Dimension of the Country of Origin Effect in the Perception of Medical Services in EU Countries? an International Comparison

The influence of the country?s images on consumer attitudes has been defined as the country of origin (COO) effect. So far, the research in that field in services has been relatively scarce, and the analysis of expert literature indicated that the question of the COO effect in medical services has been discussed only in one article.The aim of the paper is to provide the answers to the following questions: 1) do the COO dimensions apply to the assessment of medical services?; 2) what is the significance of the particular dimensions in these services?; 3) does the significance of the particular dimensions depend on consumers? origin?Four dimensions have been introduced: innovativeness, diversity, quality, prestige. Study has been carried out in three European countries (Germany, Lithuania and Poland) and the survey sample consists of 264 respondents. The data have been collected with the use of a questionnaire form developed by the authors. Their statistical processing has been provided with the use of a t test and the analysis of variance with repeated measurement.The analysis confirms very high significance of the COO dimensions in medical services, and the fact that the significance is of differentiated nature. The research indicates that Quality and Innovativeness are the most important dimensions as regards medical services. Diversity and Prestige are significantly less important. The differentiation pertaining to the significance of dimensions indirectly indicates that medical services are affected by the COO effect. The analysis indicates that the COO dimensions as well as consumers? origin affect the assessment of the importance pertaining to a particular dimension, however the pattern of dimension preference is similar in all three countries. The results of the research may be applied in economic practice: in marketing operations of service providers and in operations of institutions which deal with shaping the image of their country and its positioning in the international environment.