This book integrates new thinking on the image, marketing, and branding of places at all levels, from town squares to cities and countries, and of the products and peoples associated with them, thereby bridging the 'country' and 'place' silos in place-related research and practice. Insightful contributions from top scholars reflect fresh theorizing and provide a critical appraisal of conventional wisdom by juxtaposing intriguing contexts, questioning commonplace practices, and challenging methodologies and theoretical assumptions. Chapters explore interdependencies among residents, visitors, brand managers, and consumers; image effects of place and social identity, cross-border acquisitions, popular culture exports, and sporting mega-events; country-of-origin research, cross-cultural consumer behaviour, international marketing, destination branding, and brand modelling; and cutting-edge methodological approaches and managerial best practices in place marketing. The book's interdisciplinary know-how and approach makes it an invaluable and comprehensive reference for researchers, managers, consultants, and students alike, in areas from marketing, place management, international business, and tourism to communications, social psychology, urban geography, and regional economics.

This book integrates new thinking on the image, marketing, and branding of places at all levels, from town squares to cities and countries, and of the products and peoples associated with them, thereby bridging the 'country' and 'place' silos in place-related research and practice. Insightful contributions from top scholars reflect fresh theorizing and provide a critical appraisal of conventional wisdom by juxtaposing intriguing contexts, questioning commonplace practices, and challenging methodologies and theoretical assumptions. Chapters explore interdependencies among residents, visitors, brand managers, and consumers; image effects of place and social identity, cross-border acquisitions, popular culture exports, and sporting mega-events; country-of-origin research, cross-cultural consumer behaviour, international marketing, destination branding, and brand modelling; and cutting-edge methodological approaches and managerial best practices in place marketing. The book's interdisciplinary know-how and approach makes it an invaluable and comprehensive reference for researchers, managers, consultants, and students alike, in areas from marketing, place management, international business, and tourism to communications, social psychology, urban geography, and regional economics.

The globalization of the marketplace and how this process is shaping the cultural characteristics of people around the world is arguably the most critical issue facing international marketing managers today, and is the subject of intense discourse in the social sciences. Are global forces making everyone (and every place) more and more alike, or are they causing local resistances which serve to more solidly entrench cultural differences? Or is globalization simultaneously making individuals increasingly dissimilar within countries, while making individuals progressively similar across national frontiers? This work articulates a theoretical framework for assessing the selective, contextual nature of both global and local cultural influences on consumer values and behaviors. The theoretical framework and associated hypotheses were tested empirically, with data gathered in eight countries on four continents. This book is addressed to international marketing managers and researchers alike. It is also directed towards researchers in social psychology, cultural anthropology, and political science.