Abstract
ABSTRACT Products from certain areas are assumed to share qualities by virtue of where they are made. This article considers the economic significance of such place brands in the wider market for symbolic goods. It forwards a theory of these as judgement devices, whereby place reputation serves to lower search costs in symbolic goods markets with excess supply. This theory is investigated through a study of an online music platform where a weak form of place branding is available to producers. Results suggest that branding is associated with musical success at the individual level and that place brands may act as strategic resources for producers from creative clusters. Branding effects do not necessarily depend on the content of the place brand signal (i.e., country acts branded from Nashville are not especially privileged) and may be based in simpler heuristic mechanisms where a listed origin is a stamp of quality or an aid in recognition.
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