Corporate images' impact on consumers' product choices: The case of multinational foreign subsidiaries

The aim of this study is to ascertain the extent to which consumers' images of home and foreign business units, and their perceptions of the corporate images held by other stakeholders, influence their buying behavior. The sample consisted of high school students in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) who intended or expected to enter higher education. Using a survey questionnaire, we asked respondents about the extent to which they believed their overall impressions of foreign universities operating in the UAE were influenced by images of the institutions' home and UAE campuses and by their perceptions of the images held by other stakeholders. We found that when deciding on whether or not to buy from a foreign firm, consumers will be most influenced by the corporate images held by other stakeholders rather than the images of home and foreign business units constructed by themselves. These findings suggest that it would be advisable for firms to adopt a stakeholder perspective when developing and implementing their marketing strategy. (C) 2014 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.