Cross-country attraction as a motivation for product consumption

Country-of-origin is a product attribute that can influence product evaluation and consumption via an affective route. A questionnaire administered to over 1300 Thai teenagers was used to explore the hypothesis that smoking cigarettes is perceived as part of an attractive American lifestyle, particularly by youth in developing countries. It was further hypothesized that the desire to emulate this lifestyle and share in it vicariously leads at least some of these Thai teenagers to engage in smoking-related behaviors. The findings are supportive of these hypotheses.