Textile and Apparel Industries

How Can Small Businesses Borrow the Halo of E-Tail Distributors?: Leveraging E-Tailers’ Country Image and Reputation in Enhancing Purchase Intention

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Abstract

Small businesses, which struggle with consumers’ lack of awareness, can employ e-tailers as distributors. It is important for U.S. businesses to find compatible e-tailers to develop effective distribution strategies and target global marketplaces. Based on signaling theory and halo effect, we aim to develop a conceptual model on how consumers’ judgement on a small business product at an e-tailer is expected to undergo two spillover processes. The first occurs when consumers judge e-tailer image using e-tailer cues: country of origin and reputation. The second occurs when the e-tailer image serves as a halo to assess the product. Additionally, we employ e-tailers’ endorsement of small businesses as a moderator because they often indicate reliable and popular sellers on their websites. The model helps in conceptualizing the process of consumer judgement on small business products sold at e-tailers, so that businesses can choose appropriate e-distributors and develop images from existing e-tailer halos.

Keywords: halo effect, small business, firm reputation, country image, e-tailer

How to Cite:

Kim, G. & Jin, B. E., (2020) “How Can Small Businesses Borrow the Halo of E-Tail Distributors?: Leveraging E-Tailers’ Country Image and Reputation in Enhancing Purchase Intention”, International Textile and Apparel Association Annual Conference Proceedings 77(1). doi: https://doi.org/10.31274/itaa.12134