Stereotyping global brands: Is warmth more important than competence?

Abstract

Drawing on international branding literature and stereotyping research, the current study seeks to answer the following research questions: (1) do consumers' perceptions of brand globalness/localness influence their stereotypical assessments of brands in terms of their warmth and competence, and (2) do these stereotypical dimensions impact consumer-brand identification and, through it, purchase intentions and brand ownership? The proposed conceptual model is tested using data from two countries (Austria: N = 243; Bosnia & Herzegovina: N = 95) and seven global brands from different product categories. The findings reveal that perceived brand globalness and localness indeed influence the content of brand stereotypes by impacting consumers' assessments of warmth and competence. Brand warmth is revealed to be the key driver of consumer-brand identification which, in turn, stimulates purchase intentions and brand ownership. Brand competence is not significantly related to consumer-brand identification (across both studies), indicating that not all dimensions of stereotype content are relevant for the consumer-brand relationship.