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The purpose of this paper was to examine psychological variables of young Chinese to determine their impact on identification with global consumer culture, attitudes toward global and USA brands and intention to buy USA brands. The independent or psychological variables examined were self-monitoring, life satisfaction, brand relevance, social demonstration effect, change-seeking behavior and reference groups (interacted and non-interacted). The goal was to understand what forces drive global and USA brand preferences.

Data were collected in Guangzhou, China, in 2013 through a survey administered to 152 young Chinese respondents. Confirmatory factor analysis and reliability coefficients verified the psychometrics of each scale. Subsequently, the sample was divided into high versus low groups for each of the independent variables to perform mean tests for each on each of the four dependent variables.

The results showed that all the hypotheses were supported to some extent. The sample had a positive attitude toward all the dependent measures: identification with global consumer culture, global and USA brands and intention to buy USA brands. Self-monitoring and change-seeking behavior had the least association with the dependent variables. Brand relevance, social demonstration effect and interactive and non-interactive reference groups were all found to have strong support.

The authors used an urban sample of young Chinese. Examining an older sample or one that was less urban would also be useful. Future research could also examine other emerging markets such as Brazil or Indonesia to identify the impact of the psychological variables.

Multinational firms wishing to grow revenues of their USA and global brands in China must be attuned to the social aspects of positioning their brands. The implications show that brand relevance, social demonstration and reference groups can be used for positioning of global and USA brands. As China is a collectivist society, using appeals that establish a brand’s desirability or relevance and its ability to allow users to socially demonstrate the brand to reference groups is likely to work well.

No study has assembled the variables in the manner investigated in this research, nor have other studies looked at young Chinese in terms of USA brand attitudes and identification with global consumer culture.

This study aims to understand how consumers evaluate Made in USA messages that are congruent/incongruent to consumers’ prior expectations about the brand’s US-based sourcing initiatives.

Two separate studies were conducted. Online experiment was designed implementing both message and treatment variance to increase internal and external validity of the study. Data collected from two distinct samples were analyzed using MANOVA and ANOVA.

Findings from Study 1 indicated that consumers’ perceived message credibility, attitude toward message and attitude toward brand were highest for congruent messages, followed by when incongruity was resolved and lowest when incongruity was not resolved. Further, consumers’ brand attitudes before and after message exposure were different, with change being most positive for incongruity resolution, followed by congruity, whereas negative for incongruity non-resolution. Findings from Study 2 indicated that consumers’ general attitude toward brands’ US-based sourcing strategies influenced their brand attitude, as well as moderated the relation between schema congruity/incongruity resolution/incongruity non-resolution and brand attitude.

The findings are helpful for brand managers and sourcing personnel to better invest their resources in US-based sourcing strategies. In addition, the findings of the study contribute and extend theory by identifying a boundary condition.

The purpose of this study is to measure and compare the consumer‐based brand equity of apparel products by three consumer groups across cultures – Americans in the USA, South Koreans in the USA, and South Koreans in Korea. Also examined was cross‐cultural effects of brand equity on purchase intention.

A total of 300 college students were recruited for the survey from local universities and organizations in the USA and South Korea. The MBE and OBE models were used to measure brand equity of the three apparel brands (i.e. Polo, Gap, and Levi's).

Among the elements of brand equity, the perceived brand quality and brand awareness/association reported by American college students were significantly greater than those reported by South Koreans in the USA and Korea. For both South Korean groups, brand loyalty was the most important element of brand equity. In the relationship between elements of brand equity and purchase intention, brand loyalty showed positive correlation with purchase intention across all three consumer groups.

Further research might include more apparel brands in different price points. An investigation of the prices of various apparel brands in different countries will be useful for cross‐cultural comparisons.

With a lack of brand equity studies on fashion products and even fewer studies of cross‐cultural comparisons in brand equity, this study should be valuable information for firms branding their products and making marketing strategies from the global perspective.

This special “Anbar Abstracts” issue of the Marketing Intelligence & Planning is split into seven sections covering abstracts under the following headings: Marketing Strategy; Customer Service; Sales Management; Promotion; Marketing Research/Customer Behaviour; Product Management; Logistics and Distribution and Sundry.

The purpose of this study was to understand how male and female consumers differently evaluate sustainability claims from brands and how brands’ sustainability efforts and the presence/absence of information transparency in the claims affect their brand schemas differently.

Five hundred participants were recruited for an online experiment implementing both treatment and message variance. PROCESS, a recently developed regression-based bootstrapping technique was used to test the hypotheses.

Males were more likely than females to rely on their existing schemas for judgment in case of Made in USA but not Fair Labor claims. The presence of information transparency in claims reduced participants’ reliance on their schemas.

The findings might be helpful for brands to design marketing claims with specific customer segments to stand out amidst advertisement clutter. Especially, brands targeting male consumers might try to build strong brand schemas starting the early stages of brand image building as males tend to consistently rely on their schemas for judgment. On the other hand, brands might benefit from providing transparent information about their sustainability efforts in their claims (especially those related to Made in USA) while targeting female consumers. However, irrespective of gender, brands might benefit from making claims with information transparency.

