Country image and consumers' instrumental personal values: is there a link?

Abstract

Even though cultural differences seem to be a fruitful area to understand variations in country image, few studies have investigated if and how a specific component of a nation"Ÿs culture – its citizens"Ÿ personal values – can influence a country"Ÿs evaluation. This article´s problem is: Is there a relationship between instrumental personal values and country image? A descriptive and quantitative empirical research was used and data were analyzed through exploratory and confirmatory factor analysis, using a convenience sample of Brazilian executives. Consumers"Ÿ instrumental personal values are composed of three dimensions (Civility, Self-Direction, and Conformity) and so does the country image (Underdog, Quality and Satisfaction Seeker, and Economic Value Seeker). It was found that instrumental personal values and the country image are both multidimensional constructs. However, there is a weak linear relationship between these two constructs, with personal values influencing negatively the country image formation.