A contingency framework for global branding: A multi-level interaction model

This dissertation builds and tests a contingency model for global branding and explores the factors which influence the likelihood of global brand ownership. Drawing on the contingency approach from strategic management, this study expands our understanding of both specific dimensions of global brands which appeal to consumers across countries and specific characteristics of consumers across countries who are most receptive to global brands.;Global brands are among the most important intangible assets a company can have. According to the Interbrand/Business Week Study, the financial value of the top 100 global brands exceeds ;This thesis develops a contingency model where the relationship between the global brand perceptions of consumers and the likelihood of global brand ownership is hypothesized to be dependent on consumer characteristics. Consumer characteristics include both demographic (age and income) and psychographic (personal values) variables. Schwartz's value system is used to classify consumers along two bipolar dimensions: self-enhancement versus self-transcendence and openness to change versus conservation. The national economic development of the countries (GDP per capita) is included as a macro-level variable to explain the variation in the characteristics of global brand-prone consumers across countries. By incorporating both consumer-level and country-level variables into a single model, the interactions between micro and macro units are analyzed. Hierarchical Linear Modeling is employed as the research method to deal with the existence of multiple units of analysis in the same model and to show how variables at one level influence relationships occurring at another. The hypotheses are empirically tested by using data from more than 31,000 consumers across 31 countries.;This study is an in-depth consumer research study with important managerial implications. It will not only reveal how various dimensions of global brands relate to the likelihood of global brand ownership contingent on consumer characteristics, but also will help to identify the consumer characteristics that define consumers most receptive to global brands.