The Impact Of Cognitive And Affective Perception Of The Country Image On Consumers’ Sense Of Economic Animosıty, Product Quality Judgment, And Purchase Intention

In a globalized world, the image of countries has increasingly become an important factor influencing consumers’ product preferences. In this context, studies that examine the effects of cognitive and emotional country image perceptions on economic animosity, product quality judgment, and purchase intention have gained prominence in the marketing f ield. The aim of this study is to investigate the impact of Turkish consumers’ cognitive and emotional country image perceptions of U.S.-origin products on their feelings of economic animosity, product quality judgments, and purchase intentions. The research was conducted among consumers aged 18 and above in Istanbul using a convenience sampling method. Confirmatory Factor Analysis (CFA) and Structural Equation Modeling (SEM) were employed, and reliability and validity were assessed through Composite Reliability (CR), Average Variance Extracted (AVE), and Cronbach’s alpha. Descriptive statistics and correlation analyses were also performed to explore the relationships between variables, ensuring methodological rigor. The analysis results indicated that emotional country image components (admiration and contempt) had a significant impact on economic animosity, while cognitive components (competence and warmth) did not. Additionally, the perception of competence regarding the people of the country positively influenced beliefs about the products; however, the emotional image did not affect product judgment. In terms of purchase intention, competence from the cognitive image and contempt from the emotional image were influential, and both economic animosity and product judgment were found to impact purchase intention.