Is country affinity applicable for domestic brands? The role of nation sentiment on consumers' self-brand connection with domestic vs foreign brands
Asia Pacific Journal of Marketing and Logistics
ISSN: 1355-5855
Article publication date: 13 July 2020
Issue publication date: 23 February 2021
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this study is to examine the effect of country affinity, ethnocentrism and product quality judgment on self-brand connection regarding both domestic and foreign brands.
Design/methodology/approach
The study involved an online experiment and was conducted using online questionnaires. Sampling was done among undergraduate students of a Southwestern university in the US. The data was analyzed using SEM with PLS.
Findings
The results showed, for foreign brands, consumer self-brand connection increased through the effect of country affinity and product quality judgment. For domestic brands, self-brand connection was influenced by ethnocentrism (and not country affinity or product quality judgment).
Research limitations/implications
This study only focused on one industry (i.e. Television industry), and the authors recommend future studies examine a broader range of industries. Moreover, other country related constructs such as national identity need to be examined in future studies.
Practical implications
Marketers focusing on global branding and international marketing can benefit from the findings of this paper by understanding the routes through which consumers build self-brand connections in foreign vs domestic settings. Additionally, marketers can, more effectively, invest their resources by focusing on the factors that can be influential (i.e. ethnocentrism for domestic brands vs country affinity and product judgment for foreign brands).
Originality/value
This study examines the effect of country affinity, ethnocentrism and product quality judgment for consumers' domestic country as well as a foreign country. Moreover, this study contributes toward the global branding literature by incorporating self-brand connection as a behavioral outcome.
Keywords
Citation
Fazli-Salehi, R., Torres, I.M., Madadi, R. and Zúñiga, M.Á. (2021), "Is country affinity applicable for domestic brands? The role of nation sentiment on consumers' self-brand connection with domestic vs foreign brands", Asia Pacific Journal of Marketing and Logistics, Vol. 33 No. 3, pp. 731-754. https://doi.org/10.1108/APJML-11-2019-0656
Publisher
:Emerald Publishing Limited
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