MANDLER Timo

Consumers in Western markets are increasingly critical of globalization and are returning to local values. Companies must therefore decide whether to pursue global brand strategies and/or rejuvenate local brand strategies. To explore the implications of market globalization on consumer preferences, we use signal theory to investigate the roles of perceived globality vs. perceived brand locality as signals of brand credibility, associated downstream effects and boundary conditions of application. This study is carried out in two countries with different levels of globalization. In globalized markets, perceived brand globality is a weaker brand credibility signal than perceived brand locality, whereas in globalizing markets, both signals are of equal importance.