Abstract
While the rapid worldwide integration has facilitated the emergence of global consumer culture (GCC), local consumer culture (LCC) still holds a strong influence. Brands, be they global or local, are critical marketplace resources in consumer culture for constructing individual and collective identities. As attitudes toward GCC and LCC guide consumers’ choice between global and local brands, the article addresses which brand meanings (functions) drive the choice and use of brands by consumers embracing GCC/LCC. Theoretically, I advance the literature by connecting GCC/LCC and reactions to brand stimuli. Specially, I examine correlations between the two attitudinal constructs and the salience of four brand meanings: quality, personal identity (self-identity, group-identity, and status), values (similar to social responsibility), and traditions. The results suggest that global brands should focus on personal identity, but not quality in positioning and communications. Local brands should develop their iconic status through ties with tradition and heritage, but not by personal identity. Thus, personal identity and traditions are the most important brand associations to be utilized by global and local brands.
References
Alden, D. L., J.-B. E. M. Steenkamp, and R. Batra. 1999. “Brand Positioning Through Advertising in Asia, North America, and Europe: The Role of Global Consumer Culture.” Journal of Marketing 63 (1): 75–87, https://doi.org/10.1177/002224299906300106.Search in Google Scholar
Anderson, J. C., and D. W. Gerbing. 1988. “Structural Equation Modeling in Practice: A Review and Recommended Two-Step Approach.” Psychological Bulletin 103: 411–23, https://doi.org/10.1037/0033-2909.103.3.411.Search in Google Scholar
Arnould, E. J., and C. J. Thompson. 2005. “Consumer Culture Theory (CCT): Twenty Years of Research.” Journal of Consumer Research 31 (4): 868–83, https://doi.org/10.1086/426626.Search in Google Scholar
Arnould, E. J., and C. J. Thompson. 2018. “What Is Consumer Culture Theory?” In Consumer Culture Theory, edited by E. Arnould, and C. J. Thompson, 1–16. Thousand Oaks: Sage.10.1093/oxfordhb/9780190695583.013.4Search in Google Scholar
Askegaard, S. 2006. “Brands as Global Ideoscape.” In Brand Culture, edited by J. E. Schroeder, and M. Salzer-Morling, 91–102. New York: Routledge.Search in Google Scholar
Askegaard, S., E. J. Arnould, and D. Kjeldgaard. 2005. “Postassimilationist Ethnic Consumer Research: Qualifications and Extensions.” Journal of Consumer Research 32 (1): 160–70, https://doi.org/10.1086/426625.Search in Google Scholar
Belk, R. W. 1988. “Possessions and the Extended Self.” Journal of Consumer Research 15 (2): 139–68, https://doi.org/10.1086/209154.Search in Google Scholar
Belk, R. W. 1995. “Hyperreality and Globalization: Culture in the Age of Ronald McDonald.” Journal of International Consumer Marketing 8 (3): 23–37.10.1300/J046v08n03_03Search in Google Scholar
Cayla, J., and E. J. Arnould. 2008. “A Cultural Approach to Branding in the Global Marketplace.” Journal of International Marketing 16 (4): 86–112, https://doi.org/10.1509/jimk.16.4.86.Search in Google Scholar
Cleveland, M., M. Laroche, I. Takahashi, and S. Erdogan. 2014. “Cross-Linguistic Validation of a Unidimensional Scale for Cosmopolitanism.” Journal of Business Research 67: 268–77, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jbusres.2013.05.013.Search in Google Scholar
Cleveland, M., M. Laroche, and N. Papadopoulos. 2009. “Cosmopolitanism, Consumer Ethnocentrism, and Materialism: An Eight-Country Study of Antecedents and Outcomes.” Journal of International Marketing 17 (1): 116–46, https://doi.org/10.1509/jimk.17.1.116.Search in Google Scholar
Coskuner-Balli, G., and B. Ertimur. 2018. “Glocalization of Marketplace Cultures.” In Consumer Culture Theory, edited by E. Arnould, and C. J. Thompson, 126–50. Thousand Oaks: Sage.Search in Google Scholar
Davvetas, V., and A. Diamantopoulos. 2016. “How Product Category Shapes Preferences Toward Global and Local Brands: A Schema Theory Perspective.” Journal of International Marketing 24 (4): 61–81, https://doi.org/10.1509/jim.15.0110.Search in Google Scholar
Dimofte, C. V., J. K. Johansson, and I. A. Ronkainen. 2008. “Cognitive and Affective Reactions of U.S. Consumers to Global Brands.” Journal of International Marketing 16 (4): 113–35, https://doi.org/10.1509/jimk.16.4.113.Search in Google Scholar
Ger, G., and R. W. Belk. 1996. “I’d Like to Buy the World a Coke: Consumptionscapes of the “Less Affluent World.” Journal of Consumer Policy 19 (3): 271–304, https://doi.org/10.1007/bf00411411.Search in Google Scholar
Holt, D. B. 2002. “Why Do Brands Cause Trouble? A Dialectical Theory of Consumer Culture and Branding.” Journal of Consumer Research 29 (1): 70–90, https://doi.org/10.1086/339922.Search in Google Scholar
Holt, D. B., J. A. Quelch, and E. L. Taylor. 2004. “How Global Brands Compete.” Harvard Business Review 82: 68–75.Search in Google Scholar
Inglehart, R., and C. Welzel. 2005. Modernization, Cultural Change, and Democracy. New York: Cambridge University Press.Search in Google Scholar
