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Although firm growth through the acquisition of independent players is at a record high, market reports reveal a parallel increase in independent firms that enjoy noticeable consumer support across industries and threaten MNC-owned brands in several countries. Despite this evident contrast, no research has investigated how independent firms stack up against their non-independent counterparts from a consumer perspective. This study examines this standoff and proposes that independent firms outperform their non-independent contenders in fostering perceptions of product craftmanship and warmth in specific product categories and cultures.

Three experimental studies were conducted across five countries (Study 1: N = 360; USA and China – Study 2: N = 487; UK and India – Study 3: N = 323; Italy). Data were analysed using experimental techniques (Analysis of Variance) and conditional process analyses (Moderated Mediation) using PROCESS.

The findings suggest that (1) firm independence fosters perceptions of product craftmanship and warmth in individualistic cultures, (2) consumers view products sold by independent firms as warmer and more authentic than products sold by non-independent firms in hedonic but not in utilitarian product categories, (3) the positive effects of firm independence on product craftmanship and warmth are neutralized for vertically collectivist cultures (India) and reversed in horizontally collectivist cultures (China), (4) loss of firm independence leads to higher drops in perceived craftmanship and product preference when it is caused by a takeover from a foreign multinational (compared to a domestic corporation).

This research provides a first account of how perceptions of firm independence drive assessments of product craftmanship and authenticity, elicit feelings of warmth and build product preference. The findings inform decisions of multinational corporations regarding (1) how to communicate the acquisition of independent firms in local markets, (2) how to balance an international brand portfolio in culturally diverging markets and different product industries, (3) how to optimize brand architecture through the relative exposure of the corporate brand image vis-à-vis the image of standalone brands owned by the corporation and (4) offer smaller independent players an alternative positioning strategy to differentiate from global competitors enjoying the resources or support of bigger corporations.

The purpose of this paper is to examine affect of cosmopolitanism and consumers’ susceptibility to interpersonal influence on Indian consumers’ fashion clothing involvement. Moderating effect of demographics was studied.

Survey technique through self-administered questionnaire was used for data collection in both metropolitan and non-metropolitan cities in India.

Utilitarian, value expressive factors of normative influence and cosmopolitanism influence Indian consumers’ fashion clothing involvement. Type of city, income, and education moderated influence of normative values and cosmopolitanism on fashion clothing involvement.

One of the major limitations of current research was that it had a large number of respondents in the age group of 18-40 years. Future research can attempt to reduce age biasness.

The findings can prove helpful to international apparel brands marketing luxury and fashion clothing in India. However, since conformance to social norms was important for Indians, clothing manufacturers should use reference groups, opinion leaders, and celebrities to generate awareness. A blend of global and local lifestyle should be used. International luxury brands can customize their products to combine ethnic tastes.

Fashion clothing market promises immense growth opportunities in India. There is limited research to examine influence cosmopolitanism on Indian consumers’ consumption behaviour. Knowledge about influence of global lifestyle, brands, mass media, and services on Indian consumers’ behaviour can help in targeting them effectively.

Companies that wish to market a global brand need to develop a greater understanding of consumers' and potential consumers' susceptibility to global consumer culture (SGCC) with a view to standardizing/adapting their brand according to the desires and preferences of the consumers who belong to specific segments of global consumers. Thus, the aim of the study is to fill a joint segmentation research gap within and between countries based on seven dimensions of SGCC while classifying consumers according to the degree of belonging to specific and hybrid (global citizenship) segments.

A questionnaire was applied online in English in five countries across the Americas and Europe resulting in a sample of 412 consumers. Based on the fuzzy C-means cluster analysis, the study segments the sample of consumers according to the degree of belonging to specific and global citizenship segments.

Analysis of survey results show three groups; two distinct groups and a third with features of both, a distinct intersection group. These findings suggest that consumers in different countries develop beliefs and attitudes about global citizenship, and this perspective coincides with the characteristics of the intersection group. Consequently, the study shows that fragmentation of the needs of consumers exists within and between countries.

This study contributes to the concept of global citizenship, helping managers of global brands improve their marketing strategy decisions by implementing strategies that are standardized or adapted to specific hybrid segments of consumers that transcend national borders. This study used a statistical method to measure the degree of belonging to each segment.

The purpose of this paper is to examine the impact of global consumer culture positioning (GCCP) in comparison to local consumer culture positioning (LCCP) strategies on consumer evaluations of a new unknown brand.

Using an experimental method in the USA and India, the paper examines if the use of such positioning strategies in a print advertisement stimuli influence consumer evaluations of a fictitious brand.

