Abstract

The concept of soft power has been highly influential in recent years, both as a concept to inform understanding of the cultural dimensions of international relations and as providing a practical guide to state investment in the international expansion of both news and entertainment media. One of the places where it has been most influential has been China, where is has been used to support the international expansion of China Central Television and the growth of Chinese entertainment media conglomerates. It is argued in this article, however, that the concept rests upon a weak understanding of the cultural dimensions of power and upon the transmission model of communication. As a result, there has tended to be a distributional bias in investing in cultural diplomacy and relatively little attention has been given to how audiences actually engage with international media content. Applied to the Chinese case, it is argued that support for entertainment media is more likely to support the aspirations of the Chinese government than news media, although news is likely to be prioritized for political reasons. At a more conceptual level, discussion of national soft power strategies and their relation to global media points to the need for new approaches in global media and communication studies, that could be termed post-globalization, that can address strengths and weaknesses in both critical political economy and media globalization approaches, and recognize the continuing centrality of nation states to the structuring of global media flows across territorial boundaries.

Soft power—proliferating uses and confusing definitions

One of the features of recent debates surrounding soft power and cultural diplomacy is that, as use of the term “soft power” has increased, there has been a blurring of specifics surrounding the definition of the term. The most influential definition of soft power remains that proposed by the Harvard University International Relations Theorist Joseph S Nye, which defined soft power as “the ability to get what you want through attraction rather than coercion or payments” (Nye, 2004, p. x) and the associated “ability to shape the preferences of others” (Nye, 2004, p. 5). In his earliest book addressing the topic, Bound to Lead: The Changing Nature of American Power, published in 1990, Nye sought to distinguish the command power associated with economic and military power from the co-optive or “soft” power of “setting the agenda and determining the framework of a debate” (Nye, 1990, p. 32). Nye (2011, p. 84) has argued that the soft power of a country rests upon three pillars:

1. Culture (in places where it is attractive to others);

2. Political values (when these live up to them at home and abroad);

3. Foreign policies (when others see these as legitimate and having moral authority).

Historical archaeological studies in the past have extensively explored consumer behavior (e.g., Mullins 1999; Spencer-Wood 1987). Some researchers have looked internationally to compare results (e.g., Brooks 2002; Lawrence 2003) and others have stressed the importance of such comparisons (e.g., Murray and Mayne 2001; Orser 1996). However, when dealing with urban sites within the British Empire, comparative studies in the past have tended to focus on other British colonies, former British colonies and Britain itself, at least in the English-speaking literature (e.g., Crook 2011; Karskens 2003; Klose and Malan 2000). Recently, researchers have highlighted the potential of South American urban archaeology for broadening our understanding of consumer culture and global interactions during the nineteenth century (e.g., Brooks and Rodríguez 2012). This paper extends the approach by comparing consumer behavior at two sites, Casselden Place in Melbourne and La Casa Peña in Buenos Aires, focusing on consumer behavior and transnational trade. In order to investigate consumer behavior, it is necessary to explore the role of consumer choice. The concept of consumer choice was established as a means of understanding why particular goods are chosen for acquisition over others. This has been explored in the past by a range of disciplines (e.g., Appadurai 1986: 3; Douglass and Isherwood 1980: 72; Spencer-Wood 1987). In essence, many of these studies have made the connection between the acquisition of goods and the outward expression of the self. Exploring choice in consumer behavior has the potential to reveal much about people’s daily lives. However, it is important to recognize that choice may in fact be limited by a range of factors including class (Wurst and McGuire 1999) and ethnicity (Mullins 1999). This paper investigates the role of choice, class, and ethnicity in consumer behavior and argues that although all of these factors contribute to consumer behavior, they were overshadowed in the nineteenth century by larger forces such as globalization and accessibility of cheap, mass-produced goods.

