Consumer Perception of Global vs. Local Brands: The Indian Car Industry

Consumer Perception of Global vs.
Local Brands: The Indian Car Industry
By
Shyamala Mathan Sankar
2006
A Dissertation presented in part consideration for the degree of MA Marketing.
1 Consumer Perception of Global vs. Local Brands: The Indian Car Industry
Abstract
Key words: Consumer Perception, Global brands, Local brands, consumer preference, Country-of-origin, foreign brand, globalness, Consumer ethnocentrism.
This study examines consumer perception of global brands vs. local brands in the Indian car industry. Consumer brand perceptions have substantial implications in Marketing. The study explores and understands consumer perceptions of global and local car brands in India by accomplishing the secondary objectives. The secondary objectives were achieved by highlighting the factors that effect consumer preference for global brands; by examining the effects of country of origin on consumer perceptions of global brands and local brands; and by studying the effects of consumer ethnocentrism towards global brands.
For creating a deep understanding of consumers insights of global car brands against local car brands, qualitative approach was adopted with an in-depth and semistructured interview process. Interviews as a qualitative tool helped the researcher to uncover individuals covert feelings and emotions towards perception of global brands vs. local brands.
The findings of the study advised that the consumers who possessed global car brands, preferred their car brands due to factors such as global presence, worldwide reputation, and quality of being a foreign make. Prestige or status had a very little or no influence in their preference for global car brands. Consumers made favorable
I Consumer Perception of Global vs. Local Brands: The Indian Car Industry
perceptions of the country, wherein they tend to associate factors such as superior quality, technical advancements, modernization, etcto the country from which the brand had taken its origin. Consumers who owned a local car brand evaluated the local brand in a favorable manner, wherein they tend to associate the brand to Indias strong automobile sector that makes quality and technically efficient cars. The study found to have both non-ethnocentric consumers and consumers who were low on CET. Most of the respondents perceive local brands to be good in India, but not as good as the global ones in quality, technical expertise and designs of the cars.
II Consumer Perception of Global vs. Local Brands: The Indian Car Industry
Table of Contents
Abstract I List of Figures....VI List of Tables..VI Dedication.VII Acknowledgement...VIII Chapter One Introduction...1 1.1 Introduction....1 1.2 Objectives of the study..2 1.3 Synopsis of Chapters.2 Chapter Two - Literature Review..5 2.1 Introduction5 2.2 Brands and Branding......5 2.3 Local Brands and Global Brands8 2.4 Pros and Cons of Local brands and global brands......9 2.5 Shifts from Local Brands to Global Brands..12 2.6 Basic factors that effect consumer preference for Global Brands.......13 2.7 Consumer Ethnocentrism and evaluation of global brands and local brands by consumers.....17 2.8 Consumer Brand Knowledge.....20 2.9 Effects of Country-of-Origin (COO), Culture-of-Brand Origin (COBO) and consumer perception of global brands vs. local brands...21 2.10 Conclusion28 III Consumer Perception of Global vs. Local Brands: The Indian Car Industry
Chapter Three -Industry Overview...30 3.1 Introduction.30 3.2 Indian automobile industry an Overview..30 3.3 Advent of cars in India.34 3.4 Local Car Brands in India35 3.5 Global Car Brands in India..36 Chapter Four - Research Methodology...40 4.1. Introduction.....40 4.2 Research purpose.....41 4.3 Qualitative Research....42 4.4 Why Qualitative Research?.......................................................................43 4.5. Interviews44 4.6. Sampling.....46 4.7. Telephone interview46 4.8. Summary.....49 Chapter Five - Analysis and Findings......50 5.1 Introduction..50 5.2 Background of the respondents....50 5.3 Analysis and Discussion of the interviews......51 5.4 Accomplishing objectives of the study....52 5.4.1. Objective one: Highlighting the factors that effect consumer preference for global brands..52 5.4.2. Objective two: Examining the effects of country-of-origin on consumer perceptions of global brands and local brands..57 5.4.3. Objective three: To study the effects of consumer ethnocentrism IV Consumer Perception of Global vs. Local Brands: The Indian Car Industry
over global brands.62 5.4.4. Key Objective: To understand consumer perception of Global brands vs. local brands..66 5.5. Review of key Findings and Conclusion72 Chapter Six Conclusion.77 6.1 Conclusions of the study..77 6.2. Limitations of the study and recommendations for future research...82 References Appendix One Interview template Appendix Two - Interview Transcripts
V Consumer Perception of Global vs. Local Brands: The Indian Car Industry
TABLE OF FIGURES
Figure 1: Conceptual model of Perceived brand Globalness................................................................................................ 14 Figure 2: Strong growing automotive sector in both domestic and global markets.................................................................................................... .32
LIST OF TABLES
Table 1: A background of the respondents......................................... 51
VI Consumer Perception of Global vs. Local Brands: The Indian Car Industry
Dedication
I dedicate this work to my dearest grandpa with fond and everlasting memories of him.
VII Consumer Perception of Global vs. Local Brands: The Indian Car Industry
Acknowledgements
I would like to convey my heartiest appreciation to Dr Heidi Winklhofer for intensifying my learning curve. Without her guidance and persistent help, this dissertation would not have been possible.
I also extended my gratitude to my Mom, Dad, and my Brothers for their unconditional love and support throughout my work. Their steadfast support and encouragement accompanied me throughout this journey.
Shyamala Mathan Sankar
VIII Consumer Perception of Global vs. Local Brands: The Indian Car Industry
Chapter One 1.1 Introduction Brands are at the heart of marketing and business strategy (Doyle, 2002)
Advances in communications and information systems technology have shrunk distances, thereby linking markets through flows of information across markets. These trends enhance the management of global operations and drives up the need to deal effectively with global competition. As firms enter international markets, branding plays an important role in its marketing strategy. Many consumers use brands as clues to indicate product performances, instead of engaging themselves in search for information when deciding between competing brands. Consumers use brands as cues to make decisions to purchase or try products (Ger et al., 1993). During the recent years, there has been a great shift from local brands to global brands due to the display of similar needs and preferences by the consumers.
As the world is shrinking in to a global marketplace, it is increasingly significant to understand the consumers perception of global brands to local brands. Studying consumer perceptions towards global vs. local brands have substantial implications in marketing and will also serve as a citation for future research. There would also be several reasons for consumers perceptions and attitudes towards the brand. Thus there is also a need to uncover the reasons for consumers preference for global brands over local brands.
This study aims in understanding consumer perception of global brands vs. local brands in the Indian car industry. The car industry in India is undertaken for the study 1 Consumer Perception of Global vs. Local Brands: The Indian Car Industry
for the simple reason being the strong growth of the automobile sector in India. The car segment is specifically chosen as it is highly competitive with well established and flourishing global and local brands. Moreover, consumers in India are now more informed, sophisticated and demanding. Urban consumers have been especially exposed to western lifestyles through overseas travel (IBEF, 2006). This served the purpose for studying the Indian car industry.
1.2 Objectives of the study The key objective of the study was to understand consumer perception of global brands vs. local brands in the Indian car industry. The research explores and comprehends consumers perceptions of global brand vs. local brands. The secondary objectives of the study are to highlight the factors that effect consumer preference for global brands; to examine the effects of country of origin on consumer perceptions of global brands and local brands; and to study the effects of consumer ethnocentrism towards global brands. The study originally achieves the secondary objectives in order to accomplish the primary objective.
1.3 Synopsis of chapters The outline of the chapters that are included in the study is depicted as follows;
Second chapter of the study reviews the literature which discusses, what is already known of the main themes and issues. It covers past research and studies and articles from relevant journals, books, newspapers, etc. It is a summary of what other people have written and published around the theme of this particular research. The literature review is of course critical. The chapter starts by explaining the basics of the study, 2 Consumer Perception of Global vs. Local Brands: The Indian Car Industry
being brands. Local brands and global brands are brought to light. The reasons for the shift from local to global brands are then discussed. The factors that are believed to effect consumer preference of global brands are also discussed. In order to examine country-of- origin and culture of brand origin effects on consumer perception of global brands and local brands, the literature regarding it is critically discussed. The chapter then reviews effects of consumer ethnocentrism with regard to the evaluation of global brands and local brands by consumers.
Third chapter of the study presents an overview of the chosen industry. The industry overview starts with the purpose of choosing the Indian car industry for the study and an overview of the respective industry is presented. This chapter also discusses the advent of cars in India along with a brief description of the local and global car brands on Indian roads. This would facilitate the reader to comprehend the study in an enhanced way.
Fourth chapter of the study describes and evaluates the methods, techniques and procedures used in the investigation. In this chapter, the methods used are also justified for the reason it has been used. In order to create a deep understanding of consumers insights of global brands against local brands, qualitative approach was adopted with an in-depth and semi-structured interview process.
Fifth chapter of the study discusses and critically analyses the findings of the qualitative data by tentatively examining the interviewees responses and beliefs. The gathered qualitative data are analysed accordingly to accomplish the objectives of the study. This was done by meticulously comparing the most relevant distinct responses 3 Consumer Perception of Global vs. Local Brands: The Indian Car Industry
by the interviewees. These distinct responses were also critically analysed with the support of the past literature and also the researchers own personal view and experience during the interviews. Thus the unique personal quotes of the respondents remained as the rationale for the analysis of the study. This chapter begins with the background information of the respondents who possess a car in India. The chapter is then pursued to analysis and discussion of the findings from the interviews made, wherein the responses are analysed and discussed with regard to the research objectives of the study.
Lastly, the Sixth chapter of the study sketches out the conclusion of the study. The chapter also presents the limitations of the study and provides recommendations for future research.
Chapter Two 2. Literature Review 2.1. Introduction This chapter reviews concepts and theories by researchers that are highly related to the area of study. The chapter provides a critical analysis of the views and insights of various researchers on the subject area. The chapter starts by explaining the basics of the study, being brands. Local brands and global brands are brought to light. The reasons for the shift from local to global brands are then discussed. The factors that are believed to effect consumer preference of global brands are also discussed. In order to examine country-of- origin and culture of brand origin effects on consumer perception of global brands and local brands, the literature regarding it is critically discussed. The chapter then reviews effects of consumer ethnocentrism with regard to the evaluation of global brands and local brands by consumers.
2.2. Brands and Branding Branding is the art and cornerstone of marketing (Kotler, 2003).
A brand is defined as a specific name, symbol or design- or, more usually some combination of these- that is used to distinguish a particular sellers product (Doyle, 2002). Branding exists from the very early times to distinguish the goods of one producer from those of another. The word brand derives from the Old Norse word brandr which means to burn and brands were, and still are, the means by which owners of livestock marked their animals. From branding his livestock, early man moved on to branding his wares- where a potter for example would identify his pots 5 Consumer Perception of Global vs. Local Brands: The Indian Car Industry
by putting a mark like a thumbprint into the wet clay on the bottom of the pot and the potter would expect customers to seek out those products which carried his mark (Interbrand,1990). Today with a considerable change over time, there is an increase in modern and sophisticated branding of both tangibles and intangibles.
Aaker (1997) asserts that brand is a complex symbol and presents six levels of meaning that convey it: Attributes: A brand brings to mind certain attributes; Benefits: Attributes being translated into functional and emotional benefits; Values: The brand also says something about the producers values; Culture: The brand may represent a certain culture; Personality: The brand can project a certain personality; User: The brand suggests the kind of consumer who buys or uses the product.
Brand names have become increasingly valuable assets for many multinational companies. In a cluttered marketplace, brands stand up as the source of differentiation for providers of products and services that can be quickly tracked with easy access to technology and information (Lim and OCass, 2001). Many consumers use brands as clues to indicate product performances, instead of engaging themselves in search for information when deciding between competing brands. Consumers use brands as cues to make decisions to purchase or try products (Ger et al., 1993). Monroe and Krishnan (1985) define cue as all informational stimuli available to the consumer before consumption, and can be intrinsic or extrinsic. Few examples of intrinsic cues are taste and design, while extrinsic cues include COO, brand, and price (Rao and Monroe, 1989). It is said that consumers tend to rely more on extrinsic cues (Jacoby et al., 1977). Moreover, Han and Terpstra (1988) assert that consumers utilize extrinsic cues in evaluating a brand because they often are unable to detect its true intrinsic 6 Consumer Perception of Global vs. Local Brands: The Indian Car Industry
quality. It is also said that country-of-origin is also found to be one of these extrinsic cues to a greater extent as consumers tend to be less familiar with products of foreign origin.
To a large extent, the brands also speak of familiarity and credibility (Fatt, 1997) about the product. In developing economies, consumer choice is significantly increasing. However, in the early stages of economic transformation, there is little information available to the consumer. Thus, consumers in transitioning economies rely on cues from brands by default (Reardon et al, 2005). In less-developed countries, many brands are still desired and trusted for their functional values and in these markets, for many people, it is often enough that a brand has a guaranteed origin and a guaranteed consistency of quality (Interbrand, 1998). Brands are used as a surrogate to inform the consumer about the product, including relative product quality since direct experience with a product is not available (Rao, 1972).
Forty years ago, a British or American housewife might have performed all her domestic cleaning chores with only three or four branded products, but now she may have twenty or thirty specialist products for floors, baths, windows, stubborn stains, tiles, fabrics, toilet bowls, even chandeliers. Brands provide consumers with a means of shopping with confidence, even when faced with bewildering choice (Interbrand, 1990).
Doyle (2002) asserts that brands are bought by consumers for emotional as well as functional reasons. It is also said that people use brands to show off their lifestyles,
interests, values or wealth. Not only customers choose brands that they perceive as meeting their needs, but also for gaining a sense of belonging, esteem, etc..
Brand attitudes are a central construct of marketing and have received wide attention (Gardner and Houston, 1986). Both the short- and long-term health of a business are dependent upon the brand image of a firms products, as brand equity can lead to higher market share, increasing brand loyalty, and being able to charge premium prices (Chaudhuri and Holbrook, 2001). It is increasingly significant to know what local and global brands are and how they differ from each other before reviewing the core concepts regarding the study.
2.3. Local Brands and Global Brands Local brands are defined by Wolfe (1991) as brands that exist in one country or in a limited geographical area. It is also noted by Schuiling et al (2004) that local brands belong to a local, international, or global firm. Local brands provide a link between the national economy and individual well-being. Levitt (1983) defines global brands as brands that use the same marketing strategy and mix in all target markets. Johansson and Ronkainen (2004) assert that global brands benefit from the scale and scope of having presence in multiple markets. The researchers define global brand as a brand that is marketed under the same name in multiple countries with similar and centrally coordinated marketing strategies. However there are some selected global brands that dont have the same name but share some marketing program elements. For example, Mr. Clean also sells under the Mr. Proper and Maestro Limpio names, among others. Although global brands play a dominant role in todays world,
the advantages of the local brands are still stronger and this is reviewed in the following part.
2.4. Pros and Cons of Local brands and global brands An exploratory research on the Y&R (Young & Rubicams) database was conducted by Schuiling et al (2004) across four largest European countries: the United Kingdom, Germany, France, and Italy. The study affirms that local brands benefit from strong brand equity and specifically, local brands benefit from higher consumer awareness than international brands do, and they enjoy a strong brand image. Local brands benefit not only from a good quality image but also from a better value and trust perception than international brands do (Holt et al, 2003). Value is linked with the fact that prices of local brands are usually lower than those of international brands, providing consumers a sense of better value for the money (Schuiling et al, 2004).
According to the research by Schuiling et al, (2004), local brands are also perceived as more down to earth than international brands, meaning that local brands offer a more basic/no frills brand proposition. The study also indicates that local brands are perceived as more traditional than international brands, because local brands are linked more to local traditions and local cultures than international brands are. It was also found that trust is an important advantage for local brands, because it provides a unique relationship with consumers that take years to develop. It also indicated that there is no significant difference between the perception of prestige for international brands and that for local brands. Another significant finding was that consumers are attracted to international brands but in reality, they prefer to purchase local brands (Schuiling et al., 2004). In the words of Johansson and Ronkainen (2004), although 9 Consumer Perception of Global vs. Local Brands: The Indian Car Industry
global brands may have more success in high-profile, high-involvement categories, consumers may still give local brands preference in purchasing every day products.
The advantages cherished by local brands can be dominated by the enormous advantages enjoyed by global brands. Eckhardt (2005) avows that local brands are not more flexible than global brands in terms of their marketing activities when they compete in a foreign product category due to cultural categories being associated with the product category. Just as global brands need to conform to international marketing dictums, local brands sometimes need to conform to deeply held preconceptions about the product category in which they operate.
