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The purpose of this paper is to reflect on the review paper by Strizhakova and Coulter (“Consumer cultural identity: local and global cultural identities and measurement implications”) and offer several observations that extend the discussion into new territory.

A short essay.

The authors pinpoint a lack of research attention within the global consumer culture literature into a manifestation of global identity that can be termed “humanistic global identity.”

The paper contends that the reactance (conflict) Strizhakova and Coulter point to, which may occur between global and local identity and culture, is more likely in a culture and consumption domain than in a “shared-humanity” domain.

This paper aims to identify distinct consumption patterns among Asian consumers and examine how these relate to cultural antecedents and key human values.

This study uses a large, representative sample of almost 7,000 Asian consumers in 10 culturally varying markets, using latent profile analysis (LPA) to identify the consumption profiles.

The findings empirically demonstrate that the two profiles are “inner-directed nationalistic frugals” (IDNF) and “outer-directed self-eekers” (ODSS). IDNF consumers spend more time and money on education and prefer ethnocentric consumption. ODSS consumers emphasize individuality, self-expression, seeking novelty and impressing others. Consumers with more collective values in Schwartz's typology tend to demonstrate the IDNF pattern; those with more individualistic values demonstrate the ODSS pattern. The distribution of IDNF and ODSS profiles is influenced by demographics, religion and geographical region: IDNF is greater than ODSS in Southeast Asia; ODSS is greater than IDNF in East Asia; IDNF is roughly equal to ODSS in Northeast Asia. IDNF tends to be found among older and more religious consumers, while ODSS is the opposite. Importantly, in the more religious Southeast Asian countries, even younger consumers are more IDNF than ODSS.

This research uses an exploratory and discovery-oriented approach; future research can use more confirmatory approaches to systematically examine the relationship between cultural dimensions (e.g. individualism-collectivism) and consumption patterns.

For their brands to grow in Asian markets, marketing practitioners are advised to use multiple brands to segment Asian consumers based on their values, demographics, geographical location and what religious/faith traditions they follow.

This is the first paper to identify consumption profiles in Asian markets using LPA without prior conceptual biases and relate them to cultural values and demographic variables.

The aim of this paper is to critically review the most significant writings on “two” constructs that have quickly acquired the status of “important marketing topics”; that is, brand attachment (BA) and brand love (BL).

A profound and parallel inspection of highly influential articles along with ensuing essays by the same single authors is performed.

This review reveals that: hardly a year goes by without some reinventions or retouching of these constructs’ conceptual characteristics; there are several striking similarities between them; the politics of marketing theory are at work in keeping these constructs away from each other; the literature under scrutiny not only suffers from amnesia, but also from some severe schizophrenic symptoms; and that BA and BL are nothing more than the same core knowledge product offered under different brand names.

This review is limited to considering the constructs of BA and BL.

Because the literature on BA and BL has been essentially empirical, this paper has the potential to add a compulsory conceptual component to it. It also has the potential of instigating discussions, debates and, in due course, a deeper understanding of these “two” constructs.

Top marketing executives and middle managers understanding and utilizing emotions when attempting to gain a competitive advantage through developing various marketing strategies may find this to be of added value when reaching their customers. To enhance the marketing executive's arsenal of weapons when waging competitive battles, this article will review some appropriate theories of emotions and then attempt to develop various advertising, merchandising and selling strategies based on these propositions. This article demonstrates ways in which marketing managers may match various marketing strategies with the various emotional states of typical customers. Also, to counter customer defense mechanisms, battlefield tactics are presented when engaging in a competitive war.

This study investigates the structure of China’s market by examining the profiles of consumption values from a large scale national survey of 6250 respondents. The study identifies four consumer segments that pursue distinct patterns of consumption values, including: purchase value, social status, performance and aesthetics, and “satisfi cing” needs. These distinct consumption value profiles help to provide a much needed understanding of China’s consumer market that complements existing studies on sociodemographic characteristics. These four distinct segments provide useful positioning and marketing implications for multinational firms operating in the China market.