Seventeen-year-old Halah Ibrahim has always known a privileged life and never had cause to question it until Cairo goes up in flames. Not only does she start to doubt her father and his role in the new military-backed government—but she ultimately decides to flee to America with a young soldier she hardly knows, an impulsive act that has far-reaching consequences on both sides of the ocean. A powerful and universal debut novel about family, identity, and independence, Country of Origin is as much about a nation's coming-of-age as it is about secrets and lies, love and truth.

In this "poignant story of prejudice, betrayal and the search for identity" (Newsweek International), the trials and tribulations of these three remarkable characters are "at turns trenchantly funny and heartbreakingly sad" (Publishers Weekly). "[An] elegant and haunting debut" (Entertainment Weekly), Country of Origin is a "swirl of action, a whirl of love and sex and race and politics, local and international" (Chicago Tribune)—a "quiet literary triumph" (Booklist) Lisa Countryman is a woman of complex origins. Half-Japanese, adopted by African American parents, she returns to Tokyo, ostensibly to research her thesis on Japan's "sad, brutal reign of conformity." When she vanishes, Tom Hurley, who is half-Korean and half-white, is assigned to her case at the American embassy, as is local cop Kenzo Ota, who is 100 percent Japanese but deemed an outsider.

This is the first-ever book about product and country images. It discusses the nature and role and influence of product-country images in international marketing strategy and consumer behavior. Thousands of companies use country identifiers as part of their international marketing strategy, and hundreds of researchers have studied the ways in which these identifiers influence behavior. As markets become more international, the more prominently the origin of products will figure in sellers' and buyers' decisions. The time is ripe for practitioners and academicians to delve into the insights offered in this seminal volume so as to better prepare for meeting the competitive challenges of the global marketplace. Product-Country Images is a wide-ranging and state-of-the-art book offering specific information and case studies to further understanding of the various aspects of this complex topic.

Consumers in most parts of the world now have global access to products beyond those offered in their countries and cultures. This new space for comparison defined by globalization can result in very different purchasing behaviors, including those influenced by the 'country of origin'. This book investigates this effect, one of the most controversial fields of consumer literature, from a company perspective. In particular, it demonstrates the strategic relevance of the country of origin in creating and making use of the value in foreign markets. It also addresses the challenges connected with utilizing the value of the country of origin by considering different entry modes and international marketing channels. Further, it considers the role of international importers and international retailers’ assortment strategies in terms of value creation in foreign markets. Combining theory and practice, the book features diverse company perspectives and interviews with importers and retailers.

Creativity, Global Branding and Country of Origin (CoO) represent conceptual fields of interest to both academics and practitioners. In the contemporary environment, business and customers are increasingly developing multi-faceted relationships nurtured by global drivers, such as international brands, but also by embedded elements, such the impact of specific geographical networks on creativity. As a result, the impact of Country of Origin on branding is, once again, a key topic in the global management field. This collection provides an opportunity for leading marketing scholars to share up-to-date research while addressing both domestic and multinational strategies for understanding global marketing and consumers. The chapters include brand-consumer relationships in a global environment, Country of Origin impact on business to consumer and business to business markets and creativity at the territorial level from a network perspective. This book was originally published as a special issue of Journal of Global Scholars Marketing Science.

This book presents key insights about the challenges and the approaches they applied. All companies are featured in 15 teachable case studies – ready to use in entrepreneurship and strategy courses – that represent a broad level of diversity with regard to countries, industries, topics, growth phases, challenges and internationalization strategies.