Johansson and Ronkainen (2004) assessed brand realities on the global - local continuum using data from Young & Rubicams Brand Asset Valuator (BAV). This database is considered to be the most exhaustive of its kind, covering 20,000 brands across 40 countries. Data have been collected since 1993 across a wide range of industry sectors to measure brand perceptions of more than 100,000 consumers. It was noted that local brands exhibit higher familiarity among consumers, but when familiarity levels are similar, global brands enjoy higher levels of esteem. Also that Global brands were known for their perceived quality. The researchers asserted that global branding will arguably face different challenges by product category. Certain categories, such as automobiles and computers, are deemed more global in terms of the similarity in consumer preferences. Apart from discussing the pros and cons of local and global brands, it is necessary to comprehend the shifts that occurred due to increased consumer preference from local brands to global brands.
2.5. Shifts from Local Brands to Global Brands During the recent years, a number of multinational companies are reducing their brand portfolios to manageable sizes in favor of global brands. For example, both Procter and Gamble (P&G) and Unilever have greatly pruned the number of brands they market around the world, often disposing of those with limited global potential (Pitcher, 1999). Massive presence of Global brands is fuelled by the increasing similarity that consumers display in their consumption habits and preferences. It has also been argued that Global brands, are perceived to be more value-added for the consumer, either through better quality (as a function of worldwide acceptance) or by enhancing the consumers self perception as being cosmopolitan, sophisticated and modern (Johansson and Ronkainen, 2004). Consumers throughout the world are becoming increasingly sophisticated and international brands offer a measure of exclusivity or even eccentricity that are increasingly sought after and valued because such appeals are universal (Interbrand, 1990). According to Schuiling et al (2004), this trend has been occurring not only in fast moving consumer goods sector but also in other industrial sector including services. Although global brands are becoming more significant, it is asserted that there are many local brands than international brands in Europe. As examples, in Germanys oil industry, British Petroleum acquired the local leader Aral and decided to retain the local brand name due to its strong brand equity; In Belgium, Spa being the local leader in mineral water, has shares above international leader Evian (Schuiling et al, 2004).
A number of reasons have been presented by various researchers for the moves toward global brands. Out of which, the main reason would be the one given by Hassan and Katsanis (1994), being meaningful segments of consumers around the 11 Consumer Perception of Global vs. Local Brands: The Indian Car Industry
world develop similar needs and tastes. According to Neff (1999), globalization speeds up a brands time to market by reducing time- consuming local modifications. Another important reason given by Shocker et al. (1994) for moves toward global brands would be consumer preference for brands with global image over local competitors, even when quality and value are not objectively superior. Conversely, in the view of Terpstra (1987), consumer preference has not has not been the primary reason for companies to decide to move to international and global brands. As an example, P&G accelerated its development of global brands since the early 1990s and its aim being to achieve competitive advantage in markets (Schuiling et al 2004).
As the world is shrinking in to a global marketplace, it is increasingly significant to understand the consumers perception of global brands to local brands. There is also need to uncover the reasons for consumers preference for global brands over local brands.
Consumers become perceptive to global brands when consumers believe the brand is marketed in multiple countries and is recognized as global in these countries (Steenkamp, 2003). This perception occurs in two forms; consumers realize that the same brand is found in other countries through media exposure, word of mouth, or during travel overseas. Secondly, as studied by Alden et al., (1999) that a brand may assert or imply its globalness through marketing communications that use brand names, endorsers, advertising themes, etc.. Consumers prefer brands that they perceive as originating from a non-local country, especially from Western countries, more than they do local brands and that preference is linked not only to perceived quality but also to social status (Alden et al., 1999). In the words of Peterson and 12 Consumer Perception of Global vs. Local Brands: The Indian Car Industry
Jolibert (1995), consumers in developing countries generally seek to emulate western consumption practices and lifestyles and purchase foreign brands. It is asserted that considerable similarities exist in the needs of consumers around the world (Domzal and Unger, 1987) And this convergence in consumer needs is largely attributed to increased cross border population mobility and electronic mobility facilitated by telecommunications technology (Quelch, 1999). On the other hand, there exists differences between the markets of different countries due to factors such as culture, history, and geography; and also there exists difference between many regions of the world in the way consumers perceive products and brands (Lim and OCass, 2001). This shift from local brands to global brands can be reinforced by the following basic factors that effect consumer preference for global brands.
2.6. Basic factors that effect consumer preference for Global Brands Research shows that perceived brand globalness for global brands could create consumer perceptions of brand superiority (Shocker et al., 1994). International and global brands have been associated with high prestige or status, in addition to quality (Batra et al., 2000). Empirical study conducted by Steenkamp et al (2003) has revealed that prestige is the second factor driving global brand preference. Foreign brands of most consumer durables and non-durable categories were given significantly higher mean attribute ratings on status and esteem except where cold drinks and ice creams were concerned. A study conducted by Kinra (2006) held that COO credibility of foreign brands was a significant factor influencing consumer attitudes and preferences as it was correlated highly with quality and status and esteem.
Steenkamp et al (2003) made a study on consumer preference for global brands to local brands. The researchers framed three pathways through which perceived brand globalness (PBG) influences consumers purchase likelihood were hypothesized. The pathways were higher perceived quality, higher prestige, and the psychological benefits of PBG. The hypotheses were tested in Korea and the United states, across different product categories and brands.
Fig 1. Conceptual model of Perceived brand Globalness (Steenkamp et al., 2003)
The result of the study being PBG positively associated with both brand quality and prestige. The researchers found that both in Korea and the U.S.A., PBG exerted its strongest effect on purchase likelihood through perceptions of superior quality. Although global brands were found to communicate higher prestige and status, quality appears to be more heavily weighted by consumers. According to Han (1990), higher perceived quality, higher prestige, and the psychological benefits of PBG are the
pathways through which PBG can directly affect purchase likelihood and indirectly affect through brand quality and brand prestige.
Bearden and Etzel (1982) state that, if global brands have higher prestige, it would because of their relative scarcity and higher price compared with local brands. Consumers develop prestige meanings for brands based upon interactions with people (e.g., aspired and/or peer reference group), object properties (e.g., best features), and hedonic values (e.g., sensory beauty) (Vigneron and Johnson 1999). Kapferer (1997) suggests that consumers may prefer foreign brands because of associations of higher prestige. Steenkamp et al. (2002) argue that the influence of perceived prestige on purchase intention is stronger when the product category is more conspicuous and its ownership or consumption is more publicly visible. Furthermore Veblen (1899) asserts that conspicuous consumption was used by consumers to signal wealth, power, and status.
Despite exceptions (like Coca-Cola, Nestl, etc...), evidence indicates that global brands are typically more scarce and more expensive than local brands (Batra et al., 2000). Global brands may also connote cosmopolitanism (Thompson and Tambyah, 1999). In the words of Friedman (1990), consumers are said to buy global brands to enhance their self-image as being cosmopolitan, sophisticated, and modern.
The worldwide scale of global brands allows people to associate themselves with globally recognized events (World Soccer Cup, Formula one, etc) and celebrities (Steffi Graf, Michael Schumacher, David Beckham, etc for example). Through a
process of meaning transfer, the prestige attached to these events and celebrities may be transferred to the sponsoring global brand (McCracken, 1986).
Brand name is a key indicator to quality (Rao and Monroe, 1989), and a global image can arguably enhance the brands perceived quality (Steenkamp et al, 2003). According to Kapferer (1997), if a brand is viewable as globally available, consumers may attribute higher quality to the brand because such quality is likely to be thought of as critical to global acceptance. According to Kirmani and Baumgartner (2000), perceived quality is defined as a consumers evaluation of a brands overall excellence based on intrinsic (e.g., performance, durability) and extrinsic cues (e.g., brand name, warranty).
Global brands often advertise their worldwide availability and acceptance (Alden et al., 1999). There has been an enhanced appeal of global brands among certain segments, such as teenagers and business people (Walker, 1996).
One of the other reasons for a global brand preference may be the globalness per se of such brands, independent of any effects through prestige and quality. Perceived Brand Globalness (PBG) by itself may also be an added value for consumers (Steenkamp et al, 2003). Dawar and Parker (1994) asserted that global brands often appeal to human universals and are purchased to signal membership in worldwide consumer segments. This signifies that global brands are often seen by consumers as brands that convey worldwide citizenship, when consumed. A number of authors (Appadurai, 1990; Hannerz, 1990) note that media flows, increased travel, and other factors are creating widely understood symbols and meanings reflected in global brands that, in turn, 16 Consumer Perception of Global vs. Local Brands: The Indian Car Industry
communicate membership in the global consumer community with all its positive connotations (McCracken, 1986). Although this was being said some twenty years back, this condition has grown eventually stronger.
Although there are numerous factors for consumer preference for global brands, consumer ethnocentrism (CET) is considered to have moderating influence in consumer perception of global brands.
2.7. Consumer Ethnocentrism and evaluation of global brands and local brands by consumers Although some consumers prefer global brands to local brands, Shimp and Sharma (1987) have said that the phenomenon of consumer ethnocentrism (CET), wherein a well- established bias exists among consumers in favor of home- grown products. Zambuni (1993) believes that there is evidence that many consumers prefer brands with strong local connections.
Consumer Ethnocentrism (CET) is defined as the beliefs held by consumers about the appropriateness, indeed morality, of purchasing foreign made products (Shimp and Sharma, 1987). As defined by Kinra (2006), Consumer ethnocentrism is a psychological construct representing how consumers view products made in their own country markets as objects of pride and identity versus those from other country markets. Ethnocentricity has substantial implications for consumer attitude formation towards foreign products/brands, their purchase intentions and choice between domestic versus foreign-made products (Reardon et al, 2005).
According to Steenkamp et al (2003) ethnocentric consumers take pride in their countrys brands, symbols, and culture. They are less open to foreign cultures, and are less cosmopolitan. Purchasing foreign made products may be seen as immoral and unpatriotic because it has an adverse impact on the domestic economy; hence, consumers tend to purchase local products even if the quality is lower than that of imports (Wall and Heslop, 1986).
CET is closely linked to economic nationalism (Baughn and Yapark, 1996). According to Shimp and Sharma (1987), consumer characteristics such as nationalism and domestic country preference have been known to have a moderating influence on foreign brands. Kinra (2006), asserts that this moderating influence on foreign brands is consistent with the fact that consumer ethnocentrism is contingent not only on the domestic country culture that espouses it, but also the quality of domestic products coming from it. According to Baughn and Yapark (1996), ethnocentric consumers may even be willing to sacrifice objective gain (higher quality, prestige, etc.) to enjoy the psychological benefit of avoiding contact with the out-group (i.e., the global culture) by purchasing local brands.
According to Vida and Fairhurst (1999), Consumer ethnocentric attitudes can be rated on a continuum from highly ethnocentric to non-ethnocentric, whereby a consumer at the high end of the spectrum believes that purchasing foreign-made products is morally wrong. In contrast, highly non ethnocentric consumers may judge foreign products based on their attributes and/or view them as better because they are not produced in their own country. Consumers who are low on CET are more cosmopolitan in outlook and have a higher degree of cultural openness. Supphellen 18 Consumer Perception of Global vs. Local Brands: The Indian Car Industry
and Gronhaug (2003) state that, in transitional economies, low ethnocentric consumers may have positive stereotypes of foreign brands, whereas high ethnocentric viewers tend to reject brands merely because they are foreign. Batra et al., (2000) asserts that ethnocentrism is unlikely to affect brand attitudes in the least developed transitional economies due to the fact that foreign brands are perceived to be measurably better than most locally produced brands.
Wang and Lamb (1980) found that consumers in developed countries tend to prefer their own locally-produced goods first, followed by products from other developed countries, and then products from less developed countries. In a detailed telephone survey of 1,000 consumers across the region of United States, conducted just prior to the war, the aim was to compare American brands to local brands and looking across a whole host of categories. It was found that, the most established American brands in the survey were in fact regarded as more global than American. They were more likely to be better assimilated into the culture of the country and to be seen to have that country's interests at heart than even some local brands. And they were more likely to enjoy increased purchase intent in the future (Richard, 2003).
On the other hand, Baker and Michie (1995) examined British car drivers' perceptions of, and attitudes towards, four makes of foreign cars: Honda, Hyundai, Proton, and Toyota. A British car (Rover) was also added to the study in order to establish the possible effects of ethnocentrism on intention to buy. A detailed description for each model was provided in the exhibit; however, no reference was made to price or country of origin. The study revealed that respondents preferred the most expensive cars (Toyota and Rover) but some of them changed their decision when informed that 19 Consumer Perception of Global vs. Local Brands: The Indian Car Industry
the prices of these two makes were 50 per cent higher than an available alternative. The results also indicated that product country images and ethnocentrism had a significant impact (both positive and negative) on the consumers' intention to buy. Furthermore it was revealed ethnocentrism can be a strong source of competitive advantage, especially when domestic products are equal to imported products on a price-performance basis.
Previous studies on Eastern European countries namely, Russian (Johansson et al., 1994), and Hungarian consumers (Papadoupoulos et al, 1993), has been found to show that consumers prefer Western products because of superior quality, despite consumer ethnocentric tendencies (Kinra, 2006). In a cross-cultural study by Vida and Fairhurst (1999), in Central Europe, the study revealed significant differences in consumer ethnocentrism across the four countries investigated. In studying antecedents of consumer ethnocentrism, the researchers established a positive relationship between consumer familiarity with and knowledge of international brands and their ethnocentric attitudes across the four countries.
In order to study consumer perception, it is significant to review concepts of consumer brand knowledge.
2.8. Consumer Brand Knowledge There has been a plenty of research about consumer brand knowledge and its impacts on consumer behavior. According to Keller (1993), consumer brand knowledge determines how a consumer thinks about a brand. It also determines how the consumer responds to different stimuli regarding a brand (Lim and OCass, 2001). 20 Consumer Perception of Global vs. Local Brands: The Indian Car Industry
Rossiter and Percy (1987) assert that brand awareness is a major component of brand knowledge that is reflected by a consumers ability to identify a brand under different conditions and is related to the strength of the brand node or trace in memory.
Consumers tend to generalize their attitudes and opinions across products from a given country, based on their familiarity and background with the country, and their own personal experiences of product attributes such as technological superiority, product quality, design, value for money, status and esteem, and credibility of country-of-origin of a brand (Kinra, 2006). Country of Origin (COO) effects plays a vital role in studying consumer perception of global brands vs. local brands.
2.9. Effects of Country-of-Origin (COO), Culture-of-Brand Origin (COBO) and consumer perception of global brands vs. local brands According to Al-Sulaiti and Baker (1998), among the many factors that are believed to influence consumer perceptions of products in an age of international competition, country-of-origin (COO) effects, remains the most researched. Kinra (2006) asserts that COO is considered an important differentiating factor in consumer attitudes to foreign and local brand names. COO has been defined as the country where the corporate headquarters of the company marketing the product or brand is situated (Johansson, J.K. et al, 1985). Lee and Schaninger (1996) define COO as the countryof-manufacture or assembly. Research works have documented the importance of country-of-origin (COO) image in consumer evaluation of foreign products and brands and also favorable country perceptions are known to lead to favorable perceptions of associated attributes such as product quality indicating thereby, that consumer evaluations are governed by influences other than the quality of the product 21 Consumer Perception of Global vs. Local Brands: The Indian Car Industry
(Peterson and Jolibert, 1995). According to Samiee (1994), one key drawback of COO studies is the priori assumption that customers were typically knowledgeable or sought to acquire CO/M (country origin/manufacturing) information, and that CO is a salient attribute in their decisions and that this assumption clearly biased the effect size because all consumers are not the same with regard to the influence of COO. The literature has clearly paid insufficient attention to this customer difference in their awareness and perceived salience of COO.
Ghauri and Cateora (2006) defines COO effect as any influence that the country of manufacture has on consumers positive or negative perception of a product. The researchers also assert that when the consumer is aware of the country of origin, there is the possibility that the place of manufacture will affect product/ brand image. Iyer and Kalita (1997) revealed from a study that COO has been found to reflect consumers general perceptions about the quality of products made in a foreign country, along with the nature of people from that country. In a study by Eroglu and Machleit (1989) in the case with consumer durables, a products technical complexity affects the importance given to consumer evaluations and that, the more complex the product, the more relevant the COO cue.
