This means that for every one unit change in

This means that for every one unit change in independent variable ‘COO’, there will be a 1.082
unit change in the dependent variable ‘Product attributes’. Thus, we are in a position to accept
the hypothesis and can say that “ Product attributes, such as innovation, price and quality,
positively affects the Country of Origin effect for Malaysian customers”.
Discussion
The concept of country of origin is an important concept in global business research as it
can affect the purchase behavior of consumer towards buying global and local brands. COO has
an impact on decision making process of consumers that has made it important for marketers to

COO 42
comprehend how it affects the sale of products. With regard to cars, the COO effect plays key
role as the manufacturing of cars does not takes place in every other country. Instead, most of the
countries import the raw materials and then assemble the car parts within their own regions. the
car manufacturing and production operations mostly takes place in developed countries such as
UK, Japan, and Germany. However, developing countries conduct parts assembling and then sell
out of the final customer.
The country of origin is same as the country of manufacture. Most of the customers in
those developing regions where cars parts are assembled are more conscious about the nature and
characteristics of the product. It means they are more concerned towards knowing about the car
brand from which it has originated. To study this, the research focused on the effects of country
of origin of cars on the purchase decisions of Malaysian customers. In the global market,
manufacturers of automobiles are increasingly competing to persuade consumers to buy their
brands. This has also affected the perceptions of Malaysian consumers towards specific car
brands in the international market. Several factors were evaluated that can influence the purchase
decisions of customers in Malaysia towards buying a specific car brand. The country of origin
was also analysed and how it affects the consumer perceptions in making purchase decision is
also analysed.
It was found that knowledge about the car brand and about various criterions for the
selection of car tends to increase the capability of Malaysian customers to make purchase
decisions. If a customer has a knowledge regarding the manufacturer’s country as well as of the
product, the consumer will be encouraged to make buying decision more quickly as compared to
when he is not have sufficient knowledge about the car manufacturer. On the other hand, the
study also found that majority of the customers in Malaysia consider buying product originated

COO 43
from developed countries such as UK and Germany. This might be because of the brand name of
car that attracts the most to customers towards making purchase decisions. Similarly, brand
factors such as brand image of car that is originated from other countries have significant