The universality of design perception and response is tested using data collected from 10 countries: Argentina, Australia, China, Germany, Great Britain, India, The Netherlands, Russia, Singapore, and the United States. A Bayesian, finite-mixture, structural equation model is developed that identifies latent logo clusters while accounting for heterogeneity in evaluations. The concomitant variable approach allows cluster probabilities to be country specific. Rather than a priori defined clusters, our procedure provides a posteriori cross-national logo clusters based on consumer response similarity. Our model reduces the 10 countries to three cross-national clusters that respond differently to logo design dimensions: the West, Asia, and Russia. The dimensions underlying design are found to be similar across countries, suggesting that elaborateness, naturalness, and harmony are universal design dimensions. Responses (affect, shared meaning, subjective familiarity, and true and false recognition) to logo design dimensions (elaborateness, naturalness, and harmony) and elements (repetition, proportion, and parallelism) are also relatively consistent, although we find minor differences across clusters. Our results suggest that managers can implement a global logo strategy, but they also can optimize logos for specific countries if desired.design, logos, international marketing, standardization, adaptation, structural equation models, Gibbs sampling, concomitant variable, Bayesian, mixture models

Purpose -The purpose of this paper is to broaden the external validity of the "brand alliance" theory, as it is set up by Simonin and Ruth, by analysing transnational brand alliances. It aims to discuss the significance of country of origin in this context. Design/methodology/approach -Based on a broad literature review of the brand alliance and country of origin literature the authors conducted an empirical study that examined consumer attitudes towards cross-national brand alliances. Findings -The findings demonstrate the role that the relationship between country of origin fit and brand fit plays in predicting consumer attitude towards cross-border brand alliances; and that when brand familiarity decreases, the positive influence of country of origin fit on attitudes towards the brand alliance increases, and is greater than that of brand fit.Research limitations/implications -The degree of importance that consumers place on each product in the brand alliance was not taken into account. Future research could also analyse product categories that have strong country of origin associations (e.g. German beer or French pastries) or that belong to the low involvement category. Practical implications -An interesting result for managers when they set up a cross-national brand alliance, as the study demonstrates the importance of brand familiarity and of country of origin fit. Originality/value -The findings replicate those of Simonin and Ruth, which is a useful result because their findings might be attributed also to cross-boarder alliances. The study represents a noteworthy extension of previous research by introducing a new variable, the "country of origin fit."

This paper aims to expand the domain of brand image perception measurement by providing a method for eliciting brand associative networks and comparing it with traditional brand image measurement methods. This paper then argues that these networks may differ from one individual to another, depending on the cultural background and/or the experience with the brand. Accordingly, the authors introduce a methodology of clustering consumers with similar perceptions into distinct segments, which can be targeted differently. Using picture analysis and metaphor-based elicitation techniques, Lipton's Ice Tea brand associations are extracted and utilised as an input for the creation of 160 individual associative networks. These networks are first aggregated to measure the brand reputation and subsequently clustered into six segments. This paper provides clear arguments for using associative networks as the preferred method to capture the complete brand image. The paper discusses implications of perceptual segmentation for image management, brand positioning, perceptual competition analysis and brand communication.