Many brands use cues that are either implied in the brand name or in promotional appeals in order to elicit perceived country of origin associations (Agarwal and Kamakura, 1999). According to Thakor and Lavack (2003), these perceived origin associations are a powerful source of brand appeal, as marketers have revealed through focusing advertising on origin associations in many product categories. As examples asserted by the researchers, Porsche ads often show a German test track, to 22 Consumer Perception of Global vs. Local Brands: The Indian Car Industry
reinforce its German origin; Christian Dior uses the French word, Parfum, in its advertising to reinforce its French origin association. Brand has been considered as a purely extrinsic variable in country-of-origin effects and consumer perceptions of origin have been manipulated almost solely through the made in label information (Mohamad et al., 2000). Papadopoulos (1993) asserts that there are a variety of ways in which origin information can be communicated, specifically through brand name.
According to Kinra (2006), foreign brand names are frequently associated with the country-of-origin (COO) of the brand. Papadoupoulos et al. (1993) asserts that consumer perceptions of a products COO are based on three components associated with the standard attitude model, namely their cognitions which include knowledge about specific products and brands, consumer affect or favorable/unfavorable attitude towards the COO, and their conative behavior which is related to actual purchase of a foreign brand. Leclerc et al. (1994) uses the term foreign branding to describe the approach of spelling or pronouncing a brand name in a foreign language, using brands such as Egoiste fragrance, Frusen Gladje ice cream, as examples. Conversely, in the words of Kinra (2006), there are product categories not distinctively associated with any COO image as in the case of the car industry, where it has been less easy to market global brands such as Mercedes, Audi, Toyota, Jaguar for which brand images have developed quite apart from their COO, and which do not use their national COO association in their promotion and marketing strategies. A study by Leclerc et al. (1994) revealed that perceptions of brand nationality were manipulated through French/ English pronunciation. It was also found that for hedonic products, the brand name was preferred when the French pronunciation was used. Furthermore, the French pronunciation resulted in more 23 Consumer Perception of Global vs. Local Brands: The Indian Car Industry
favorable brand attitudes. In another study made by Harris et al. (1994), it was revealed that English brand names were preferred to French and German brand names. Thakor and Lavack (2003) states that the studies conducted by Leclerc et al. (1994) and Harris et al. (1994) suggest that brand origin associations play a potentially powerful role in the formation of brand attitudes. Erickson, et al. (1984) analysed the country of origin effects on the evaluation of automobile brands. Data were collected from 96 MBA students at the University of Washington. Subjects were asked about their beliefs and attitudes towards ten automobile models (e.g. four US, two German and four Japanese models). The study revealed that country of origin affects beliefs but not attitudes. It also indicated that the effect of image variables on attitude was not direct; any influence they have appeared to be a secondary one acting through beliefs.
According to Kinra (2006), previous studies on foreign brands reveal that foreign brands serve as symbolic acquisitions communicative of social distinctions in negotiating status and prestige and this incidence exists in country markets where economic transition and income disparities are high and, social mobility magnifies the tendency to claim differential status through the brands one consumes. Consumers perceive foreign brand that it might have superior quality because of its developed nation origin is certainly likely (Batra et al., 2000; Leclerc and Schmitt, 1994). Conversely, Gaedeke (1973) found that CO information did not significantly affect opinions regarding the quality of branded products.
According to Thakor and Lavack (2003), though COO studies rely heavily on the made in information, such information is not expected to be the only factor in 24 Consumer Perception of Global vs. Local Brands: The Indian Car Industry
determining brand origin perceptions. The researcher asserts that there are multiple antecedents of brand origin (such as location of ownership, location of manufacture, location of assembly, etc) and from which consumers draw brand origin cues. And these cues help consumers to formulate perceived brand origins, which they use to devise more general perceptions, attitudes, expectations and intentions about the brand.
Conversely, it is said that the view of COO effects is increasingly becoming misleading or confusing in the modern marketplace as products are typically designed in one country, manufactured in another, and assembled in another and this has resulted in a hybrid of products (Chao, 1993). In the words of Lim and OCass (2001), Country-of-origin research has revealed two crucial facts about how the origin of a product influences consumer behaviour people tend to prefer products from their home country and have a more negative perception of brands from emerging economies. In a study by Nes and Bilkey (1993), it was found that products from developing and less developed countries were rated lower on quality and higher in risk regardless of brand name.
Level of education is considered to be significant demographic variable (Al-Sulaiti and Baker, 1998) influencing country of origin effect (Paswan and Sharma, 2004). As education levels increase, consumers are likely to become more knowledgeable of other countries and cultures, and more tolerant of things that are different. It has also been posited to result in more favorable opinion towards foreign products (Good and Huddleston, 1995; Sharma et al., 1995) and a reduction in consumer ethnocentrism (Bailey and Pineres, 1997). Paswan and Sharma (2004) suggest that as a consumers 25 Consumer Perception of Global vs. Local Brands: The Indian Car Industry
education level increases their awareness of brand and hence brands COO should also increase.
Lim and OCass (2001) assert that The COO effects have been shifted from the product level to the brand level in consumers product evaluations. It is also said that specific country-of-origin information is becoming less relevant for the fact that it is becoming increasingly difficult for consumers to extract the multiplicity of country information. The researchers also state that in place of country-of-origin is the culture-of-brand-origin (COBO), which is more readily available to the consumer as a result of exposure to the marketing activities of the brand. It is also stated that COBO is argued here to provide the next wave of understanding in how consumers perceive and evaluate brands. Thakor and Kohli (1996) define brand origin as the place, region or country to which a brand is perceived to belong by its target consumers. They also advise that the origin of manufacture (country-of-origin) is no longer significant to buying behaviour in the age of corporate globalisation, and that the perceived origin of the brand is more suggestive as a demographic variable. For example, many perfume labels bear the names of major cities: 'Paris Milan New York Rome London' ... No one assumes that the perfume is actually made in any of the cities, but their names carry the suggestion of quality and tradition. A bottle labelled 'Prague Helsinki Melbourne Moscow' would not carry the same sense of gravitas or mystique, regardless of whether it might be of a better quality (Lindstrom, 2005). As asserted by Lim and OCass (2001), consumers judge products by referring to the brand and it is the national or cultural associations of that brand that matter rather than the precise details of product manufacture and no consumer doubts that a Coca Cola is an American brand but the bottling of the product takes place locally. Thus it is 26 Consumer Perception of Global vs. Local Brands: The Indian Car Industry
asserted that the cultural associations of the brand that matters. Culture-of-brandorigin could be the reason why consumers still attach certain cultural characteristics to a brand when specific information about the foreign country is not available. For example, consumers evaluated Volkswagon Fox favourably in a study because of its image as a brand of exceptional engineering based on its German origins and only 8 percent of the respondents knew it was manufactured in Brazil (Ratliff, 1989). As examples given by Thakor and Lavack (2003), Guinness does not become less Irish for the average UK consumer by being made in London and those same consumers still see Toyota as a Japanese car despite it being manufactured at Derby; BMW is by itself a German brand regardless of whether the cars are made in Munich or Manchester.
In a study made by Lim and OCass (2001), the researchers examined consumers perception of brands as influenced by their origins and the differences in classification ability between consumers knowledge levels. The results of the study indicate that consumers can more easily identify the cultural origin of brands over the country-oforigin. In the view of the researchers, the issue of consumer brand knowledge is important in order to understand how consumers perceive information about origins of a brand and ultimately perceive and evaluate brands and also that consumers are believed to be able to classify culture-of-brand-origin better than country-of-brandorigin.
There are few studies that have shown that consumers may prefer brands with local connections, and few researchers have argued that there is no intrinsic preference for global brands (De Mooij, 1998). Higher levels of domestic country bias have been 27 Consumer Perception of Global vs. Local Brands: The Indian Car Industry
found in research on Western consumers where domestic products were found to enjoy a generally more favourable evaluation than foreign made products (Bannister and Saunders, 1978; Cattin et al., 1982). Han (1989) had asserted that consumers tend to evaluate local products more highly than foreign products. Balabanis and Diamantopoulos (2004) studied eight product categories with regard to consumer preferences for domestic versus foreign brands and found that ethnocentrism was also dependent to a large extent, on the nature of the product category.
2.10. Conclusion The literature review has discussed concepts and theories regarding the basics of global brands and local brands, the shifts from local brands to global brands and also the factors leading to the shift. Country-of-Origin effects are reviewed in order to examine its influence on consumer perception of global brands to local brands. It is highly significant to highlight that studies on foreign brands by researchers (such as Kinra, 2006) foreign brands serve as symbolic acquisitions communicative of social distinctions in negotiating status and prestige and this incidence exists in country markets where economic transition and income disparities are high and, social mobility magnifies the tendency to claim differential status through the brands one consumes. Consumers perceive foreign brand that it might have superior quality because of its developed nation origin is certainly likely (Batra et al., 2000; Leclerc and Schmitt, 1994). The literature review also appraises the effects of consumer ethnocentrism in the purchase of global brands and local brands.
To proceed this study further, the next chapter talks about the car industry in India. The reason for explaining the car industry in India is because this specific sector in 28 Consumer Perception of Global vs. Local Brands: The Indian Car Industry
India is tremendously growing with both global players and local players in the market. Further more, another reason for choosing the car industry is because people (consumers) in the country like cars and they are more concerned about carefully deciding and buying a car. They are considered to be among the high involvement products. Thus, this would enforce the study as it is to study the consumer perception on global brands vs. local brands.
Chapter Three 3. Industry Overview 3.1. Introduction The car industry in India is chosen for studying consumer perception of global brands vs. local brands for the simple reason being the strong growth of the automobile sector in India. The car segment is specifically chosen as it is highly competitive with well established and flourishing global and local brands.
3.2. Indian automobile industry an Overview India is emerging as one of the most attractive automotive markets in the world, and is poised to become a key sourcing base for auto components. The Indian automotive sector has a presence across all vehicle segments and key components. In terms of volume, two wheelers dominate the sector, with nearly 80 per cent share, followed by passenger vehicles with 13 per cent. Passenger vehicles consist of passenger cars and utility vehicles. The industry had few players and was protected from global competition till the 1990s. After government lifted licensing in 1993, 17 new ventures have come up. At present, there are 12 manufacturers of passenger cars, 5 manufacturers of multi utility vehicles (MUVs), 9 manufacturers of commercial vehicles, 12 of two wheelers and 4 of three wheelers, besides 5 manufacturers of engines. With the arrival of global players, the sector has become highly competitive (Automotive, 2006).
The growth curve of Indian automobile industry has been on an upswing for the past few years. It is the 4th largest passenger vehicle market in Asia and has become the 30 Consumer Perception of Global vs. Local Brands: The Indian Car Industry
fastest growing car market in the world in 2004, with a growth rate of 20 per cent. Continuing the upswing, the sector posted an impressive 8.9 per cent growth in 200506, says the Economic Survey 2005-06. The latest announcement by the Government to cut excise duty on small cars will soon see India emerging as the world's largest manufacturing hub for small or compact cars (IBEF, 2006).
Indian automobile companies are moving aggressively into foreign markets. As a good example, Tata Motors Ltd., which is one of the largest private sector commenced its distribution of Fiat cars across India as part of the new Tata-Fiat dealer network, is also looking at tapping overseas markets through the partnership. The company is gearing up to re-launch its best selling passenger car, Indica, in the United Kingdom under its own brand. Indica had made its debut on the British roads about two years ago as City Rover under Tata Motors' tie-up with the Birminghambased MG Rover (IBEF, 2006). With few such movements happening tremendously, it wouldnt be too long for India to have its brands on the international roads.
Apart from the automobile brands moving aggressively into the foreign markets, there are huge foreign brands rolling on the roads of India. The year 2006 will see the entry of many high-end brands into the country. The Indian automobile market will see at least 30 new launches, spanning everything from affordable hatchbacks to mid-size models to super luxury high-end cars and Sports Utility Vehicles (SUVs) (IBEF, 2006).
Fig 2. Strong growing automotive sector in both domestic and global markets (IBEF, 2006)
Thus the Indian automobile industry has been performing well both in the domestic and the international markets.
According to IBEF (India Brand Equity Foundation), India has several competitive advantages in the automobile sector and they can be explained as following; India has a growing workforce that is English-speaking, highly skilled and trained in designing and machining skills required by the automotive and engineering industries. Many Indian and global players are leveraging this advantage by increasingly outsourcing activities like design and R&D to their Indian arms.
India offers a huge growth opportunity for the automobile sector the domestic market is large and has the potential to grow further in the future due to positive demographic trends and the current low penetration levels. India has nearly 23 per cent of the global population and is one of the most attractive consumer markets in the world today. Income levels across population segments have been growing in India. According to National Council of Applied Economic Research (NCAER) data, the consuming class, with an annual income of US$ 980 or above, is growing and is expected to constitute over 80 per cent of the population by 2009-10 (IBEF, 2006).
In addition, a large proportion of the Indian population is relatively young - in the age group of 20-59 years. This is expected to further boost the automotive domestic market as a younger population has a higher consumption index. The rise in income levels of the Indians and the emergence of the consuming class that has higher propensity to spend offers great opportunities for growth to companies across various sectors. Furthermore, Consumers in India are now more informed, sophisticated and demanding. Urban consumers have been especially exposed to western lifestyles through overseas travel. For example, more than 5 million Indians traveled overseas last year and this number is expected to increase by 15 per cent to 20 per cent per annum. An increase in the number of working women and the prevalence of nuclear double-income families, especially in urban areas, are other trends shaping lifestyles (IBEF, 2006).
According to IBEF, large infrastructure development projects underway in India combined with favorable government policies will also drive automotive growth in
the next few years. Easy availability of finance and moderate cost of financing facilitated by double income families will also increase consumption.
3.3. Advent of cars in India The advent of cars in India dates back to 1898 when the first motorcar rode down Indias roads. From then till the First World War, about 4,000 cars were directly imported to India from foreign manufacturers. During 1948, the first car was manufactured in India. In 1993, with the winds of liberalization sweeping the Indian car market, many multinationals like Daewoo, Peugeot, general Motors, MercedesBenz and Fiat came into the Indian car market. Since the 80s, the Indian car Industry has seen a major resurgence with the opening up of Indian shores to foreign manufacturers and collaborators. The 90s became the melting point for the car industry in India. The consumer being the king, was constantly wooed by both the Indian and foreign manufacturers. Though sales had taken a dip in the first few months of 1999, it is back to boom time (http://auto.indiamart.com/cars/birthcar.html). High- end models are being launched rapidly and are flourishing. As already said, Indian automobile industry is highly competitive with a large number of players in each industry segment. Most of the global majors are present in the passenger vehicle and two wheeler segments. The key players in passenger vehicles segment in India are Tata Motors, Maruti Udyog, Honda Motors, Hyundai Motors, Toyota, Skoda, Daimler Chrysler, and Hindustan Motors. Mercedes, BMW, Porsche, Audi, Bentley and Rolls Royce are already here (IBEF, 2006).
Brief descriptions of both local and global car brands in India are presented below to enhance the comprehension of the study. Local car brands in India are initially described before pursuing to global car brands.
3.4. Local Car Brands in India The local car brands found in India are; Maruti Udyog Limited is the premier car company in India. Maruti Udyog Limited (MUL) was established in Feb 1981. The company entered into collaboration with Suzuki Motor Corporation of Japan to manufacture cars. Maruti is the highest volume car manufacturer in Asia, outside Japan and Korea. Despite there being 11 companies now in the passenger car market in India, Maruti holds about 60% of the total market share. Maruti Udyog Limited has many unique Service advantages for the customers. It has bagged the First Position in JD Power Customer Satisfaction Index for the consecutive two years. The company has also ranked highest in the India Sales Satisfaction Study. The models of Maruti Udyog Limited cars are Maruti 800, Maruti Alto, Maruti Zen, Maruti Zen Classic, Maruti Esteem, Maruti Gypsy, Omni, Wagon R, Versa, Baleno, Swift and Grand Vitara (www.auto.indiamart.com).
Hindustan Motors Limited (HML) is India's renowned automobile manufacturing company. In 1942 this company was introduced in India by Mr. B.M. Birla of Birla family (India's largest business groups). Since then, it has become a vast company, manufacturing cars like Ambassador, Contessa, and in collaboration with Mitsubishi of Japan now manufactures the new Mitsubishi Lancer (www.auto.indiamart.com).
Tata Motors Limited is India's largest automobile company, with large revenues. Its name comes first in the category of commercial vehicles and the second largest in the passenger vehicles, mid size car and utility vehicle segments. The company is the world's fifth largest medium and heavy commercial vehicle manufacturer. Over 3.5 million Tata vehicles are moving on Indian roads, since 1954. The models of the company are Tata Indigo, Tata Indica, Tata Sumo, Tata Safari and Tata Indigo Marina (www.auto.indiamart.com).
