Consumer World-Mindedness and Attitudes toward Product Positioning in Advertising: An Examination of Global versus Foreign versus Local Positioning

TLDR

Global consumer culture and consumer world‑mindedness have become key topics for understanding how media exposure influences product preferences and attitudes. This study investigates how advertisements positioned as global, foreign, or local are perceived by consumers and how these perceptions relate to their level of world‑mindedness. Across three surveys of 90–100 Dutch participants, the authors tested hypotheses about world‑mindedness, controlling for ethnocentrism, and examined its interactions with international travel and authenticity preferences. Results indicate that ads with foreign and global positioning are perceived as distinct and evaluated differently, supporting the notion that positioning style influences consumer judgments.

Abstract

In recent years, increasing interest has emerged in examining global consumer culture and its impact on consumer product preferences and choices, lifestyles, and exposure to mass media from other countries. In turn, this has sparked interest in concepts such as consumer world-mindedness and its impact on attitudes and behavior. The current research examines differences in consumer response to advertisements reflecting a global consumer culture positioning (GCCP) versus a foreign consumer culture positioning (FCCP) or a local consumer culture positioning (LCCP) and the relationship with consumer world-mindedness. In Studies 1 and 2, the authors examine the impact of world-mindedness, while controlling for ethnocentric attitudes. In Study 3, they examine the interactions of world-mindedness, international travel, and preference for authenticity. The authors develop several hypotheses and examine them using two surveys of 90 (Study 1) and 100 consumers (Studies 2 and 3) in the Netherlands. The results demonstrate, for example, that advertisements for brands with FCCP and GCCP are nomologically different and evaluated differently.