A Cross-cultural Study On Consumers’ Brand Perception

Since the reform and opening up, China s economy has developed greatly. Thehomogeneity of goods are becoming increasingly clear, which makes the competitionin the commodity market more and more fierce. Consumers often make a purchasedecision based on identifying the product brand. Thus, to gain an insight of brandperception amongst consumers is significant for both marketers and brand managers.Consumers brand perception varies individually. Moreover, people with differentcultural orientations show differences in their brand perceptions. As Chinese andAmerican consumers show significant difference in cultural orientation, t hiscross-cultural study takes them for a comparative analysis. Through an empiricalstudy of one-on-one in-depth interview, the difference in consumers brand perceptionis revealed. Then, the author analyzes the cultural causes to the difference and givessome suggestions to the brand management in China. Therefore, this study has apractical implication to companies operating internationally.Chapter1in the thesis provides the background, the scope, the research method andthe organization of the thesis. Chapter2covers the relevant literature review aboutcultural concepts and national cultural differences. Chapter3covers the literaturereview about previous research on brand perception concepts and forms a conceptualframework for the study. Next, in Chapter4, the author describes the research design,which involves the research methodology, the interview questions together with thesample analysis. Chapter5presents the findings and analysis. Different brandperception traits of Chinese consumers and American consumers are discussed and acomparative analysis based on the cultural orientatio n is given. The following part isChapter6where the practical implications are provided. In the end, Chapter7is theconclusion part where the author summarizes the thesis and gives limitations togetherwith further research suggestions.