Keller, K. L., and V. Swaminathan. 2020. Strategic Brand Management: Building, Measuring, and Managing Brand Equity. Hoboken: Pearson.Search in Google Scholar
Klein, J. G., and N. Dawar. 2004. “Corporate Social Responsibility and Consumers’ Attributions and Brand Evaluations in Product Harm Crisis.” International Journal of Research in Marketing 21 (3): 203–17, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijresmar.2003.12.003.Search in Google Scholar
Moore, E. S., W. L. Wilkie, and R. J. Lutz. 2002. “Passing the Torch: Intergenerational Influences as a Source of Brand Equity.” Journal of Marketing 66 (2): 17–37, https://doi.org/10.1509/jmkg.66.2.17.18480.Search in Google Scholar
Ӧzsomer, A. 2012. “The Interplay Between Global and Local Brands: A Closer Look at Perceived Brand Globalness and Local Iconness.” Journal of International Marketing 20 (2): 72–95.10.1509/jim.11.0105Search in Google Scholar
Ӧzsomer, A., and S. Altaras. 2008. “Global Brand Purchase Likelihood: A Critical Synthesis and an Integrated Conceptual Framework.” Journal of International Marketing 16 (4): 1–28.10.1509/jimk.16.4.1Search in Google Scholar
Riefler, P. 2012. “Why Consumers Do (Not) Like Global Brands: The Role of Globalization Attitudes, GCO, and Global Brand Origin.” International Journal of Research in Marketing 29: 25–34, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijresmar.2011.11.001.Search in Google Scholar
Satorra, A., and P. M. Bentler. 1994. “Corrections to Test Statistics and Standard Errors on Covariance Structure Analysis.” In Latent Variables Analysis: Applications for Developmental Research, edited by A. von Eye, and C. C. Clogg, 399–419. Thousand Oaks: Sage.Search in Google Scholar
Schau, H. J. 2018. “Identity Projects and the Marketplace.” In Consumer Culture Theory, edited by E. Arnould, and C. J. Thompson, 19–39. Thousand Oaks: Sage.Search in Google Scholar
Schwartz, S. H. 1992. “Universals in the Content and Structure of Values: Theoretical Advances and Empirical Tests in 20 Countries.” In Advances in Experimental Social Psychology, Vol. 25, edited by M. Zanna, 1–65. San Diego: Academic Press.10.1016/S0065-2601(08)60281-6Search in Google Scholar
Sprinkle, G. B., and L. A. Maines. 2010. “The Benefits and Costs of Corporate Social Responsibility.” Business Horizons 53: 445–53, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.bushor.2010.05.006.Search in Google Scholar
Steenkamp, J.-B. E. M. 2019. “Global versus Local Consumer Culture: Theory, Measurement, and Future Research Directions.” Journal of International Marketing 27 (1): 1–19, https://doi.org/10.1177/1069031x18811289.Search in Google Scholar
Steenkamp, J.-B. E. M., and M. G. de Jong. 2010. “A Global Investigation into the Constellation of Consumer Attitudes Toward Global and Local Products.” Journal of Marketing 74: 18–40, https://doi.org/10.1509/jmkg.74.6.18.Search in Google Scholar
Steenkamp, J.-B. E. M., R. Batra, and D. Alden. 2003. “How Perceived Brand Globalness Creates Brand Value.” Journal of International Business Studies 34 (1): 53–65.10.2139/ssrn.339365Search in Google Scholar
Strizhakova, Y., and R. A. Coulter. 2015. “Drivers of Local Relative to Global Brand Purchases: A Contingency Approach.” Journal of International Marketing 23 (1): 1–22, https://doi.org/10.1509/jim.14.0037.Search in Google Scholar
Strizhakova, Y., R. A. Coulter, and L. L. Price. 2008. “The Meanings of Branded Products: A Cross-National Scale Development and Meaning Assessment.” International Journal of Research in Marketing 25: 82–93, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijresmar.2008.01.001.Search in Google Scholar
Tomlinson, J. 1999. Globalization and Culture. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.Search in Google Scholar
Tu, L., A. Khare, and Y. Zhang. 2012. “A Short 8-Item Scale for Measuring Consumers’ Local-Global Identity.” International Journal of Research in Marketing 29 (1): 35–42, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijresmar.2011.07.003.Search in Google Scholar
Varman, R., and R. W. Belk. 2009. “Nationalism and Ideology in an Anticonsumption Movement.” Journal of Consumer Research 36 (4): 686–700, https://doi.org/10.1086/600486.Search in Google Scholar
Wallendorf, M., and E. J. Arnould. 1991. ““I Gather Together”: Consumption Rituals of Thanksgiving Day.” Journal of Consumer Research 18 (1): 13–31, https://doi.org/10.1086/209237.Search in Google Scholar
Westjohn, S. A., N. Singh, and P. Magnusson. 2012. “Responsiveness to Global and Local Consumer Culture Positioning: A Personality and Collective Identity Perspective.” Journal of International Marketing 20 (1): 58–73, https://doi.org/10.1509/jim.10.0154.Search in Google Scholar
Xie, Y., R. Batra, and S. Peng. 2015. “An Extended Model of Preference Formation Between Global and Local Brands: The Roles of Identity Expressiveness, Trust, and Affect.” Journal of International Marketing 23 (1): 50–71, https://doi.org/10.1509/jim.14.0009.Search in Google Scholar
Supplementary Material
The online version of this article offers supplementary material (https://doi.org/10.1515/roms-2022-0035).
© 2022 Walter de Gruyter GmbH, Berlin/Boston