Country of ownership change in the premium segment: consequences for brand image
| DOI | https://doi.org/10.1108/JPBM-10-2017-1651 |
| Pages | 871-883 |
| Date | 19 November 2018 |
| Published date | 19 November 2018 |
| Author | Ulf Johansson,Christian Koch,Nora Varga,Fengge Zhao |
| Subject Matter | Marketing,Product management,Brand management/equity |
Country of ownership change in the premium
segment: consequences for brand image
Ulf Johansson
School of Economics and Management, Lund University, Lund, Sweden
Christian Koch
Hogskolan Kristianstad Sektionen for Halsa och Samhalle, Kristianstad, Sweden
Nora Varga
UPS, Brussels, Belgium, and
Fengge Zhao
Duffy Agency, Malmö, Sweden
Abstract
Purpose –This paper aims to explore how the ownership transfer from a highly industrialised country to less industrialised countries influences
consumers’brand perceptions.
Design/methodology/approach –Three acquisition cases of premium car brands (Jaguar, Land Rover and Volvo) are investigated using qu alitative
data from online brand communities.
Findings –When country of ownership (COOW) for brands changes, it leads to different effects on consumers’brand perception. Consumers are
disoriented as to which cue to apply when evaluating the brand. They also see that brand values, and how these are communicated, are in conflict,
as are sustainability images.
Research limitations/implications –This paper focuses on the perspective of brand community members in Europe and the USA and studies only
the car industry and acquisitions by two countries (China and India) using data from the time of ownership transfers. The authors discuss theoretical
implications and suggest further research to gain more insights and address limitations.
Practical implications –Following a transfer of ownership, communication campaigns are required for addressing the original bra nd’s heritage and
promoting the new brand owner’s image. Managers need to take advantage of loyal brand fans by turning them into brand ambassado rs, spreading
information to convince consumers that are more sceptical.
Originality/value –This study fills the knowledge gap regarding change of COOW to developing countries as new owners, and its consequences for
consumer perception. The authors also introduce an innovative type of data collection through brand communities, which is le ss commonly used in
international marketing research.
Keywords Brand image, Brand heritage, Brand origin, Country of origin effect, Cars, Country of ownership, Newly industrialised country
Paper type Research paper
Introduction
Major brand acquisitions involving different countries have
become normality in consumer-orientedindustries. From 1979
onwards, the USA car company Ford acquired Japan’sMazda,
Britain’s Aston Martin and Jaguar, and Sweden’s Volvo,
French cosmetics brand L’Oreal took over Britain’s The Body
Shop and Japan’s Sony bought two American film studios,
Columbia Pictures and Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer –with the
acquired brands being later resold to other firms in other
countries.
Historically, firms in Western Europe and the USA have
often been initiators,using their established brands as stepping-
stones for launches in other, less economically developed
regions. The term “less developed countries”(compared to
more developed countries), however, is a generalisation and
misapplication of more complex phenomena. As well,
categorisations such as BRICS (Brazil, Russia, India, China
and South Africa) intended to differentiate these countries
from other (developing) countries in terms of economic
development and growth (Huang et al.,2012), have limited
use. The development differences between these economies
vary: Manrai et al. (1998) classified China as a “newly
industrialised country”while India was labelled a “developing
country”. Most Western countriesare accordingly described as
“highly developedcountries”.
Following this view, capital flows from highly developed
countries to developing and newly industrialised countries are
common, as the former have superior assets (e.g. brands) and
The current issue and full text archive of this journal is available on
Emerald Insight at: www.emeraldinsight.com/1061-0421.htm
Journal of Product & Brand Management
27/7 (2018) 871–883
© Emerald Publishing Limited [ISSN 1061-0421]
[DOI 10.1108/JPBM-10-2017-1651]
The authors would like to thank Madeleine Jarl, the two anonymous
reviewers and especially the Guest Co-Editors Nicolas Papadopoulos,
Mark Cleveland and Boris Bartikowski for their insightful and constructive
comments on this article.
871
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