Anchoring and Complementing Country Stereotypes in Advertising: Exploring Warmth and Competence Appeals
(A2026-133111)

AUTHORS

George Tsalis, Copenhagen Business School; KATERINA MAKRI, Department of Marketing and International Business, University of Vienna; Efthymios Altsitsiadis, Department of Management, Society and Communication, Copenhagen Business School

ABSTRACT

This research examines how brands can use country stereotypes through the Stereotype Content Model (SCM), which defines national perceptions by warmth and competence. While prior work focuses on the “golden quadrant” (high warmth and competence), most countries hold ambivalent stereotypes. We test two strategies: anchoring (emphasizing the dominant stereotype dimension) and complementing (highlighting the weaker one). Across two experiments (N = 468; N = 497), anchoring benefits competent-country brands but harms warm-country brands due to credibility loss, whereas complementing demonstrates mixed effects. Study 2 examines advertising credibility and advertising scepticism as mediators and shows that advertising credibility is the main driver of persuasion. Findings extend country-of-origin research by applying SCM beyond the golden quadrant and show that effectiveness depends on message-country alignment.