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The creation of a truly global marketplace with a rapidly expanding middle class has created unparalleled opportunities global brands and the multinational corporations that own them. From household and food products to travel and luxury brands, this converging global market with converging lifestyle aspirations would appear to enable global brand stewardship on an unprecedented scale. At the same time, brand marketing and corporate communications practices around the world have become increasingly consistent, eradicating what were once sharp local differences in theory and practice in different countries. The paper aims to focus on this issues surrounding this.

To understand the hidden obstacles to a seamless global approach to corporate and brand marketing, Porter Novelli commissioned Harris Interactive to conduct an online survey of the communications directors of US‐based global multinationals asking detailed questions about what they believe is working well in their global PR networks and what they believe is less than satisfactory. They were asked to rank the importance of a set of core attributes relating to brand marketing and corporate communications and then to rate the performance of their internal PR organization on those attributes.

The outcome of this research revealed five key sources of what can be called network inertia which is discussed in more detail in another paper.

Offers clear actions for global multinationals to meet the extraordinary difficulties in managing their PR networks to create and nourish effective and consistent brand stewardship across the globe.

Examines the motivation for and the benefits of a global branding strategy, and sets out a framework for its implementation. Discusses the international environmental circumstances conducive to global branding, analyses the major functions and benefits of the strategy – advertising cost savings, rapid introduction of product innovation and improved identification and motivation of the workforce with the enterprise. Finally deals with the organizational conditions for global branding, such as strategic planning and controlling, organizational anchoring and marketing research. Draws on both English and German management literature.

The purpose of this paper is to explore global brands, global consumer culture (GCC) and globalization, and offers a thesis in line with Steenkamp (2019) regarding the world’s continued move toward greater integration.

The study examines the three concepts articulated by Steenkamp (2019): global brands, GCC and globalization.

Globalization is often thought of as a necessary condition for the existence of global brands and GCC. However, global brands existed long before the transition toward an increasingly integrated world. Further, global branding is related to the development of GCC as an intermarket segment. The paper also highlights the absence of an operational definition for global brands and the overemphasis on consumer brands as the drivers of much of the research in global branding and GCC.

The paper offers a different perspective on the GCC phenomenon, and identifies new avenues for future research.

The study aims to investigate the impact of perceived brand localness (PBL) and perceived brand globalness (PBG) on brand authenticity (BA) to predict consumers' attitudes toward local and global brands in two Asian markets. Further, the study examines the moderating role of uncertainty avoidance (UA) after controlling the effects of brand familiarity (BF) in Asian markets (China and Pakistan).

In accordance with the non-probability technique and through an online survey, the study collected 1,880 responses (on local and global brands) from China and Pakistan. Partial least square structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM) is the most robust technique applied to examine the proposed hypotheses in the Asian environment.

After controlling the effects of BF, the findings revealed that PBL and PBG positively influenced consumers' perceptions of BA, which had a significant impact on consumers' brand attitudes toward both local and global brands in Asian markets. Further, the research identified that BA was an essential mediator from the Asian perspective. The interaction effects of UA and PBL on BA were discovered positively significant in Pakistan, whereas the effects of UA and PBG on BA were found negatively significant in Pakistan and had no effects in China.

The research focused on two Asian countries (China and Pakistan). However, future researchers may collect additional data from other Asian countries in order to generalize the findings in all Asian markets.

The research assists local and global managers in designing and implementing various targeting, positioning and segmentation strategies for successfully managing businesses in Asian markets.

The novel research is based on signaling theory that contributes to the local and global branding domains from the Asian perspective (China and Pakistan).

This study aims to investigate how and why traveling consumers choose globally branded/operated, instead of locally branded, hotels when traveling to another country.

Building on signaling theory, the authors conceptualize a model to explain the consumer process of selecting global hotel brands and test the model empirically with South Korean international consumers through a self-administered survey.

The data support the relationships of selected brand signals, such as brand credibility, brand liability, decision heuristic and anticipated satisfaction, with brand attitude and purchase likelihood.

The results imply how global hotel brand managers could enhance the effect of global hotel branding on the consumer’s hotel choice.

The study adds to the literature by proposing a new, empirically supported model of global branding for the tourism and hospitality industry.

This paper seeks to explore the relationship between global brands and the emotional connections between consumers and the brand.

The paper integrates concepts including a range of recently published (1995‐2006) theoretical works in the branding, global branding, and share of heart literature.

The paper provides information and action approaches to marketers to aid them in managing the emotional ties of global brands to specific market segments. The term “global brand” is used extensively in business but its nature and scope are not understood by all. Global brands are few in number and must satisfy several criteria to be considered truly global. This study explores the requirements for global branding as well as the characteristics and advantages of global brands. Brands may be considered in two dimensions based on their acceptance by consumers. One dimension is the brand's deliverable benefits relevant to its target segment. The other is the type and depth of emotional connection between the consumer and the brand. The article reviews the state of global branding and types of emotional connections. It then postulates a series of actions to build share of heart to aid in taking brands global.

The theoretical concepts that form the foundation of the paper appear to have a significant application to consumer marketing but have not been tested empirically.

The paper explores a global phenomenon that has implications for the nature and scope of market segmentation, product design and promotion.

The paper describes the nature and application of emotional connections to particular brands. While most literature has concentrated on local or national brands, the paper provides a perspective that may help to understand how global brands generate emotional ties to consumers.

