Consumer Perception between International and Local Brands - A Western vs Asian Perspective - Dissertation Example

?Chapter I Introduction 1 Background Markets have become multicultural which includes consumers from diverse cultural groups sharing common values,beliefs and attitudes. This clearly affects marketers in developing brands for a particular market. In addition, people from different ethnic, religion and national backgrounds converge at the same geographical location which furthers the challenge for the marketers. This is because brands materialize global standards of living and mean differently to different cultural groups. However, if brands or marketers lack sensitivity to the complexity of cultural identity formation, the ideas and meanings conveyed by the brand can have detrimental effects on consumer self-evaluation and well-being (Kipnis et al, 2013). Managers face challenges because of lack of synthesis between managerial concepts of brand identity and socio-cultural conception of inter-group dynamics, which may result in ill-fitted brand identities is a given sociopolitical context. Singapore is one of the top shopping destinations in Asia and hence attracts numerous international brands. These brands operate in a highly competitive environment trying to attract the attention of consumers as well as gain recognition against other international brands. This is because Singapore is a multicultural city compromising of Chinese, Malays, Indians and Eurasians, and with one in four resident being a non-Singaporean (SEDB, 2009). Consumer companies have been trying to tap into the opportunities presented by Singapore’s strengths and unique positioning. 1.2 Rationale for Research Studies have been conducted by different researchers on the subject such on attitude towards foreign and local brands – uniqueness theory to differentiate themselves from others (Kashi, 2013), consumer ethnocentrism (Rice & Wongtada, 2007) and on the influence of animosity (Fullerton et al, 2007). Researches on this subject have been conducted but most of the researches have been conducted in developed countries. No such study has been found that focuses on the Asian countries. This research aims to go deeper and compare local and international brands in Singapore to identify local consumers brand perception. Singapore has been chosen as the focus of this study because of her ability to attract a wide range of international brands. Besides, Singapore is a useful setting because it is strongly influenced by both eastern and western traditions. In fact this can serve as a guideline for other Asian nations as they adopt western habits and consumption patterns. However, there is a tendency in Singapore to support the home grown design talents to the extent that domestic fashion brands have been gaining international exposure with government support (The Straits Times, 2012). Renowned local brands that originated in Singapore include Raoul and TWG. This significantly shows that Singapore brands do have the ability to compete with international brands such as T.M. Lewin. Therefore, this research expands into Singaporean’s reaction and attitude towards branding and how they perceive the established international brands against renowned local brands in various sectors. This research emphasizes on how Singaporeans come about having a particular opinion towards brands and what factors may influence consumer’s choice of brand. Customers globally have developed enhanced ability to select local and foreign brands even in developing countries. Business environments being competitive, it has become imperative for sellers of both domestic and foreign goods to explore customer purchase behavior. 1.3 Research Aims and Objectives With the aim to explore Singaporean consumers’ attitude and perception towards brands, the objectives of the research are: To identify what factors can affect consumer’s attitude to brands Identifying models to assess consumers attitude towards branding To find out the different perceptions between international and local brands Comparing the attitude towards branding from an (Asian/Singaporean perspective) and European perspective 1.4 Significance of the study This research is of significance because at this point in time international retailers have been opening up stores in Singapore in great numbers. High end shopping malls such as Marina Bay Sands Shoppes has attracted international fashion brands such as MCM and ESCADA into Singapore’s retail market. According to Chia (2012), international brands such as Tommy Bahama, Tory Burch, Laline, Shana, Lowry’s Farm and Dean & DeLuca opened their first stores in Singapore in the 2nd Quarter of 2012. However, Singapore home-grown brands remain subtle and attract less media attention. The entrance of international brands into the Singapore retail market shows the significance of the Singapore retail scene. The findings of this study would benefit both the domestic as well as the international brands that have been competing in Singapore. Consumer attitude towards brands may enable retailers to create and take advantage of more opportunities at this market place. The findings may aid both local and internationals brands to align branding strategies used for different markets. How