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This paper aims to propose a numerical definition-based systematic design approach (NDSDA) to generate an explicit numerical definition of the product form profile and to establish the correlation between the product form features and the corresponding consumers’ image perceptions.

To illustrate the feasibility of the proposed method, this study considers the design of a two-dimensional automobile profile for illustration purposes and commences by developing a detailed numerical definition of an automobile profile using Bézier curves. A series of automobile image evaluations are conducted to examine the relationship between the characteristics of an automobile profile and its associated consumer image perception. Finally, the evaluation results are analyzed statistically, and the statistical results are used to construct mathematical models formalizing the correlations between the automobile profile design variables and the consumers’ perceptions of the product image.

The results of the evaluation trials are used to construct mathematical models capable of predicting the likely consumer response to any automobile profile designed in accordance with the numerical definition. Furthermore, the evaluation data enable the critical design variables and form features to be determined such that the efficacy of the design process in creating automobiles which better meet the consumers’ image aspirations can be improved.

The major contribution of the NDSDA methodology presented in this study is the ability it gives to designers to specify the product form in a detailed yet highly efficient manner. Furthermore, the numerical definition of the product form not only provides a suitable basis for identifying the critical design variables and form features of the product but also provides an understanding of how these variables should be manipulated to obtain or reinforce the desired product image.

Prior studies of competitive dynamics in emerging economies restricted their attention to how the multinational enterprise (MNE) initiates actions against the domestic firm in the market environment with no regard for the home-host relations. By contrast, this study aims to investigate how the domestic firm challenges the MNE in the non-market environment when there is home–host political hostility.

The authors conducted a case study of non-market rivalry between an MNE from the Taiwan region and a domestic firm on the Chinese mainland in the period 2004–2008.

Riding the home–host political hostility, the domestic firm mounted political tactics against the MNE on two fronts. It lobbied the government for identity-targeted policy changes, which demanded state-funded clients buy only from domestic suppliers. It also unethically spread identity-targeted political rumors to vilify the MNE in the local society. The MNE defended itself against the unfavorable policy by engaging in identity work of restructuring its distribution channels to conceal its “foreign” (non-domestic) identity. To fight off the rumors, it built a corporate citizen identity by identity work of aligning corporate social responsibility and research and development with local policy priorities.

The authors broaden the concept of competitive aggressiveness to include non-market actions, particularly unethical ones targeting a rival’s identity. The authors contribute to identity work scholarship by pinpointing an unrecognized phenomenon – high-effort identity work, used by the MNE as a defensive response. The emergent findings develop a moral perspective on non-market rivalry.