IB blog: Country-of-origin image of Finnish food products
How is Finland perceived in foreign markets and how do people around the world view Finland as a source for their food? This is what Juho Siikarla discusses in his international business master's thesis, which was supported by Suomen Ulkomaankaupan Edistämisrahasto (the fund for advancing Finnish foreign trade).
Country-of-Origin Image (COI) is an interesting and widely researched phenomenon in international business, but research concerning Finland is still quite scarce. At the moment the foodstuff industry in particular is struggling with its profitability and changing its orientation from the domestic to the international market might provide solutions to the issue, Siikarla writes in the international business faculty blog.
The data collection in this thesis was done via interviews with Finnish experts from governmental organizations and private export companies. The interviewees represented Finland's Ministry for Foreign Affairs, the Food From Finland -initiative and exporting companies from the berry-, meat- and dairy industries. The data revealed how Finland is a relatively unknown country for most of the world, which should be considered in a company's marketing efforts. Finland is known only in select markets, but its COI is predominantly positive. Finland's country image and COI consists of its nature, Lapland, high level of education and characters such as Santa Claus. A favorable product-country -match in terms of foodstuffs was identified which should be utilized as a Country-Specific Advantage. However, Finnish foodstuffs are often exported as raw materials or semi-finished products, which are less suitable than end-products in supporting global COI development among consumers.
Read the blog text (in Finnish) here.