3.5. Global Car Brands in India Apart from local car brands, the global car brands present in India are; Hyundai Motor India Limited (HMIL) was established in 1996 and is a wholly owned subsidiary of South Korean multi national, Hyundai Motor Company. HMIL is the fastest growing and the second largest car manufacturer in India and presently selling 30 variants of passenger cars in six segments. The Company has set up more than 70 dealer workshops that are equipped with the latest technology, machinery, and international quality press, body and paint shops, across the country, thereby providing a one-stop shop for a Hyundai customer. Hyundai also has a fleet of 78 emergency road service cars that can provide emergency service to all its customers anytime, anywhere. The models of Hyundai are Santro, Getz, Accent, Elantra, Sonata, Tucson, Terracan. The awaited models of Hyundai Motors are Verna, Getz next generation and Santa Fe (www.auto.indiamart.com).
Honda Siel Cars India Ltd., (HSCI) was set up in December 1995 as a joint venture between Honda Motor Co. Ltd., Japan and Siel Limited to manufacture passenger cars in India. The company has brought about three models in India - Honda City, Honda 36 Consumer Perception of Global vs. Local Brands: The Indian Car Industry
Accord, and Honda CR-V. Its first model was launched in 1997. Very recently Honda Siel Cars has launched one more market friendly model, Honda Civic on 9th July 2006 in India (www.auto.indiamart.com).
Toyota Motor Corporation is the premium vehicle manufacturer in the world. Based in Japan, the company manufactured its first vehicle in 1936. Toyota exported its first Japanese-made passenger car to the United States in 1957. Today Toyota has global presence and Toyota branded vehicles rank among the world's highest quality cars. In India Toyota Motor Corporation has entered into a joint venture with Kirloskar Group and the new entity is called Toyota Kirloskar Motor Private Limited (TKM). The company aims to play a major role in the development of Indian automotive industry (www.iloveindia.com).
Daewoo Motors is a South Korean company. General Motors took decision to take up Daewoo Motors to form GM Daewoo. This brand entered the Indian market during the year 2002 with its models such as Daewoo Matiz, Daewoo Cielo, and Daewoo Nexia (www.auto.indiamart.com).
Ford Motor Company is the world's second largest automaker. The company's world headquarters is in Dearborn, Michigan. Its automotive brands include Aston Martin, Ford, Jaguar, Land Rover, Lincoln, Mazda, Mercury and Volvo. The brands on Indian roads include Ford Icon, Ford Mondeo, Ford Fiesta, Ford Fusion, Ford Escort and Ford Endeavor. The company is also waiting for Ford Focus to be launched in India shortly (www.auto.indiamart.com).
Fiat, a make from Italy stepped in India during the year 1905 and later on joined hands with Premium Automobiles which was a private company in India (www.auto.indiamart.com).
General Motors Corporation was founded in 1908 and is the world's largest vehicle manufacturer (www.iloveindia.com). General Motors enlisted its name for making outstanding future performance in the field of automobile industry in India from the year 1994. The models of General motors in India are Chevrolet Aveo, Chevrolet Optra and Chevrolet Tavera, Opel Astra and Opel Corsa (www.auto.indiamart.com).
German based company Audi has spreaded its wings of success in the field of automobile industry for its technical expertise and creativity. Audi has already started leaving its footprint in India from July 2004. Audi has launched its bigger models A6 and A8 in the Indian market (www.auto.indiamart.com).
BMW (Bayerische Motoren Werke) was founded on March 7, 1916 and is now one of the major automobile manufacturers in the international market. Its major brands include BMW, MINI and Rolls-Royce Motor Cars. Although its cars are on Indian roads, it has been announced that 2007 will be the year when BMW will start manufacturing and selling cars in India (www.auto.indiamart.com).
Czech Republic based Skoda Auto Company is one of the popular brand name in the field of automobile industry. It is a part of the international Volkswagen Group. Skoda Auto introduced itself in Indian market in November 2001. The models of
Skoda cars on Indian roads are Skoda Octavia, Skoda Superb and Skoda Laura. The awaited models are Skoda Fabia and Roomster (www.auto.indiamart.com).
Daimler Chrysler entered the Indian market and set up Mercedes-Benz India Ltd. during 1994 with the aim to serve the customers in India with the latest products and technological excellence from the Mercedes-Benz (www.auto.indiamart.com).
Rolls-Royce Motor Cars was introduced by Frederick Henry Royce and Charles Stewart Rolls on May 4, 1904. Rolls-Royce model, Phantom is already in the roads of India (www.auto.indiamart.com).
Porsche was established by Ferdinand Porsche. In 1931, Ferdinand Porsche founded the Porsche Engineering Office in Stuttgart. Porsche started leaving its footprint in the market of luxury and utility vehicle in India from 2003 (www.auto.indiamart.com).
Thus, these descriptions of the global and local car brands would enhance the reading in a better manner. This also depicts Indias richness in automobiles and particularly in cars. The study is prolonged by presenting the research methodology that has been adopted for the study, in the next chapter.
Chapter Four 4. Research Methodology 4.1. Introduction This chapter talks about the methods and techniques of data collection and selects the most appropriate method for the study based on the strengths and weaknesses of each method.
The data collection methods used in this research involves the search for both primary and secondary data. According to Malhotra (2005), Primary data are originated by the researcher for the specific purpose of addressing the problem at hand. Also that obtaining primary data can be expensive and time consuming. Primary data, being the most significant is gathered through depth interviews, focus groups, observations and surveys. This particular study has used depth interviews as a means for obtaining primary data.
Secondary data are data that are collected for some purpose other than the problem at hand (Malhotra, 2005). Secondary data are usually collected from journals, existing reports, and statistics by public and private authorities. The secondary data for this particular study were collected through marketing journals and other existing reports that were based on the topic. Secondary data helped the researcher to create better comprehension of consumer perceptions. As a general rule stated by Malhotra (2005), Examination of available secondary data is a prerequisite to the collection of primary data. Start with secondary data. Proceed to primary data only when the secondary data
sources have been exhausted or yield managerial returns. Thus the study conducted and analysed primary data with the rationale of the secondary data. Since the aim of the study was to understand consumers view of global brands vs. local brands, qualitative research was preferred to quantitative research. In order to create a deep understanding of consumers insights of global brand against local brands, qualitative approach was adopted with an in-depth and semi- structured interview process. Interviews as a qualitative tool helped the researcher to uncover individuals covert feelings and emotions towards perception of global brands vs. local brands. As it was rightly said by Bate (1997) that qualitative research is about digging into the everyday life of people. It is also that qualitative research produces a quality in a research that no other method gives, and provides a unique way of illustrating and explaining theoretical issues in everyday, experimental terms.
4.2. Research purpose The purpose of this study is to understand consumers perception of global brands vs. local brands in the Indian car industry. The secondary objectives of the study are to highlight the factors that effect consumer preference for global brands; to examine the effects of country of origin on consumer perceptions of global brands and local brands; and to study the effects of consumer ethnocentrism towards global brands. The study originally achieves the secondary objectives in order to accomplish the primary objective.
The research explores consumers perceptions of global brand vs. local brands in the Indian car industry. The study is conducted among the adult consumers in the age group of 30-60 years old. 41 Consumer Perception of Global vs. Local Brands: The Indian Car Industry
The study undertakes exploratory research in order create a better understanding of the consumers. According to Malhotra (2005), the objective of exploratory research is to explore or search through a problem or situation to provide insights and understanding. The research process of an exploratory research is flexible and unstructured and the sample size is small and non-representative. The analysis of the exploratory research is qualitative and the results are tentative in nature (Malhotra, 2005).
4.3. Qualitative Research Qualitative research methodologies are oriented towards developing understanding of the meaning and experience dimensions of human lives and their social worlds (Fossey et al, 2002).
Qualitative research is chosen as the tool for research in order to explore the chosen topic of the study. In the words of Denzin and Lincoln (1994) Qualitative research is multi-method in focus, involving an interpretive, naturalistic approach to its subject matter. This conveys that qualitative researchers study things in their natural settings, attempting to make sense of or interpret phenomena in terms of the meanings that people bring to them. Qualitative research involves the studied use and collection of a variety of empirical materials; case study, personal experience, introspective, life story interview, observational, historical, interactional, and visual texts that describe routine and problematic moments and meaning in individuals' lives. A qualitative study is defined as an inquiry process of understanding a social or human problem, based on building a complex, holistic picture, formed with words, reporting detailed views of informants, and conducted in a natural setting (Cresswell, 1994). 42 Consumer Perception of Global vs. Local Brands: The Indian Car Industry
Denzin and Lincoln (1994) assert that qualitative research tool is the art of asking questions and listening. Qualitative research is unstructured, exploratory in nature, based on small samples, and may utilize popular qualitative techniques such as focus groups (group interviews), word association (asking respondents to indicate their first responses to stimulus words), and in-depth interviews (one-on-one interviews that probe the respondents thoughts in detail) (Malhotra, 2005). Qualitative research interviews vary in methodological features such as length, style of questioning, and participant numbers (group or individual), while most of them are carried out face-toface, and can also be carried out by telephone, or via the internet (Cassell and Symon, 2004). This study uses the mode of telephonic interviews as a qualitative research tool.
4.4. Why Qualitative Research? The reason for choosing qualitative research tool instead of quantitative research tool can be justified in the words of Van Mannen (1991) as he asserted that Unlike quantitative data, raw qualitative data cannot be analysed statistically and hence qualitative research is always concerned with questions that begin with, why? How? In what way? Etc... Qualitative research is preferred because it is very difficult to explain human behaviour in simply measurable terms like quantitative research method. Measurements essentially tell us how many people behave in a certain way but they do not adequately answer the question why? (Denzin and Lincoln, 1994).
Since the study focuses around consumers beliefs, opinions, and views, qualitative approach is adopted. This can be inferred from the words of Silverman (1999) that qualitative approach is favoured as it helps the researcher to gain insight into peoples 43 Consumer Perception of Global vs. Local Brands: The Indian Car Industry
motivation, emotions and behaviours. Holliday (2002) asserts that qualitative research is interpretative. Qualitative research carries deep insights into behaviour of people within specific social setting rather than a broad population. According to baker (1991), qualitative research is appropriate particularly to elicit attitudinal and motivational factors which influence behaviour and to understand why people behave the way they do. Kaplan (1964) suggested that there is only one thing that distinguishes human from natural world; it is our ability to talk, interact. This interactive nature of qualitative research makes it possible to measure the reactions of a great many people to a limited set of questions thus facilitating comparison and statistical aggregation of data.
The qualitative research adopted in this study is flexible in nature. As said by Patton (2000), In-depth interviews are flexible as it does not follow the rigid method to carry out the interview. Semi-structured interviews are more suitable when the research area is sensitive and requires the respondents to talk more personally of their experiences.
4.5. Interviews In-depth interviews were carried out as a qualitative research tool for pursuing the study. An interview has been defined as a conversation directed to a definite purpose other than satisfaction in the conversation itself (Chisnall, 1997). According to Drever (1995), interviewing people is one of the commonest methods used in smallscale educational research work. An interview is a purposeful conversation used to gather descriptive data in the subjects own words so that the researcher can develop insights on how subjects interpret some piece of the world (Bogdan & Biklen, 1998).
In-depth interviews were carried out for the study in order to uncover the beliefs, attitudes, feelings and emotions of the respondents. In the words of (Cooper and Schindler, 1999), in-depth interview encourages respondents to share as much information as possible in an unconstrained environment.
Interview styles differ in structure. According to Seidmans (1998) in-depth interviewing utilizes open-ended questions that build upon and direct the probing of participants responses and the goal of in-depth interviewing is to have participants reconstruct his or her experience within the topic under study.
In the words of Drever (1995) semi-structured interviews are that the interviewer sets up a general structure by deciding in advance what ground is to be covered and what questions are to be asked. This leaves the detailed structure to be worked out during the interview. The person interviewed can answer at some length in his or her own words, and the interviewer responds using prompts, probes, and follow-up questions to get the interviewee to clarify or expand on the answers.
One of the most significant techniques in good interviewing is the use of probes. Probes were used in the study, during the interviews to obtain detailed substantiated answers. The technique of stimulating respondents to answer more fully and
relevantly is termed probing (Cooper and Schindler, 1999). Patton (1990) identifies three types of probes: detail-oriented probes, elaboration probes, and clarification probes. This study uses the elaboration probes and according to Patton (1990) elaboration probes is designed to encourage the interviewee to tell the researcher more. Furthermore the researcher indicates his/her desire to know more by such 45 Consumer Perception of Global vs. Local Brands: The Indian Car Industry
things as gently nodding his/her head as the respondent talks, softly voicing 'un-huh' every so often, and sometimes by just remaining silent but attentive. The interview used few questions such as Could you tell me more about this?, Why do you think so?, What else can you think about it?, What is the reason for your reason? etc
4.6. Sampling Qualitative researchers work with small samples of people, bound by specific contexts, and studied in depth (Miles and Huberman, 1994). Nonprobability sampling which is non-random and subjective (Cooper and Schindler, 1999) is applied in the study to carry out the interviews. Nonprobability sampling allows interviewers to choose sample members at random (meaning as they wish or wherever they find them) which is not random sampling. Judgement sampling, a kind of nonprobability sampling, was used in order to select the interviewees. Judgement sampling occurs when a researcher selects sample members to conform to some criterion (Cooper and Schindler, 1999). With the application of Judgement sampling, people who possess a car in India were alone picked up as per the researchers choice from the general public for the study. Thus the sampling frame for this study was the public in general who own a car brand in India. As asserted by Malhotra (2005) Qualitative research is unstructured, exploratory in nature, based on small samples, the sample size for this study is 10.
4.7. Telephone interview Cooper and Schindler (1999) assert that telephone makes its greatest contribution in survey work as a unique mode of communication to collect information from respondents. Also that telephone can be helpful in arranging personal interviews and 46 Consumer Perception of Global vs. Local Brands: The Indian Car Industry
screening large populations for unusual types of respondents. Despite telephonic interviews being expensive than other modes of interviews, they helped the researcher to converse with the respondents who are far beyond the reach. Telephonic interviews are also less time consuming when the interviews are well scheduled through emails before the interview is carried out.
The study consisted of 10 adult customers in the age group of 30-60 years old. All the ten respondents were interviewed through telephone. The respondents were already informed of the interviews and were scheduled through emails according to their convenience. This helped the researcher to avoid lapse of time that results from making repeated calls in order to check the availability of respondents. The respondents were well informed of the purpose of the interview before the start of each and every interview. Furthermore, the respondents were explained the subject oriented terms such as COO, COBO, globalness of the brand, etc The reason for explaining these terms were to make the respondents feel more comfortable with the topic to be interviewed. Each interview lasted for about 30-40 minutes.
The interviews were started with questions that were easy to answer such as what brand is you car?, which made the respondents to feel free by answering the questions. The respondents were then gradually asked questions that took a little time for the respondents to answer such as How do you perceive global brands (such as Ford, BMW, Mercedes, Toyota, etc...)?, If in case the price of the local brand was cheaper than the global brand, which brand would you choose? Why, etcThe interviews were thus started with easy questions and once the conversations got
smoother and friendly, it was then moved to questions where the respondents took time to answer.
The main purpose of the interview was to understand consumer perception of global brands vs. local brands of cars in India. The questions were framed in such a way that the objectives of the study were addressed accordingly. For example, questions such as Do you know the brand origin of your car?, What makes you attached to the country (of the brand origin)?, Do you think that Country of Origin of your brand has a direct influence in your purchase? etcfacilitated the researcher to examine the effects of country of origin on consumer perceptions of global and local car brands. Furthermore questions such as How do you perceive local brands (such as Tata, Maruti etc...)?, How do you perceive global brands (such as Ford, BMW, Mercedes, Toyota, etc...)?, What factors (such as quality, value, esteem, status, globalness per se) influenced you to buy this brand? etc facilitated the researcher to highlight the factors that effect consumer preference for global car brands and also to understand consumer perceptions of global vs. local car brands.
A pilot interview was conducted before interviewing the actual recruited respondents. The purpose of the pilot interview was to test the framed questions for flaws. The pilot interview helped the researcher to a great extent wherein a major error was rectified. The initial idea of the study was to understand customers perception of global vs. local car brands in UK. Thus the pilot study was conducted with a respondent in UK. During the pilot interview, it was discovered by the researcher that the UK car industry was very rich only in its global brands and hardly had any local brands. Thus, in order to create a balance in the study and also to create a more 48 Consumer Perception of Global vs. Local Brands: The Indian Car Industry
