Positioning Multi-Country Brands: The Impact of Heterogeneity in Cultural Values and Competitive Set

Abstract

We suggest and show that multi-country brands should position themselves consistently across markets more on those specific imagery attributes that are themselves more consistently valued across countries. Leveraging prior research, we first identify four life values that are relatively more equal in their cross-national importance (universalism, benevolence, selfdirection, achievement) versus two that are not (hedonism and power), and link specific brand imagery attributes (e.g., traditional, energetic, independent, rugged) to these life values. Using an extensive proprietary field-data set on consumer perceptions and preferences from 22 countries on over 1,700 brands, we then show, in an attribute-level analysis, that greater global consistency of a brand’s image decreases brand attitudes if the specific image attribute is one of those that is not consistently desired worldwide. Importantly, the attitudinal impact of a multi-country brand’s positioning consistency is also moderated by the heterogeneity of the brand’s competitive set across its markets. Implications are discussed for global brand management theory and practice.