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of International
Business
Studies
(2003)34,53-65
Journal
How
perceived
brand
globalness
creates
brand
value
Jan-BenedictEMSteenkamp1
RajeevBatra2
Dana LAlden3
7
TheNetherlands;
TilburgUniversity,
2University
of MichiganBusinessSchool,AnnArbor,USA;
of Hawaiiat Honolulu
3University
Correspondence:
J-BE.M.Steenkamp, Tilburg University,
P.O. Box 90153, 5000 LE,Tilburg,
The Netherlands. Tel: +31 134662916;
E-mail:J.B.Steenkamp@uvt.nl
Abstract
In today's multinational marketplace, it is increasingly important to understand
why some consumers prefer global brands to local brands. We delineate three
pathways through which perceived brand globalness (PBG) influences the
likelihood of brand purchase. Using consumer data from the U.S.A. and Korea,
we find that PBG is positively related to both perceived brand quality and
prestige and, through them, to purchase likelihood. The effect through
perceived quality is strongest. PBG effects are weaker for more ethnocentric
consumers.
lournal of International Business Studies (2003) 34, 53-65. doi:10.1057/
palgrave.jibs.8400002
Introduction
Perceived
brand clobalness
1-B EM Steenkamp et al
54
Kapferer, 1997). Research indicates that corporations take advantage of such image-enhancing
effects by positioning brands as 'global' in their
communications, using message elements such as
brand name, logo, ad visuals and themes, etc.
(Alden et al., 1999). Although the belief that
perceived brand globalness (PBG)creates consumer
perceptions of brand superiority is widely asserted
(e.g. Shocker et al., 1994; Kapferer, 1997; Keller,
1998), it can be challenged. There is, for instance,
the phenomenon of consumerethnocentrism(CET),a
well-established bias among many consumers in
favor of home-grown products (Shimp and Sharma,
1987). There is also evidence that many consumers
prefer brands with strong local connections
(Zambuni, 1993), and this leads some to argue that
consumers have no intrinsic preference for global
brands, and that corporate enthusiasm on this front
is misguided (De Mooij, 1998, 39).
Given this unresolved debate, there is clearly a
need to investigate whether consumers prefer
global brands and, if they do, the reasons (perceived
higher quality, higher prestige, etc.) that underlie
such a preference. In investigating the factors that
may predict a preference for global brands over
local brands, we hypothesize three pathways
through which PBGcreates additional brand value.
Two of these pathways are posited to occur
indirectly through the quality and prestige associations of PBG.The third pathway involves the direct
effect of PBG on brand value. We focus on the
consumer's likelihood of purchasing the brand as
our measure of brand value or utility (Aaker,1991).
We therefore test the relative influences of quality,
prestige and PBG per se on purchase likelihood.
We also test a potential 'offsetting' strategy
that local brands can pursue - positioning the
brand as a local 'icon' of the country in question.
In addition to examining these main effect
relationships, we also study the moderating role
of a key individual-difference variable: consumer
ethnocentrism.
Research hypotheses
Manufacturers have products that are internally
considered to be 'global' because they share similar
technical specifications (Branch, 2001). However,
the issue here is whether a brand benefits from
consumerperceptionsthat it is 'global' - a perception
that can be formed only if consumers believe the
brand is marketed in multiple countries and is
generally recognized as global in these countries.
Such a perception can be formed in one of two
H5c
Figure 1
Conceptual model.
*
-Perceived
-- --- - --
brand
----- alobalness
creates
brand
value
- -.--..-
-- al
II-B
- . . -Steenkamp
---.
. r- et
- EM
55
The second potential association of brand globalness concerns perceivedquality.Brand name is a key
indicator of quality (Rao and Monroe, 1989), and a
global image can arguably enhance the brand's
perceived quality. If a brand is viewed as globally
available, consumers may attribute higher quality
to the brand because such quality is likely to be
thought of as critical to global acceptance (Kapferer,
1997; Keller, 1998). As noted by Alden et al. (1999),
global brands often advertise their worldwide
availability and acceptance. For example, ads for
Nivea Visage and P&G's major international
detergent brand, Ariel, featured brand-quality
testimonials from women in different countries.
Vodafone's push toward global branding stems
from wanting consumers everywhere to view it as
a signal of high-quality, dependable service (Anonymous, 2001b, 20). However, empirical tests of the
claim that brand globalness contributes to perceptions of higher quality are rare in the published
literature. Even rarerare studies that control, as we
*T
Perceivrl
hbrand nalnhalness
rrate
hrand
value
I-R FM Steenkamn pt al
56
Journalof InternationalBusinessStudies
Perceived
brand qlobalness
EM Steenkamp et
-- al
- -...
II-B
57
*
58
~~~~~~
Perceivrel
brand
nalobalnccw
rcreates
hbran
value
J58l
I-R
N
FM
Stenkmmn
U
r et nl
was
good:
Z2(4) =39.83
(P<0.001),
(P=0.022),
CFI=0.992,
TLI=0.986,
CAIC= 112.89.
