I’ve never heard about authors makig decisions based on the country of origin of the journal’s editorial office. I would say that it is hardly a factor in any professional decision. What really counts is abstracting/indexing, reputation of the editorial board, quality of the published articles and adequacy of topic.
The lack of western names on the editorial board and/or among the authors of past issues can raise a flag for some (including myself), but it will not make a difference if the journal publishes quality work.
These publishers are not lying to attract articles from western authors. Their targets are dishonest or inexperienced authors, westerners or not. Money is money. An inexperienced author will not be influenced by the country of origin of the editorial office; it is overal a very small and unimportant detail and they are often unaware even about the important ones (and this is why they are mistaken in considering predatory journals as a possible place for publication). A dishonet author, however, may think that a phony journal looks more legit (meaning it is harder to discover its phoniness by collegues or administrators) if dressed in western garments.