this research may benefit the retailers have been enumerated below. Firstly, as international brands have been vying for opportunities in Singapore, it is expected that the outcome of this research would provide these retailers with valuable insights on how Singaporeans think and perceive international brands. This knowledge would help the international retailers to plan their entry into Singapore and design their marketing strategy. Secondly, this research would also benefit the domestic producers and marketers as they would gain insight into consumer perception of domestic brands which in turn would help them develop their brands. Thirdly, it would also help the existing brands in Singapore as they use the knowledge on consumer attitude towards brands thereby assist them in enhancing their brand image to attract customers. Lastly, the findings of this study may also be applicable to other developed Asian countries such as Hong Kong. 1.5 Structure of the Study In Chapter I the context of the study has been presented along with the study aims and or objectives. The rationale of the study as well as relevance of the study in the current Singapore retail context has been reviewed. Finally the structure of the study has been presented. In Chapter II different models of consumer behavior as well brand attitude have been reviewed, focusing on the objectives of the study. The third Chapter justifies the methodology used in this study and in Chapter IV findings have been presented. Discussions have also been conducted simultaneously to avoid repetition. Chapter V summarizes the findings and based on the limitations, recommendations for further study has been made. Chapter II Literature 2.1 Chapter Overview In this chapter the first section enumerates the current situation in Singapore retail sector. The next section deals with different models that influence attitude towards foreign products. The third section reviews literature on difference in brand attitude between local and foreign brands. 2.2 Singapore Retail Sector According to Boston Consulting Group, Singapore has the highest percentage of millionaires in the world 188,000 millionaire households of which 17 percent are resident households (The Straits Times, 2012). This translates into one in every six Singapore households having disposable private wealth of more than US $1 million. This makes Singapore a wealthy consumers’ playground thereby attracting the attention of brands from across the globe. Singapore has also become the first South-East Asian city to be anointed a MasterCard Priceless City, after New York, London, Beijing and Sydney. This enables MasterCard users to avail of premium activities such as getting the best seats to watch Jersey Boys at Marina Bay Sands. To cope with wide range of consumers in Singapore, the Singaporean retailers reflect the diversity of their customers and offer a well-developed international as well as domestic retailing presence (Honeycutt, Ahmed & Mottner, 2008). The domestic retailers have transformed their shops into department stores and have presence at the shopping malls and this has attracted foreign direct investment in the Singapore retail sector. Influx of Japanese in Singapore attracted several Japanese retailers while several European and American companies also ventured into Singapore, attracted by the liberal policies towards foreign companies. Internationalization of retailing industry is an important trend in Singapore. 2.3 Modeling attitude towards foreign products 2.3.1 Consumer Ethnocentrism Consumer ethnocentrism is the feeling of consumers’ favoritism towards home country products (Newman & Sahak, 2012). The ethnocentric consumers consider the home grown products superior in value and quality but a brand’s characteristics are associated with its COO (Bandara & Miloslava, 2012). The country of origin becomes a strong determinant of consumer perception of the brand. This is because COO indicates the product quality based on intrinsic (style, material) and extrinsic (price and brands) cues. In fact COO is considered to be more important than the brand name, price and quality in shaping consumer attitude towards the product. Accordingly, products manufactured in developed countries are considered to be of higher quality. However, the authors find that the degree of ethnocentrism varies across countries as the Chinese consumers perceive foreign goods better than their own products while consumers in Poland and Slovakia prefer domestic good over foreign products. Thus, no conclusion can be drawn based on country of origin. Attitudinal preference for a foreign or nonlocal brand is prevalent in developing countries that have been closed to external trade and had limited access to foreign goods (Batra et al, 2000). Thus, nonlocal products are considered to enhance sale-esteem and self-image as enhanced product quality is associated with foreign brands. For such people brands often serve non-utilitarian purpose such as symbolic acquisition and communication of social distinction. Owning foreign brands displays competency with regard to alien cultures and this serves as a motivation to purchase foreign brands. This is particularly found in several Asian countries such as China and India. 