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Introduction
Research interest in branding started way back in the 1960s with tremendous attention from many researchers. Among other branding aspects, brand equity (BE) has been studied extensively (Ambler, 1997; Batra. et al. , 2000; Zeugner-Roth et al. , 2008; Swaminathan et al. , 2009; Keller, 2010; Hamzaoui-Essoussi et al. , 2011).
Despite this considerable interest, the factors specifically influencing BE have been overlooked (Barwise, 1993). Most researches focussed on developing BE constructs (such as Keller, 1993; Agarwal and Rao, 1996; Sinha et al. , 2008; Broyles et al. , 2009; Menictas et al. , 2012). The few researchers who studied factors influencing BE include Bawa and Shoemaker (1987), Kim et al. (2008), and Joshy and Sivakumaran. Most researchers studied the relationship between some BE dimensions and various other factors.
Although consumer behavior researchers currently demonstrated an interest in the impact of country of origin image (COO) on BE, the work has generally focussed on how the dimensions of COO relate to different dimensions of BE, or on how these relationships might change due to other variables. A study an COO of Indonesian consumer behavior remains. As to be conducted citizens of a developing country, consumers in Indonesia take into consideration the symbolic is nature of COO to enhance their status, in addition to demonstrating the quality of the overall product. There are a number of explanations as to why the COO image is stronger in developing countries (Batra et al. , 2000). First, imported products in developing countries are relatively more expensive and rare than the local products. Only consumers with high purchasing power are able to buy imported products, although they are increasingly desired by people who do not have sufficient purchasing power. Second, consumers in developing countries tend to have a sense of insecurity and low self-esteem, because they are relatively poorer than those in developed countries. They therefore try to imitate the consumption practices and lifestyles of luxury and prestige of people in developed countries, by purchasing foreign brands which symbolize life in the west. Third, the desire to demonstrate their purchasing competence underlies the emergence of "cosmopolitan" consumers in developing countries. Owning imported products may be the only way to demonstrate their competence. Not all developing countries have access...