Consumers in Western markets are increasingly critical towards globalization and re-embrace local values. Companies thus must decide whether to continue to pursue global branding strategies and/or rejuvenate local branding strategies. To explore the implications of market globalization for consumer preferences, we use signaling theory to investigate the role of perceived brand globalness (PBG) and brand localness (PBL) as signals of brand credibility, related downstream effects and boundary conditions, across two countries with differing levels of globalization. In globalized markets, PBG is a weaker signal of brand credibility than PBL, whereas in globalizing markets, the two signals are of equal importance.

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Although prior research is congested with constructs intended to capture consumers’ dispositions toward globalization and global/local products, their effects appear to replicate with difficulty, and little is known about the underlying theoretical mechanisms. This investigation revisits the relationship between prominent consumer dispositions (consumer ethnocentrism, cosmopolitanism, global/local identity, globalization attitude) and perceived brand globalness as determinants of consumer responses to global brands. Drawing on selective perception and social identity theories, the authors consider several theory-based model specifications that reflect alternative mechanisms through which key consumer dispositions relate to brand globalness and affect important brand-related outcomes. By employing a flexible model that simultaneously accounts for moderating, mediating, conditional, and direct effects, we empirically test these rival model specifications. A meta-analysis of 264 effect sizes obtained from 13 studies with 23 unique data sets and a total sample of 1,410 consumers raises concerns regarding the (potentially overstated) utility of consumer dispositions for explaining consumer responses to global brands. It also reveals a need for further conceptual contemplation of their function in international consumer research and managerial practice.

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Purpose Despite considerable investigations of the various outcomes of perceived brand globalness (PBG), the concept itself remains ambiguous, demanding further conceptual refinement. The purpose of this paper is to contribute to global branding literature by suggesting an extended conceptualization of PBG, and empirically testing a corresponding extended model of global brand effects, relative to the conventional operationalization. Design/methodology/approach An empirical study (n=907) involving 63 brands across eight different product categories provides new insights into the composition of global brand effects by explicitly discriminating between different facets of consumers’ brand globalness perceptions (i.e. perceived market reach (PMR), perceived standardization (PST) and global consumer culture positioning (GCCP)). Findings The results clearly show that effects associated with global brands are not exclusively positive. While PMR and GCCP have positive effects on consumers’ brand evaluations and attitudes, PST has a strong negative effect on the same outcomes. These effects apply to both domestic and foreign global brands and occur irrespective of the perceived level of risk associated with a given product category. Originality/value The results provide managers a clearer picture of the up- and downsides of brand globalness perceptions and urge future studies on global brands to incorporate constructs that account for facets beyond a brand’s market reach to capture the phenomenon holistically.