How Product Category Shapes Preferences Towards Global and Local Brands: The Role of Decision Justifiability and Normative Expectations

This paper investigates the role of product category on global and local brand preference. The authors develop a short scale to measure consumer perceptions of global brand superiority within a product category and, drawing on global branding
literature, propose a set of drivers and consequences. An empirical study subsequently tests these propositions by exposing consumers to (fictitious) global and local brand stimuli across five product categories. Results show that consumers perceive global brands as superior in utilitarian (vs. hedonic) and publicly (vs. privately) used product classes. Furthermore, superiority perceptions strengthen behavioral intentions towards global brands, by making global brand purchases more justifiable and weaken behavioral intentions towards
local brands by making local brand purchases less normatively expected. Implications for theory and practice are discussed and future research directions identified.