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An executive summary for managers and executive readers can be found at the end of this article.
Introduction
We live in an era of unprecedented and rapid globalization that presents unique opportunities and threats to marketing and brand managers. Rapid changes in information and communications technology (particularly in the internet) and transportation, and declining world trade barriers have brought consumers together, creating potential global consumer segments ([6] Hassan and Katsanis, 1994). As [10] Levitt (1983) asserted, if similar consumer segments could be found globally, "the result is a new commercial reality - the emergence of global markets for standardized consumer products on a previously unimagined scale of magnitude" ([10] Levitt, 1983, p. 92). With the emergence of global market segments, marketing and brand managers in companies whose market scope spans multiple cultures and borders are challenged with understanding shared sets of consumption-related symbols that are meaningful to such global segment members ([22] Terpstra and David, 1991) if they are to serve such segments profitably.
To assist such managers seeking to strengthen their brand's equity in an increasingly competitive global marketplace, [1] Alden et al. (1999) conceptualized a new brand positioning strategy which they labeled "global consumer culture positioning" (GCCP), as contrasted with two other types of consumer culture positioning: local consumer culture positioning (LCCP) and foreign consumer culture positioning (FCCP). The authors suggested that these positioning strategies are intended to influence brand value in an increasingly globalized market. [1] Alden et al. (1999) reported that their study results supported the presence of the GCCP, LCCP, and FCCP strategies in brand advertising from multiple countries and, as a potential future research effort, they encouraged researchers to investigate the managerial use of these positioning strategies. However, the potential contribution of GCCP, FCCP, and LCCP positioning strategies to brand performance would depend on consumers' responses to such brand positioning strategies. In addition, the effectiveness of such brand positioning strategies is believed to be driven by individual consumer differences ([1] Alden et al. , 1999; [2] Batra et al. , 2000).
The purpose of this study is to investigate the impact of a GCCP strategy in comparison to a LCCP strategy on consumer evaluations of a new unknown brand. In addition, we examine the moderating influence of belief in...