Comparative analysis of consumer attitudes in Croatia and Serbia according to domestic and foreign brands

Brand management is an effective tool in today's market conditions. In some markets there are numerous brands that can be seen as domestic and foreign. Domestic brands are a broad category and they can represent brands which own domestic products, thus representing brands that are present on some part of the national market, or they may be national brands that are present throughout the entire national market. Successful brand management implies a necessary focus on the appropriate market segment of the consumer and that the brand has an appropriate exchange value (viewed through the functional, emotional and symbolic component of that value). The assumption of seeing what value brands have and what value consumers demand refers to the perception of consumer attitudes about it. This paper examines consumer attitudes by looking at brands through two generic groups (domestic and foreign brands) as well as covering two markets (Croatia and Serbia). Primary research which has been carried out on a sample of 555 consumers (n = 291 in Croatia, n = 264 in Serbia) shows that there are numerous similarities as well as some differences regarding consumer attitudes about domestic and foreign brands.