Edinburgh Napier University

  The purpose of this qualitative study is to explore whether and how country-of-origin information influences the perception of Generation Ys from twenty one countries towards international fashion brands. With approximately 1.38 billion Generation Ys are currently in the job market or about to enter the job market, they are increasingly taking over the spending power of the previous generation, the Baby Boomers. This study was conducted in the context of fashion products, one of the key interests of the Generation Ys. As Generation Ys are internet savvy, this study was conducted by using semi-structured interviews in an online chat room and structured email interviews. This study highlighted that fashion products made in highly industrialised countries or countries of the brand origin were still preferred by the majority of the interviewed Generation Ys. Country-of-origin information was used by Generation Ys to judge the quality, price and ethical issue of the products. However, as the majority of the international fashion brands currently manufacture their products in the less industrialised countries, country-of-origin information hardly influenced the majority of the Generation Ys’ perception towards the brands. This research hopefully can bring a valuable insight to global fashion marketers about how country-of-origin information influences Generation Ys’ perception of international fashion brands. Qualitative studies which investigate the perception of Generation Ys towards country-of-origin are scarce. Thus, this study can contribute to the development of research into country-of-origin.