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While product scandals generate many negative headlines, the extent of their impact on the scandalized brands’ equity remains unclear. Research findings are mixed. This might be because of the limitations of existing measurement approaches when investigating the effects of real crises after they occurred. This study aims to propose a new approach for measuring the impact of a real scandal on a high-equity brand using only post-crisis measures.

To overcome the challenge of comparing a priori and ex post outcome measures, this study draws on the brand management literature to evaluate a real scandal’s impact. Volkswagen’s emission scandal serves as a failure context. Two consumer experiments are conducted to examine its impact.

The results provide (longitudinal) support for the proposed evaluative approach. They reveal new evidence that building brand equity is a means to mitigate negative effects, and indicate that negative spillover effects within a high-equity brand portfolio are unlikely. Finally, this research identifies situations in which developing a new brand might be more beneficial than leveraging an existing brand.

This research has significant implications for firms with high-equity brands that might be affected by a scandal. The findings support managers to navigate their brands through a crisis.

This research adds to the discussion concerning the role of a brand’s equity in a crisis. Existing research findings are contradictory. This research provides new empirical evidence and another view on how to measure “impact”.

Given the ongoing globalization debate and lack of agreement about whether consumer cultures are predominantly globalizing, glocalizing, or localizing, the purpose of this paper is to propose a conceptual framework designed to help clarify discussion and facilitate theoretical progress.

By integrating Rosch's categorization theory into the discussion of whether consumer cultures globalize, glocalize, or localize, several propositions can be formulated that help structure this discussion systematically.

It is demonstrated that arguments for global consumer culture (GCC) are most easily made at the superordinate level. However, their strength (versus glocal and local consumer culture) at the basic and subordinate levels is moderated by whether meanings associated with the consumption factor are primarily functional or symbolic.

Future research should empirically validate this initial effort. In addition, scholars should examine from a non‐western centric perspective whether GCC is emerging across the different category levels and meaning systems. Furthermore, emic research is needed to examine the emic meanings of the categories herein.

This proposed framework is also designed for marketing managers as a new tool to facilitate their global strategic planning.

This paper moves the GCC culture debate forward by integrating, for the first time, categorization theory into the discussion. This is of value for both academics and practitioners.