IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/jbrese/v191y2025ics0148296325000724.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Mind the standardization gap: An emerging market phenomenon

Author

Listed:
  • Güzel, Zeynep Müge
  • Özsomer, Ayşegül
  • Sezen, Burcu

Abstract

This paper introduces the “standardization gap” as perceptual differences between consumers and managers regarding a global brand’s standardization of its marketing mix. Studies utilizing triadic data from managers, consumers, and advertisements document that emerging market consumers perceive global brands as less standardized than they are. A perceived “standardization gap” exists in product characteristics and positioning. Positioning standardization gaps decrease consumers’ brand equity, willingness to pay, and the brand’s market share in the subsidiary market. Interestingly, consumers’ product standardization perceptions trigger two opposing mechanisms, a positive mechanism via better tailoring to local needs and a negative mechanism through inferences of lower quality and inferior products. These opposing mechanisms cancel each other out in affecting consumer brand equity. Managers can enhance positioning standardization perceptions by standardizing advertising in emerging markets. However, standardized advertising is less effective in shaping product standardization perceptions.

Suggested Citation

  • Güzel, Zeynep Müge & Özsomer, Ayşegül & Sezen, Burcu, 2025. "Mind the standardization gap: An emerging market phenomenon," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 191(C).
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:jbrese:v:191:y:2025:i:c:s0148296325000724
    DOI: 10.1016/j.jbusres.2025.115249
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0148296325000724
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.jbusres.2025.115249?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Demirbag, Mehmet & Tatoglu, Ekrem & Glaister, Keith W., 2009. "Equity-based entry modes of emerging country multinationals: Lessons from Turkey," Journal of World Business, Elsevier, vol. 44(4), pages 445-462, October.
    2. Birkinshaw, Julian & Holm, Ulf & Thilenius, Peter & Arvidsson, Niklas, 2000. "Consequences of perception gaps in the headquarters-subsidiary relationship," International Business Review, Elsevier, vol. 9(3), pages 321-344, June.
    3. Gölgeci, Ismail & Gligor, David M. & Tatoglu, Ekrem & Arda, Ozlem Ayaz, 2019. "A relational view of environmental performance: What role do environmental collaboration and cross-functional alignment play?," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 96(C), pages 35-46.
    4. Laxman Narasimhan & Kannan Srinivasan & K. Sudhir, 2015. "Editorial —Marketing Science in Emerging Markets," Marketing Science, INFORMS, vol. 34(4), pages 473-479, July.
    5. Mandler, Timo & Bartsch, Fabian & Zeugner-Roth, Katharina Petra, 2023. "Are brands re-evaluated when consumers learn about brand origin misperceptions? Outcomes, processes, and contingent effects," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 164(C).
    6. Aneela Akram & Dwight Merunka & Muhammad Shakaib Akram, 2011. "Perceived brand globalness in emerging markets and the moderating role of consumer ethnocentrism," Post-Print hal-01822304, HAL.
    7. Johan Rekom & Gabriele Jacobs & Peeter Verlegh, 2006. "Measuring and managing the essence of a brand personality," Marketing Letters, Springer, vol. 17(3), pages 181-192, July.
    8. Kiran Pedada & S. Arunachalam & Mayukh Dass, 2020. "A theoretical model of the formation and dissolution of emerging market international marketing alliances," Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science, Springer, vol. 48(5), pages 826-847, September.
    9. Verdiana Giannetti & Gaia Rubera, 2020. "Innovation for and from emerging countries: a closer look at the antecedents of trickle-down and reverse innovation," Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science, Springer, vol. 48(5), pages 987-1008, September.
    10. Sea-Jin Chang & Arjen van Witteloostuijn & Lorraine Eden, 2010. "From the Editors: Common method variance in international business research," Journal of International Business Studies, Palgrave Macmillan;Academy of International Business, vol. 41(2), pages 178-184, February.