The Mediterranean Diet, from the Greek word “díaita” according to nutritionists is a “traditional diet” which is adapted to people living in countries bordering the Mediterranean Sea whose ancestors moved to the “cultivated food”. It can be described as a unique lifestyle composed of a mosaic culture manifested through related festivals and celebrations which determines a circular line that touches Spain and passes through the south of France to include Italy, Corfu, Greece and encompasses the Asian and the North African countries (Willett et al., 1995; Bach-Faig et al., 2011; Venditto et al., 2014). The Mediterranean diet is an eating pattern characterizing a lifestyle and culture that has been reported to contribute to better health and quality of life. It is a sustainable diet model that respects the environment, promotes the bio-diversity, the local cultural heritages, the social interaction and economic aspects (Vitiello et al., 2016). According to UNESCO Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity in 2010; Mediterranean diet is highlighted as an essential part of Mediterranean social life, drawing on the expertise, knowledge and traditions that go into all aspects of food production and consumption in the Mediterranean, from farm to fork, including cultivation, harvesting, gathering, fishing, preservation, preparation, cooking and, most important of all, ways of eating (Lacirignola et al., 2010; Dernini and Berry, 2015). Although, the term “Mediterranean diet” implies the existence of some common dietary characteristics in Mediterranean countries such as: high amounts of olive oil and olives, fruits, vegetables, cereals (mostly unrefined), legumes, and nuts, moderate amounts of fish and dairy products, and low quantities of meat and meat products. Wine in moderation is acceptable when it is not contradictory to religious and social norms (Estruch, 2010; Dernini and Berry, 2015). In the traditional Mediterranean diet, as in many traditional everyday diets, plant foods constituted the core of the daily intake, whereas foods from animals were more peripheral (Willett et al., 1995). In recent years, the Mediterranean diet has received worldwide attention particularly for its health impact (Sofi et al., 2008) as, prevention and control of type 2 diabetes (MartínezGonzález et al., 2008; Esposito et al., 2010; Georgoulis et al., 2014), anti-inflammatory effects (Estruch, 2010), decrease the risk of overall mortality, mortality from cardiovascular diseases, incidence of or mortality from cancer, and incidence of Parkinson’s disease and Alzheimer’s disease (Estruch et al., 2006; Sofi et al., 2008; Trichopoulou et al., 2014).

Within the past two decades, international marketers have been faced with a globalizing world and the emergence of a global consumer culture (Alden et al. 1999; Cleveland and Laroche 2007; Akaka and Alden 2010). This emergence has increased the importance of understanding the value of global brands. Understanding this dynamic, Steenkamp et al. (2003) sought out to investigate the value of global brands and found that a consumer’s perception of a brand’s globalness (PBG) creates value for the brand by positively influencing perceptions of the brand’s quality and prestige. These findings have undoubtedly advanced research and practice on global brands as Steenkamp et al.’s (2003) article has been cited over 650 times since its publication. However, most of the studies on global brands since Steenkamp et al.’s (2003) work have been conducted in developed or emerging markets. Consumers living in the world’s least developed countries have not been considered with respect to global brand value creation. To address this issue, the research reported here examines global brand values across three different market types: developed, emerging, and least developed countries. Why is this important? Leading researchers in international business and international marketing have heavily stressed the importance of understanding institutional differences between markets (e.g., Contractor et al. 2014; Zhang et al. 2011), and given the prominence of global brands, better understandings of global brand value creation across different institutional environments would prove valuable for international marketing theory and practice. Also, as the world’s least developed countries become increasingly attractive for foreign direct investment (World Bank 2014); consumers in these countries should be given consideration in the discussion of global brand value. Furthermore, little research investigates the relationship between perceived prestige and quality across different market types. Thus, this paper not only investigates how a brand’s globalness creates value within consumers from three different markets, bust also seeks to gain a better understanding of the relationship between perceived prestige and perceived quality across these markets. The following research questions are thus proposed: Research Question 1 How does PBG influence perceived brand quality in developed, emerging, and least developed countries? Research Question 2 How does PBG influence perceived brand prestige in developed, emerging, and least developed countries? Research Question 3 What is the relationship between perceived brand prestige and perceived brand quality in developed, emerging, and least developed countries? The following sections review the relevant literature, develop hypotheses on global brand value creation across markets, empirically test the hypotheses, and finally discuss the implications of this research.

In the aftermath of the oil crisis of the early 1970s, the relationship between oil prices and economic growth became a focal point of the scientific discourse and public debate. In 1983, James Hamilton published an influential article showing that an oil price increase had preceded all but one recession in the United States since the end of World II [1]. Since then, a large number of empirical studies have looked into the connection between oil prices and real economic growth and frequently found a significant negative correlation [2,3]. The importance of this link between oil price and economic growth was less clear after the second oil shock [4–7]. Recent studies, with more refined statistical tools and price specifications, have restored the link between the oil price and economic growth [8–12]. There is now a general consensus that this connection did not cease but has become more complex in terms of direction (anticyclical and procyclical), typology of shocks (demand or supply) and lag patterns [4,9,11,13,14]. This line of research tried to explain this tight relationship, given that the cost of energy is only a small part of GDP [13] but satisfactory explanations have remained elusive [2,4,13,15]. Interestingly, this research exploring the link between the oil price and economic indicators seems to have entirely ignored the transport sector, which is heavily reliant on refined crude oil products, and its role in shaping the global division of labor. In the post-war period, world trade grew at a faster pace than world GDP [16]. According to recent studies on globalization, the remarkably high rate was propelled by a dramatic decline in international transport costs [16–19].

