Global, Local or Glocal: How Is Your Brand Perceived?

A few months ago, Nike was ranked as the most reputable brand in Mexico, according to the 2019 RepTrak Mexico study. Some analysts attributed Mexican consumers’ admiration for the sports brand to its public dispute with President Trump. The protagonist of the company’s last advertising campaign, NFL player Colin Kaepernick, had been condemned by the US president for kneeling during the national anthem before an American football game, seeking to protest against racist attacks on African Americans.

What kind of consumers are we dealing with today? Are they ethnocentric - because they get carried away by a patriotic feeling of defending Mexico, cosmopolitan - because Nike decries racism - or simply materialistic - because Nike is a symbol of status and upward mobility? This question might seem trivial, but consumer perception has been shown to affect brand attitude and increase purchase probability, which is why brands do their best to connect emotionally with the potential buyers of their products or services .

In this regard, research has shown that when consumers perceive a brand as global - like Nike - they associate it with attributes such as superiority, esteem, credibility, prestige and quality. However, local brands can in fact use other perceptions in their favor, such as national pride or feelings of belonging.

To learn more about Mexican consumer brand attitudes, I published, together with my colleagues María del Carmen Alarcón del Amo and Joan Llonch Andreu, the article “Segmenting Consumers Based on Their Evaluation of Local, Global and Glocal Brands” (Journal of International Consumer Marketing, 2019). The research objective was to determine whether consumers in emerging countries like Mexico prefer brands that are  global, local or glocal (a blend of the best features of global and local brands) and if attitudes such as cosmopolitanism, ethnocentrism or materialism influence their perceptions. 

To this end, we conducted two surveys with a proportionally heterogeneous sample of 400 Mexicans. We included 12 well-known brands (4 global, 4 local and 4 glocal), including, of course, Nike. We made sure that the same types of brands were in each category and measured the respondents’ perception of the quality, image, familiarity, status, price, attitude and purchase probability.

Global brand lovers

The main conclusion of the study is that Mexican consumers (57% of respondents) can be classified as "global brand lovers", with a good brand attitude and purchase intention, while 31% viewed “global brands as a status symbol” and 13% were not interested in global brands.

Unsurprisingly, the “global brand lovers” belonged to the youngest group of people (mostly under 40) with more cosmopolitan values. These consumers view themselves as “citizens of the world”, travel frequently and are open to other cultures.

People who perceive global brands solely as a status symbol are more ethnocentric and materialistic, while those who are not interested are older and less cosmopolitan.

Marketing directors who are in charge of global brands should focus their efforts on attracting young cosmopolitans with a low level of ethnocentrism.

Local, cosmopolitan or ethnocentric brands

Surprisingly, the results disproved that consumers of brands perceived as “local” are exclusively ethnocentric, reject imported products and prefer national brands.

Therefore, the majority of respondents were divided into two major groups, the “local brand lovers”, consisting of 36% of older, cosmopolitan and materialistic consumers, and the largest group (41%) who are younger and ethnocentric. The latter base their purchase decisions on tradition or nationalistic feelings, rather than brand quality or image.
 

The third group is made up of 23% of respondents, who are not interested in local brands and have a more materialistic profile. In fact, they believe that local brands do not stand for prestige, success or status.

Marketing strategies that focus on local brands should go in two directions: cosmopolitan consumers, who like the image and quality of local brands, and those with an ethnocentric profile, who appreciate the values ​​of local culture, its symbols and emblematic characters.

The hybrid: glocal brands

Materialistic consumers, however, lean more towards glocal brands. The term glocal derives from the slow consumerism maxim, “think globally, act locally”, and in marketing it is associated with brands that have a balanced blend of global and local components.

This was the first time that this category had been included in a study of this type. The survey results displayed a preference (44%) for the category “glocal brand price sensitivity”, essentially implying materialistic attitudes.

Designing a differentiated marketing strategy for the glocal segment is essential, since, as this study shows, this category is important in emerging markets. Global brands can adapt their image to the local context, or give their products a “local touch”, particularly in emerging markets that are enjoying a resurgence of national pride, such as India or China.