The moderation effect of warranty on the country of origin effect

Abstract

In this thesis I investigated the moderation effect of warranty on the country of origin (COO) effect regarding attitude towards the ad/product, willingness to buy (WTB) and willingness to pay (WTP). The goal has been to see whether there is an interaction effect (IE) of the two heuristic cues and if there is none, whether there are any main effects (ME). The results reveal that the COO effect has a ME and is a strong predictor of attitude towards the ad, WTB and WTP whereas warranty does not show any ME and consequently plays a minor role. Additionally, the two heuristic cues do not interact in predicting the value of the outcome for the consumer. Yet, other variables like brand knowledge, income, liking of the product and type of product play a role in the determination of attitude towards the ad, WTB and WTP.