The study of tourism development has been characterised by a troubled dialectic between applied studies of tourism’s contribution to economic development and theoretically-informed political economy analyses. While there are signs of an emerging subdiscipline in the political economy of tourism (Bianchi, 2015; Clancy, 1999; Hazbun, 2008; Mosedale, 2011; Steiner, 2006; Williams, 2004) the level of theoretical engagement remains weak. The deficit notwithstanding, recent years have witnessed the steady growth of critical political economy approaches to tourism development underpinned by increasingly diverse theoretical and empirical perspectives (Mosedale, 2011, 2016). This paper will not however endeavour to provide a comprehensive account of the theoretical foundations and diverse applications of each of these perspectives. Rather, it commences with a brief reflection on the meaning of political economy and considers the reasons for its weak and inconsistent application in the study of tourism development. The remainder of the paper will appraise the major theoretical developments in the political economy of tourism and their shifting foci as well as identifying significant areas for future intellectual enquiry and research.

Culture is crucial to consider when developing a marketing strategy. Cultural values, and the extent to which people adhere to values, profoundly influence how consumers evaluate and respond to marketing efforts (Alden, Steenkamp, & Batra, 1999; Viswanathan & Dickson, 2007; Westjohn, Singh, & Magnusson, 2012). The diffusion of products and technology enabling social communications, the widespread migration of peoples across borders, and moreover, the global stretch of media coupled with the multinational marketing activities, are undeniably impacting cultures and consumers worldwide (Alden, Steenkamp, & Batra, 2006; Arnett, 2002). Expressed as the “crystallization of the world as a single place” (Robertson, 1987, p. 38), globalization portrays an increasingly economically, socially and culturally interdependent world. The ensuing cultural shifts are rapidly transforming societies, and proving to be a critical challenge for contemporary marketing managers. For decades, marketing practitioners have grappled with determining the optimal level of marketing standardization when dealing with the world market, whether it be foreign or domestic. Just how, where and when globalization affects behavior has spawned intense debate. The perspective portrayed in the popular press—that global integration hastens the worldwide convergence of cultures and consequent consumer behaviors—is shared by several academicians (Levitt, 1983; Wilk, 1998). Countermanding this homogenizing trend, some evidence points to a resurgence of communal identities and behavioral distinctions in response to globalization (Briley & Aaker, 2006). A third outcome suggests increasing homogeneity and heterogeneity occurring simultaneously, as global and local cultural entities combine to “fuel a hybridization of social life” (Ger, 1999, p. 65; Sobh, Belk, & Gressel, 2014). Whichever the aftermath, globalization and localization are inseparably linked (Askegaard, Arnould, & Kjeldgaard, 2005) and researchers must recognize the consequences arising from the interplay of global and local cultural forces on the lives of consumers (Merz, He, & Alden, 2008). Despite the obvious importance to marketers, empirical research on this topic is quite scarce, and save for a few very recent studies (Carpenter, Moore, Alexander, & Doherty, 2013; Cleveland, Laroche, & Hallab, 2013; Cleveland, Rojas-Méndez, Laroche, & Papadopoulos, 2016; Lysonski, 2014), most research on global consumer culture (hereafter, GCC) has not explicitly measured the intensity and extent of the construct (e.g., Steenkamp, Batra, & Alden, 2003).

Two kinds of inequality are known in our society, natural or physical and ethical or political. The former is attributed to different skills and abilities and is considered acceptable, while the latter results from specific economic systems and is considered detrimental because it makes economies inefficient and unstable This naturally leads to a question, is the second inequality avoidable?

This paper focuses on spatial inequality, which appears not only between countries but also within them, exhibiting uneven economic development. Globalization is one of the reasons for spatial income inequalities (Anand and Segal, 2008). The heterogeneity of space (uneven distribution of technologies, natural resources, and amenities) results in such inequalities, whose linkage has been extensively explored by traditional trade theory. Meanwhile, by a model of New Trade Theory (NTT), a recent paper of Takahashi et al. (2013) shows that the income inequality between two countries always occur in the spatial equilibrium even when the countries are homogeneous and differ only in size. Moreover, such a spatial inequality initially rises and then falls when globalization deepens. Consequently, the inequality appears even when there are no relative advantages in technology, resource endowment, and geographic feature.

