Research on country-of-origin perceptions: review, critical assessment, and the path forward

Despite the volume of research and significant advancements in the country-of-origin (CO) area, the topic remains contentious in two key areas. One area is the presence of tensions and contradictions associated with origin-related research. The second relates to an over-reliance on relatively narrow theories that can neither address disparities nor capture a range of CO ecosystem considerations critical to the effective use of results in addressing firm-level planning and outcomes. Our examination of the business-to-consumer CO literature details the characteristics of published work and highlights the substantive contributions of the 50 most influential publications, with the overarching goal of accommodating meaningful future research. We examine 417 journal articles (551 studies) published from 1962 to 2022 to extract important granular characteristics of the literature and to summarize the findings of the most influential CO contributions. We also report the results of two surveys of academic researchers and US exporters and importers examining CO’s role in research and practice. Finally, we propose a theoretical lens, the paradox theory, as a basis for considering and framing competing aspects of the CO ecosystem and recommend the use of multilevel modeling to link future studies to marketing strategy and performance outcomes, thus advancing CO research.