Naming Products in China: Local or Foreign Branding

Abstract

As China's entry into the WTO is imminent and more multinational corporations (MNCs) enter and expand in the Chinese market, the issue of how to name the brand of a product in the largest developing country market becomes a frequently asked question. Should MNCs adopt a locally meaningful brand or one that sounds like the original brand name of the product but is meaningless to the Chinese consumers? In spite of the obvious importance of brand-naming decisions in the Chinese market, this issue has not been empirically addressed in the marketing literature. Our study found that, in contrary to common beliefs, local branding approach leads to more positive product perceptions among Chinese consumers. Marketing implications for international brand management and marketing strategies were drawn from our results.

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