Country-of-Origin Image (COI) as a Country-Specific Advantage (CSA): scale development and validation of COI as a resource within the firm perspective

The study discusses the country-of-origin-image (COI) as a country-specific-advantage (CSA) for internationalised firms. We developed and validated a scale to measure the importance of the incorporation of the COI as a resource in a firm’s international strategy, the COI-CSA. Several psychometric procedures were adopted. We analysed data gathered from two case studies, validation procedures with experts and researchers, and three data sets from executives working in internationalised firms. The results validate the COI-CSA scale as a multidimensional construct reflected in a set of four dimensions: textual and visual elements, senses, cultural resources, and natural resources.