The results support the effectiveness of such strategies as demonstrated by overall improvement in subjects' attitudinal evaluations of the fictitious brand when GCCP is used relative to the use of LCCP. Furthermore, our results show a moderation effect for subjects' level of belief in global citizenship on the effectiveness of the GCCP strategy. These results were observed across the two samples.

This study provides valuable managerial insights into the potential value of GCCP strategy and offers specific strategic positioning guides to brand managers competing in the global marketplace.

With the emergence of global market segments, it is important to assist brand managers seeking to strengthen their brand's equity in a competitive global marketplace. This paper contributes to the literature on international brand positioning by empirically investigating the usefulness of GCCP as a strategic positioning guide for global marketing managers.

With the expansion of globalization, the increased competitive environment has led to the diffusion of brands across borders and cultures. Furthermore, young consumers represent an optimal segment for the proliferation of global consumer culture (GCC). This paper aims to examine the relationship between acculturation to global consumer culture (AGCC), perceived brand equity, attitudes toward the brand and brand resonance in the global sportswear brands context among young consumers in the USA.

A total of 394 undergraduate student participants ranging in age from 18 years to 24 years completed a multisectional structured survey. Model construct validity was tested using a confirmatory factor analysis. A structure equation model was used to test hypotheses and relationships.

Results showed that while cosmopolitan and self-identification with GCC dimensions of ACGG had a positive association with perceived brand equity, exposure to marketing activities of MNCs and global mass media exposure dimensions of AGCC had a negative association with perceived brand equity. Perceived brand equity also revealed a positive association with attitudes toward the brand, which in turn, affected brand resonance.

The research used a sample of 18-24-year-old youth consumers. Future research could be extended to include younger (15-17-year old) sample to provide a broader sample of the youth market. In addition, future replication of findings should seek through cross-cultural investigation of multiple youth segments.

Findings suggest support multiple dimensions of the AGCC scale as holding significant influence on young consumers’ brand equity consisting of brand image and brand awareness. Managerially, the findings provide support on the youth consumer’s affinity toward self-identification with a GCC and cosmopolitan openness to foreign cultures as being positively related to the adoptions and retention of apparel brands.

Theoretically, the results provide empirical evidence for the debate on the interrelationship between brand equity and attitudes toward brands. The theoretical model guiding the current study reflects the notion of an emerging acculturation process among a segment of the world’s population to a set of global consumer preferences and ideals that are increasingly being embodied in global brands.

This is among one of the first studies attempting to explore the applicability of Cleveland and Laroche’s (2007) AGCC concepts in predicting young consumers’ attitudes and behavioral responses toward global brands.

The purpose of this paper is to find out whether a global advertisement will be effective and how it is perceived; is it affected by consumers' age, education, religion besides collectivism, and individualistic behavior?

Descriptive research involving 1,000 respondents. Global advertisements of fast moving consumer goods and consumer durable products are taken for study using questionnaire technique. The focus is to elucidate information on the perception of a global advertisement and how it will be affected by education, age, religion and collectivism, and individualistic behavior.

It is found that culture does affect the perception of global advertisement. Religion, age, and education do play a role in perception of global advertisement – they play an important role in buying intention.

The study is limited to the Indian scenario and can be applicable to SARC countries or South‐East Asian countries as they are the fastest growing emerging world markets.

This is an original research paper and its findings could be important in minimizing wastage. India, Thailand, Brazil, China, and Russia are important emerging markets. Understanding their culture, education, age, and religion could improve global advertisements' effectiveness.

The purpose of this paper is to unpack an Asian-born celebrity culture in which celebrities become everyday necessities for global consumers’ identity struggle, prototypes for global branding strategy, contents for the media industry, and agents for sociocultural transformation.

In order to better elucidate such a significant phenomenon, the authors also introduce two mostly palpable and more relevant domains of celebrity culture to global consumer culture literature − politics of aesthetics and memetics − as analytical tools. Observations and publicly available narratives are also incorporated to enhance the review and critique of the global celebrification process. Psy’s Gangnam Style (GS) is chosen as an archetype, due to its exceptionally vulgar but highly replicable nature.

The specific case of GS exposes three unique qualities of kitsch − exaggeration, disconcertment, and subversive sensibility − that are substantially commensurate with prototypical characteristics of globalized online memes − ordinariness, flawed masculinity, theatricality, and ludic agency. Polysemy and optimism also facilitate the celebrification process in global participatory culture.

