Global Versus Local Consumer Culture Positioning in a Transitional Market: Understanding the Influence of Consumer Nationalism

ABSTRACT

To shed cultural insights on the complex interplay between globalization and local ideologies, this study presents an online experiment that tested the comparative effects of global and local consumer culture positioning strategies in China. Reflecting the prevailing trend of nationalism around the globe, the study findings highlight the power of consumer nationalism on driving the effects of these culture-oriented positioning strategies. Furthermore, self-brand connection was found to be a critical mediator of the effects of consumer nationalism on brand evaluation. Based on the findings, this study provides strategic guidelines for both domestic and global brands to craft culturally relevant campaigns that capitalize on the growing trend of consumer nationalism in transitioning markets such as China.

Notes

¹ As a potential covariate, product familiarity was measured using one item: very unfamiliar/very familiar. An analysis of variance (ANOVA) test showed that participants had equally high product familiarity toward smartphone and microwave across experimental conditions (M = 4.47; p > .50). Therefore, we ruled out this potential covariate and dropped it from our hypothesis tests.