The effect of the Country of Origin of European Companies in the Context of Young Argentinians

in this paper, we present the results of a field analysis and a literature review of the country-of-origin effect. The field analysis involved over 300 questionnaires completed by Argentinian youths, aged 18–30, living in the city of Buenos Aires. The aim of the study was to analyze and verify the hypothesis that, following the major Argentinian economic crisis, European companies can find business opportunities in the market of young Argentinians (ages 18–30) with medium-high levels of income, because the concept of “place of origin” can contribute to the purchase of European products, mainly through two particular intangible elements: the strong desire of people to escape from the crisis condition, and the traditional affections between people in Argentina and Europe. The study reveals positive correlations between the place-of-origin effect, the connections of a particular cluster of consumers with Europe, and the opportunities of European companies to gain business in Argentina following the economic crisis.