    11. Lane Keller, Kevin & Moorthi, Y. L. R., 2003. "Branding in developing markets," Business Horizons, Elsevier, vol. 46(3), pages 49-59.
    12. Mandler, Timo & Won, Sungbin & Kim, Kyungae, 2017. "Consumers' cognitive and affective responses to brand origin misclassifications: Does confidence in brand origin identification matter?," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 80(C), pages 197-209.
    13. Qun Tan & Carlos M. P. Sousa, 2013. "International Marketing Standardization," Management International Review, Springer, vol. 53(5), pages 711-739, October.
    14. G. Tomas M. Hult & Forrest V. Morgeson & Neil A. Morgan & Sunil Mithas & Claes Fornell, 2017. "Do managers know what their customers think and why?," Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science, Springer, vol. 45(1), pages 37-54, January.
    15. Ravi Pappu & Pascale G Quester & Ray W Cooksey, 2007. "Country image and consumer-based brand equity: relationships and implications for international marketing," Journal of International Business Studies, Palgrave Macmillan;Academy of International Business, vol. 38(5), pages 726-745, September.
    16. Jan-Benedict E M Steenkamp & Rajeev Batra & Dana L Alden, 2003. "How perceived brand globalness creates brand value," Journal of International Business Studies, Palgrave Macmillan;Academy of International Business, vol. 34(1), pages 53-65, January.
    17. Saeed Samiee & Terence A Shimp & Subhash Sharma, 2005. "Brand origin recognition accuracy: its antecedents and consumers’ cognitive limitations," Journal of International Business Studies, Palgrave Macmillan;Academy of International Business, vol. 36(4), pages 379-397, July.
    18. Piyush Sharma, 2011. "Country of origin effects in developed and emerging markets: Exploring the contrasting roles of materialism and value consciousness," Journal of International Business Studies, Palgrave Macmillan;Academy of International Business, vol. 42(2), pages 285-306, February.
    19. Martin Heinberg & Constantine S. Katsikeas & H. Erkan Ozkaya & Markus Taube, 2020. "How nostalgic brand positioning shapes brand equity: differences between emerging and developed markets," Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science, Springer, vol. 48(5), pages 869-890, September.
    20. Joseph E. Stiglitz, 2000. "The Contributions of the Economics of Information to Twentieth Century Economics," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 115(4), pages 1441-1478.
    21. Timo Mandler & Fabian Bartsch & C. Min Han, 2021. "Brand credibility and marketplace globalization: The role of perceived brand globalness and localness," Journal of International Business Studies, Palgrave Macmillan;Academy of International Business, vol. 52(8), pages 1559-1590, October.
    22. Masaaki Kotabe & Xavier Martin & Hiroshi Domoto, 2003. "Gaining from vertical partnerships: knowledge transfer, relationship duration, and supplier performance improvement in the U.S. and Japanese automotive industries," Strategic Management Journal, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 24(4), pages 293-316, April.
    23. Liu, Sindy & Perry, Patsy & Moore, Christopher & Warnaby, Gary, 2016. "The standardization-localization dilemma of brand communications for luxury fashion retailers' internationalization into China," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 69(1), pages 357-364.
    24. Aneela Akram & Dwight Merunka & Muhammad Shakaib Akram, 2011. "Perceived brand globalness in emerging markets and the moderating role of consumer ethnocentrism," International Journal of Emerging Markets, Emerald Group Publishing Limited, vol. 6(4), pages 291-303, September.
    25. Schmid, Stefan & Kotulla, Thomas, 2011. "50 years of research on international standardization and adaptation--From a systematic literature analysis to a theoretical framework," International Business Review, Elsevier, vol. 20(5), pages 491-507, October.
