Quo Vadis Brand Management? Specifics in Brand Value Sources Across Markets

Although national economies are more and more interdependent due to the accelerating globalization, contemporary managerial practice indicates the trend of localization and adaptation to intercultural specifics of markets. Thus, the incorporation of sociological theories into the traditional managerial patterns is going to be an imperative of optimal market performance. This statement is valid also for the practice of brand management. In accordance with previously mentioned, the aim of this paper is to identify specifics in brand value sources across markets on the case study of Slovak Republic creating so a platform for future research of relevant disparities in cross-cultural brand value sources. The data used in the presented study were obtained by our own survey carried out on the sample of 2000 respondents (Slovak citizens older than 15 years). The given data have been statistically evaluated by the factor analysis supported by implementation of KMO test, Barlett's test of sphericity and calculation of Cronbach's Alpha for brand value sources in general as well as for the example of brands characterized by habitual buying behaviour. It has been found that (1) there are four groups of brand value sources in general as well as in case of selected product category but (2) the ranking of these groups in scope of their perception as brand value sources is different. Therefore, we state that the issue of cross-cultural specifics in perceived brand value sources is relevant for effective brand management in times of finding ways to brand's long life.