This study investigated the influence of gender in evaluation of brands’ sustainability claims and the role of information transparency in the process, thereby filling a gap in literature. It is one of the very few studies to empirically investigate not only whether males and females are different in their information processing styles but also how such differences arise.

Drawing on the self-congruity theory and customer engagement literature, this research accounts for the influence of the three dimensions of customer self-congruity on customer engagement with global brands by uncovering the mediating mechanism of brand psychological ownership and moderating mechanism of global connectedness. The research framework is tested across developed and developing country contexts to highlight any cultural differences in the drivers of customer engagement with global brands.

Data were collected from developed (USA; n = 270) and developing (India; n = 273) countries through two online surveys and tested, employing structural equation modeling, across the two markets to investigate cross-cultural variations.

Social self-congruity has the strongest influence on customer engagement for USA consumers, while all three forms of self-congruity are equally important in India. Psychological ownership consistently works as the mediating mechanism across both contexts. While global connectedness accentuates the relationship between self-congruity and brand psychological ownership for Indian consumers, it attenuates the relationship amongst USA consumers.

While prior literature mainly establishes a direct link between self-congruity and customer engagement, this study provides a deeper understanding of the self-congruity–customer engagement relationship by: a) investigating the mediating role of psychological ownership; b) examining the moderating role of global connectedness and c) studying all three forms of self-congruity (i.e. actual, ideal and social) simultaneously. The study, testing the framework in developing and developed country settings, highlights cultural nuances in forming customer engagement with global brands.

This study aims to examine the impact of consumer brand experience on brand love and loyalty toward a favorite tequila brand across Mexico and the USA while advancing marketing strategies to strengthen consumer-brand relationships.

Data were analyzed from 906 respondents (348-USA and 558-Mexico) to assess paths to purchase loyalty and test brand relationship hypotheses using partial least squares.

Analysis revealed that consumers in both markets demonstrated similar paths from tequila experience to brand love and attitude toward their favorite tequila brand. On the contrary, significant differences in the influence of tequila experience on the brand image were evident. Tequila experience did not have a significant difference between markets on purchase loyalty. Attitude toward the tequila brand had a much stronger influence on brand image for the USA compared to Mexican respondents. Finally, brand love’s influence on purchase loyalty differed significantly between the two markets of respondents.

Considering different paths to behavioral brand loyalty across markets enables segmentation strategy development to increase repeat purchase and brand allegiance. Results indicate that the brand's image is a strong influencer of purchase loyalty, suggesting opportunities exist for brand managers to consider unique paths toward purchase loyalty.

This study advances the literature by answering the call for multi-national studies that investigate consumer-brand relationships. Furthermore, the research setting offers insight into consumer-brand relationships and consumption patterns for spirits in a different national context, in this case, the product’s country of origin (Mexico) and its largest market (USA).

One potential source of pioneer brand advantage is retail buyers’ preference for pioneer brands. A model of pioneer brand advantage with retailers developed in the USA was tested in Japan, as a replication and cross‐cultural extension. This provides the first empirical study of Japanese retail buyer beliefs, attitude, and behavior toward new offerings, and the first direct statistical comparison of US and Japanese retail buying behavior in the marketing literature. Similarities and differences in pioneer brand advantage with retailers between Japan and the USA are discussed. Results from a survey of buyers from Japan’s largest supermarket chains suggest that pioneer brand advantage is about as strong for them as for their US counterparts, though for somewhat different reasons. The survey’s results were analyzed in two ways (through a multi‐attribute attitude model and a PLS causal model), with results that complement and corroborate one another. Data were standardized to deal with potential extreme response style bias.

The purpose of this paper is to examine Chinese consumers’ perception of US-made clothing and purchase intention to US-made clothing; to explore the role of brand in the relationship between country of origin (COO) and consumer perception and purchase intention; and to investigate whether China is a potential market for US-made clothing.

A survey was conducted among college students in three cities in China. A 2×3 within-subjects design with two countries and three brands was performed.

For Chinese consumers, country equity of China is significantly higher than the USA. However, Chinese consumers hold significantly higher perceived quality and perceived price of product for US-made clothing for all American brands. Chinese consumers have significantly higher purchase intention for US-made clothing for popular American brands with average price points.

Further research could sample different groups which are better representative of the whole population. Different COOs and industrial sectors will be worth of studying. Future research also needs to quantify the potential price increase.

The conclusions can be applied to business practices by American companies identifying their brand category before developing effective sourcing strategies.

This study sheds light on policy making by bringing a new approach to position US-made products in China and address the trade imbalance between the two countries.

This study deeply examines how different brands affect Chinese consumers’ perception of US-made clothing and purchase intention to US-made clothing.

States that few studies have attempted to measure the joint effect of brand and country images, or the dimensions of these images, on consumer evaluation of global products. Suggests a methodology for defining product value by consumers’ perception of brand and country image dimensions when sourced internationally. Brand‐country image profiles were factor analysed to provide dimensions of each brand‐country combination. Shows that consumer perception of product value changes, evidenced by brand‐country dimensions, as production is sourced internationally, and suggests a modified marketing strategy.