The Ways of a Domestic Brand to Develop Itself in the Global Market

The Ways of a Domestic Brand to Develop Itself in the Global Market

Introduction

Globalization is not as easy as domestic marketing. Domestic firms are seeking to go international face several challenges because the dynamic global markets pose several uncertainties and problems. Different countries have different cultures. It affects how they perceive other brands in the market. According to the study done by Lin and He (2015, p.211), customers have a different perception of domestic and foreign brands. Consumers perceive foreign brands more positively than domestic brands in China because of the enhanced corporate and store images. However, there is a difference in the ways consumers perceive corporate images and store images. The study reveals that Chinese consumers are attracted more to the store attributes than to the retail corporation. It means that consumers are not attracted to the processes put up by a corporation in the global market but instead are attracted to the local brands they encounter every day. Consumers tend to look at the store qualities more than they are attracted to the retail brands. It means that these consumers perceive no difference regarding store image. They tend to consume products that fit their preferences regardless of their country of origin. Global customers pose different cultural and social diversities that influence their needs, preferences, habits, expectations, and languages. Chinese consumers prefer foreign brands more than domestic brands because of their enhanced efficiency and productivity. They also can create positive corporate brands than the domestic firms hence attracting more local consumers than the rate at which domestic brands do. Therefore, domestic brands must have strategic objectives while entering the global markets. The study findings indicate that domestic brands need to match the foreign brands' level of research and development to gain popularity in the international markets. This study will explore how a domestic brand can develop itself in a global market.

1.1 How do intentional and behavioral differences influence consumer choice?

Consumers have varied perceptions of different products. It affects their attitude, purchase intentions, and behavior. Sometimes, the perceptions are based on the stereotyped national images of the country where the products are produced. In most cases, consumers from developed countries assess their products as more favorable than products from other countries. On the other hand, consumers from less developed countries perceive imported products as more profitable than products from their own countries. It is called consumer ethnocentrism, and it affects the consumer's decision to purchase a product. In most cases, consumers are more tied to the domestic brands than the foreign brands because they think that the locally made products have superior features to the foreign brands.

Research indicates that consumer ethnocentrism does not develop in isolation. Several factors influence the consumers' perceptions of the brands. These factors can be grouped into four major categories. They include socio-psychological, economic, political, and demographic factors. On the socio-psychological side, factors such as patriotism, cultural openness, and consumer xenophobia play a significant role in the consumers' perceptions of brands. The factors will be discussed as follows;

1.1.1 Socio-psychological Factors

a) Patriotism

Patriotism is related to the consumers' attitude toward the products produced in their own country. It is a factor that is used to assess the degree of love and pride towards the products made in one own country. Several studies have been done to help in proving whether patriotic consumers would show a strong association of ethnocentrism with products produced in their mother nations. The survey carried out by Wanninayake and Chovancova (2021 p. 17) state that Czech customers are motivated to consume local beer brands because of their patriotic feeling toward their mother nation. Patriotism refers to a strong sense of attachment and loyalty to one's own country without having unnecessary feelings of hostility towards another country. Czech consumers who are highly patriotic tend to have ethnocentric features than those who contain minor patriotic elements. However, consumers who are less patriotic do not have a stronger attachment to local beer brands. They consumer foreign-made brands. In most cases, highly educated Czech Republic citizens like associating themselves with products that are imported than the ones made locally because of their perceived quality and class.

b) Consumer Xenophobia

Studies reveal that consumer xenophobia is the fear or hatred of something strange. Xenophobic consumers tend to deviate from foreign products because they see them as a threat to their culture, national identity, and rivals against the limited resources in their countries. Therefore, consumers who have xenophobic attitudes perceive foreign products with negative feelings. These types of consumers perceive foreign brands as threats to the integrity of their country. In most cases, xenophobic consumers are afraid of purchasing foreign brands because of mistrust and fear. Other factors that breed mistrust include perceiving foreign brands or people as contributors to unemployment in their country. The study findings of Czech consumers regarding xenophobia positively correlate in other areas. Czech beer consumers staying in places like Zlin were motivated to consume local beer brands. Due to feelings, foreign beer brands are significant contributors to unemployment in the Czech Republic. The consumers residing within this region may be hard to convince because of feelings of mistrust of the foreign brands. Therefore, it is relevant to conclude that xenophobic consumers pose a high level of ethnocentrism and thus consume more of the local brands than the foreign brands and vice versa.