meaningful insight, the researcher had to pursue the same study in the Indian car industry, which has a good mixture of global and local car brands.
4.8. Summary The chapter has explained and substantiated the methods used for conducting the study. With the application of qualitative research, the researcher was able to explain things in a more descriptive manner. In order to create a deep understanding of consumers insights of global brands against local brands, qualitative approach was adopted with an in-depth and semi-structured interview process. Interviews as a qualitative tool helped the researcher to uncover individuals covert feelings and emotions towards the perception of global and local car brands. Telephonic interviews were adopted in order to reach the far-off customers. Although telephonic interviews seem to be a little expensive, it was tremendously helpful when the interviews were well scheduled through emails before the interview was carried out, thereby consuming less time. The use of pilot study before the actual interviews, were of enormous help to the researcher.
The next chapter will prolong the study to analysis and findings of the gathered data. The data gathered through interviews are analysed and findings are divulged in the chapter with the espousal of the literature review.
Chapter Five 5. Analysis and Findings 5.1. Introduction This chapter discusses and critically analyses the findings of the qualitative data by tentatively examining the interviewees responses and beliefs. The gathered qualitative data are analysed accordingly to accomplish the objectives of the study. This was done by meticulously comparing the most relevant distinct responses by the interviewees. These distinct responses were also critically analysed with the support of the past literature and also the researchers own personal view and experience during the interviews. Thus the unique personal quotes of the respondents remained as the rationale for the analysis of the study.
This chapter begins with the background information of the respondents who possess a car in India. The study is then pursued to analysis and discussion of the findings from the interviews made, wherein the responses are analysed and discussed with regard to the research objectives of the study.
5.2. Background of the respondents The researcher interviewed 10 respondents in the age group of 30-60 who owned a car in India.
Table 1 A background of the respondents Age Global Name of the Respondent brand Mr. Arun Mr. Sathish Mr. Sudharson Mr. Napoleon Mr. Arumugasamy Mr.Chakravarthi Thavamani Mr. Surendhran Mr. Rajendhran Mr. Ashok Mr. Lambodharan 33 59 49 38 Global Brand Global Brand Global Brand Global Brand Skoda Octavia Mercedes Benz Hyundai Accent Honda City 32 35 42 51 60 56 Local Brand Global brand Local Brand Local Brand Global Brand Local Brand brand Maruti Zen Ford Ikon Tata Indica Tata Safari Hyundai Santro Maruti Zen / Local car Name of the car
Among the 10 respondents interviewed, 4 individuals possessed a local brand and 6 individuals possessed a global brand. Most of the respondents who were interviewed had a good knowledge about the cars in general, so it was expedient for the researcher to obtain pragmatic and valuable answers in order to pursue the study.
5.3. Analysis and Discussion of the interviews Qualitative analysis is a process of reviewing, synthesizing and interpreting data to describe and explain the phenomena or social worlds being studied (Fossey et al, 2002). Thus the analysis part of this study provides insights into the understanding of 51 Consumer Perception of Global vs. Local Brands: The Indian Car Industry
the beliefs and attitudes of the respondents and the perceptions they hold towards the global and local car brands. Fossey et al (2002) assert that developing an understanding of qualitative data requires conceptual level processes of exploring the meanings, patterns or connections among data that involve the researchers own thought, reflection and intuition.
The interview questions were framed in such a way that the respondents answers could be interpreted meticulously in order to accomplish the desired objectives of the study. The responses are analysed and discussed with regard to the research objectives of the study. To begin with the analysis, the secondary objectives of the study are first accomplished in order to achieve the key objective of the study.
5.4. Accomplishing objectives of the study 5.4.1. Objective one: Highlighting the factors that effect consumer preference for global brands Emphasizing the factors that effect consumer preference for global car brands assisted the researcher to relate these factors to understand consumer perception of global vs. local car brands. Under this category of discussion, it was convenient for the researcher to analyze the responses from the individuals who possessed a global car brand.
A respondent who had a Ford Ikon could immediately think of; Its reputation as a brand that has a world wide presence and its quality.I said reputation because; many people all over the world fancy the brand.As a worldwide brand, Ford stands for its quality. And he bought the brand as he asserted that; I would first tell its 52 Consumer Perception of Global vs. Local Brands: The Indian Car Industry
word wide presence.ya its globalness as you saidthen comes status and qualityFord brand is really good. All these factors add value to the car and eventually made me to buy this brand.- Sathish, 35.
As Steenkamp (2003) had asserted that Consumers become perceptive to global brands when consumers believe the brand is marketed in multiple countries and is recognized as global in these countries, the brand, Ford Ikon having a worldwide presence has influenced the respondent to possess it. Also the respondent is influenced by the brands world wide reputation and its quality and status of possessing the brand.
Similarly, the factors that influenced a respondent to buy a Mercedes Benz asserted that worldwide presence was the foremost factor.this made me to trust the brand and made me safe in possessing the brandthe quality of cars of the brand, Mercedes Benz was also one of the reasonsand also its powerful engines and its well-built cars make me admire the brand.and lastly, esteem in possessing the car and when he thinks of the brand he says, Its poshness and its luxuryare the ones that I think about the car brand.another important feature of the brand is its comfortablenessBut generally, Mercedes often conveys poshness.and also its worldwide presence Rajendhran, 59.
Skoda Octavia was possessed by a respondent as he justified it as I would just tell esteem and globalness, which made me buy the brand... also because of the foreign make and international presence that would boost up the reasonSkoda is good in quality as well.but esteem in possessing the car and foreignness of the brand 53 Consumer Perception of Global vs. Local Brands: The Indian Car Industry
were the major influencers that backed up my purchaseand when the respondent thinks of Skoda, he talks of Its elegance..and comfortness are the initial ones that come to my mind immediately Skoda cars also stand for their powerful engines and luxury interiors. Surendhran, 33.
Apart from the respondents preference of the brand being present worldwide, they also added factors such as trust, luxury, comfortness, esteem, quality of cars made by the brand. One respondent (Rajendhran, 59) mentioned that he felt safe of possessing Mercedes Benz as the brand is trusted worldwide. Another respondent who owns a Skoda, revealed the foreignness and esteem in possessing the brand (Surendhran, 33). The technological superiority of the global brand makes the respondents to admire the brand. The technological superiority of the brand here is referred to the powerful engines and the luxury interiors mentioned by the respondents. Mercedes, being a global brand conveys poshness and worldwide presence to the respondents. This anecdotes from the words of Batra et al (2000), who asserted that international and global brands have been associated with prestige or status, in addition to quality.
Besides this, there are research works that have documented the importance of country-of-origin (COO) image in consumer evaluation of foreign products and brands and also favorable country perceptions are known to lead to favorable perceptions of associated attributes such as product quality indicating thereby, that consumer evaluations are governed by influences other than the quality of the product (Peterson and Jolibert, 1995).
This can be inferred from a respondent who could immediately think about Hyundai Santro as; It is a Korean make.a brand from Korea that has world wide reputation and has got good fame.. The brand that is well known for its technical expertise and the factors that he associated with the brand were as he asserted; Factors such as quality and good reputation have influenced me to buy this brand.It is also the brand name, Hyundai that influenced my purchasebecause it is a very good make. Arumugasamy, 60
Likewise in the words of another respondent, Quality and globalness of the brand has a major influence for my purchase. Good reputation also has its part, as it has a large presence all over the world.people around the world can recognize the brand namedue to the Korean make and the quality in it and also comfortness would be the first thing that comes to my mind.I just can imagine the comfortness of the car while I drive and also the pleasure by driving itthe brand conveys quality and comfortness Ashok, 49.
Thus the respondents were influenced by the Korean make. As the brand has its origin from Korea, it made the respondents trust the brand due to its quality and reputation. The quality of being a Korean make has influenced the respondents purchase. The respondents have associated the brand name, Hyundai to quality, worldwide presence, fame and technical expertise.
I was first influenced by its foreign make..and then the brand being from Japan, made me to trust its qualityIt is trusted and preferred by a large number of people in India itself.People who possessed the brand were satisfied with the brand and 55 Consumer Perception of Global vs. Local Brands: The Indian Car Industry
this increased my trust.yaglobalness can also be one of the reasons.as it has presence and being trusted all over the world and when the respondent thinks of Honda, he could think of Its quality and sturdiness.By sturdiness, I mean its ruggedness on the roads due to its quality make I can also think of the reputation of the brand Honda.and nothing else other than thisa very strong brand in India... Lambodharan, 38.
Here, the respondent conversed about the foreign make. And also the brand being Japanese make, has made him trust the brand due to its quality, globalness and reputation of the brand. This can be inferred from Batra et al., (2000) and Leclerc and Schmitt (1994) that Consumers perceive foreign brand that it might have superior quality because of its developed nation origin is certainly likely.
Therefore, the respondents who possessed global brands preferred them due to its global presence, worldwide reputation, quality of being a foreign make. Good quality and reputation of being a global brand were the major influencers for their preferences of global brands. It was also found during the interview that the respondents mentioned the terms foreign make, foreignness, foreign car, etcand their liking towards it during the conversations. This indicated their interest in possessing foreign made products. It was also inferred from the respondents conversations that they trusted foreign made cars that had worldwide presence. They also tried associating the brands to the country from where it took its origin from and also attaching values such as technological expertise, superior quality, etc... Thus, it was found that one of the significant reasons for customer preference for global brands was considered to be the
country-of- origin effects, which will be discussed in detail in the next part of this chapter.
5.4.2. Objective two: Examining the effects of country-of-origin on consumer perceptions of global brands and local brands COO has been defined as the country where the corporate headquarters of the company marketing the product or brand is situated (Johansson, J.K. et al, 1985). Country-of-origin plays a vital role in the formation of consumer perceptions towards global and local brands, as Kinra (2006) asserts that COO is considered as an important differentiating factor in consumer attitudes to foreign and local brand names. Examining the effects of country-of-origin will assist the researcher to study its influence on consumer perceptions towards global brands and local brands.
It was surprising to note that every respondent who were interviewed, were aware of the brand origins of their cars. Thus it was convenient for the researcher to probe the interviewees in-depth and gain valuable insights of their beliefs and perceptions towards their brands. The questions such as Do you know the brand origin of your car?, what makes you attached to the country (of the brand origin)?, and Do you think that Country of Origin of your brand has a direct influence in your purchase? assisted the researcher to examine the effects of country-of-origin on consumer perceptions of global brands and local brands.
A respondent who possesses a Maruti, which is a local brand, converses the reason for being attached to the country of origin that I trust because it is made in India.It is from India!! Although it is purely because of trust.some times I get the feel of our 57 Consumer Perception of Global vs. Local Brands: The Indian Car Industry
own Nationality. And moreover, India is getting rich and stronger in its automobile sector and I also trust the cars made in our country.India manufactures and sell quality cars and are also technically efficient. So I can easily relate car brands from India to quality and technically efficient ones.- Arun, 32
The respondent evaluated the local brand in a favorable manner, wherein he associated the brand to Indias strong automobile sector that makes quality and technically efficient cars. He also mentioned the feel of nationality towards the country by possessing a local brand. This shows his positive attitude towards the country of manufacture, although there are numerous global brands on Indian roads.
A respondent who possesses a Hyundai Santro, a global brand said that I feel that Korean products in general are good for it quality technical expertisethey are very tough and sturdy.Korea is always famous for its technical products and equipments.. They are technically good, durable and best in quality Arumugasamy, 60
Similarly, another respondent who possessed a Hyundai Accent asserted that the place of origin of my brand has a direct influence with my purchase...largely because it is a Korean brand. Before I bought my car, I felt that a Korean car would be highly good in quality and technically advanced in its makeand this made me attached to my purchase- Ashok, 49
Both the respondents here related Hyundai as a brand from Korea and they believed that Korean made products are known for their best quality and technical expertise. 58 Consumer Perception of Global vs. Local Brands: The Indian Car Industry
Moreover, it was found that the country-of-origin of Hyundai had a direct influence in the respondents purchase. Thus the Korean car makes are related by the respondents to best quality, durability, and technical advancements and these makes the respondents attached to Korea. These backs up the words of Harris et al. (1994) who suggested that brand origin associations play a potentially powerful role in the formation of brand attitudes.
This can again be illustrated wherein a respondent who owns a global brand, Honda said that Only because the brand was a Japanese make, I bought the brandJapans advanced engineering works and technological advancements in making cars had a direct influence in my purchase and also that Japan is known for its technological advancements and advanced engineering manufactures. Japan is especially best for making very very high quality cars - Lambodharan, 38. Thus the respondent was influenced by the Japanese make due to the countrys advanced engineering works and technological advancements. Also when the respondent was asked if he was directly influenced by the country-of-origin of Honda, it was found that Japan had a direct influence in the respondents purchase.
Likewise, it was found from a respondent who owns a Mercedes Benz that he was influenced by the German and American make of cars due to its technical advancements, powerful in nature, modernization and also trust. He also stressed the word make which was an important deciding factor for him to decide between brands. A brief of his words were Of course, the make that is the place of origin matters a lot to me and also has a direct influence in my purchaseOnly because Mercedes Benz was a German and an American makeit made me trust the brand 59 Consumer Perception of Global vs. Local Brands: The Indian Car Industry
and led to my purchasejust because German and American cars are strong and powerful in nature and technically advanced..German made vehicles are especially good for its modernization of cars.Both the countries are ahead in their technical advancementsand this makes me attached to the countries...- Rajendhran, 59
A respondent who owns a Skoda, which is based from Czech Republic responded that I just know that it is a European make.It is known for its well built cars with powerful engines.Europe is generally superior in manufacturing cars that are robust. Although the brand was from Czech Republic, the respondent generalized his statement by saying that the brand was from Europe. He also said that Yes I do feel that country of origin of the brand has a direct influence in my purchase, just because I felt that the European cars are best for their powerful engines, for its ruggedness and qualityI just relate European countries with its richness in making cars..- Surendhran, 33. The respondent associated the brand Skoda to Europe which is rich in making cars that are best known for their powerful engines, ruggedness and quality.
Despite the presence of respondents who felt that the country of their brand origin had a direct influence in their purchase, there were also few respondents who felt that their brand origin had an indirect influence in their purchase. This can be perceived when a respondent who possessed a local brand, was asked if his purchase of the local brand was directly influenced by the country-of-origin, as he asserted that No, I dont think that the origin of the brand has a direct influence in buying. The first thing I considered was the brand name, Tata because of its good reputation.place of origin of the brand would have had an indirectly influence in my purchase because 60 Consumer Perception of Global vs. Local Brands: The Indian Car Industry
Tata, a well reputed brand from India- Sudharson, 42. Thus the respondent was not influenced by the country-of-origin, but merely trusted the brand name itself.
Similarly, a respondent who possesses a Ford said that I do know the country from which the brand came into. But I dont tend to relate it to the countryI just see it as a global brand. So, there is nothing that I feel attached to the country. I dont feel that it is American and I didnt buy because its origin is America. But when I think of Fordit is just the foreign make - Sathish, 35. In this context, the respondent was not influenced by the country-of-origin, but was just influenced by the brand as being a foreign make.
All the consumers who were interviewed were aware of their cars brand origin and this made the study even more interesting. It was found that 7 out of 10 consumers being interviewed were directly influenced by the country-of-origin of their brand to purchase. It was also found that the respondents made favorable perceptions of the country, wherein they tend to associate factors such as superior quality, technical advancements, modernization, etcto the country from which the brand had taken its origin. There were also respondents who were attached to the country-of-origin due to these factors. Despite this, there were also very few respondents who werent directly influenced by the country of brand origin. These respondents were merely influenced by the brand just as a foreign make or as a trust towards the brand name that made them purchase the brand.
It is considerable to note that Country-of-origin of the brand has a substantial effect on consumers perception of global and local car brands. The respondents who owned 61 Consumer Perception of Global vs. Local Brands: The Indian Car Industry
a local brand evaluated the local brand in a favorable manner, wherein they tend to associate the brand to Indias strong automobile sector that makes quality and technically efficient cars. Moreover, these respondents also had a sense of nationality and trusted the local brands and felt safe in possessing them. Besides this, most of the respondents who owned a global car brand had a positive perception towards the country-of-origin, thereby appealing the brand by associating with its origin. It was also found that these respondents had a fascination towards their brands as a foreign make.
