Title: The regionalisation of global brands: emerging market perspectives

Authors: Al Rosenbloom, James Haefner

Addresses: Brennan School of Business, Dominican University, River Forest, IL 60305, USA. ' University of St Francis, Joliet, IL, USA

Abstract: This paper reports the findings of multi-country study which compared the relationship between country of origin and brand trust in several emerging market economies (Nepal, Poland and Bulgaria) and one fully developed economy (the USA). The study measured the importance of buying a global brand in 23 different product categories and asked respondents to evaluate brand trust and country-of-origin (COO) across all categories. The product categories of interest ranged from high involvement, durable goods (refrigerators and washing machines) to low involvement, fast moving consumer goods (chocolate bars, yogurt and disposable batteries). Analysis of COO effects yielded the research|s most interesting finding: global brands might have a regional, or meso level, component which consumer brand trust has uncovered for the first time.

Keywords: country-of-origin; brand trust; regionalisation; global brands; emerging markets; Nepal; Poland; Bulgaria; developed economies; United States; USA; high involvement products; durable goods; refrigerators; washing machines; domestic appliances; low involvement products; fast moving consumer goods; chocolate bars; yogurt; confectionary; food industry; dairy products; disposable batteries; consumer electronics; regional factors; meso level components; globalisation; business advancement.

DOI: 10.1504/JGBA.2009.031695

Journal for Global Business Advancement, 2009 Vol.2 No.4, pp.348 - 364

Published online: 19 Feb 2010 *

Full-text access for editors Full-text access for subscribers Purchase this article Comment on this article