The Effects of Culture and Socioeconomics on the Performance of Global Brand Image Strategies

Abstract

Developing and managing brand image is an important part of a firm's marketing program. However, little research has been done (1) on linking the use of brand image strategies to product performance or (2) on managing brand images in global markets. The author examines the brand image-performance linkage for consumer goods in two categories marketed internationally. He also develops a conceptual framework that identifies various cultural and socioeconomic environmental characteristics of foreign markets that are hypothesized to affect brand image performance. Results from a 10 country/60 region study indicate that cultural power distance, cultural individualism, and regional socioeconomics affect the performance of functional (problem prevention and solving), social (group membership and symbolic), and sensory (novelty, variety, and sensory gratification) brand image strategies. The author then discusses the implications for managers marketing brands internationally and the directions for further research.

Taking care of business: the impact of culture and gender on entrepreneurs’ blended value creation goals

“…Conversely, a cultural context that supports altruistic and ecological awareness champions entrepreneurs who pursue social and environmental value creation targets. Culture can also affect consumers' needs (Roth 1995), thus impacting how founders aim to satisfy such needs. We contend that culture, understood in terms of post-materialism, influences the compositions of blended value creation goals.…”

Values Versus Regulations: How Culture Plays Its Role

“…Although Hofstede includes four dimensions of cultural values in his original presentation, two have proven more salient in a variety of subsequent empirical studies (e.g., Graham et al, 1994;Roth, 1995) -individualism/collectivism and power distance. ''Individualism pertains to societies in which the ties between individuals are loose: everyone is expected to look after himself or herself and his or her immediate family'' (Hofstede, 1991, p. 51).…”

Modernity and the Singaporean adolescent

“…The construct of modernity also recognizes that although cultures tend to transcend entire nations, social and economic conditions often vary markedly within countries (Roth, 1995). Thus, substantial differences in income, mobility, media access, employment, and other socioeconomic characteristics may yield significant intranational variations.…”

“…Just as more modern individuals have been found to embrace institutions and cultural events that have recently evolved (Inkeles, 1983), so too more modern consumers would engage in recently evolved consumption activities. Roth (1995) found that the extent to which consumers are exposed to Western, materialoriented consumption cultures influenced their attraction to specific products. For Asian consumers, recently evolved activities tend to be Western in origin as markets in the region open themselves to the rest of the world.…”

“…For example, Roth's (1995) index of modernity contained such items as autos and television sets per capita, birth rate, population growth, percent employed in agriculture, and number of people per dwelling. Modernity has also been found to correlate highly with per capita income in the Pacific Rim (Johansson & Moinpoir, 1977).…”