2.3.2 Influence of animosity Feelings of animosity can adversely impact purchase intentions and purchase behavior towards foreign products. Small countries dependent on their larger neighbors feel threatened and develop feelings of animosity towards brands originating from that country (Nijssen, Douglas & Bressers, 1999). Consumers with anti-global attitude develop animosity towards global brands which can be further investigated by events in the firm’s macro-environment including the economic, political, social and natural environments (Rice & Wongtada, 2007). Consumers may thus experience inter-attitudinal conflict towards a brand resulting in negative association with the brand. Under such circumstances domestic brands get preference. Thus, global brands such as Coca-Cola, McDonald's and Nike are seen as icons of a globalized lifestyle or symbols of cultural homogenization that threaten competition (Riefler, 2012). Such brands become targets of anti-globalization protests. This enhances the importance of brand origin for global brands. American products, once a brand asset, is now negatively associated because of the anti-American image (Fullerton et al, 2007). In this case, even though the product quality may be good but the COO adversely impacts the brand. In a study of brand attitude among two Asian countries (Singapore and Hong Kong) and Australia, the authors found that the same brand can be loved and also loathed across the same demographic group. While the basis of love for a brand includes emotional attachment and a sense of loyalty, the basis of hating a brand were not identified. Students in Singapore and Hong Kong expressed love for American brands despite its COO. However, the Australians expressed dislike for American brands because of the anti-American attitude. Therefore, a hostile attitude towards a country can impact the brand preference because of its country of origin. 2.2.3 Hedonist Effect Holbrook and Hirschman (1982) propose that individual differences such as culture, personality and social influences will affect cognitive and affective buying intentions whereas it affects one’s behavior indirectly. Likewise, existing prejudice against any country affects how consumers evaluate products and brands from that country. Apart from these, hedonic motives for engaging in leisure activities also influence purchase decisions. The authors emphasize that today’s consumer does not merely process information but desires to derive hedonic pleasure. 2.2.4 Self-image The need to be unique influences the tendency to buy foreign goods and when customers frequently buy foreign goods they learn to recognize quality and the emotional value of foreign brands in a better way (Kashi, 2013). This further increases the tendency to buy foreign goods. The authors find that perceived quality and emotional value influence purchase intentions. Therefore positive perceptions of quality can lead to long-term success of the brand. According to O’Cass and Lim (2002) purchase intentions and consumer brand preference of Asians is influenced by price perceptions, brand personality, brand-elicited feelings, self-image and brand-user-image congruency. Consumers form non-product related perceptions towards a brand as they seek congruence between self-image and the brand-user-image of the brand. Brand personality can be influenced by consumer cultural effects and country of origin effects. 2.2.5 Availability of domestic alternatives Global brands have increasingly been attracting the attention of retailers as they assume that consumers perceive global brands as better qualified alternatives than the equivalent domestic brands Kayabasi, Mucan & Tanyeri, 2012). The differences in perception are based on differences in individual values. Values of an individual influence his objectives and purchase decision and is an effective variable in consumers’ choice of brand. Values differ across cultures and define what is important to a particular society. Values guide perceptions, attitudes and behavior of people. 2.2.6 Co-branding national cultures and Country-of-Origin (COO) Effect Focusing on national culture and accelerating cultural integration can alter consumer attitude towards a particular brand. The COO image can alter consumer perception of a brand and hence Li and Sun (2010) suggest expanding the merits of the COO and avoiding the demerits can ultimately change one’s attitude. Likewise Li and Sun (2010) discussed on the impact of country of origin effect on transnational co-branding effect model. It shows several attributes such as brand equity, country of origin image, consumer’s knowledge and consumer’s experience affect faith and ultimately changes attitude, which results in consumer behavior change and brand perception. Increased globalization and cost pressures have resulted in few brands being produced in the same country as the country of origin. When consumers have limited or no information about a brand, they usually associated the brand with the country of manufacture (COM). However, if a strong brand-origin product such as Japanese cameras is manufactured in Mexico, the brand would be considered as incongruent, contend Carvalho, Samu and Sivaramakrishnana (2011). In addition to COO and COM, product attributes also impact how the brand