The impact of Country Image evaluations on consumer perceptions of brand sustainability and Willingness-to-Pay: Empirical evidence

Drawing on cue utilization theory, signaling theory, and attribution theory, we develop and test a model of the influence of country image evaluations on consumers’ perceptions of brand sustainability and their willingness-to-pay (WTP) for a brand, both under the presence and the absence of a sustainability label. We find that both country image and the presence of a label (1) have independent effects on perceptions of brand sustainability, (2) positively impact WTP, and (3) consumer skepticism about sustainability claims also influences perceptions of brand sustainability and – through it – WTP.