Cultural Openness

It is a factor that can weigh the level of awareness, understanding, and acceptance of other cultures. It is determined by the willingness of people to interact freely with people from different cultures. Some studies indicate a negative association between consumer ethnocentrism and cultural openness. On the other hand, other researchers have found a positive association between cultural exposure and consumer ethnocentrism. Consumers are not willing to interact freely with people from different cultures in some countries. It makes them not interact with their products too willingly. However, a study in the Czech Republic indicates that Czech consumers were willing to interact with people from other cultures. It means that many individuals were willing to try beer products from foreign individuals. In countries where other people's cultural acceptance is low, local consumers are not ready to purchase foreign brands. It is however, contrary to countries where consumers are open to other people’s culture.

1.1.2 Demographic Factors

Studies reveal a strong association between demographic factors and consumer ethnocentrism. Factors such as age, level of education, gender, and race play a significant role in determining the perception that consumers have towards foreign brands. They are discussed below;

Age

Different studies have been done to assess how age plays a role in consumer ethnocentrism. Most study findings indicate that older consumers show more consumer ethnocentric tendencies than younger consumers. The results are not consistent because other studies reveal the opposite. In the Czech Republic, there is no association between age and level of ethnocentrism. It means that consumers maintain a high level of ethnocentrism regardless of age. Both young and old consumers prefer purchasing local beer products over foreign products.

Gender

Gender is also said to be playing a role in consumer ethnocentrism. Most studies indicate that women have higher consumer ethnocentrism than men. It is because women tend to be more conservative, patriotic, and more concerned with preserving social harmony than men. In the Czech Republic, the findings indicate no association between consumer ethnocentrism and gender. It means that both genders have the same level of consumer ethnocentrism. However, the level of consumer ethnocentrism in terms of gender is dependent on the country of study. Some countries have high female consumer ethnocentrism than women and vice versa.

Level of education and Income

The level of education and income have considerable effects on consumer ethnocentrism. Studies reveal that the more educated the consumer is, the less ethnocentric they become. It applies to the level of income too. Individuals with a high-income status are perceived as less ethnocentric than individuals with low-income groups. It is consistent with the studies done in the Czech Republic. The findings indicated that consumers who are highly educated and those with high-income levels are less ethnocentric than consumers who are less educated and those with lower income levels. It, therefore, indicates that in the Czech, highly educated consumers are more likely to consume foreign beer than less educated individuals. It is because highly educated individuals are less likely to be conservative and patriotic and prefer imported brands to domestic brands. They tend to maintain a high level of cultural openness and therefore do not mind interacting with foreign products. It applies to consumers with a high level of income.

1.2 Importance of Brand Building

There are numerous advantages of building a brand. It is a strategy that domestic brands can adopt to develop in the global markets. Brand salience is how a brand is noticed or thought of in the market. Strong brands have high brand salience, while weak brands have little or no brand salience. Therefore, domestic brands must strive to develop brand salience to be noticed in the global markets. Studies indicate that proper branding can result in higher sales. It is not only to one product but to other related products too. Branding can change how consumers perceive one's products. Domestic brands need to have relevant strategies for developing in the global market.

According to the study done by Wanninayake and Chovancova (2012, p.5): Balabanis et al., (2019, p.38), Chinese consumers perceive foreign and domestic brands differently. It is dependent on the factors such as personal identity, social identity, and cultural identity towards products. Most consumers tend to protect their home brands. It is a factor that is known as social identity. They tend to identify more with their home products than foreign-made products. They do this by protecting their country's balance of trade and employment. Therefore, domestic brands need to evaluate different ethnocentrism types that their consumers hold in coming up with their brands. One of the strategies that the domestic markets can use is building solid and consistent brand cultures. Local markets should aim to make reliable and consistent brand cultures everywhere in the world to capture the attention of ethnocentric consumers. Today, brands reflect culture more than structures. It gives brands an aspect of belonging, and consumers can identify with them from a social perspective. Therefore, domestic brands need to adopt a strategy of branding products to reflect culture to increase their worth in global markets.

