Purpose

Filling a gap in extant research regarding the measurement of an export country's environmental image and investigating its importance for consumers' evaluation of an environmentally differentiated imported product.

Design/methodology/approach

Online surveys carried out in Denmark (Study 1), Germany and France (Study 2; N˜500 from each country). In Study 1, we develop an environmental country image instrument and investigate its nomological validity vis-à-vis other country image constructs and Danish consumers' evaluation of organic milk from Germany. In Study 2, we validate the instrument with consumers from Germany and France, evaluating organic milk from Denmark.

Findings

Consumers differentiate between a country's environmental image and its general and production-related images. The country's environmental image is important to consumers' evaluation of an environmentally differentiated product from the country. Specifically, we find that a country's environmental image strongly influences its product-specific images and, through these, the consumer's evaluation of an organic food product from the country.

Practical implications

Consumers' use of a country's environmental image as a cue to the credibility of environmental claims gives competitive advantages to exporters from countries with a favorable environmental image, while exporters from countries with an unfavorable environmental image need measures to compensate. Companies and countries should monitor how the environmental image of their country evolves in important markets and be ready to act when facing damages to their country's environmental image.

Originality/value

This article is the first to propose a measure of environmental country image and to document that consumers use the environmental image of an exporting country to assess environmental claims on imported products.

中文翻译：

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出口国环境形象对消费者对进口环保产品反应的重要性

目的

填补现有关于衡量出口国环境形象的研究的空白，并调查其对消费者评估环境差异化进口产品的重要性。

设计/方法/方法

在丹麦（研究 1）、德国和法国（研究 2；来自每个国家的 N~500 个）进行的在线调查。在研究 1 中，我们开发了一个环境国家形象工具，并研究了它相对于其他国家形象结构和丹麦消费者对德国有机牛奶的评价的规范有效性。在研究 2 中，我们与来自德国和法国的消费者一起验证了该仪器，评估了来自丹麦的有机牛奶。

发现

消费者将一个国家的环境形象与其一般和与生产相关的形象区分开来。国家的环境形象对于消费者对来自该国的环境差异化产品的评价很重要。具体来说，我们发现一个国家的环境形象强烈影响其产品特定形象，并通过这些影响消费者对该国有机食品的评价。

实际影响

消费者使用一个国家的环境形象作为环境声明可信度的线索，为环境形象良好的国家的出口商提供了竞争优势，而环境形象不佳的国家的出口商则需要采取补偿措施。公司和国家应监控其国家环境形象在重要市场上的演变情况，并准备在其国家环境形象受到损害时采取行动。

原创性/价值

本文首次提出了环境国家形象的衡量标准，并记录了消费者使用出口国的环境形象来评估进口产品的环境声明。