    26. Strizhakova, Yuliya & Coulter, Robin A. & Price, Linda L., 2012. "The young adult cohort in emerging markets: Assessing their glocal cultural identity in a global marketplace," International Journal of Research in Marketing, Elsevier, vol. 29(1), pages 43-54.
    27. Alavi, Sascha & Wieseke, Jan & Guba, Jan H., 2016. "Saving on Discounts through Accurate Sensing – Salespeople's Estimations of Customer Price Importance and Their Effects on Negotiation Success," Journal of Retailing, Elsevier, vol. 92(1), pages 40-55.
    28. Mandler, Timo & Sezen, Burcu & Chen, Jieke & Özsomer, Ayşegül, 2021. "Performance consequences of marketing standardization/adaptation: A systematic literature review and future research agenda," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 125(C), pages 416-435.
    29. Riefler, Petra & Diamantopoulos, Adamantios, 2009. "Consumer cosmopolitanism: Review and replication of the CYMYC scale," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 62(4), pages 407-419, April.
    30. Hauser, John R & Wernerfelt, Birger, 1990. "An Evaluation Cost Model of Consideration Sets," Journal of Consumer Research, Journal of Consumer Research Inc., vol. 16(4), pages 393-408, March.
    31. Joachim Vosgerau & Erin Anderson & William T. Ross, Jr., 2008. "Can Inaccurate Perceptions in Business-to-Business (B2B) Relationships Be Beneficial?," Marketing Science, INFORMS, vol. 27(2), pages 205-224, 03-04.
    32. Janell D Townsend & Sengun Yeniyurt & Mehmet Berk Talay, 2009. "Getting to global: An evolutionary perspective of brand expansion in international markets," Journal of International Business Studies, Palgrave Macmillan;Academy of International Business, vol. 40(4), pages 539-558, May.
    33. Busnaina, Izzudin & Woodall, Tony, 2015. "Doing business in Libya: Assessing the nature and effectiveness of international marketing programs in an evolving economy," International Business Review, Elsevier, vol. 24(5), pages 781-797.
    34. Aaker, David A. & Shansby, J. Gary, 1982. "Positioning your product," Business Horizons, Elsevier, vol. 25(3), pages 56-62.
    35. Peter, J Paul & Churchill, Gilbert A, Jr & Brown, Tom J, 1993. "Caution in the Use of Difference Scores in Consumer Research," Journal of Consumer Research, Journal of Consumer Research Inc., vol. 19(4), pages 655-662, March.
    36. Ciftci, Ilhan & Tatoglu, Ekrem & Wood, Geoffrey & Demirbag, Mehmet & Zaim, Selim, 2019. "Corporate governance and firm performance in emerging markets: Evidence from Turkey," International Business Review, Elsevier, vol. 28(1), pages 90-103.
    37. Yoo, Boonghee & Donthu, Naveen, 2001. "Developing and validating a multidimensional consumer-based brand equity scale," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 52(1), pages 1-14, April.
    38. Uner, Mehmet Mithat & Gungordu, Aybegum, 2016. "The new middle class in Turkey: A qualitative study in a dynamic economy," International Business Review, Elsevier, vol. 25(3), pages 668-678.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Timo Mandler & Fabian Bartsch & C. Min Han, 2021. "Brand credibility and marketplace globalization: The role of perceived brand globalness and localness," Journal of International Business Studies, Palgrave Macmillan;Academy of International Business, vol. 52(8), pages 1559-1590, October.
    2. Timo Mandler & Fabian Bartsch & C. Min Han, 0. "Brand credibility and marketplace globalization: The role of perceived brand globalness and localness," Journal of International Business Studies, Palgrave Macmillan;Academy of International Business, vol. 0, pages 1-32.
    3. Peter Mathias Fischer & Katharina Petra Zeugner-Roth & Constantine S. Katsikeas & Mario Pandelaere, 2022. "Pride and prejudice: Unraveling and mitigating domestic country bias," Journal of International Business Studies, Palgrave Macmillan;Academy of International Business, vol. 53(3), pages 405-433, April.
    4. Bartikowski, Boris & Fastoso, Fernando & Gierl, Heribert, 2019. "Luxury cars Made-in-China: Consequences for brand positioning," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 102(C), pages 288-297.
    5. Insik Jeong & Jong-Ho Lee & Eunmi Kim, 2019. "Determinants of brand localization in international markets," Service Business, Springer;Pan-Pacific Business Association, vol. 13(1), pages 75-100, March.
