Deglobalization and Global Branding Strategy

Closes:
Journal
International Marketing Review
Guest editor(s)
Cheng Lu Wang, Jiaxun He,
Submission deadline date: 31 December 2024

Introduction

Globalization, as the process of interaction and integration among people, companies, and governments worldwide, describe how trade and technology have made the world into a more connected and interdependent place. Globalization transmits managerial practices, advanced technologies, and labor skills across borders (Godsell, Lel, and Miller, 2023). In the globalized economy, global branding facilitates the general marketing strategy of multinational enterprises in Western developed countries to occupy the global market, and at meantime help multinational corporations from emerging markets to enter the global market (He and Wang, 2017). In the past 30 years, the research of global branding theory has achieved spectacular achievements (e.g., Alden, Steenkamp, and Batra, 1999; He, Wang, and Wu, 2021; Kumar and Steenkamp, 2013; Steenkamp, Batra, and Alden, 2003; Wang, et al., 2012).

While the advancement of global branding knowledge exerts important impacts on international business and brand globalization with insightful theoretical and managerial insights, the theoretical edifice is facing the new challenges in global macro environment due to a trend towards deglobalization (Witt, Lewin, Li, and Gaur, 2023). Deglobalization, driven by social, economic and political factors, such as the global financial crisis, climate change, international security and the recent COVID-19 pandemic and wars, poses a significant impact on consumer behavior, marketing practices and branding strategies (Cho, Kim and Youn, 2022; Kannan and Kulkarni, 2022; Sheth, 2022; Wang, Limbu and Fang, 2022). Deglobalization prompts managers of multinational enterprises to increasingly weight the political and social factors when evaluating foreign investment and global marketing strategies, especially under the influence of digital technology (Baines, Brady and Jain, 2022; Nambisan and Luo, 2021). Deglobalization has emerged as a strategic imperative to resolve domestic concerns, but it also restricts economic growth and hinder the development of emerging economies, resulting in higher prices for consumers, leading to potential inflation. Companies are diversifying supply chains and relocating business closer to home, reducing international trade and cross-border investment.

Deglobalization not only affects the world economic order, international trade and business exchanges, technology trade and national competition patterns (Witt, Lewin, Li, and Gaur, 2023), but also affects the way we perceive and think about the world today and imagine the future. Multinational corporations thus should reconfigure their global business and branding strategies and enhance their capabilities in pursuit of sustained advantage in a deglobalization world (Luo and Witt, 2021). Facing such a trend towards deglobalization, including trade, social, technological, cultural and political dimensions, does global branding still follow the logic and experience of the past? This special issue invite researchers to revisit the global branding theoretical framework of the global brand value chain established in the past and to think about possible new research topics and strategies in the deglobalization environment

References

Alden, D. L., J. B. E. M. Steenkamp, and R. Batra (1999), “Brand Positioning Through Advertising in Asia, North America, and Europe: The Role of Global Consumer Culture,” Journal of Marketing, 63(1), 75–87.
Baines, P., M. Brady, and S. P. Jain (2022), “Guest Editorial: Pandemic Aftershock - The Challenges of Rapid Technology Adoption and Social Distancing for Interactive Marketing Practice,” Journal of Research in Interactive Marketing, 16(1), 3–14.
Cho, Y.-N., H. E. Kim, and N. Youn (2022), “Together or Alone on the Prosocial Path Amidst the COVID-19 Pandemic: The Partitioning Effect in Experiential Consumption,” Journal of Research in Interactive Marketing, 16(1), 64–81.
Godsell, D., U. Lel, and D. Miller (2023), “U.S. National Security and De-globalization,” Journal of International Business Studies, 54, 1471–1494.
He, J., C. L. Wang, and Y. Wu (2021), “Building the Connection between Nation and Commercial Brand: An Integrative Review and Future Research Directions”, International Marketing Review, 38(1), 19–35.
He, J., and C. L. Wang (2017), “How Global Brands Incorporating Local Cultural Elements Increase Consumer Purchase Likelihood,” International Marketing Review, 34(4), 463–479.
Kannan, P. K. and G. Kulkarni (2022), “The Impact of Covid-19 on Customer Journeys: Implications for Interactive Marketing,” Journal of Research in Interactive Marketing, 16(1), 22–36.
Kumar, N. and J. B. E. M. Steenkamp (2013), Brand Breakout: How Emerging Market Brands Will Go Global, New York: Palgrave Macmillan. Luo, Y. and M. A. Witt (2021), “Springboard MNEs under De-globalization,” Journal of International Business Studies, 53, 767–780.
Nambisan, S. and Y. Luo (2021), “Toward a Loose Coupling View of Digital Globalization,” Journal of International Business Studies, 52(8), 1646–1663.
Sheth, J. N. (2022), “Post-pandemic Marketing: When the Peripheral Becomes the Core,” Journal of Research in Interactive Marketing, 16(1), 37–44.
Steenkamp, J. B. E. M., R. Batra, and D. L. Alden (2003), “How Perceived Brand Globalness Creates Brand Value,” Journal of International Business Studies, 34(1), 53–65.
Wang, C. L., D. Li, B. Barns, and J. Anh (2012), “Country Image, Product Image and Consumer Purchase Intention: Evidence from an Emerging Economy”, International Business Review, 21(6), 1041–1051.
Wang, T., Y. B. Limbu, and X. Fang (2022), “Consumer Brand Engagement on Social Media in the COVID-19 Pandemic: The Roles of Country-of-origin and Consumer Animosity,” Journal of Research in Interactive Marketing, 16(1), 45–63.
Witt, M. A., A. Y. Lewin, P. P. Li, and A. Gaur (2023), “Decoupling in International Business: Evidence, Drivers, Impact, and Implications for IB Research,” Journal of World Business, 58(1), 101399.

List of topic areas

  1. How do geopolitical factors and the forces of technological innovation interact and influence the development of global brands?
  2. In the new macro environment, what new values and universal meanings can become the conceptual elements of global brand positioning, and have a positive impact on brand sustainability?
  3. What are the prominent barriers for emerging market brands to enter the global market when facing deglobalization challenges?
  4. What new values influence the effectiveness of global brand positioning?
  5. What are changes in the marketing mix and channel networks of global brands as the global supply chain system has been adjusted and restructured?

Submissions Information

Submissions are made using ScholarOne Manuscripts. Registration and access are available here.

Author guidelines must be strictly followed.

Authors should select (from the drop-down menu) the special issue title at the appropriate step in the submission process, i.e. in response to "Please select the issue you are submitting to".

Submitted articles must not have been previously published, nor should they be under consideration for publication anywhere else, while under review for this journal.

Key deadlines

Opening date for manuscripts submissions: 30th June, 2024

Closing date for manuscripts submission: 31st December, 2024