To What Extent Should Emerging Brands Maintain Distinctiveness in the Global Market? The Effect of Brand Isomorphism Level on Brand Evaluation

Abstract

Extensive research on global branding has mainly adopted a behavioral perspective (e.g., consumer information processing, self and identity theory, and consumer culture theory). This study focuses on the dual tradeoff between distinctiveness and conformity with their mainstream peers for emerging brands in the global marketplace from a legitimacy perspective. Building on the optimal distinctiveness theory, this study investigates the effect of brand isomorphism level on brand evaluation by several empirical studies. Results indicate that brand evaluation shows an inverted U-shaped trend of rising first and then declining as the degree of isomorphism increases. Furthermore, this study also explores the contingent condition of our proposed effect by introducing a moderator of cognitive distance, which demonstrates consumers higher in cognitive distance should perceive more conformity to be legitimate relative to consumers lower in the cognitive distance in the global marketplace. Implications for theory and the practice of this work are discussed.