“Made‐in” Nigeria or “owned‐by” Ireland? Country‐of‐origin cues and the narratives of Guinness consumption in London

Abstract

Purpose

This paper seeks to evaluate the impact of the country‐of‐origin (COO) effects on the consumption patterns of “made in” Nigeria Guinness as opposed to Guinness “owned by” Ireland. It aims to trace the trend of Nigerian Guinness in the international market – taking London as a case analysis.

Design/methodology/approach

Using a series of narratives drawn from a sample of distributors and trade outlets (retailers) of Guinness in London, an attempt is made to highlight the fuzzy notion of “made in” Nigeria – as opposed to the popularly acclaimed notion of “owned by” Ireland/Dublin Guinness.

Findings

Country‐of‐origin effects were exhibited in the marketing and consumption patterns of both Guinness from Oba Akran Avenue in Nigeria and that from the renowned St James's Gate in Dublin.

Practical implications

Guinness, and concomitantly Diageo and other developed market brewers such as Heineken, may find this study's findings useful as they consider working out ways to leverage the impact of COO for their global marketing strategies and/or campaigns.

Social implications

There might after all be some virtue on importation bans as Guinness from Oba Akran Avenue seems to have made the most of a crippling marketing environment – i.e. the ban on wheat importation to resort to local substitutes such as Sorghum, which has for the better, rather than the worse, improved the taste of the so‐called “Nigerian Guinness”.

Originality/value

Overall this appears to be the first study of its kind of the brewing industry where the consumption of a singular brand has impacted differently based on the notion of “made‐in” versus “owned‐by” cues.

Citation

Madichie, N. (2011), "“Made‐in” Nigeria or “owned‐by” Ireland? Country‐of‐origin cues and the narratives of Guinness consumption in London", Management Decision, Vol. 49 No. 10, pp. 1612-1622. https://doi.org/10.1108/00251741111183780