    6. Baldauf, Artur & Cravens, Karen S. & Diamantopoulos, Adamantios & Zeugner-Roth, Katharina Petra, 2009. "The Impact of Product-Country Image and Marketing Efforts on Retailer-Perceived Brand Equity: An Empirical Analysis," Journal of Retailing, Elsevier, vol. 85(4), pages 437-452.
    7. Mandler, Timo & Won, Sungbin & Kim, Kyungae, 2017. "Consumers' cognitive and affective responses to brand origin misclassifications: Does confidence in brand origin identification matter?," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 80(C), pages 197-209.
    8. Sheng Yang CHIU, 2015. "Local vs. Global Brands: Country-of-Origin’s Effect on Consumer-based Brand Equity among Status-Seekers," Journal of Economics and Behavioral Studies, AMH International, vol. 7(3), pages 6-13.
    9. Zeynep Müge Güzel & Aysegul Ozsomer, 2022. "Cleansing the doors of perception: Perceptual inaccuracy in marketing relationships," AMS Review, Springer;Academy of Marketing Science, vol. 12(3), pages 216-237, December.
    10. Martin Heinberg & H. Erkan Ozkaya & Markus Taube, 2016. "A brand built on sand: Is acquiring a local brand in an emerging market an ill-advised strategy for foreign companies?," Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science, Springer, vol. 44(5), pages 586-607, September.
    11. Saeed Samiee & Brian R. Chabowski, 2021. "Knowledge structure in product- and brand origin–related research," Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science, Springer, vol. 49(5), pages 947-968, September.
    12. Riefler, Petra, 2012. "Why consumers do (not) like global brands: The role of globalization attitude, GCO and global brand origin," International Journal of Research in Marketing, Elsevier, vol. 29(1), pages 25-34.
    13. Jin, Zhongqi & Lynch, Richard & Attia, Samaa & Chansarkar, Bal & Gülsoy, Tanses & Lapoule, Paul & Liu, Xueyuan & Newburry, William & Nooraini, Mohamad Sheriff & Parente, Ronaldo & Purani, Keyoor & Ung, 2015. "The relationship between consumer ethnocentrism, cosmopolitanism and product country image among younger generation consumers: The moderating role of country development status," International Business Review, Elsevier, vol. 24(3), pages 380-393.
    14. Paul, Justin, 2019. "Masstige model and measure for brand management," European Management Journal, Elsevier, vol. 37(3), pages 299-312.
    15. Sichtmann, Christina & Davvetas, Vasileios & Diamantopoulos, Adamantios, 2019. "The relational value of perceived brand globalness and localness," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 104(C), pages 597-613.
    16. Strizhakova, Yuliya & Coulter, Robin A., 2013. "The “green” side of materialism in emerging BRIC and developed markets: The moderating role of global cultural identity," International Journal of Research in Marketing, Elsevier, vol. 30(1), pages 69-82.
    17. Subhadip Roy & Abhijit Guha & Abhijit Biswas & Dhruv Grewal, 2019. "Celebrity endorsements in emerging markets: Align endorsers with brands or with consumers?," Journal of International Business Studies, Palgrave Macmillan;Academy of International Business, vol. 50(3), pages 295-317, April.
    18. Chatzipanagiotou, Kalliopi & Christodoulides, George & Veloutsou, Cleopatra, 2019. "Managing the consumer-based brand equity process: A cross-cultural perspective," International Business Review, Elsevier, vol. 28(2), pages 328-343.
    19. Jacobs, Nele & Swoboda, Bernhard, 2023. "The role of national institutions in the effects of consumers’ perceived customer orientation and firm innovativeness," International Business Review, Elsevier, vol. 32(5).
    20. Hoang, Hung Trong & Bich Ho, Khanh Ngoc & Tran, Trang P. & Le, Truc Quang, 2022. "The extension of animosity model of foreign product purchase: Does country of origin matter?," Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services, Elsevier, vol. 64(C).

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:eee:jbrese:v:191:y:2025:i:c:s0148296325000724. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Catherine Liu (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.elsevier.com/locate/jbusres .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.