Marketing

Product (mathematics)

Brand awareness

Neuroscience

Microeconomics

Social psychology

Brand management

Economics

Computer science

Schema (genetic algorithms)

Business

Brand preference

Advertising

Psychology

Preference

Mathematics

Political science

Normative

Geometry

Product category

Perspective (graphical)

Perception

Machine learning

Journal of International Marketing

In contrast to the abundance of research on brand- and consumer-related determinants of global/local brand preference, little is known about whether and how the product category affects consumer choices between local and global brands. Drawing from schema theory, the authors (1) argue that consumers rely on their product category schemata to form perceptions of global versus local brand superiority, (2) introduce a compact scale to measure these perceptions, and (3) identify the key antecedents and consequences of these perceptions. Two studies in developed and emerging markets empirically support the hypotheses across multiple product categories, for both real and fictitious brands. The results indicate that consumers perceive global brands as superior to local brands in product categories with strong functional character and extensive symbolic capacity. Moreover, brands congruent with category superiority perceptions are preferred because of their justifiability, while brands that deviate from these perceptions are avoided because of their proneness to normative criticism. The findings imply that global/local brand preference is largely formed at the product category level and advocate for the use of category-specific strategies in global/local brand management.

How Product Category Shapes Preferences toward Global and Local Brands: A Schema Theory Perspective