Impact of Country-of-Origin on Purchase Intention Toward Automobile Brands in Sri Lanka with Special Reference to Japan and Indian Automobiles

Abstract

The research was conducted to examine the factors influencing the purchase intention of automobile users in Sri Lanka. Automobile purchasing intention is major problem faced by automobile companies and it is important to marketers to understand the reason for switch the automobile. The objective of the research is to understand the level of importance Sri Lankan consumers have given for country of origin between Japan and Indian vehicles as an informational cue when evaluating automobiles and understand how country of origin has an impact on the factors that consumers consider when making a purchase decision of an automobile, and how country of origin has influenced the purchase decision in relation between Japan and Indian vehicles used in the study. Prior to the study, several interviews have been done with customers to determine what drives them to automobile purchase intention. Primary data of the research was collected through a structured questionnaire. Secondary data was collected through web sites, books, articles and journals. The questionnaire consisted with five-point Likert scaling questions and conceptual framework was developed to investigate the impact of independent variables towards purchase intention. The research was carried out by using 384 sample and regression analysis was carried out to test the hypotheses. The findings revealed that country of origin has a significant impact for customer purchasing intension of automobiles and the researchers recommended several strategies for marketing practitioners of automobile industry in Sri Lankan to develop brand loyalty towards the Japan and Indian Automobiles.