In sum, cross-national invariance of the measures
used was supported. The good model fit and the
significant and high factor loadings further support
the unidimensionality and convergent validity of
the constructs (Anderson and Gerbing, 1988). Items
were averaged for each scale to obtain composite
scores for the various constructs. Mean values of
key constructs are provided in Table 1. Given that
metric invariance is established, we can now validly
Perceived
brand
value
brand
- --alobalness
---- creates
.--
*^
-- et al
I-BEMSteenkamp
--
I -
59
Table I
Purchaseintention
Perceived global brand
Perceived brand quality
Brandicon vale
Brandfamiliarity
U.S.A. (n=898)
U.S.A.
Korea (n = 1460)
Korea
Mean
s.d.
Mean
s.d.
4.82
4.93
1.90
1.50
1.34
4.78
4.72
5.04
1.53
1.28
5.19
5.33
5.26
4.07
5.53
To test the hypotheses, structural equation modeling was used. Each latent construct was measured
by a single indicator scale, formed by averaging
multiple items and fixing error variance at a level
appropriate to its coefficient alpha reliability
(Anderson and Gerbing, 1988). The use of summated indicators is common when the model is
highly complex. Furthermore, this approach typically leads to more precise structural estimates,
provided the measures are unidimensional
(Bandalos, 2002), as is the case in this study. Brand
familiarity, country-of-origin image, and brand
dummies were added to each structural equation
as covariates to control for possible confounds. To
avoid overfitting, and to increase degrees of freedom, only brand dummies with P<0.10 or better
were retained to estimate the 'trimmed' model. In
the tables below, control variable data are omitted
as they are not the study's focus. The multigroup
model with the U.S.A. and Korea as two groups
yielded
(P<0.001),
2.12
Test of hypotheses
1.45
1.58
1.13
1.61
Total U.S.A.
sample
897
0.361
0.309
0.152
0.049
Local icon -+ Quality
Global brand- PI(direct) 0.112
0.116
Local icon - PI (direct)
-*
0.042
PI
Prestige
Quality PI
Global brand - PI (total)
Local icon - PI (total)
(0.103)*
(0.060)*
(0.063)***
(0.042)
(0.075)
(0.051)***
(0.028)
1.244 (0.074)*
0.317 (0.091)*
0.191 (0.061)**
TotalKorea
sample
1460
0.434 (0.056)*
0.104 (0.048)***
0.573 (0.051)*
0.061 (0.033)
-0.032 (0.057)
0.11 7 (0.038)**
-0.048 (0.019)***
0.732 (0.056)*
0.367 (0.080)*
0.157 (0.051)**
(P<0.001),
*^
Perreived
hranrl alnhalness
I-R FM StePnkamn pt nl
60
a direct association of PBG with purchase likelihood, for reasons of 'belongingness,' after controlling for quality and prestige. The relationship
was in the expected direction, but failed to reach
statistical significance in the U.S.A. (bu.s.A. =0.112,
n.s.), and was close to zero and nonsignificant in
Korea (bKorea= -0.032, n.s.). Thus our analysis of
pooled data across all consumers does not indicate
a direct PBG effect on purchase likelihood.
We hypothesized (H4) that perceived quality
would be the most important of the three pathways
through which PBG affects purchase likelihood.
This can be tested by comparing the magnitudes of
the direct PBG effect on purchase likelihood with
its indirect effects via perceived quality and
perceived prestige. The total effects (both direct
and indirect) of PBGon purchase likelihood for the
U.S.A. and Korea are 0.317 (P<0.001) and 0.367
(P<0.001), respectively. For the U.S.A., the direct
effect is 0.112 and the indirect effect is therefore
0.205, with 92% through perceived quality and 8%
P<0.05).
P<0.01).
respectively.
(P<0.001),
CFI=0.997,
Total
Indirect
U.S.A.
Korea
U.S.A.
Korea
U.S.A.
Korea
0.112
0.116***
-0.032
0.205**
0.074
0.399*
0.040
0.31 7*
0.191**
0.367*
0.117**
Icon-- PI
0.158
0.286*
-0.119
0.074
-0.063
-0.062
0.204*
0.002
0.095
0.224***
0.085
0.077
Low CET
Global - P
Icon- PI
-0.207
-0.020
-0.291
0.161**
0.694*
0.159
0.795*
0.015
0.487**
0.139
0.504*
0.1 76***
Fullsample
Global-
PI
Icon-, PI
0.1 57**
High CET
Global -, PI
*P<0.001,
Journalof InternationalBusinessStudies
Perceived
brand clobalness
I-B EM SteenkampI et al
61
Perreived
krand
nlnhlbaness
creats
hbrand value
I-R FA
Sttenkamn
et nl
62
are in the
most
difficult
Journalof InternationalBusinessStudies
Acknowledgements
The authors gratefully acknowledge data collection
assistance from Chol Lee, and the insightful comments
made by the editor, the reviewers, Wayne Hoyer,
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*T
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Appendix
= 0.799,
OCKorea=0.785
0.831,
=0.779
CKorea
1992)
* This brand is very low on overall quality/This
brand is very high on overall quality
* This is a brand of inferior quality/This is a brand
of superior quality
aU.S.A.= 0.871,
OaKorea 0.856
(new scale)
1987)
* Purchasing foreign-made products is un-(American/Korean)
* (Americans/Koreans) should not buy foreign
products because this hurts (American/Korean)
business and causes unemployment.
et al
J-BEMSteenkamp
65
XKorea-0.798
Acceptedby Tom Brewer,outgoingEditor,3 March2002. This paper has been with the author for I revision.