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Introduction
Whether to create a global or local brand when firms are targeting markets outside their home country remains, even after decades of research (e.g. Onkvisit and Shaw, 1989; Rao-Nicholson and Khan, 2017; Samiee and Roth, 1992), a challenging issue for marketing managers. This paper defines global brands as brands that have a wide availability, recognition and geographical reach, as well as uniformity in terms of product attributes, pricing, positioning and marketing strategy in all available markets, with no particular adaptation to local markets (Özsomer, 2012). Local brands, in contrast, are only available in a specific geographical region (a country or more narrowly defined region, such as a specific community or even a neighborhood) and are tailored to the unique needs and desires of that local market (Dimofte et al., 2008; Özsomer, 2012). Local brands can be owned by local or internationally operating companies (Dimofte et al., 2008; Schuiling and Kapferer, 2004). Therefore, in a local (global) brand positioning strategy, a company positions a brand in such a way that it is perceived as local (global) by consumers relative to other brands in the category (e.g. Kotler and Keller, 2015). For instance, a global brand positioning strategy may involve advertising featuring the idea that consumers all over the world consume the brand, whereas a local brand positioning strategy would portray the brand as consumed by local people in a national or regional culture (Alden et al., 1999). Benetton, whose slogan (“The United Colors of Benetton”) emphasizes that consumers from a diverse set of countries consume the brand (Alden et al., 1999), vs local, a clothing brand in Florida, whose slogan (“Live Life the Florida Local Way”; Local Brand FL, 2018) emphasizes its close connection to local culture, are examples of, respectively, a global vs local brand positioning strategy.
Past research has shown that a global brand positioning strategy has several strategic advantages: cost savings through economies of scale, greater speed to market, universal recognition and greater perceptions of prestige, particularly in developing countries (e.g. Alashban et al., 2002; Dimofte et al., 2008; Steenkamp et al., 2003). However, an increasing number of real-life examples seem to advocate a local rather than a global brand positioning strategy. Consider the French...