The Path of Improving Foreign Consumers' Brand Attitudes toward Chinese Brands through Cultural Elements

Meng Fanyi, Fu Huifen

Foreign Economics & Management Vol. 38, Issue 04, pp. 49 - 62,89 (2016)  DOI:10.16538/j.cnki.fem.2016.04.004

Abstract

Some Chinese consumer product enterprises have made gratifying achievementsoverseas by building their brands with Chinese cultural heritage. However, the existing literature cannot explain the reasons for their success. By a review of the literature regarding consumer culture positioning and brand cultural iconness, this paper refines the concept of brand foreign cultural iconness and explores its effect mechanism. The survey of French consumers reveals that brand foreign cultural iconness can positively influence consumers' perceived brand quality, prestige, uniqueness benefits and the benefit of belonging to the global citizen group. Specifically, its influence on perceived brand uniqueness benefits is stronger. However, the positive influence of brand foreign cultural iconness on brand attitude originates mostly from the mediation effects of perceived quality and prestige. Besides, brand origin image and consumer ethnocentrism positively and negatively moderate the total role of brand foreign cultural iconness in brand attitudes respectively. The results enrich the literature regarding consumer culture positioning and brand cultural iconness, and also add a new angle of international marketing study of Chinese brands.

Keywords

foreign consumer culture positioning; brandforeign cultural iconness; brand benefit; Chinese brand