is perceived. If tangible product attributes can resolve the incongruity between the COO and COM, the strength of product attributes determines the attitude towards the brand. However, if consumers have a positive perception of both COO and COM, the strength of product attributes becomes irrelevant. Kipnis et al (2013) suggest addressing the consumer not as a segment of the market based on any classification but as a human being that forms a multicultural world. This can be a unique opportunity to address the new consumer. The authors highlight that if branding appeal poses a symbolic threat to cultural identities, such appeals can lead to consumer revolt against the brand. It is thus essential to understand how consumers process the brand messages. Consumer behavior is strikingly different across emerging nations and hence a global marketing approach in these countries would not be feasible, find Godey et al (2013). However the authors found that maintaining a strong brand as a key element for differentiation and for consumer patronage is important for developed and developing countries. Differences exist in the importance of COO and country of design across countries and hence no global strategy can be devised. In the case of luxury good the COO is weaker and maintaining a strong brand gains importance. 2.4 Attitudes between international and local brands Baltas et al (1997) highlighted that both international and local brands coexisted for a long time and both compete at different price levels. In the research, they identified the expediency of “nested logit model for marketing application where brands are grouped in terms of perceived similarity”. This model also aids in providing diagnostic about important marketing variables. National reputation of products vary across nations and consumers tend to generalize their attitudes and opinion based on factors such as “technological superiority”, “product quality”, “design”, “value for money”, “status and esteem”, and “credibility of country-of-origin” of a brand (KInra, 2006). Consumer evaluation of brands is based on factors other than the product quality and one of them is favorable country perceptions. Consumers often seek to imitate western practices by buying foreign brands because this enables them to lead a similar lifestyle as the westerners (Batra et al, 2000). However, in the West, during the 1970s and 1980s domestic products enjoyed a more favorable evaluation than foreign-made products (Supphellen & Rittenburg, 2001). The American consumers were ethnocentric as they had negative attitude towards foreign products and positively correlated towards domestic products. The ethnocentric tendencies in Eastern Europe were in conflict as consumers in these countries preferred Western products because of superior quality. The authors associate this difference to how products are described and presented to consumers. This suggests that if marketers can present the domestic products in an appropriate manner, consumers may be attracted equally towards domestic products. In the case of migrants, Newman and Sahak (2012) established that length of residence in a foreign country and the age of the individuals influence consumer ethnocentrism. Respondents who reside the longest demonstrate low levels of ethnocentric behavior. At the same time middle aged to older consumers demonstrate high levels of ethnocentric behavior. This finding is of great relevance to this study because Singapore is a state which draws migrants not only from the Asian countries but also from the West. However, many migrants may have been exposed to foreign brands in their home country and hence assimilation may not be an issue with them. When countries that have been closed to international trade, liberalize their economies the consumers are suddenly exposed to a large variation of imported products. When consumers lack experience of the product and lack adequate information about the product and its manufacture would result in consumer’s basing their assessment of the product on the country of origin (Apil, 2006). Similarly, when consumers from closed economies migrate to Singapore, they may face this situation as they would most likely not have experienced foreign products. While Asian countries such as India and China have been exposed to foreign products for last few decades, there are many countries whose consumers may not have the experience of such products. The Turkish consumers also demonstrate ethnocentric tendencies as they evaluate the product attributes based on the socio-economic and technological development levels of the country of origin (Kaynak & Kara, 2002). Lifestyle dimensions were also found to be closely related to ethnocentric bias. However, Kaynak and Kara assert that the degree of ethnocentrism can vary across people from different regions within the same country. Thus, countries with high power distance tend to be more ethnocentric and prefer domestic products over foreign products. Going by this argument, the Asian countries have high-power distance societies and this would imply that Asian consumers should prefer domestic products over foreign goods. However, this does not appear to be the trend in recent times in major Asian economies such as India and China. At