Abstract:
Brand personality, as one of the main components of brand identity, is a strategically important tool for marketers and advertisers in terms of its significant differentiation power. There are well-established personalities of global brands throughout the world. Global brand strategies aim to protect the core identity of the brand from one country to another. In this context, they develop and implement marketing strategies that aim to create a globally consistent brand personality. The purpose of this study is to investigate the global equivalence of brand personality perceptions for leading global brands across international markets. Based on the review ofliterature conducted, a model for brand personality equivalence across international markets is suggested. The study is designed for measurement and comparison of brand personality perceptions for a set of seven global brands from different product categories between two emerging markets - Turkey and India. The new brand personality scale developed by Geuens, Weijters and De Wulf (2009) was used for brand personality measurements. The sample was defined as the youth markets in the two countries as a specific segment of consumers who are more familiar with global brands and are also similar in terms of needs and desires. Data were collected in urban centers of Turkey and India through a convenience sample of236 young shopping center visitors with personally administered questionnaires. Multivariate discriminant analysis was utilized to analyze responses gathered in order to explore the effect of nationality in discriminating brand personality perceptions across different cultures. The results revealed that each of the seven global brands in the stimuli set of the study are significantly different across Turkish and Indian youth markets in terms of their perceived brand personality profiles. Based on the empirical results obtained, it is proposed that nationality is a significant factor in discriminating global brand personality perceptions of young consumers despite the standard positioning strategies employed. Thereby, based on the Global Brand Personality Equivalence Framework developed, it is further suggested that consumer perceptions regarding the identity of global brands vary across countries.
