Journal of Islamic Marketing

The impact of culture on consumer’s perception of brand identity: Evidences from

Gulf countries
Shiksha Kushwah, Deep Shree, Sakineh Rezaei, Mahim Sagar,
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Shiksha Kushwah, Deep Shree, Sakineh Rezaei, Mahim Sagar, (2019) "The impact of culture on
consumer’s perception of brand identity: Evidences from Gulf countries", Journal of Islamic Marketing,
https://doi.org/10.1108/JIMA-12-2017-0146
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Culture on
The impact of culture on consumer’s
consumer’s perception of perception

brand identity
Evidences from Gulf countries
Shiksha Kushwah, Deep Shree, Sakineh Rezaei and Mahim Sagar Received 30 December 2017
Revised 15 September 2018
Department of Management Studies, Indian Institute of Technology, 11 February 2019
New Delhi, India Accepted 2 March 2019
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Abstract
Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to study the influence of culture on consumers’ perception of brands,
specifically brand identity in Gulf countries (Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and Qatar), and how
brands entering new markets, launching new products or modifying existing brands can gain important
insights from this to make the brand culturally acceptable.
Design/methodology/approach – This study includes both inductive and deductive approaches. The
literature review has been conducted to identity the factors of brand identity and culture, followed by the
blending of the factors through Delphi method. The relationship that was identified through qualitative
approach was further tested through a quantitative survey (n=1,152). The analysis includes, hypotheses
testing using the Kruskal–Wallis test.
Findings – The results of hypothesis testing proved that culture does play a significant role in shaping how
consumers perceive brand identity. The Kruskal–Wallis test showed a significant difference across three
cultures. Only two constructs that were not ranked significantly different across three cultures were brand as
a stance and brand through place and time. Findings of this study supported the culture-specific branding, i.e.
Islamic branding in the studied context.
Practical implications – Brand identity can be said to be the focal point of all branding activities. Brand
identity creation starts with the starting of the product or services and is passed on through the process of
brand communication and is manifested through the brand image formation by customer. Once the brand
identity for a brand is created, it is very tough to change it; hence, from the very beginning, marketers have to
take care of the brand identity. Thus, the findings of this study can be used by brand managers and marketers
to create or modify brand identity according to the culture of the target consumers. These findings could also
be incorporated for designing Islamic branding strategy for the studied context.
Originality/value – This research uses both qualitative and quantitative approaches to identify the brand
identity and culture variables and subsequently probes the relationship among them. This study would help
the brand managers in designing the brand identity for the brand operating or planning to enter in the Gulf
countries.
Keywords Culture, Brand identity, Cross-cultural study, Gulf countries
Paper type Research paper

1. Introduction
Because of globalization and rapid communication, consumers have become more cognizant
about their surroundings and the culture and its subsystems of their country and
community. As humans, we all are social beings, ascribing to certain value systems, beliefs
and customs, which are an integral part of our life. In the domain of marketing, it is very Journal of Islamic Marketing
important that a brand exhibits attributes that are similar and are acceptable in accordance © Emerald Publishing Limited
1759-0833
with the culture of the market it is serving, then only it will be accepted by the consumers. If DOI 10.1108/JIMA-12-2017-0146
 JIMA the brand fails to show similar attributes, then it will be considered as an outsider, and will
be looked down as transactional. A brand, which is in conflict with the culture of the market
it is serving, is doomed to failure (Aghaeian et al., 2013).
Out of the five fundamental brand positioning elements identified by Sagar et al. (2006),
brand identity (Kapferer, 2007; Aaker, 1992; de Chernatony and McDonald, 1992), brand
personality (Lehman, 1993; Plummer, 1985; Jennifer, 1997) and brand communication
(Rossiter and Percy, 1987; Woodside and Wilson, 1985) are three elements that are controlled
by the company. For any brand, the formulation of a brand identity is one of the central
constructs, after which a brand comes into existence. After brand identity is established, only
then the role of brand communication comes into play. Thus, it is both an opportunity and a
challenge for brands and marketers to adapt or create culturally relevant brand identities
(Aghaeian et al., 2013). A brand with a “strong” identity but weak cultural fit will give the
impression of a bully. This is especially essential when a brand is introduced in a new
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country or region with a different culture.

