Absolut-ly Swedish: An Empirical Study of Country-of-Origin's Impact on Absolut Vodka's Brand Preference and Purchase Intention

Abstract

As globalisation continues to reshape markets and the international marketing field, it becomes increasingly important to understand the effects of country biases and macro-environmental events. Generating insights regarding the antecedents behind consumers’ brand preference and purchase intention is crucial knowledge for developing relevant marketing strategies for both international and domestic markets. The purpose of this master thesis is to contribute to a further understanding of the aforementioned consumer behaviour concepts by examining country-of-origin image (COI) as a primary element for Swedish consumers’ brand preference as well as purchase intention. To further explore this phenomenon, the research additionally investigates the role of brand authenticity, consumer ethnocentrism (CE) and animosity towards Russia due to the ongoing war in Ukraine. The paper's conceptual model is applied to the vodka product category, using Absolut Vodka, as the domestic brand of the study whereas Stoli serves as the foreign brand.

The data collected from Swedish consumers was tested on the theoretical conjectures through the use of Partial Least Squares Structural Equation Modelling (PLS-SEM). The study finds that COI has a significant effect on Swedish consumers’ preference for the domestic brand Absolut Vodka. Animosity towards Russia and CE had a significant negative impact on not preferring the Russian associated brand Stoli. Perceived brand authenticity was found to be a significant predictor for consumers brand preference for Stoli. However, for Absolut vodka, brand authenticity did not have significant explanatory power for brand preference in this research, along with CE. The paper contributes to the existing body of knowledge and concludes on several theoretical and managerial implications. It extends on the rather limited understanding of the Swedish context in the given field of research as well as the brand preference and purchase intention for vodka in the context of COO, CE, brand authenticity and animosity. From a marketing perspective, the importance of taking into account cues of origin is emphasised, as this plays a crucial role in consumer perception and reflects the brand's ability to manoeuvre in an ever-growing commercialised world.