Although country-of-origin has a substantial effect on consumer perception of global and local car brands, it is significant to discuss the effects of consumer ethnocentrism towards global brands. This is discussed in objective three.
5.4.3. Objective three: To study the effects of consumer ethnocentrism over global brands Consumer ethnocentrism is a psychological construct representing how consumers view products made in their own country markets as objects of pride and identity versus those from other country markets (Kinra, 2006). It is also stated by Reardon et al (2005) that ethnocentricity has substantial implications for consumer attitude formation towards foreign products/brands, their purchase intentions and choice between domestic versus foreign-made products. Thus studying the effects of consumer ethnocentrism over global brands helped the researcher to better understand the respondents beliefs and perceptions towards global and local car brands. The effects of consumer ethnocentrism over global brands can be well comprehended by summarizing and discussing the responses from the interviewees. 62 Consumer Perception of Global vs. Local Brands: The Indian Car Industry
A respondent who owned Maruti, a local brand said that Maruti being an Indian brandmakes me to trust my country owned brand. India manufactures and sells quality cars and is also technically efficient. So I can easily relate car brands from India to quality and technically efficient ones (Arun, 32). He also said that I feel local brands in India can be trusted although there is a presence of numerous global brands on the roads. Local brands are equally good in quality. Local brands are to be trusted (Arun, 32). This shows the respondents positive attitude and liking towards the local brand amongst the global car brands.
Simultaneously, the same respondent perceives global brands as Global brands.well I dont fancy global brands much.but I have seen people fancy global brands due its globalness itselfAnd being in India, I feel that local brands compete equally with global brands in all means..I mean the quality and technical aspects.I dont mean that I neglect global brandsbut just feel safe with local brands..(Arun, 32). This shows his sense of feeling towards local brands in India.
Likewise a respondent who owns a local car brand had a positive thought and felt content of possessing the brand as he said that I am already using a Maruti 800 car for the past five years. I am happy with the performance, low maintenance cost, a dependable car and last but not the least, good resale value. And also uttered that Good and longest reputation in the Indian market.- Chakravarthi Thavamani, 56.
Alternatively a respondent who had a positive thought of local brands, also felt that global brands are still better than the local car brands. This can be revealed when a respondent who owns a Tata, a local brand said that It is a good brand and Tata is a 63 Consumer Perception of Global vs. Local Brands: The Indian Car Industry
well known brand in the whole of India.I trust the brandbecause it is efficient in quality (Napoleon, 51). Despite this, he also mentioned that Global brands are actually better than local brands in quality.these brands are known for its luxury and are posh on Indian roads...but most of these brands dont have presence all over the country.they are just present in the metropolitan cities..they are also expensive than local brands - Napoleon, 51.
Similarly a respondent, who had a positive thought of local brands, chose a global brand when he was given a choice to decide between local and global car brands. This was evidenced when a respondent uttered that Local brands are fine in quality. They are less expensive and have good value for money.Indian brands are not bad.they are good in all meansalso operate technically well - Sudharson, 42.
But when the respondent was given a choice between local and global car brands, and was also given a situation where the local brand was expensive than the global car brand, he responded as I would go for the global brandas it is going to be less expensive than the local onealthough I have said to you that quality is important for me in choosing a car brand, global brands would surely be good in quality as they serve worldwide peopleif the global brands are going to be less expensive, then they are going to give good value too..so would choose the global brand- Sudharson, 42.
Although local car brands are well established in India owing to the rapid growth of the automobile sector, most of the respondents perceived global brands to be better off
than local brands. This can be exemplified when the respondents uttered in a unique manner.
Although local brands are good in both quality and trust, global brands are still better than that- Arumugasamy, 60.
Likewise a respondent perceived local brands as They are good brands. (In what way is it good?) Good in quality and less expensive than foreign brands.but I feel that with the presence of large global brands, local brands seldom stand out of the crowd. Sathish, 35.
Similarly another respondent utters that Local brands are not bad in India.as India is getting well established in its automobile sector, the Indian brands are reaching beyond boundariesthey provide good value for money.and good in quality too but technologically, they are not as advanced as the global brands do- Ashok, 49.
Furthermore a respondent said that Global car brands are the best to metheir foreign make would speak its qualityAnd I feel that foreign brands are majestic on Indian roadsthey stand out among the local brands. - Lambodharan, 38
Although all the respondents who were interviewed had a positive perception towards local brands in India, most of the respondents felt that global car brands were better than Indian brands. Even the respondents, who owned a local brand, had a positive insight towards global brands. The respondents who own a local brand had a feel of contentment, being safe with the home brand and also trust towards the brand. 65 Consumer Perception of Global vs. Local Brands: The Indian Car Industry
Furthermore, they also felt that global car brands were expensive than the local brands.
Vida and Fairhurst (1999) have asserted that Consumer ethnocentric attitudes can be rated on a continuum from highly ethnocentric to non-ethnocentric, whereby a consumer at the high end of the spectrum believes that purchasing foreign-made products is morally wrong. In contrast, highly non ethnocentric consumers may judge foreign products based on their attributes and/or view them as better because they are not produced in their own country. Consumers who are low on CET are more cosmopolitan in outlook and have a higher degree of cultural openness. This specific study resulted with the consumers who were non ethnocentric wherein they judged foreign products based on their attributes and/or viewed them as better because they were not produced in their own country. Furthermore, there were also consumers who were low on CET and were found to be more cosmopolitan in outlook along with a high degree of cultural openness.
5.4.4. Key Objective: To understand consumer perception of Global brands vs. local brands Consumer perception of global brands vs. local brands can be better understood by summarizing and discussing the pertinent responses from the interviewees. Apart from comprehending the responses, the findings of the secondary objectives that have already been discussed backs up in accomplishing the primary objective of the study.
A respondent who owns a local brand conferred about it as Maruti cars are generally goodgood in qualityin fact provides good value for money. Gives full 66 Consumer Perception of Global vs. Local Brands: The Indian Car Industry
satisfaction!! A satisfaction derived from making a right choice among other carsIt is a friendly car for my familyIts size (small) also matters..it is user friendlyI usually dont go for the big size vehicles like Ford, Opel, and othersMaruti is always good!! And also when given choice of global and local brand and was told a situation wherein the local brand was expensive than the global brand, the respondent responded that .if the local brands are slightly expensive than global brands, then I would definitely buy only the local brand.just because of trust (Arun, 32). This exhibits that local brands provide satisfaction and good value for money to the respondent. Furthermore, trust plays a significant role in his choice of local brand.
Similarly, another respondent favors a local brand merely because of trust and quality. I would choose the local brand.in my view; local brands are good in India The main reason for choosing it is because of its quality and the trust I have on Indian brands..today, India is performing well in automobile sector and the local brands have country wide presence and this makes me easily trust the local brands in Indiathe cars are also technically good and lasts longer.very durable.they are worth buying and are reasonable in price.(Napoleon, 51). He also emphasizes that .I will not think of prestige or status in choosing a car brand.just to add one more point to the answer, I would tell that local brands in India are also prestigious..the new models being introduced by Indian companies itself shows thisthey are good in luxury and convey status and prestigeAlthough, prestige and status are not important to me- Napoleon, 51. This shows that the respondent feels that the local brands are equally good in prestige and also that prestige or status is not an important factor to him.
Likewise, in the words of another respondent who owns a Maruti, a local brand, I would always vote for quality and trust. Never will I be mislead by prestige .I think cars add only to false prestige. I think it is better to relay on ones good and long reputation than imaginary false prestige.- Chakravarthi Thavamani, 56.
On the other side, a respondent who owns a local brand perceives the global car brands in a positive approach. As he utters that Global brands are too good.The quality is better than the local brands in terms of technical aspects and the design...they are seen as luxury vehicles by most of them in my family.and also dream cars that are of foreign make.these brands are excellent in qualitymainly because they are global- Sudharson, 42.
A respondent who owns a global brand, converses about the local brand that They are good brands.Good in quality and less expensive than foreign brands.but I feel that with the presence of large global brands, local brands seldom stand out of the crowd.. But when the respondent was given a choice of a global and local brands to buy a second car, in no moment he said that I will choose the global brand.....as I have already said that I really admire and also they are appealing than local brands.I wouldnt mind to spend extra cost for buying a global brand.even if they are going to be really higher than the local brandsbecause they would give me the extra benefits for which I am going to spend.the extra benefits are the quality, worthiness, attractive.- Sathish, 35.
Thus it can be derived that global car brands appeal more than local car brands to the respondent and also that global car brands could be consumed in order to gain extra benefits such as quality, worthiness and attractiveness.
A respondent who owns a global car brand confers that Global brands convey its presence everywhere in the worldpeople all over the world can recognize the brand nameforeign makes that have worldwide presence are best in quality but expensive to afford itit is luxurious to possess a global brand in a country like India Although local brands are good in both, global brands are still better than that. Arumugasamy, 60. This serves as an anecdote to the words of Shocker et al., (1994) as it was said that Research shows that perceived brand globalness for global brands could create consumer perceptions of brand superiority. The respondent also associates best quality to his global car brand.
Not only did the respondents associate global brands with best quality, but also they tend to associate it with trust. This was evidenced when a respondent said that Global car brands are always better for me.not only they would be good in prestige, but also good in quality and trust..although I dont believe in prestige, I perceive global brands to be well-off in quality and trust... - Lambodharan, 38.
This can be still substantiated wherein a respondent who owns a global brand uttered that I will not mind to pay the additional value in order to get the global brand unless I get financially weak just for the simple reason because global car brands are the best in quality and can be widely trusted They are very much technologically advanced in manufacturing cars (Ashok, 49). This shows that the 69 Consumer Perception of Global vs. Local Brands: The Indian Car Industry
global brands are not only good in quality and trust but are technologically advanced too. These words also serve as an anecdote to Kapferer (1997) who said that if a brand is viewable as globally available, consumers may attribute higher quality to the brand because such quality is likely to be thought of as critical to global acceptance.
Although the global car brands are more expensive than the local brands, most of the respondents who were interviewed felt that it was worth buying global brands due its superior quality, technological advancements and reputation as being global. Furthermore, this can be again evidenced when a respondent uttered that I feel that foreign brands are majestic on Indian roadsthey stand out among the local brands.; Even an expensive global car brand is worth buying because of its value and long lasting durability. They are reliable in quality and admirable in design and makeEspecially Honda gives me stress-free drives.and extremely well in its quality make.- Lambodharan, 38
A respondent perceives global brands as Global brands are fabulousSkoda, BMW, Mercedes, etcare excellent in their quality and are very much technically advanced.foreign branded cars are inspiring in their models and designsand very very sturdy on Indian roads. . Furthermore, when the respondent was given a choice of a global and a local car brand to purchase a second car, the respondent said that A global brand, because of its foreignness and worldwide reputation I would choose a local brand in India, but with the presence of a global brand, I will choose the global brand for sure.as local brands are also good in India, but not as good as the global ones in quality, technical expertise and designs I will 100% buy a global
brandprobably Toyota, which is a well reputed Japanese brand - Surendhran, 33.
Similarly, another respondent responded that I would of course choose the global brand.and probably my dream car Ferrari, which is really expensive to possess.Driving a Ferrari, would make me feel in heaven.it is such a good car. The respondent also substantiated this by describing that global brands are always better than local brands in IndiaGlobal brands are luxurious and prestigious tooAlthough they are expensive, they are worth buying.the global brands can be highly trusted due to its large presenceI just fancy brands like Mercedes, Opel, and Ferraridue to its foreign make and popularity as a global brand- Rajendhran, 59.
Therefore it could be elucidated that the respondents perceive local brands to be good in India, but not as good as the global ones in quality, technical expertise and designs. They also found global car brands to be luxurious in nature.
Local brands were found to provide satisfaction and good value for money. The respondents, who possessed local brands, trusted the brands and felt safe with it. This can also be understood from Schuiling et al (2004), who asserted that value is linked with the fact that prices of local brands are usually lower than those of international brands, providing consumers a sense of better value for the money. Quality and trust were the major influencers for possessing local brands. Prestige or status had only a passive role in the respondents perception, who owned a local car brand. As an
ethnocentric effect, it was revealed by a respondent that local car brands in India were also equally good in prestige.
Although it has been suggested by Kapferer (1997) that consumers may prefer foreign brands because of associations of higher prestige, it was surprising to note that very few respondents believed in status or prestige as a factor that effected in their perception towards local and global brands. It was only 3 out of 10 respondents who were interviewed, believed in status or prestige of possessing a global car brand. It was also derived that global car brands appeal more than local car brands to the respondents and also that global car brands could be consumed in order to gain extra benefits such as quality, worthiness and attractiveness. Although the global car brands are more expensive than the local brands, most of the respondents who were interviewed felt that it was worth buying global brands due its superior quality, technological advancements and reputation as being global. Apart from these, Global car brands were often associated by the respondents to luxury, comfortness and as a foreign make.
Last but not the least, it was revealed that most of the respondents perceive local brands to be good in India, but not as good as the global ones in quality, technical expertise and designs.
5.5. Review of key Findings and Conclusion This chapter assisted the researcher to critically analyse the findings of the qualitative data by tentatively examining the interviewees responses and beliefs. The gathered qualitative data were analysed accordingly to accomplish the objectives of the study. 72 Consumer Perception of Global vs. Local Brands: The Indian Car Industry
This was done by meticulously comparing the most relevant distinct responses by the interviewees. Among the 10 respondents interviewed, 4 individuals possessed a local brand and 6 individuals possessed a global brand. Most of the respondents who were interviewed had a good knowledge about the cars in general. The secondary objectives of the study were first accomplished in order to achieve the key objective of the study.
Highlighting the factors that effect consumer preference for global car brands assisted the researcher to relate these factors to understand consumer perception of global vs. local car brands. By accomplishing this objective, it was found that the respondents who possessed global brands preferred them due to its global presence, worldwide reputation, and quality of being a foreign make. The technological superiority of the global brand makes the respondents to admire the brand. It was also found during the interview that the respondents mentioned the terms foreign make, foreignness, foreign car, etcand their liking towards it during the conversations. This indicated their interest in possessing foreign made products. It was also inferred from the respondents conversations that they trusted foreign made cars that had worldwide presence. Moreover, country-of-origin of the brand had a substantial influence in the respondents preference for global car brands, wherein they also tried associating the brands to the country from where it took its origin from and also attaching values such as technological expertise, superior quality, etc... Good quality and reputation of being a global brand were the major influencers for their preferences of global brands. Prestige or status had a very little or no influence in their preference for global car brands.
Examining the effects of country-of-origin assisted to study its influence on consumer perceptions towards global brands and local brands. All the consumers who were interviewed were aware of their cars brand origin. It was found that 7 out of 10 consumers being interviewed were directly influenced by the country-of-origin of their brand to purchase. Country-of-origin of the brand has a substantial effect on consumers perception of both global and local car brands. It was also found that the respondents made favorable perceptions of the country, wherein they tend to associate factors such as superior quality, technical advancements, modernization, etcto the country from which the brand had taken its origin. Despite this, there were also very few respondents who werent directly influenced by the country of brand origin.
The respondents who owned a local car brand evaluated the local brand in a favorable manner, wherein they tend to associate the brand to Indias strong automobile sector that makes quality and technically efficient cars. Moreover, these respondents also had a sense of nationality and trust towards the local brands and felt safe in possessing them. Besides this, most of the respondents who owned a global car brand had a positive perception towards the country-of-origin, thereby appealing the brand by associating with its origin. It was also found that these respondents had a fascination towards their brands as a foreign make.
