A study of perception of international students on importance of country of origin and quality of Malaysian made cars

• Main Authors: Cheng, Wei Hin, Md Isa, Filzah, Hoe, Chee Hee
• Format: Monograph
• Language: English; English
• Published: Universiti Utara Malaysia 2012
• Subjects: HC Economic History and Conditions; TL Motor vehicles. Aeronautics. Astronautics
• Online Access: http://repo.uum.edu.my/7296/1/Khor.pdf; http://repo.uum.edu.my/7296/4/1.Cheng%20Wei%20Hin.pdf; http://repo.uum.edu.my/7296/; http://lintas.uum.edu.my:8080/elmu/index.jsp?module=webopac-l&action=fullDisplayRetriever.jsp&szMaterialNo=0000780991

The study was aimed to examine how international students in a local public institution perceived the quality of Malaysian made cars and whether country of origin effect remain an important factor in determining the purchase decision in this situation. A total of 176 respondents which are full time registered international students from 12 countries participated in this research.Results for the study showed that Japan, USA, UK, South Korea, top the first four rank for the ranking of car quality.Malaysia only managed to secure a number eight in terms of the ranking.In other words, quality of cars in developed countries was seen as better than developing countries. This finding indicated the support of extensive research and literature that had been done earlier by researchers in this field.On the other hand, the effect of country of origin in purchasing decision was significantly different between regions but not significantly different among age, gender and program of study.The findings were in line with the earlier literatures where country of origin was found to be a strong determinant of purchasing decision in many earlier research.The study imply that Malaysian made cars need to increase understanding of consumer preferences for foreign made cars and the linkage to price and quality attributes can facilitate more effective product positioning, and more effective strategy development and overall knowledge of the dynamics of international markets. By delving more deeply into the various aspects of international consumer preferences, Malaysian car manufacturers will be able to refine and improve the quality of our national car in line with the needs of these consumers.