<p>Med globaliseringen ökar antalet multinationella företag vilket medför att många varumärken byter nationalitet när fusioner och förvärv genomförs. Många varumärken marknadsförs i sin tur med sitt ursprung vilket skapar ett potentiellt problem kring tvetydighet. Studier visar att ett varumärkes ursprung kan påverka konsumenter i deras köpbeslutsprocess då bland annat stereotyper om länder spelar in. Uppsatsens problemformulering är: Vilken betydelse har brand origin för globala varumärken som ägs av multinationella företag? Huvudsyftet är att undersöka varumärkens brand origin avseende hur konsumenterna uppfattar dem samt hur företagen marknadsför dem. Metoderna som använts är enkätundersökning, fokusgrupper, intervju och innehållsanalys. Slutsatsen är att konsumenter är medvetna om varumärkens ursprung och detycker att ursprunget bidrar med något positivt. De lägger inte så stor vikt vid, eller så är de inte så medvetna om att det är multinationella företag som är ägare av varumärkena. Brandorigin kan i vissa fall påverka konsumenternas köpbeslut och det är i de fall då de väljer mellan olika varumärken som förutom brand origin har liknande egenskaper och pris. Då är det troligt att konsumenterna väljer det varumärke som har ett brand origin som har positiva associationer för produkttypen eller som motsvarar konsumentens egen nationalitet. Inga direkta slutsatser kan dras från företagsperspektivet om vilken betydelse brand origin har för globala varumärken som ägs av multinationella företag.</p> / <p>Globalization means that the number of multinational companies increases and that a lot of brands changes nationality after mergers and acquisitions. As many brands are marketed using their origin this creates a potential problem of confusion. Studies also shows that a brands origin can affect consumers in their decision making process because consumers can be influenced by stereotypes towards a country. The problem formulation is: Which impact has brand origin to global brands that are owned by multinational companies? The main purpose is to examine how the consumers perceive brand origin and how the companies use brand origin in their marketing. The methods that have been used are a survey, focus groups, an interview and a content analysis. The conclusion is that consumers are aware of a brands origin and they think that the origin contributes to something positive. They do not really take in to consideration (or maybe they are not aware of it) that there are multinational companies who are the owners of the brands. Brand origin can sometimes affect consumers' purchasing decisions and that is when they choose between different brands that has similar features and cost. In these cases it is likely that consumers choose the brand that has a brand origin which gives positive associations for the product type or is equal to the consumers' own nationality. No direct conclusions can be drawn from the business perspective on the importance of brand origin for the global brands owned by multinational companies.</p>

Med globaliseringen ökar antalet multinationella företag vilket medför att många varumärken byter nationalitet när fusioner och förvärv genomförs. Många varumärken marknadsförs i sin tur med sitt ursprung vilket skapar ett potentiellt problem kring tvetydighet. Studier visar att ett varumärkes ursprung kan påverka konsumenter i deras köpbeslutsprocess då bland annat stereotyper om länder spelar in. Uppsatsens problemformulering är: Vilken betydelse har brand origin för globala varumärken som ägs av multinationella företag? Huvudsyftet är att undersöka varumärkens brand origin avseende hur konsumenterna uppfattar dem samt hur företagen marknadsför dem. Metoderna som använts är enkätundersökning, fokusgrupper, intervju och innehållsanalys. Slutsatsen är att konsumenter är medvetna om varumärkens ursprung och detycker att ursprunget bidrar med något positivt. De lägger inte så stor vikt vid, eller så är de inte så medvetna om att det är multinationella företag som är ägare av varumärkena. Brandorigin kan i vissa fall påverka konsumenternas köpbeslut och det är i de fall då de väljer mellan olika varumärken som förutom brand origin har liknande egenskaper och pris. Då är det troligt att konsumenterna väljer det varumärke som har ett brand origin som har positiva associationer för produkttypen eller som motsvarar konsumentens egen nationalitet. Inga direkta slutsatser kan dras från företagsperspektivet om vilken betydelse brand origin har för globala varumärken som ägs av multinationella företag. / Globalization means that the number of multinational companies increases and that a lot of brands changes nationality after mergers and acquisitions. As many brands are marketed using their origin this creates a potential problem of confusion. Studies also shows that a brands origin can affect consumers in their decision making process because consumers can be influenced by stereotypes towards a country. The problem formulation is: Which impact has brand origin to global brands that are owned by multinational companies? The main purpose is to examine how the consumers perceive brand origin and how the companies use brand origin in their marketing. The methods that have been used are a survey, focus groups, an interview and a content analysis. The conclusion is that consumers are aware of a brands origin and they think that the origin contributes to something positive. They do not really take in to consideration (or maybe they are not aware of it) that there are multinational companies who are the owners of the brands. Brand origin can sometimes affect consumers' purchasing decisions and that is when they choose between different brands that has similar features and cost. In these cases it is likely that consumers choose the brand that has a brand origin which gives positive associations for the product type or is equal to the consumers' own nationality. No direct conclusions can be drawn from the business perspective on the importance of brand origin for the global brands owned by multinational companies.

