionally and other times intentionally misled by brands but this research will focus on the resulting behavioral changes and its significance and as well the significance of cognitive dissonance feelings among consumers and this research results offers a theoretical understanding of the country of origin effects area of research as well as quantifying consumer behavioral changes. The results of this research are consistent with the misclassification hypothesis which ensured the effect country of origin misclassification awareness has on cognitive dissonance, it’s evident in this study that the misclassification effects induce cognitive dissonance feelings to consumers, which in turn also affect their behavioral intentions in terms of perceived quality, risk and value, and that result was detected after the consumers are made aware of the misclassification of Charles & Keith country of origin. Although prior research has tackled Country of origin and its effects but measuring how significant the misclassification caused cognitive dissonance, how significant consumers felt discomfort and regret feelings. The results of this research revealed that Country of origin have a strong and significant effect on perception in terms of risk and quality perceptions, yet the least effect was on perceived value, where also consumers felt cognitive dissonance due to the knowledge of the real Country of Origin, they gave different results before and after they were aware of the misclassification. Where the results of their perception about quality, risk and value changed and got affected after they knew the real Country of origin and this is the contribution of this research to the body of knowledge, it’s to highlight the importance and significance of the results and of the Country of origin aspect and