Influence of country of origin, ethnocentrism and perceived quality on purchase intentions of Korean beauty products in Pakistan

The study aimed to analyze the impact of country of origin, consumer ethnocentrism, and perceived quality on purchase intentions of Korean beauty products among Pakistani consumers, where K-beauty has become increasingly popular. Extrinsic cues, especially country of origin (COO) significantly influence purchase intention (PI) and Perceived quality (PQ) acts as a mediating factor that causes COO's effect on PI. Whereas consumer ethnocentrism (CE) indicates an attitudinal opposition to foreign products. Results from PLS-SEM analysis indicate that COO (β = 0.25, p < 0.001) significantly impact PI while PQ serves as a partial mediator (β = 0.54, p <0.001) in the relationship between COO and PI. CE has no significant effect(β = - 0.115, p = 0.368). The findings indicate a tendency of reverse ethnocentrism and offer consequences for marketers aiming at culturally varied markets. The paper addresses the limitations and proposes recommendations for further research.