However, the analysis of Takahashi et al. (2013) is limited to the case of two countries. In a space of two countries, there is only one way the countries can interact. Moving away from one country automatically implies that firms go to the other country. Whereas in the case of more than two countries, there are many ways in which these countries can interact.1 So it is not clear how the two-country analysis extends. We need a multicountry model to incorporate complex feedback, which is also important for empirical studies.

مقاله سال 2017

In his much acclaimed book The World is Flat, Thomas L. Friedman (Friedman, 2005) argued that globalization has created a more level playing field for global competition. Yet, while concerns for inequality linger, mostly in the realm of economics (Wade, 2004), it is becoming clear that information breeds inequality as well. One cannot consider information inequality without taking into account the World Wide Web (WWW).

The global web is a collection of networks, consisting of interconnected entities, ranging from individual bloggers at the micro level, to giant multinational corporations, and nation-states at the macro level (Castells, 2004, 2011; Chang et al., 2012). Among them, the hyperlink network is a type of network established on mutual acknowledgement of relevancy and information flow. Much like academic citations, hyperlinks point one source document to another (Thelwall, 2009), forming the web structure for content diffusion. Also, hyperlinking is a conscious and sometimes strategic behavior. Its patterns also reveal the politics of association (Rogers and Ben-David, 2008). Given that the global web has become a marketplace of ideas and the public sphere for the discussion of issues and social movements, how websites are interlinked affect the size and shape of the public sphere (Dahlgren, 2005; Turow, 2008).

There are two ways to look at hyperlinking patterns. The traditional approach looks at inter-linkages, that is, direct citations between a pair of websites (Barnett and Park, 2014). It shows relationships between site authors—how the site authors acknowledge one another. But the approach does not necessarily show contextual connectedness between site content, that is, how the content on one site is perceived as important to the content on another site, through the judgment of a third-party user. Additionally, this perspective has been criticized for including erroneous links, irrelevant information and inconsequential relationships (Weber and Monge, 2011; Ackland, 2013). The examination of website co-mentions represents an improved alternative.

مقاله سال 2016

Besides engendering economic interdependence among countries, globalization is also engendering cultural convergence by facilitating the sharing of ideas and values across countries. Given the trend toward international cultural convergence, a key international business research stream seeks to identify similarities in culture-specific beliefs and attitudes across different contexts including consumer behavior (Leung, Bhagat, Buchan, Erez, & Gibson, 2005; Pudelko, Carr, Fink, & Wentges, 2006). This study contributes to this research stream by examining similarities in the consumption behavior for business education in a four-country setting.

Webber (1969) identified technology, the widespread adoption of pragmatic societal values, and education as the key drivers of cultural convergence. Convergence of education occurs when similar educational content and delivery in different countries fosters similar values and beliefs. There is some evidence of similarities in business education across different countries. The flagship business degree, the MBA is characterized by significant commonalities in content and pedagogical approaches across many countries (Armstrong & Krasnostein, 1995). These commonalities are attributed to the dominating economic and political standing of the United States in the world, especially in the post second world war era (Djelic, 1998; Hofstede, 1980, 2001). The adoption of scientific approaches to management and the creation and dissemination of formal management knowledge has been spearheaded by American institutions, which has contributed to significant convergence in business education all over the world.

t, is the convergence of business education programs compatible with the needs of consumers in different countries? This study examines if the motives of students for choosing among business majors are similar or dissimilar across countries and whether the relative importance of these motives varies across countries. Considerable research has been reported in the business education literature regarding the motives that drive the choice of business majors but generally extant research has a pedagogical focus and is not cross-cultural (e.g., Kim, Markham, & Cangelosi, 2002; Malgwi, Howe, & Burnaby, 2005; Moberg & Walton, 2003; Pritchard, Potter, & Saccucci, 2004; Roach, McGaughey, & Downey, 2011). This study examines the motives that drive the choice of business majors in a cross-national context. The study has relevance for university administrators. Over the last two decades, there has been a growing trend among universities of entering foreign markets (Lewin, 2008). Many American, British, Australian, and Indian universities have opened campuses in foreign locations. But, not all these ventures have been successful. For example, a number of American schools have withdrawn from foreign markets (Pope, 2011). International business research that uses an education context can generate findings that are useful to educational administrators who seek to expand their programs in foreign countries.