Made in Germany

Made in Germany is a merchandise mark indicating that a product has been manufactured in Germany.

History

The label was originally introduced in Britain by the Merchandise Marks Act 1887, to mark foreign produce more obviously, as foreign manufactures had been falsely marking inferior goods with the marks of renowned British manufacturing companies and importing them into the United Kingdom. Most of these were found to be originating from Germany, whose government had introduced a protectionist policy to legally prohibit the import of goods in order to build up domestic industry (Merchandise Marks Act - Oxford University Press).

According to Professor Asaf Zussman, Department of Economics, Hebrew University in "The Rise of German Protectionism in the 1870s: A Macroeconomic Perspective∗", the "Rye and Iron" tariffs introduced by Bismarck’s Germany in 1879, caused a major reduction of imports in order to protect Germany's industries. As a response, the Free-trade Liberal government in the UK introduced the Merchandise Marks act to allow consumers to be able to choose whether or not they would continue to purchase goods from protectionist economies.

Country of origin

Country of origin (COO), is the country of manufacture, production, or growth where an article or product comes from. There are differing rules of origin under various national laws and international treaties.

Effects on consumers

The effects of country of origin labeling on consumer purchasing have been extensively studied The country of origin effect is also known as the "made-in image" and the "nationality bias."

Research shows that consumers' broad general perceptions of a country, including of its national characteristics, economic and political background, history, traditions, and representative products, combine to create an overall image or stereotype that is then attached to the products of that country. This image has a significant influence on consumer perceptions and behaviours, and in situations in which additional information is unavailable or difficult to get can be the sole determinant of whether or not someone buys a product. Its effect is strongest on consumers who don't know much about the product or product type, and weakest on consumers who are well-informed. Sensitivity to country of origin varies by product category. It is strongest for durable goods and luxury goods and weakest for "low involvement" product categories such as shampoo and candy. In various studies it has also been proven that the Country-of-Origin Effect also applies to services.

Germany

Coordinates: 51°N 9°E / 51°N 9°E / 51; 9

Germany (/ˈdʒɜːrməni/; German: Deutschland [ˈdɔʏtʃlant]), officially the Federal Republic of Germany (German: Bundesrepublik Deutschland,  listen ), is a federal parliamentary republic in West-Central Europe. It includes 16 constituent states and covers an area of 357,021 square kilometres (137,847 sq mi) with a largely temperate seasonal climate. Its capital and largest city is Berlin. With about 81.5 million inhabitants, Germany is the most populous member state in the European Union. After the United States, it is the second most popular migration destination in the world.

Various Germanic tribes have occupied northern Germany since classical antiquity. A region named Germania was documented before 100 AD. During the Migration Period the Germanic tribes expanded southward. Beginning in the 10th century, German territories formed a central part of the Holy Roman Empire. During the 16th century, northern German regions became the centre of the Protestant Reformation.

World of Tanks

World of Tanks is a massively multiplayer online game developed by Belarusian-Cypriot company Wargaming, featuring early to mid-20th century era fighting vehicles. It is built upon a freemium business model where the game is free-to-play, but participants also have the option of paying a fee for use of "premium" features. The focus is on player vs. player gameplay with each player controlling an armored vehicle, which may be a light, medium or heavy tank, tank destroyer, or self-propelled gun. World of Tanks debuted as an eSports game at the World Cyber Games 2012.

On 10 June 2013 it was announced that World of Tanks was coming to Xbox Live Arcade on 12 February 2014 as World of Tanks: Xbox 360 Edition. Xbox 360 players use separate servers to those playing the Windows version, and players of each version have separate accounts. The Xbox 360 version was developed by Wargaming West studio. An Xbox One version has been announced, and was released on 28 July 2015. A PlayStation 4 version is scheduled to release in 2016.World of Tanks has also recently expanded to mobile platforms under the name World of Tanks Blitz, in addition to a board game titled World of Tanks Rush and a collectable card game titled World of Tanks: Generals.