| Global brands have become notable targets of consumer resistance (CR) given their high visibility and ubiquity, and frequent association with the largest, most powerful multinational corporations. The Starbucks, Nike, and McDonalds brands have been all subject to CR in the form of boycotts, protests, and even vandalization. Not all forms of CR, however, are so overt or en masse, as consumers can pursue more private and individualized acts of resistance such as refraining from a particular global brand as a political statement or continuing to buy it but adulterating it as a cultural assertion. Interestingly there has been little work on individual acts of CR. Particularly lacking is an understanding of motivations and forms of CR in comparative sense between developed Western and less developed non-Western markets given that the latter market assumes great importance as global marketers seek new consumers beyond the saturated shores of the US and Western Europe. To address this gap, this research examined why and how consumers resist global brands in both a developed country (U.S.) and a developing country (Turkey).; The study utilized a multi-source and multi-site data collection approach. Ethnographic observation of and semi-structured interviews with thirty consumers from low, middle, and high income groups in each country were the primary data collection methods. Key informants' diaries, field notes, and visual data (photographs) complemented the ethnographic and interview data.; The study determined that consumers engage in distinct resistant processes, discourses, and practices that reflect complex, dynamic, and nuanced interpretations of global brands in the context of macro (social, political, economic, and historical) and micro (social networks, physical-social settings) influences. Many of these processes, discourses, and practices are shared across field sites, while others are more pronounced or unique to each (e.g., cultural imperialism discourse in Turkey). The findings build upon prior theorizations forwarded by Holt (2002), Kozinets (2002), and Thompson and Arsel (2004) to offer an enhanced theoretical understanding of CR. Included in this new understanding is the construct of market capital, encompassing the knowledge and skills to navigate among and resist global brands perceived as antithetical with personal philosophies and idealized communities. |