Studying the effects of consumer ethnocentrism over global brands assisted to better understand the respondents beliefs and perceptions towards global and local car brands. Although all the respondents who were interviewed had a positive perception towards local brands in India, most of the respondents felt that global car brands were better than Indian brands. Even the respondents, who owned a local brand, had a 74 Consumer Perception of Global vs. Local Brands: The Indian Car Industry
positive insight towards global brands. The respondents who own a local brand had a feel of contentment, being safe with the home brand and also trust towards the brand. Furthermore, they also felt that global car brands were expensive than the local brands.
It was found that there were consumers who were non-ethnocentric, wherein they judged foreign products based on their attributes and/or viewed them as better because they were not produced in their own country. Furthermore, there were also consumers who were low on CET and were found to be more cosmopolitan in outlook along with a high degree of cultural openness.
Local brands were found to provide satisfaction and good value for money. The respondents, who possessed local brands, trusted the brands and felt safe with it. Quality and trust were the major influencers for possessing local brands. Prestige or status had only a passive role in the respondents perception, who owned a local car brand.
It was revealed that only 3 out of 10 respondents, who were interviewed, believed in status or prestige of possessing a global car brand. It was also derived that global car brands appeal more than local car brands to the respondents and also that global car brands could be consumed in order to gain extra benefits such as quality, worthiness and attractiveness. Although the global car brands are more expensive than the local brands, most of the respondents who were interviewed felt that it was worth buying global brands due its superior quality, technological advancements and reputation as being global. Apart from these, Global car brands were often associated by the 75 Consumer Perception of Global vs. Local Brands: The Indian Car Industry
respondents to luxury, comfortness and as a foreign make. It was significant to note that most of the respondents perceive local brands to be good in India, but not as good as the global ones in quality, technical expertise and designs.
Chapter Six 6. Conclusions 6.1 Conclusions of the study This chapter concludes the study by summarising the entire study and also by highlighting the key findings of the study. The chapter then pursues to the limitations of the study and presents the recommendations for future research.
The aim of the study was to understand consumer perception of global brands vs. local brands in the Indian car industry. The car industry in India was undertaken for the study due to the strong growth of the automobile sector in India. The secondary objectives of the study highlighted the factors that effect consumer preference for global brands; examined the effects of country of origin on consumer perceptions of global brands and local brands; and studied the effects of consumer ethnocentrism towards global brands. The study initially accomplished the secondary objectives in order to accomplish the primary objective.
The literature review provided a critical analysis of the views and insights of various researchers on the subject area and served as a source of secondary data, which were collected through marketing journals and other existing reports that were based on the topic. Furthermore, an overview of the Indian car industry was presented in the study in order to facilitate the reader to comprehend the study in an enhanced way.
Since the aim of the study was to understand consumers view of global brands vs. local brands, qualitative research was preferred to quantitative research. In order to create a deep understanding of consumers insights of global car brands against local 77 Consumer Perception of Global vs. Local Brands: The Indian Car Industry
car brands, qualitative approach was adopted with an in-depth and semi- structured interview process. Interviews as a qualitative tool helped the researcher to uncover individuals covert feelings and emotions towards perception of global brands vs. local brands. The study consisted of 10 adult Indian customers in the age group of 3060 years old. Telephonic interviews were adopted to study all the 10 customers. The respondents were already informed of the interviews and were scheduled through emails according to their convenience. Furthermore, the respondents were explained the subject oriented terms such as COO, COBO, globalness of the brand, etc The reason for explaining these terms were to make the respondents feel more comfortable with the topic to be interviewed. Each interview lasted for about 30-40 minutes. The main purpose of the interview was to understand consumer perception of global brands vs. local brands of cars in India. The questions were framed in such a way that the objectives of the study were addressed accordingly. A pilot interview was conducted before interviewing the actual recruited respondents, the aim of it being to test the framed questions for flaws.
The analysis and findings part of the study initiated with the background information of the respondents who possess a car in India and was then pursued to analysis and discussion of the findings from the interviews made, wherein the responses were analysed and discussed with regard to the research objectives of the study. The distinct responses of the interviewees were critically analysed with the support of the past literature and also the researchers own personal view and experience during the interviews. Most of the respondents who were interviewed had a good knowledge about the cars in general, so it was expedient for the researcher thereby obtaining pragmatic and valuable answers in order to pursue the study. Among the 10 78 Consumer Perception of Global vs. Local Brands: The Indian Car Industry
respondents interviewed, 4 individuals possessed a local brand and 6 individuals possessed a global brand. The secondary objectives of the study were first accomplished in order to achieve the key objective of the study.
Highlighting the factors that effect consumer preference for global car brands assisted the researcher to relate these factors to understand consumer perception of global vs. local car brands. By attaining this objective, it was found that the respondents, who possessed global car brands, preferred their car brands due to factors such as global presence, worldwide reputation, and quality of being a foreign make. Prestige or status had a very little or no influence in their preference for global car brands. It was also inferred from the respondents conversations that they trusted foreign made cars that had worldwide presence. Moreover, country-of-origin of the brand had a substantial influence in the respondents preference for global car brands, wherein they also tried associating the brands to the country from where it took its origin from and also attaching values such as technological expertise, superior quality, etc... These can be inferred from the study conducted by Kinra (2006) that COO credibility of foreign brands was a significant factor influencing consumer attitudes and preferences as it was correlated highly with quality and status and esteem. Above and beyond all these factors, good quality and reputation of being a global brand were the major influencers for their preferences of global brands. This could be supported by a finding from a study by Johansson and Ronkainen (2004), wherein it was told that global brands enjoy higher levels of esteem and also that global brands were known for their perceived quality. This was substantiated by Kapferer (1997) that if a brand is viewable as globally available, consumers may attribute higher quality to the brand because such quality is likely to be thought of as critical to global acceptance. 79 Consumer Perception of Global vs. Local Brands: The Indian Car Industry
Examining the effects of country-of-origin assisted to study its influence on consumer perceptions towards global and local car brands. All the consumers who were interviewed were aware of their cars brand origin. It was found that 7 out of 10 consumers being interviewed were directly influenced by the country-of-origin of their brand to purchase. Furthermore the respondents made favourable perceptions of the country, wherein they tend to associate factors such as superior quality, technical advancements, modernization, etcto the country from which the brand had taken its origin. There were very few respondents who werent directly influenced by the country of brand origin. The respondents who owned a local car brand evaluated the local brand in a favourable manner, wherein they tend to associate the brand to Indias strong automobile sector that makes quality and technically efficient cars. These respondents also had a sense of nationality and trust towards the local brands and felt safe in possessing them. This backs up the words of Holt et al (2003), who asserted that Local brands benefit not only from a good quality image but also from a better value and trust perception than international brands do.
Studying the effects of consumer ethnocentrism over global brands assisted to better understand the respondents beliefs and perceptions towards global and local car brands. This can be justified from the words of Reardon et al (2005), who asserted that ethnocentricity has substantial implications for consumer attitude formation towards foreign products/brands, their purchase intentions and choice between domestic versus foreign-made products. Although all the respondents who were interviewed had a positive perception towards local brands in India, most of the respondents felt that global car brands were better 80 Consumer Perception of Global vs. Local Brands: The Indian Car Industry
than Indian brands. Surprisingly, the respondents, who owned a local brand, also had a positive insight towards global brands. But the respondents felt that the global car brands were expensive than the local brands. The study found to have both nonethnocentric consumers and consumers who were low on CET. The non-ethnocentric consumers judged foreign products based on their attributes and/or viewed them as better because they were not produced in their own country. Consumers, who were low on CET, were found to be more cosmopolitan in outlook along with a high degree of cultural openness. This could be inferred to Supphellen and Groundhog (2003) who states that, in transitional economies, low ethnocentric consumers may have positive stereotypes of foreign brands.
Local brands were found to provide satisfaction and good value for money. The respondents, who possessed local brands, trusted the brands and felt safe with it. Quality and trust were the major influencers for possessing local brands. Moreover, Prestige or status had only a passive role in the respondents perception, who owned a local car brand.
It was revealed that only 3 out of 10 respondents, who were interviewed, believed in status or prestige of possessing a global car brand. It was also derived that global car brands appeal more than local car brands to the respondents. Global car brands were consumed by the respondents in order to gain extra benefits such as quality, worthiness and attractiveness. The respondents who possess global car brands felt that it was worth buying global brands due its superior quality, technological advancements and reputation as being global. Apart from these, Global car brands
were often associated by the respondents to luxury, comfortness and as a foreign make.
Last but not the least, it was significant to note from the study that most of the respondents perceive local brands to be good in India, but not as good as the global ones in quality, technical expertise and designs of the cars.
6.2. Limitations of the study and recommendations for future research Time was a major constraint for the study. Time being a constraint, limited the study in certain aspects, as the study was restricted to a period of mere three months. Additional time would have supported the study by increasing the sample size and thereby providing more conclusive results.
The interviews limited the researcher to have face-to-face interviews, as the study was conducted in an Indian Industry. Although telephone interviews helped the researcher to conduct the study, it wasnt as effective as face-to-face interviews, as substantial information was difficult to obtain. As said by Malhotra (2005) The research process of an exploratory research is flexible and unstructured and the sample size is small and non-representative. The analysis of the exploratory research is qualitative and the results are tentative in nature, the sample size undertaken for the study did not represent the whole population of India. Although care was taken in cautiously interpreting the findings, the results obtained from the study were tentative in nature, and were generalized.
As recommendation for future research works, replications and extension of the same study could be made by comparing consumer perceptions between a developing country like India and a developed country. This would serve the study to be more productive. Furthermore, as this study studied consumers only in the age group of 3060, future studies could be undertaken among different age groups as the degree of their thoughts varies accordingly. Apart from the conducting semi-structured interviews for understanding the consumers thoughts and beliefs, conduct of focus groups could enhance the study by obtaining views of consumers from different angles.
Moreover, as time was a constraint, car industry was alone chosen for the study. As a suggestion for future research, the whole automobile industry could be taken for the research work. Thus, these recommendations would assist the marketers and researchers in undertaking future research works.
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Appendix 1 Interview
This interview is conducted as a part of my MA dissertation. The aim of the research being to understand consumer perception of global brands vs. local brands. The interview will assist me to examine your perception towards global brands and local brands in the Indian car industry. I would be really grateful if you assist me in my research by answering the following questions. Name Age 1. What brand is your car?
2. What is the reason for buying this brand?
3. Do you know the brand origin of your car? (the country from which the brand took its origin from) Yes No
a. If yes, what makes you attached to the country (of the brand origin)?
4. What comes to your mind immediately, the moment you think of your car brand?
5. What factors (such as quality, value, esteem, status, globalness itself) influenced you to buy this brand?
6. What basic factors are significant to you, in generally choosing a car brand?
7. Do you think that Country of Origin of your brand has a direct influence in your purchase? (the country from which the brand came from)
8. How do you perceive local brands (such as Tata, Maruthi, etc...)?
9. How do you perceive global brands (such as Ford, BMW, Mercedes, Toyota, etc...)?
10. If you were about to buy a second car, and were given a choice of a local band and a global brand, which would you choose?
11. What would be the main reason behind choosing it?
12. If in case the local brand was perceived to be good in terms of quality and trust and the global brand being perceived to be good in prestige, which brand would you choose? Why?
13. If in case the price of the local brand was cheaper than the global brand, which brand would you choose? Why?
Thank you for your time!! 97 Consumer Perception of Global vs. Local Brands: The Indian Car Industry
Appendix 2.1
Interview This interview is conducted as a part of my MA dissertation. The aim of the research being to understand consumer perception of global brands vs. local brands. The interview will assist me to examine your perception towards global brands and local brands in the Indian car industry. I would be really grateful if you assist me in my research by answering the following questions.
Name: Arun Age: 32 What brand is your car? Maruti Zen What is the reason for buying this brand? Well, Maruti cars are generally goodgood in qualityin fact provides good value for money. Gives full satisfaction!! A satisfaction derived from making a right choice among other carsIt is a friendly car for my familyIts size (small) also matters.it is user friendlyI usually dont go for the big size vehicles like Ford, Opel, and othersMaruti is always good!! Do you know the brand origin of your car? Yes No
a. If yes, what makes you attached to the country (of the brand origin)? Yes, TRUST!!!! I trust the brand, Maruti. I trust because it is made in India.It is from India!! Although it is purely because of trust.some times I get the feel of our own Nationality. And moreover, India is getting 98 Consumer Perception of Global vs. Local Brands: The Indian Car Industry
rich and stronger in its automobile sector and I also trust the cars made in our country. What comes to your mind immediately, the moment you think of your car brand? A renowned brand in India..The largest selling brand in IndiaI can as well think of its reputation and quality that the brand offers. A good Indian brand above all and cant think of anything else.. What factors (such as quality, value, esteem, status, globalness per se) influenced you to buy this brand? Hmmmit is just quality and value. The quality in car as well its service. I normally dont look for esteem or status.but just go for quality and trustand I am being satisfied with quality and trust by buying Maruti brand. Indeed, it gives me good value for money.. Thus I cant think of any other factors apart from these. What basic factors are significant to you, in generally choosing a car brand? Not only in buying Maruti, but also in buying any other car brand, I just seek trust, quality and value for money and nothing else. And these are the factors that would help me in selecting a car brand (Why not status?) I would not buy a car brand for prestige or status!! Just because, it is not going to add any extra value to me or to the car. Do you think that Country of Origin of your brand has a direct influence in your purchase? Off course, Maruti being an Indian brandmakes me to trust my country owned brand. India manufactures and sells quality cars and is also technically efficient. So I can easily relate car brands from India to quality and technically efficient ones.
How do you perceive local brands (such as Tata, Maruti etc...)? I feel local brands in India can be trusted although there is a presence of numerous global brands on the roads. Local brands are equally good in quality. Local brands are to be trusted. How do you perceive global brands (such as Ford, BMW, Mercedes, Toyota, etc...)? Global brands.well I dont fancy global brands much.but I have seen people fancy global brands due its globalness itselfAnd being in India, I feel that local brands compete equally with global brands in all means..I mean the quality and technical aspects.I dont mean that I neglect global brandsbut just feel safe with local brands.. If you were about to buy a second car, and were given a choice of a local band and a global brand, which would you choose? Ha ha haa good questionbut my answer is simpleI would just choose local brand.. What would be the main reason behind choosing it? A local brand mainly because I feel safe and I trust themI also have the feel that it is my own country brand, saying an Indian car brand. If in case the local brand was perceived to be good in terms of quality and trust and the global brand being perceived to be good in prestige, which brand would you choose? Why? Again my answer would be local brands.good in quality, trust and above all a sense of nationality. Even though prestige is needed in life..global car brands wouldnt make any differencepossessing a good local car brand also signifies status to me....
If in case the price of the global brand was cheaper than the local brand, which brand would you choose? Why? Seems a bit tricky to answerI would first compare the prices.if the local brands are slightly expensive than global brands, then I would definitely buy only the local brand.just because of trustBut if the price of the local brand is going to be very expensive.then I would consider in buying global brand..despite this, I always feel local brands are better due to the factors that I have already mentioned..
Thank you!!
Appendix 2.2 Interview This interview is conducted as a part of my MA dissertation. The aim of the research being to understand consumer perception of global brands vs. local brands. The interview will assist me to examine your perception towards global brands and local brands in the Indian car industry. I would be really grateful if you assist me in my research by answering the following questions.
Name: Sathish Age: 35
What brand is your car? Ford Ikon What is the reason for buying this brand? Simply because its Forda good brand with good reputation. Do you know the brand origin of your car? Yes No
b. If yes, what makes you attached to the country (of the brand origin)? Ya.I do know the country from which the brand came into. But I dont tend to relate it to the countryI just see it as a global brand. So, there is nothing that I feel attached to the country.