<p>As globalization influences today’s world markets, many brands are becoming international and global. When a brand is in an international market it creates an opportunity for perceived brand origin to influence the consumers. Brand origin effect refers to the different ways that the perceived origin of a brand influences the consumers, for example, the consumer brand equity or purchase behaviour. The purpose of this dissertation is to investigate brand origins effect on brand image and brand awareness. There has been research on this in the past; however, only few of them have focused on emerging markets. Therefore, we will investigate the brand origin effect in emerging markets. The study is performed in Ecuador, and the data is collected through structured interviews within the target population. The dissertation was done in collaboration with the Swedish company Husqvarna. Therefore, it was the brand awareness and image of Husqvarna in particular that was studied. The results of this dissertation indicate that there are relationships between the variables brand origin, brand image and brand awareness. First of all, there were indications that consumers in emerging markets prefer brands from developed countries. The second relationship that the results indicate is that a more positive image of perceived brand origin means a more positive image of brand image. The last relationship is that a more positive image of perceived brand origin, leads to a higher sense of brand awareness. However, it is necessary to mention that none of these relationships could be proven to be significant through statistical testing. As a result of this, this dissertation provides a good foundation for future research where the relationships should be further studied.</p>

<p>As globalization has contributed to the increased availability of foreign products across global markets, it is nowadays believed by some that a prerequisite for being able to compete on increased competitive levels is to adapt a global perspective. In this sense, marketing strategies aimed at promoting brands and products must be designed to function even on a global scale. Whereas it has in the past been useful to associate brands and products to specific nations in order to create an exotic appeal, it is questionable if such a marketing strategy would be of use today.</p><p> </p><p>With this in mind, this thesis aims to answer why associating a brand to a nation would be used as a marketing strategy and how such an association would be expressed in practice by having performed a single case-study of the company of Orrefors Kosta Boda and its two brands’ marketing activities.</p><p> </p><p>What this study concludes is that the main reason as to why Orrefors Kosta Boda’s two brands are associated to Swedish attributes, which are both positive and unique, is that there is a belief that this strategy allows the brands to be differentiated from other brands, and hence increases both brands’ equity. In addition, this study concludes that associations to Swedish attributes are developed by using a combination of two strategies, namely those of the country-of-origin strategy which serves to emphasize upon the products’ Swedish origin in terms of production and quality, and the culture-of-brand-origin strategy which is aimed at communicating culture-based symbolic attributes assigned to, amongst many, the brands’ heritages.</p>

