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Unveiling the power of supplier-country image on B2B customers' perceptions: Beyond the product’s beauty

2025-01-12Journal article Open access
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datacite.subject.fosCiências Sociais
datacite.subject.sdg08:Trabalho Digno e Crescimento Económico
dc.contributor.authorCrespo, Cátia Fernandes
dc.contributor.authorCrespo, Nuno Fernandes
dc.contributor.authorSilva, Susana C.
dc.date.accessioned2025-12-03T16:30:23Z
dc.date.available2025-12-03T16:30:23Z
dc.date.issued2025-01-12
dc.descriptionArticle number - 102388
dc.description.abstractResearchers in business-to-business (B2B) sectors often assume that findings regarding country-of-origin (COO) effects on end consumers can be directly applied to the industrial marketing context. This tendency to generalize can result in an inaccurate understanding of how buyers perceive COO information in B2B scenarios. This study investigates the effect of supplier-country image on international customers’ perceptions of both perceived product quality and relationship quality in a B2B market environment. We further examine the consequences of perceived product quality and relationship quality on supplier awareness and customer loyalty. Data collected from 182 international B2B buyers in the Portuguese footwear, molds, and wood products and furniture industries were analyzed using structural equation modeling (SEM). The results indicate that supplier-country image influences the relationship quality dimensions (trust, commitment, and satisfaction) and perceived product quality. Moreover, trust and commitment enhance customer loyalty, while trust and satisfaction leverage supplier awareness. In contrast, perceived product quality only influences customer loyalty, albeit to a weaker extent. Thus, relationship quality plays a more significant role than perceived product quality in influencing supplier awareness and customer loyalty in B2B environments. These results challenge the notion that the impact of COO on end consumers can be equally applied in B2B contexts, and they expand our understanding of how supplier-country image affects relationship quality in the industrial setting. Furthermore, they draw managers’ attention to the importance of mitigating a potentially negative COO image through measures aimed at improving relationships.eng
dc.description.sponsorshipThis work was supported by National Funds of the FCT– Portuguese Foundation for Science and Technology within the projects UIDB/04928/2020, UIDB/SOC/04521/2020 and UIDB/00731/2020.
dc.identifier.citationCrespo, C. F., Crespo, N. F., & Silva, S. C. (2025). Unveiling the power of supplier-country image on B2B customers' perceptions: Beyond the product’s beauty. International Business Review, 34(3), 102388.
dc.identifier.doi10.1016/j.ibusrev.2025.102388
dc.identifier.issn0969-5931
dc.identifier.urihttp://hdl.handle.net/10400.8/14829
dc.language.isoeng
dc.peerreviewedyes
dc.publisherElsevier
dc.relationCentre of Applied Research in Management and Economics
dc.relation.hasversionhttps://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0969593125000010
dc.relation.ispartofInternational Business Review
dc.rights.urihttp://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
dc.subjectSupplier-country image
dc.subjectPerceived product quality
dc.subjectRelationship quality
dc.subjectTrust
dc.subjectCommitment
dc.subjectSatisfaction
dc.titleUnveiling the power of supplier-country image on B2B customers' perceptions: Beyond the product’s beautyeng
dc.typejournal article
dspace.entity.typePublication
oaire.awardTitleCentre of Applied Research in Management and Economics
oaire.awardURIinfo:eu-repo/grantAgreement/FCT/6817 - DCRRNI ID/UIDB%2F04928%2F2020/PT
oaire.citation.issue3
oaire.citation.titleInternational Business Review
oaire.citation.volume34
oaire.fundingStream6817 - DCRRNI ID
oaire.versionhttp://purl.org/coar/version/c_970fb48d4fbd8a85
person.familyNameCrespo
person.givenNameCátia Fernandes
person.identifier.ciencia-id0615-6420-EC94
person.identifier.orcid0000-0003-2886-7370
person.identifier.scopus-author-id56072058400
project.funder.identifierhttp://doi.org/10.13039/501100001871
project.funder.nameFundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia
relation.isAuthorOfPublication99788e3e-3e04-4f90-a511-7ee6c6f2dd78
relation.isAuthorOfPublication.latestForDiscovery99788e3e-3e04-4f90-a511-7ee6c6f2dd78
relation.isProjectOfPublication4c5aa29d-4b03-4713-8f40-08b3bbfd88d7
relation.isProjectOfPublication.latestForDiscovery4c5aa29d-4b03-4713-8f40-08b3bbfd88d7

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