This paper aims to investigate the “posting” behavior of marketers on brands’ Facebook pages and whether these “posting” behaviors differ between local and global brands in Saudi Arabia.

The study randomly selected a total of 400 Facebook brand page posts from a matching sample of top 20 global and 20 local brands in Saudi Arabia using content analysis.

One of the notable findings show that global brands are more likely to post content that consists of prizes/giveaways, games/competitions and socializing than local brands, while local brands are more likely to post informative content than global brands. The findings also show that local brands are more likely to use content that includes Islamic messages, women in modest clothing, Arabic language and Saudi dialect than global brands.

This study is limited to 20 global and 20 local brands. More product categories are needed.

The findings of this study have implications for marketers in regards to what types of communication content is more likely to be posted on brands’ Facebook fan pages in Saudi Arabia – especially for those global brands that are interested in having a localized brand Facebook fan page for Saudi Arabia.

The first study to compare Facebook strategies used by global brands and local brands in the same market.

The purpose of this paper is to investigate the influence of incorporating Chinese elements in global brands on consumer purchase likelihood.

Six global brand products from three categories that utilized Chinese elements are used to test hypotheses. The Total Effect Moderation Model is used to analyze by combining moderation and mediation under a general analytical framework.

The results show that cultural compatibility has direct positive effect, in addition to an indirect effect (through local iconness) on purchase likelihood. Meanwhile, consumer cultural identity is found to moderate the impact of brand local iconness on purchase likelihood.

Evaluation and improvement of cultural compatibility in a global brand that incorporates Chinese elements is recommended for multinational marketers entering Chinese consumer markets. Meanwhile, marketers should pay attention to consumer cultural identity in the market segmentation process.

This paper takes a unique perspective to investigate whether and how global brands can succeed when adding local cultural elements to the product design, packaging and promotion in emerging markets like China.

This study aims to investigate how consumers respond to global brands adapting to local elements. Specifically, this study identified three factors (i.e., cultural compatibility, cultural elements authenticity and cultural pride) affecting the purchase intentions (PIs) toward global brands using Chinese elements among Chinese consumers in China and Chinese immigrants in North America. Another aim is to examine the moderating role of acculturation in the relationship between cultural pride and PIs among Chinese immigrants.

Three studies were conducted to test the hypotheses in China and North America. Confirmatory factor analysis was used to confirm the factor structure. Hierarchical regression was used to test the main effects and moderated regression analysis was used to test the moderation effect.

Results show that cultural compatibility, cultural elements authenticity (CEA) and cultural pride positively affect the PIs toward global brands with Chinese elements for both Chinese consumers and Chinese immigrants. Further, among Chinese immigrants, acculturation moderates the relationship between cultural pride and PIs.

This study explored the factors influencing the PIs toward global brands using Chinese elements, filling a research gap. To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this study is the first to examine how perceived CEA affects consumers’ PIs toward global brands with Chinese elements. Further, the findings have implications for global brands that want to target Chinese consumers and Chinese immigrants in overseas markets.

Theorizing about consumer’s cultural identity has led to a greater understanding of why consumers choose and consume certain brands and products. The influence of cultural identity has traditionally been studied primarily in a consumer’s country of origin, neglecting its potential relevance for understanding the consumption choices of sojourners and expatriates. This paper aims to investigate how the length of stay (LOS) in a foreign country, as a manifestation of local identity, shapes expatriate consumers’ food brand preferences.

This study draws on social identity theory and cultural branding literature to examine the mechanisms through which local identity drives preference for local food brands among expatriate consumers. Data from a cross-sectional survey of 180 USA and UK expatriates living in the Greater Middle East were analysed using structural equation modelling.

Local identity (measured through LOS in the host country) appears to exert an indirect effect on the consumption of local food brands through social ties with a local community. Next, social ties with a local community enhance local food brand preferences (LFBP) and this relationship is fully mediated by the global food brand preference (GFBP) where GFBP weakens the preference for local food brands and vice versa. In addition, the heterogeneity of interplay effects between local and global food brands can be attributed to the local food brand value signalling. The study finds that the higher perceived value of local food brands lowers the negative impact the GFBP has on LFBP and vice versa. The hypothesized effects in the model remain robust when controlling for moderating effect of age and the expatriate’s country of origin.

The current study investigates the consumer behaviour of the expatriate consumer segment. As this study focuses only on expatriates currently living in countries of the Greater Middle East, its findings should be tested in other regions and with diverse subject samples.

Expatriates should not be treated as a uniform consumer segment but, instead, should be evaluated as unique individuals whose inclination towards local food brands depends on their: ability to establish and verify their local identity through developing social ties with the local community and reliance on global food brands. Moreover, findings demonstrate that brand managers should focus on increasing their perceived value by showcasing quality, reliability, innovation and performance, factors that reassure expatriate consumers when choosing local, over global food brands.

This study goes beyond the traditional focus on local identity in the domestic setting and sets out to investigate the chain of effects on LFBPs in the expatriate setting. Empirical evidence shows that an expatriate’s higher integration in a local community via social ties confirms their local identity, and thus exerts a stronger impact on a preference for local food brands. The study’s results demonstrate that the preference for local food is dependent on an expatriate consumer’s reliance on global food brands and the impact of global food preferences on local food preferences is moderated by the perceptions of the local food brand value. Additionally, findings suggest that the negative effects of global food brands are stronger for older expatriates and expatriates coming from the USA.