As globalization influences today’s world markets, many brands are becoming international and global. When a brand is in an international market it creates an opportunity for perceived brand origin to influence the consumers. Brand origin effect refers to the different ways that the perceived origin of a brand influences the consumers, for example, the consumer brand equity or purchase behaviour. The purpose of this dissertation is to investigate brand origins effect on brand image and brand awareness. There has been research on this in the past; however, only few of them have focused on emerging markets. Therefore, we will investigate the brand origin effect in emerging markets. The study is performed in Ecuador, and the data is collected through structured interviews within the target population. The dissertation was done in collaboration with the Swedish company Husqvarna. Therefore, it was the brand awareness and image of Husqvarna in particular that was studied. The results of this dissertation indicate that there are relationships between the variables brand origin, brand image and brand awareness. First of all, there were indications that consumers in emerging markets prefer brands from developed countries. The second relationship that the results indicate is that a more positive image of perceived brand origin means a more positive image of brand image. The last relationship is that a more positive image of perceived brand origin, leads to a higher sense of brand awareness. However, it is necessary to mention that none of these relationships could be proven to be significant through statistical testing. As a result of this, this dissertation provides a good foundation for future research where the relationships should be further studied.

As globalization has contributed to the increased availability of foreign products across global markets, it is nowadays believed by some that a prerequisite for being able to compete on increased competitive levels is to adapt a global perspective. In this sense, marketing strategies aimed at promoting brands and products must be designed to function even on a global scale. Whereas it has in the past been useful to associate brands and products to specific nations in order to create an exotic appeal, it is questionable if such a marketing strategy would be of use today.   With this in mind, this thesis aims to answer why associating a brand to a nation would be used as a marketing strategy and how such an association would be expressed in practice by having performed a single case-study of the company of Orrefors Kosta Boda and its two brands’ marketing activities.   What this study concludes is that the main reason as to why Orrefors Kosta Boda’s two brands are associated to Swedish attributes, which are both positive and unique, is that there is a belief that this strategy allows the brands to be differentiated from other brands, and hence increases both brands’ equity. In addition, this study concludes that associations to Swedish attributes are developed by using a combination of two strategies, namely those of the country-of-origin strategy which serves to emphasize upon the products’ Swedish origin in terms of production and quality, and the culture-of-brand-origin strategy which is aimed at communicating culture-based symbolic attributes assigned to, amongst many, the brands’ heritages.

Master thesis, Master's degree program Marketing, Economic School Linnaeus University, Växjö Sweden, Spring semester 2015. Author: Andersson Anthon, Guntell Robin Tutor: Soniya Billore Examiner: Anders Pehrsson Title: Advancing the COO Construct From an Affective Dimension: The Application of Projective Technique Purpose: The purpose in this article is to break from traditional research and its accompanying cognitive research methods in order to advance the COO field from a more accurate perspective that also involves an affective dimension as well. Design/methodology/approach: Drawing from prior research in the COO field, the methodology accounted for assumptions that were tested in collage technique and ad copy technique. Findings: The results shows that some people only seems to be susceptible to COO influence when communicating emotional CSAs nonverbally, whilst some people only reveal rational CSAs when being cognitively asked about COO influence in a directed manner. As a result, the present findings might suggest that prior research in the academic field might suffer from bias. Practical implications: In the light of COO, managers should bear in mind that some people cannot be targeted with solely rely on a cognitive marketing communication strategy. More specifically, the ad copy technique provides guidelines for appropriate design of advertisements when one consider to serving the brand’s origin as salient cue in consumers’ minds. Originality/value: Advancing the COO construct with using collage technique, this study is to the best our knowledge the second to account for an affective dimension as well.

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As companies are focused on and capable of creating brand images aimed at supporting their brands, some choose to strategically associate them with specific countries or regions in hopes of attaining perceivably higher consumer-based brand equity. Although such a strategy could prove itself effective in the sense of increasing the amount of positive consumer perceptions, it might also result in harmful effects if the marketed country-of-brand origin is not in congruence with the brand‟s other country-of-origin constructs.   With regards to what theory implies and what this study‟s results suggest, this thesis analyzes the effects of country-of-origin incongruence on consumer-based brand equity in the case of Lexington. What this thesis uncovers is that the country-of-origin incongruence of Lexington does not, contrary to theory, have negative consequences on its consumer-based brand equity. Yet, what is suggested is that further research should focus on whether these results are simply restricted to this study‟s exact settings or would be attained even in another setting in which consumer ethnocentrism would not play a significant role.