the same time lifestyle dimensions such as health-consciousness, independence and adventurism influence the degree of ethnocentrism, contend Kaynak and Kara (2002). Consumers with middle and high income levels demonstrate a low degree of ethnocentricity and similar behavior tendencies. This segment may be appealing to marketers as they evaluate product attributes, price and fashion and design. Consumers low in sophistication would be high in ethnocentrism and greater marketing efforts would be required with special promotional messages to attract this segment. Research by Kumar et al (2009) investigates on how Indian consumers react towards United States brand and Indian brand. They find that consumers choose specific brands to receive emotional benefits such as status and wealth. Also, utilitarian benefits such as quality and price induces consumer to choose certain brands or products. Likewise, by “using foreign brand exhibits one’s social standing and is more prominent in developing countries where higher income disparities and status mobility exist” (Kottak, 1990 cited in Kumar et al, 2009). Research figures from Kumar et al (2009) shows that local Indians are more likely to purchase American brands because of the mindset towards American products and the emotional value that American brands give. Local brands are regarded as lower quality and as having less emotional value. This negative perception of locals towards homegrown brands will create a difficult environment for the brand to succeed in long run. The research also identifies ways that homegrown brands can adopt in order to alter consumer perception on quality and emotional value. In a study of urban consumers in Lucknow, India, consumers with high factor ratings on ethnocentrism scale, preferred foreign brands over domestic production and were not biased against foreign goods (Kinra, 2006). In fact, respondents in this study evaluated foreign goods higher on technology, quality, status and esteem than Indian brands. The outcome of this study also suggests that COO effect does have a bearing on brand attitude in developing countries. Foreign brands have been entering into strategic alliances with Indian brands and have begun to compete for market share and the psychological mind share of consumers in India. Indians however, associate brands from developed countries with positive brand image perceptions. The acceptance of foreign brands and growing consumerism in India has also been highlighted by Mathur (2010) who finds that the Indian urban landscape is lined with hoardings of international brands of consumer goods and restaurants while the “body is often shaped by the latest fashion items …” (Voyce, 2006 cited in Mathur,2010). Indian consumers seek to redefine their social position in terms of self-perception and how they are perceived by others; they use consumption as a means for upward mobility. Despite a certain degree of uniformity in consumption, Mathur finds that the new middle class India group is not a homogenous segment as each is trying to construct his/her identity through self-representation. Brand value is considered to enhance their status but a significant percentage of people (40%) also would buy unbranded products if it looked exactly like the branded ones. Besides, purchase of branded goods is limited to specific items such as electronic goods, jewelry and clothes because these objects are the subject of assessment by the peer group. This suggests that status rises depending on how others perceive them. There is another segment within the urban Indian consumer that believes that fashion and designs change frequently and hence they consider spending on branded goods a waste of money. Thus, different perceptions or brand attitude can be found in India but overall foreign goods are perceived to deliver better brand value than domestic products. Mukherjee (2013) tested the Expected Customer demand (ECD) is dependent on Acceptance of Global Brand (AGB), Image of the Parent Brand (IPB) and Quality Perception (QP) about the product in the Indian fast food market. The study found that each of the three variables have significant impact on the consumers. Mukherjee recommends that marketers must primarily emphasize on the brand image and the image of the parent brand followed by product quality to sustain demand for international fast food brands in India. This suggests that in the fast food sector brand image holds value. Son (2001) found a positive relationship between attitude and purchase intention and theory of planned behavior and theory of reasoned action predict attitude that determines behavior. Son contends that this linkage is consistent with many other studies. For instance, as cited by Son (2001), this linkage has been found to be positive in the case of apparel as well as leather products from the United States. However, in the case of foreign branded jeans face saving had no impact on purchase intention in India. Face saving is effective in collectivist cultures but Son (2001) points out that India is located in the middle of individual/collectivism continuum. Among Asian countries China is also emerging as another viable consumer market as a result of economic restructuring, higher disposable incomes, rising living standards