What comes to your mind immediately, the moment you think of your car brand? Its reputation as a brand that has a world wide presence and its quality.I said reputation because; many people all over the world fancy the brand.As a worldwide brand, Ford stands for its quality. What factors (such as quality, value, esteem, status, globalness per se) influenced you to buy this brand? I would first tell its word wide presence.ya its globalness as you saidthen comes status and qualityFord brand is really good. All these factors add value to the car and eventually made me to buy this brand. What basic factors are significant to you, in generally choosing a car brand? Quality and then reputation..both are important to me when choosing a car brand. Well, I should also add foreign make.I like them a lot. Foreign brands give me full satisfaction Do you think that Country of Origin of your brand has a direct influence in your purchase? No not at all.because, I dont feel that it is American and I didnt buy because its origin is America. But when I think of Fordit is just the foreign make. So I think it is a kind of indirect influence that has made me buy the brand. How do you perceive local brands (such as Tata, Maruti, etc...)? They are good brands. (In what way is it good?) Good in quality and less expensive than foreign brands.but I feel that with the presence of large global brands, local brands seldom stand out of the crowd. How do you perceive global brands (such as Ford, BMW, Mercedes, Toyota, etc...)? They are excellent in quality, and the designs of these cars are too goodalso 103 Consumer Perception of Global vs. Local Brands: The Indian Car Industry
technically efficient. People always give a second look on foreign cars (global ones). Thus it is of great prestige in possessing global brands. I feel privileged when I travel in Ford..feel good having Ford, a foreign brand. If you were about to buy a second car, and were given a choice of a local band and a global brand, which would you choose? I would choose global brand... I have a craze for global brands... and especially cars..local brands are also good but with the choice of global brands, I would definitely select global brands What would be the main reason behind choosing it? The reason for choosing global brands is because of its exhaustive quality and the prestige of having a global brand and nothing else. I feel that a foreign brand gives extra value in the purchase of a car brand If in case the local brand was perceived to be good in terms of quality and trust and the global brand being perceived to be good in prestige, which brand would you choose? Why? I would definitely go for global brandalthough quality and trust are important for choosing a car brand, I perceive global brands to be equally goodand off course, prestige is also important for me..I think a global brand that is perceived to be good in prestige, would also be good in quality. If in case the price of the local brand was cheaper than the global brand, which brand would you choose? Why? I will choose the global brand.....as I have already said that I really admire and also they are appealing than local brands.I wouldnt mind to spend extra cost for buying a global brand.even if they are going to be really higher than the local
brandsbecause they would give me the extra benefits for which I am going to spend.the extra benefits are the quality, worthiness, attractive. Thank you!!
Name: Napoleon Age: 51
What brand is your car? Tata Safari What is the reason for buying this brand? It is a good brand and Tata is a well known brand in the whole of India.I trust the brandbecause it is efficient in quality Do you know the brand origin of your car? (the country from which the brand took its origin from) Yes No
c. If yes, what makes you attached to the country (of the brand origin)? Yes, it is an Indian makebut, there is nothing that makes me attached to the country. It is only the brands reputation in India.
What comes to your mind immediately, the moment you think of your car brand? Trust and quality are the ones that come to my mind, when I think of my car brandMost of the people in India are aware that Tata brand stands for trust..and even I can think of trust when I see my car brandthe trust that the company creates and the brand also What factors (such as quality, value, esteem, status, globalness itself) influenced you to buy this brand? I would first tell, qualitythe quality lasts longerit is also good value for moneyand not to forget the trust, that the brand creates. The Tata branded cars are worth buying..theses were the factors that led me to buy this brand. What basic factors are significant to you, in generally choosing a car brand? I would look into the brand name and the quality of the brand. The reputation of the brand is also important to me..i.e., the brand should be well established so that it can be trusted. These are the basic factors that I would look in to. Do you think that Country of Origin of your brand has a direct influence in your purchase? (the country from which the brand came from) No, I dont think that country from which the brand came from, has a direct influence in my purchasebecause I only see the brand name as being Tata and its reputation in India.Might have an indirect influence, being an Indian brand How do you perceive local brands (such as Tata, Maruti, etc...)? The local brands in India are very good in terms of value and qualitythey are technically good and also have good models of cars.lots of new models are also being rapidly launchedlocal brands have cars that meets the low-end consumers and the high end consumers in terms of income. Local brands are really good. 107 Consumer Perception of Global vs. Local Brands: The Indian Car Industry
How do you perceive global brands (such as Ford, BMW, Mercedes, Toyota, etc...)? Global brands are actually better than local brands in quality.these brands are known for its luxury and are posh on Indian roads...but most of these brands dont have presence all over the country.they are just present in the metropolitan cities..they are also expensive than local brands If you were about to buy a second car, and were given a choice of a local band and a global brand, which would you choose? I would choose the local brand.in my view; local brands are good in India What would be the main reason behind choosing it? The main reason for choosing it is because of its quality and the trust I have on Indian brands..today, India is performing well in automobile sector and the local brands have country wide presence and this makes me easily trust the local brands in Indiathe cars are also technically good and lasts longer.very durable.they are worth buying and are reasonable in price. If in case the local brand was perceived to be good in terms of quality and trust and the global brand being perceived to be good in prestige, which brand would you choose? Why? I would again choose local brandif the local brand is going to be perceived good in quality and in trust.I wouldnt give me an alternative to choose fromprestige is not important for me.I will not think of prestige or status in choosing a car brand.just to add one more point to the answer, I would tell that local brands in India are also prestigious..the new models being introduced by Indian companies
itself shows thisthey are good in luxury and convey status and prestigeAlthough, prestige and status are not important to me If in case the price of the global brand was cheaper than the local brand, which brand would you choose? Why? I will choose local brandit is just the trust and quality. Thank you for your time!!
Name: Arumugasamy Age: 60
What brand is your car? Hyundai Santro What is the reason for buying this brand? The brand Hyundai is a very well established brand.and especially Hyundai Santro..the brand has good fame...it is also a foreign brand!! Above all, the brand is well known. Do you know the brand origin of your car? (the country from which the brand took its origin from) Yes No
d. If yes, what makes you attached to the country (of the brand origin)? Yes, it is a Korean makeGenerally, Korean makes are excellentThey are technically good and they are durable in best in quality
What comes to your mind immediately, the moment you think of your car brand? It is a Korean make.a brand from Korea that has world wide reputation and has got good fame.. The brand that is well known for its technical expertise What factors (such as quality, value, esteem, status, globalness itself) influenced you to buy this brand? Hmmm...Factors such as quality and good reputation have influenced me to buy this brand.It is also the brand name, Hyundai that influenced my purchasebecause it is a very good make. What basic factors are significant to you, in generally choosing a car brand? Quality would be the major factorThe brand name and its make would also be significant to me.Brand name and the make are very important because this would help in judging the quality. Do you think that Country of Origin of your brand has a direct influence in your purchase? (the country from which the brand came from) Yes, the place from where the brand came into existence has a direct influence in my purchase. I feel that Korean products in general are good for it quality technical expertisethey are very tough and sturdy.Korea is always famous for its technical products and equipments.. How do you perceive local brands (such as Tata, Maruti, etc...)? Local brands in India have good reputation and can always be trusted as the brands are well established for years, they can be trusted easily without giving a second thought.and a brand such as Tata can be trusted as the brand stands for its trust.Local brands in India are good and are also affordable than the foreign brands 111 Consumer Perception of Global vs. Local Brands: The Indian Car Industry
How do you perceive global brands (such as Ford, BMW, Mercedes, Toyota, etc...)? Global brands convey its presence everywhere in the worldpeople all over the world can recognize the brand nameforeign makes that have worldwide presence are best in quality but expensive to afford itit is luxurious to possess a global brand in a country like India If you were about to buy a second car, and were given a choice of a local band and a global brand, which would you choose? I would buy a global brand.such as Hyundai.or a Ford..because of its fame as global brand and its presence all over the world What would be the main reason behind choosing it? Global brands has good reputation all over the worldIt makes me trust the brand, just because it is a Korean make or a American make.and the quality that comes to my mind because of being a foreign makeI will have a feel of satisfaction that I have foreign brand.a worldwide brand. If in case the local brand was perceived to be good in terms of quality and trust and the global brand being perceived to be good in prestige, which brand would you choose? Why? If the local brand is to be very good in quality and trust, then I would go for it..Even if it is going to be the global brand, I would just seek quality, trust, and its reputation and not prestige..even if I am about to select a global brand, I wouldnt go for it due to its prestige.but due to its world wide presence and reputation. If in case the price of the local brand was cheaper than the global brand, which brand would you choose? Why? 112 Consumer Perception of Global vs. Local Brands: The Indian Car Industry
I will choose the global bland even if the price is going to be significantly higher than the local brand.I wouldnt mind spending extra costs in getting the global brand.as it is going to give me extra quality and the trust due to its worldwide presence Money doesnt really matter, only quality and trust that matters in selecting a car brand. Although local brands are good in both, global brands are still better than that. Thank you for your time!!
Name: Surendhran Age: 33
What brand is your car? Skoda Octavia What is the reason for buying this brand? Skoda was my dream car that I wished to buy from a very long timethe foreign make is also one of the reasons for buying it.also because it is a luxury car in the car industry. Do you know the brand origin of your car? (the country from which the brand took its origin from) Yes No
e. If yes, what makes you attached to the country (of the brand origin)? Yes, I just know that it is a European make.It is known for its well built cars with powerful engines.Europe is generally superior in
manufacturing cars that are robust 114 Consumer Perception of Global vs. Local Brands: The Indian Car Industry
What comes to your mind immediately, the moment you think of your car brand? Its elegance..and comfortness are the initial ones that come to my mind immediately Skoda cars also stand for their powerful engines and luxury interiors. What factors (such as quality, value, esteem, status, globalness itself) influenced you to buy this brand? I would just tell esteem and globalness, which made me buy the brand... also because of the foreign make and international presence that would boost up the reasonSkoda is good in quality as well.but esteem in possessing the car and foreignness of the brand were the major influencers that backed up my purchase What basic factors are significant to you, in generally choosing a car brand? Durability of cars of the brand and also the reputation it has among public are important for me in choosing a brandIf it is a global brand, my perception of quality would be higherit is because most of the global brands like Ford, Mercedes in India have very good reputation.. Do you think that Country of Origin of your brand has a direct influence in your purchase? (the country from which the brand came from) Yes I do feel that country of origin of the brand has a direct influence in my purchase, just because I felt that the European cars are best for their powerful engines, for its ruggedness and qualityI just relate European countries with its richness in making cars.. How do you perceive local brands (such as Tata, Maruti, etc...)? Local brand are good too.especially in Indiathe Indian automobile brands are allover the country.and they are also rapidly moving in to foreign countriesand this 115 Consumer Perception of Global vs. Local Brands: The Indian Car Industry
increases the trust towards the brands among the people..Although the brands are good and can be trusted.I would still feel global brands are better in terms of quality and fame of the brands How do you perceive global brands (such as Ford, BMW, Mercedes, Toyota, etc...)? Global brands are fabulousSkoda, BMW, Mercedes, etcare excellent in their quality and are very much technically advanced.foreign branded cars are inspiring in their models and designsand very very sturdy on Indian roads. If you were about to buy a second car, and were given a choice of a local band and a global brand, which would you choose? I will 100% buy a global brandprobably Toyota, which is well reputed Japanese brand What would be the main reason behind choosing it? A global brand, because of its foreignness and worldwide reputation I would choose a local brand in India, but with the presence of a global brand, I will choose the global brand for sure.as local brands are also good in India, but not as good as the global ones in quality, technical expertise and designs If in case the local brand was perceived to be good in terms of quality and trust and the global brand being perceived to be good in prestige, which brand would you choose? Why? My answer would always be global, yeahprestige is also significant for me apart from quality and trust..I feel that it adds value to my personal life.and I am quite sure that if the global brand is to be perceived good in terms of prestige, then it should be good in its quality and trust.
If in case the price of the local brand was cheaper than the global brand, which brand would you choose? Why? Despite the price of the global brand being higher than the local brand, I would still go for the global brand and will not bother to spend the higher cost in order to possess the foreign brandthe reasons would be due to the features that I have already said above.... Thank you for your time!!
Name: Lambodharan Age: 38
What brand is your car? Honda City What is the reason for buying this brand? It is a reputed brand in the automobile industryIt is a Japanese brandbeing always best in its quality. Do you know the brand origin of your car? (the country from which the brand took its origin from) Yes No
f. If yes, what makes you attached to the country (of the brand origin)? Ya, as I said, it is from Japan. Japan is known for its technological advancements and advanced engineering manufactures. Japan is especially best for making very very high quality cars
What comes to your mind immediately, the moment you think of your car brand? Its quality and sturdiness.By sturdiness, I mean its ruggedness on the roads due to its quality make I can also think of the reputation of the brand Honda.and nothing else other than thisa very strong brand in India... What factors (such as quality, value, esteem, status, globalness itself) influenced you to buy this brand? I was first influenced by its foreign make..and then the brand being from Japan, made me to trust its qualityIt is trusted and preferred by a large number of people in India itself.People who possessed the brand were satisfied with the brand and this increased my trust.yaglobalness can also be one of the reasons.as it has presence and being trusted all over the world. What basic factors are significant to you, in generally choosing a car brand? Quality of the make and reputation of the brand among people are most important ones that I rely on before choosing a brandthe reputation of the brand would tell me if the brand is good or bad in making cars Do you think that Country of Origin of your brand has a direct influence in your purchase? (the country from which the brand came from) Yes Only because the brand was a Japanese make, I bought the brandJapans advanced engineering works and technological advancements in making cars had a direct influence in my purchase How do you perceive local brands (such as Tata, Maruti, etc...)? According to me, local brands in India are good.they can be trusted. They can be trusted because of well-established brands like Maruti and TataThey have strong
reputation in the Indian marketAs the brands are made in India, most of the people trust the brands and they feel safe buying it.. How do you perceive global brands (such as Ford, BMW, Mercedes, Toyota, etc...)? Global car brands are the best to metheir foreign make would speak its qualityAnd I feel that foreign brands are majestic on Indian roadsthey stand out among the local brands.although global car brands dont suit the Indian roads that are uneven and rough, they are very comfortable to drive and gives a stress-free drive If you were about to buy a second car, and were given a choice of a local band and a global brand, which would you choose? My choice would definitely be a global car brand.I really fancy them a lot What would be the main reason behind choosing it? I trust them for their quality and for the service they provide As global brands, their presence across the globe makes me trust the brand even more their quality of make is better than the local brands If in case the local brand was perceived to be good in terms of quality and trust and the global brand being perceived to be good in prestige, which brand would you choose? Why? I would still prefer the global car brand.although prestige is not a necessity for meI wouldnt mind buying a global brand that would bring status to me. Because, global car brands are always better than local car brands to mebetter in quality and are very comfortable. If in case the price of the local brand was cheaper than the global brand, which brand would you choose? Why? 120 Consumer Perception of Global vs. Local Brands: The Indian Car Industry
Even an expensive global car brand is worth buying because of its value and long lasting durability. They are reliable in quality and admirable in design and makeEspecially Honda gives me stress-free drives.and extremely well in its quality make. Thank you for your time!!

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Consumer Perception of Global vs.

Local Brands: The Indian Car Industry

Shyamala Mathan Sankar

Table 1: A background of the respondents......................................... 51

Shyamala Mathan Sankar

Fig 1. Conceptual model of Perceived brand Globalness (Steenkamp et al., 2003)

brandprobably Toyota, which is a well reputed Japanese brand - Surendhran, 33.

Holliday, A. (2002), Doing and writing qualitative research, Sage, London.

Kaplan, A. (1964), The conduct of enquiry, Chandler, Scranton.

Silverman, D. (2001), Interpreting qualitative data, Sage, London.

2. What is the reason for buying this brand?

8. How do you perceive local brands (such as Tata, Maruthi, etc...)?

11. What would be the main reason behind choosing it?

Name: Sathish Age: 35

Name: Napoleon Age: 51

Name: Arumugasamy Age: 60

Name: Surendhran Age: 33

Name: Lambodharan Age: 38

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