The brand-building enables domestic businesses to counter the notions of consumer xenocentricism. Local consumers tend to prefer foreign brands because of their higher perceived value. It is mainly common among consumers that come from higher social classes. Building domestic brands to match or outperform foreign brands is an opportunity that domestic brands can employ to develop in the global market. Countering consumer xenocentrism enables domestic brands to capture the attention of both consumer classes in the market. The study findings indicate that consumers who are most likely to be attracted to foreign brands are of high social rank. Therefore, coming up with local brands that satisfy their needs is one way of countering this problem. Domestic brands can do this by fashioning high-quality value products and promoting culture. 

Additionally, domestic brands need to develop brands that have consistency. Consistent brands help achieve consumers' loyalty towards certain brands regardless of where the product is sold. Local consumers prefer purchasing products that contain their cultural identity, and therefore, domestic retailers should ensure that they tailor their brands in ways that support cultural identity. Domestic brands can do it by imposing specific wordings, i.e., developing straplines in a particular language to capture consumers' attention anywhere they are. The Chinese retailers can draw a strapline in a product in the Chinese language. It helps remind the locals that despite the place of purchase, they are still promoting their local products. It is a tactic that can still work well with consumers that prefer imported products. Designing the local products the same way as foreign products in the market may encourage sales since the quality of the products is similar to the foreign products. Domestic brands need to tailor their products to fit the class of the foreign-made products. One way of doing this is through enhancing the corporate image of domestic products in global markets.

1.3 How Businesses can use Global Marketing to Grow Internationally

Domestic brands can use global marketing to grow internationally. Firms can use several tactics to grow internationally. According to Reza et al., (2021, p.3), tactics such as learning capabilities are an international marketing strategy businesses can use to expand internationally. It is done by forming collaborations with other partners in the same supply chain to facilitate learning and knowledge creation. It has an impact on the competitive advantage. Firms with a strong competitive advantage in international markets have the capability of growth, i.e., growth in market share that enhances productivity and profitability.

Businesses can also apply global marketing strategies such as networking capabilities to help them expand their operations in the international markets. It is done through developing networks with firms that operate the same line of business. Networking enables the company to expand operations in the global markets due to knowledge creation and the discovery of new methods. It allows the firm to increase its value through research and development. The firm is in a position to improve its product value and attract the attention of numerous consumers in the market.

Global marketing can allow businesses to understand customers’ change in tastes and preferences. They do this by centering their attention on consumers. It makes firms understand customers more because it gives them a platform for interacting with them. Successful customer-centricity lead to successful growth in the international markets. It allows a business to tailor brands to satisfy the consumers' tastes and preferences. It also make domestic brands relevant in the global market.

Conclusion

Domestic brands face a lot of competition in global markets. It ranges from the struggle of achieving a good corporate image to creating store images that attract consumers worldwide. The study findings indicate that in countries like China, the local consumers prefer consuming foreign brands because of the enhanced corporate appearance of foreign products. However, there is no significant difference between the consumption of products relating to store images. Consumer ethnocentrism affects domestic brands differently. In some countries, consumer ethnocentrism relates to local products, while there is a negative relationship between domestic brands and consumer ethnocentrism in some countries. Studies found that some socio-psychological factors such as patriotism, xenophobia, and cultural openness positively relate to consumer ethnocentrism in countries like the Czech Republic. However, demographic factors such as age and gender do not have any association with CE. Domestic brands need to reinforce their corporate image in the eyes of local consumers. They should do this by improving the quality of products offered by them. Companies should tailor products to enhance brand culture all over the world. Businesses can also undertake global marketing strategies such as networking tactics, learning tactics, and focusing on consumers' tastes and preferences to grow internationally.

References

Balabanis, G., Stathopoulou, A., & Qiao, J. (2019). Favoritism toward foreign and domestic brands: A comparison of different theoretical explanations. Journal of International Marketing, 27(2), 38-55. https://doi.org/10.1177/1069031x19837945 

Lin, Z. and He, X. (2015) 'The images of foreign versus domestic retailer brands in China : a model of corporate brand image and store image.', Journal of brand management., 22 (3). pp. 211-228 

Madadi, R., Torres, I. M., & Zúñiga, M. Á. (2021). Is love extendable to relationship marketing and supply chain management? Services Marketing Quarterly, 1-15. https://doi.org/10.1080/15332969.2021.1993561 References 

Wanninayake, W., & Chovancova, M. (2012). Consumer ethnocentrism and attitudes towards foreign beer brands: With evidence from Zlin region in the Czech Republic. Journal of Competitiveness, 4(2), 3-19. https://doi.org/10.7441/joc.2012.02.01