The “radical intertextuality” of online memes sustains the participatory culture in which kitsch becomes a global icon through a reproductive process. Korean popular culture cultivates reverse cosmopolitanism through a nationalistic self-orientalization strategy that paradoxically indigenizes western pop-culture and transforms power relations in global pop culture.

This paper presents further elaboration of current discourses on global-celebrity culture by incorporating popular concepts and practices, such as kitsch, meme, parody, and sharing, which synergistically advance aesthetic liberation on a global scale.

While it is essential to further research the growing diversity in western metropolitan cities, little is currently known about how the members of various ethnic communities acculturate to multicultural societies. The purpose of this paper is to explore immigrants’ cosmopolitanism and acculturation strategies through an analysis of the food consumption behaviour of ethnic consumers in multicultural London.

The study was set within the socio-cultural context of London. A number of qualitative methods such as in-depth interviews, observation and photographs were used to assess consumers’ acculturation strategies in a multicultural environment and how that is influenced by consumer cosmopolitanism.

Ethnic consumers’ food consumption behaviour reflects their acculturation strategies, which can be classified into four groups: rebellion, rarefaction, resonance and refrainment. This classification demonstrates ethnic consumers’ multi-directional acculturation strategies, which are also determined by their level of cosmopolitanism.

The taxonomy presented in this paper advances current acculturation scholarship by suggesting a multi-directional model for acculturation strategies as opposed to the existing uni-directional and bi-directional perspectives and explicates the role of consumer cosmopolitanism in consumer acculturation. The paper did not engage host communities and there is hence a need for future research on how and to what extent host communities are acculturated to the multicultural environment.

The findings have direct implications for the choice of standardisation vs adaptation as a marketing strategy within multicultural cities. Whilst the rebellion group are more likely to respond to standardisation, increasing adaptation of goods and service can ideally target members of the resistance and resonance groups and more fusion products should be exclusively earmarked for the resonance group.

The paper makes original contribution by introducing a multi-directional perspective to acculturation by delineating four-group taxonomy (rebellion, rarefaction, resonance and refrainment). This paper also presents a dynamic model that captures how consumer cosmopolitanism impinges upon the process and outcome of multi-directional acculturation strategies.

The purpose of this paper is to focus on two questions that are especially pertinent to international marketers. Is a strong ethnic identity (EID) generally incompatible with a globally‐oriented disposition (cosmopolitanism: COS), and to what extent is the EID‐COS relationship stable across cultures and countries? What roles do EID and COS play on consumer behavior alongside key demographic variables, and how do these relationships vary across countries and across consumption contexts?

Using a sample of consumers drawn from eight countries, this study identifies and compares bases for international market segmentation. The antecedent roles of EID, COS, and the four demographics variables on the behaviors associated with nine product categories are examined.

The findings imply that consumers are complementing an identity rooted in their traditional culture with one that is globally‐oriented. The roles played by demographic and psychographic variables varied considerably, not only across product categories, but moreover, across country samples.

The study focuses more on consumer goods and less on intangible services. The sample and sampling approach place some limits on generalizability.

The results provide insights for international managers into when (i.e. product categories) and where (i.e. locations) marketing strategies could be standardized across national frontiers, and when and where these strategies should be customized or “glocalized.”

The paper makes a significant contribution to the international market segmentation literature, demonstrating the variable impact of demographics and identity across consumer behaviors. The findings bolster the notion that many cultures have the innate facility to glocalize, that is, to absorb foreign or global ideas with the best practices and bond these with native customs. The results further imply that globalization takes on many forms throughout the world.

In a globalized world, consumers embrace mutually conflicting cultural values rather than making exclusive, either/or choices. As a result, they experience multiple tensions, a phenomenon that can be identified as the consumer cultural paradox. Despite clear interest in the influence of local/global culture on consumers, knowledge of how conflicting cultural elements shape consumer behavior remains limited. To address these issues, the current article seeks to identify higher- and lower-level tensions inherent in the consumer cultural paradox.

Using in-depth interviews, the authors investigate tensions experienced by Chinese consumers of international private education services. This study applies a paradox lens, a tension-based conceptual approach that is well suited for studying consumer paradoxes.

Ten lower-level tensions of the consumer cultural paradox arise in the focal international service context; these tensions in turn form three higher-level tensions.

The study is among the first in marketing to use a paradox lens and empirical research to delineate multiple dimensions of the consumer cultural paradox, then categorize them into lower and higher-level tensions. The findings offer theoretical and managerial implications, in that recognizing the multiple tensions experienced by consumers allows scholars and marketers to gain a better understanding of how consumers perceive and evaluate services from different cultures.