and innovative retailing practices (Liu et al, 2011). Many foreign brands in different consumer good categories can be found in China including cosmetics, household goods, electronics and even automobiles. Chinese consumer behavior is strongly influenced by its culture and they are not generally swayed by availability of western products. The Chinese is a collectivist society where the interdependent individual perceives himself as a part of the larger group valuing conformity. Thus, consumers largely rely on word-of-mouth information as a credible source of product information. However, Liu et al find that in addition to ingroup influence, purchase intention among Chinese consumers is also influenced by product quality and its symbolic representation. Product quality becomes important when price of foreign goods are higher than domestic products. In addition to product quality, consumers in China also evaluate reliability, prtice, after sales-service and other product-related characteristics. Similar to Indian consumers, the Chinese consumers also rely on symbolic representation. Thus, foreign products symbolize modernity, status and novelty and use of such products help them maintain a self-identity as cosmopolitan, sophisticated and modern. Mass media marketing and advertising has not been found to be a predictor of purchase intentions but the authors clarify that this finding was relevant to Australian products. Marketing efforts and advertising may bear different impact for goods from other countries such as Europe and the United States. Those Chinese consumers that assign higher priority to practical aspects of fashion such as comfort and necessity demonstrate a greater willingness to indulge in luxury fashion brands (Li, Li and Kembele, 2011). As such their luxury consumption patterns may not be the same as the western consumers. However they also evaluate comprehensive values associated with luxury fashion brands. These values include perceived social/economic value, perceived utilitarian value and perceived emotional value. If they derive these values from foreign brands they would be willing to purchase the brand. Chinese are price-conscious consumers and they attach importance to price as well as to the Country-of-Origin effect in evaluating brands (Godey et al, 2011). Bi et al (2012) found that Chinese companies are now in a position to compete with foreign brands and there appears to be a tendency towards ethnocentrism, where Chinese consumers are moving away from foreign goods. However, rising consumer demand for luxury goods cannot be met locally. Bi et al concluded that Chinese consumers are indifferent to the COO but would evaluate a brand based on intrinsic product characteristics. Economic threat makes up a large part of consumer ethnocentrism but Chinese consumers do not feel they would be putting compatriots out of work by buying foreign goods. This implies that the values and ratings on the CETSCALE (consumer ethnocentric scale) do not give a clear indication of preference for domestic or foreign goods. At the same time, Chinese consumers are more concerned about the symbolic values of prestige conveyed by the brand (Li, 2008). Besides the cultural characteristics – collectivism – influences brand preferences. The concept of guanxi, face saving, modernity, youth, success and wealth exert a positive influence on the perception of foreign brands. In a study on the Asian consumers, Gao, Norton, Zhang and To (2009) found that Asian consumers purchase luxury goods to secure social recognition and to adhere to social norms. They gift luxury goods as well as use it for status display. Because of the collectivist tradition, the Chinese consumers may purchase luxury goods to be accepted by the community, in addition to the utilitarian and hedonic benefits they derive through such purchase. The desire to display their possession is known as the Veblen effect while consumers that purchase luxury brands for their exclusivity exhibit the snob effect; the bandwagon effect occurs when it symbolizes group membership. 2.5 Chapter Summary Literature suggests that Western consumers prefer domestic brands unless foreign brands originate from a developed country. The Asians however do not represent a homogenous group and several segments appear within Asian countries. While most Asian economies have opened up their economies, the influence of culture seems predominant. However, ethnocentrism varies even within consumers of a nation. What the literature does not reveal is that consumer perceptions can change over time as masses become educated and sophisticated in their consumption. Thus their attitude towards brands could also change just as country image changes over time. Moreover, within the same country, the same consumer may prefer foreign products for a particular range of goods and domestic products for another range of goods. For instance, they could prefer foreign brands as far as luxury cosmetics are concerned but prefer to use domestically produced toothpaste. All of the studies reviewed indicate that COO does influence buyer perception although the degree of influence may differ across countries and even across consumers within the same country. 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