“Seeing is being”: Consumer culture and the positioning of premium cars in China

摘要: Abstract Researchers recognize the indispensable role of inwardly vs. outwardly-focused social identities as predictors consumers' attitudes toward local global brand positioning. Extant studies typically report symmetric assimilative identity effects, meaning that consumers high on national/ethnic favor brands with a (vs. global) consumer culture positioning, and vice-versa for an outward (e.g., cosmopolitan) disposition. Such outcomes may not be generalizable, but rather, affected by specific consumption context well individual trait need uniqueness (NFU). Focusing Chinese premium car market, our experimental study consistently supported effects played ethnic identity. For cosmopolitanism however, such only held low NFU consumers, whereas contrastive emerged consumers. These results challenge some findings reported in literature. Implications these asymmetric marketing theory practice are discussed.