The Thai Life Insurance Market : Effects of Country of Origin Perceptions on Consumer Expectations

Little research has been done on partitioned country of origin effects on consumer expectations about services. This study investigates the hierarchy of country image associated with service expectations about life insurance across different dimensions of country of origin: service brand, country of design and country of sales rep. Three service descriptors (quality, reliability, pride of buying) are used to measure consumer expectations. Also, the price-quality relationship is demonstrated; country image affects the prices that consumers are willing to pay. In the case of life insurance, Thai consumers perceive a similar hierarchy in each of the three dimensions, as has been demonstrated for many products. Developed countries elicit the highest quality expectation, followed by new industrialising countries (NICs), and then by developing countries. Thailand itself, however, scores higher than might be expected, demonstrating consumer ethnocentrism. Price expectations follow expectations about dimensions. Life insurance from countries that score higher is expected to cost more