SMU Assistant Professor of Marketing Cathy Chen, the lead researcher of a new study on whether stereotypes can seriously hurt a country’s business, said: "Positive feelings about a country don't always translate into more favourable opinions of its products. A positive opinion of a country may actually make consumers think more about whether or not the country is known to be good at making a product. On the other hand, negative feelings toward a country make consumers think only about a product's features and less about the country of origin." The study revealed that consumers considered only the product information and not the country of origin if they had negative feelings toward the country. However, consumers also considered products' country of origin if they felt positively about the country.