Article2013

Discordant retail brand ideology in the House of Barbie

Mary Ann McGrath · John F. Sherry · Nina Diamond

26 citations0/0 files storedQualitative Market Research An International Journal

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Consumer Retail Behavior Studies Consumer Behavior in Brand Consumption and Identification Literature, Culture, and Aesthetics

Abstract

Purpose The aim of this paper is to expand the scant literature related to retail branding ideology and the application of mythotypes to flagship stores within the Chinese setting. The study explores the transplantation of a retail brand ideology in the form of complex home‐country cultural content to a host culture whose local retail narratives differ significantly from those of the brand enterprise. Design/methodology/approach This is an ethnographic study that spans the two years of the focal store's existence. With the help of native‐speaking graduate assistants, store visits, interviews with Chinese locals and internet mentions and secondary information were collected. Data include fieldnotes, interview transcripts, photographs, news articles, blog comments and website information. Findings The paper details the mythotypic mistuning of marketscape and mindscape that contributed to the failure of this flagship store and build theory concerning the implementation of retail brand ideology and retail theatrics. The paper concludes that successful themed flagship brand stores encapsulate ideology in stories composed of mythotypes and encourages the enactment of that ideology through multiple, interrelated brand experiences. Misalignments of these mythotypes can impede the acceptance of retail brand ideology and the diffusion of the retail theatre concept. Originality/value While foreign and domestic flagship brand stores have flourished in China, cultural propriety of these stores includes a host of physical design cues that must mesh with the local culture's sensibilities and the brand's provenance. To translate the retail brand ideology into customer‐centric meaning is challenging. The presence or absence of mythotypes comprising the servicescape profoundly affect their success.

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References

2012The Experience Economy 2005How brands become icons: the principles of cultural branding 1988A Naturalistic Inquiry into Buyer and Seller Behavior at a Swap Meet 1999Trying to Be Cosmopolitan 2002Themed flagship brand stores in the new millennium 2004Ludic Agency and Retail Spectacle 1999Marketer Acculturation: The Changer and the Changed 2009American Girl and the Brand Gestalt: Closing the Loop on Sociocultural Branding Research

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2020Experiencing ethical retail ideology in the servicescape 2017Epic Aspects of Retail Encounters: The Iliad of Hollister 2025On mapping a marketing monstrosity: Barbie, Barbara and the reorientation of literary criticism

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