Globally, the marketers have started accepting the fact that products and services must
be adopted according to the socio-cultural needs of different countries (Cateora and Graham,
2002).There are many studies focusing on cross-cultural brand communication strategies
(Chang and Chieng, 2006; Mikhailitchenko et al., 2009; Lee, 1993; Madden, et al., 2000; Luna
and Gupta, 2001), but there is lack of research on adapting brand identity in a cross-cultural
environment especially for Gulf countries; instead, global corporations try to apply a
standard format and formula for their brand identity to gain from the economies of scale
arising out of it (Witkowski et al., 2003); this may lead to failure of brands. Culture in the
Gulf countries differs significantly from that in the western world. Also, cultural values
differ among the Gulf countries on the basis of the degree of religiosity (Temporal, 2011). In
fact, consumers and marketers in these cultural context seek commodities centered on
thought leadership and divine worship (Wilson et al., 2013).
Hence, to address this research gap in the existing literature, this study aims to gain
further insights on how culture can play a role in consumers’ perception of brands,
specifically brand identity and how brands entering new markets, launching new products
or modifying existing brands can gain important insights to make the brand culturally
acceptable. This study starts with a thorough review of the existing literature to identity the
factors of brand identity and culture, followed by the blending of the factors through Delphi
method. Findings of the previous study enabled the research to enter its deductive phase
employing a quantitative random survey (n = 1,152) to probe the identified factors and
relationships among them. The findings of the study supported the culture specific branding
strategy, i.e. Islamic branding in studied context.

2. Literature review
The literature review has been done to identity the factors of brand identity and culture,
followed by the blending of the factors through Delphi method.

2.1 Construct of brand identity

A brand identity of a company is reflected by its logo, slogan, jingle, symbol, mascot, sign,
icon, product range, organizational mission, usages, etc. Brand identity can be defined as a
tool that helps in providing strategic direction, meaning and purpose to a brand
(Aaker, 1992). Brand identity is the main driver of brand equity. Aaker (1992) defines brand
identity as “a unique set of brand associations that the brand strategist aspires to create or
maintain.”
 2.1.1 Elements of brand identity. Aaker (1992) presented a framework for brand identity, Culture on
which is based on 4 different perspectives and 12 different dimensions. Aaker (1992) further consumer’s
says that brand strategists should consider the brand as a product, an organization, a person
and a symbol.
perception
A brand identity prism has been developed by Kapferer (2007); here, he differentiates
between a sender side, receiver side as well as the internalization and externalization sides.
The six faces (physique, personality, culture, brand relationships, reflection and self image)
of the prism depict the different intangible and tangible features and which, together, help in
the formation of a unique identity of the brand and provide legitimacy to the set of values it
proclaims and benefits it assures (Kapferer, 2007).
As asserted by Harris and de Chernatony (2001), the brand identity is said to comprise
these components: brand culture, positioning, vision, presentation and relation. The
summary of brand identity models is presented in Table I.
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2.2 Construct of culture

Van Gelder (2003) proposed that culture is a complex system consisting of shared beliefs of
the individuals, values, symbols and customs, which is used by the members of groups or
society to cope up with each other and with the outside world. Hofstede (2001) defined
culture to be the “collective programming of mind,” which helps in differentiating the
members of one group from the other. Johansson (2000) said that culture is the underlying
framework which defines and guides individual’s behavior, and is expressed in a manner
the individual interacts and reacts to the situation in one’s day-to-day life. Culture is passed
on from one generation to another and is responsible for the way people behave and the
values they hold close (Trompenaars, 1994). Culture is not something temporary; it is passed
on from one generation to another and is the most important factor that shapes human
behavior, perception and attitude. It is not a fad that will fade away with time. Therefore, it
is extremely tough to understand what culture is; it is something that resides inside the
individuals (Teimourpour and Heidarzadeh Hanzaee, 2011).
2.2.1 Dimensions of culture. Most of the social scientists have tried to present their own
definition and description of culture; they use different cultural dimensions for this purpose.
Several models have been presented in this section. Each of the models discussed here
focuses on different aspects of beliefs, values, norms, etc.
Geert Hofstede (1984, 2001), a renowned Dutch management researcher, proposed the
most widely accepted and circulated model of cultural differences in the context of the
organization. The model was based on the study conducted on the employees working for
various multinational organizations. According to him, the cultures can be differentiated
from one another based on the fundamental differences among what they value. Hofstede
(1980) said that the national culture has five main dimensions. They are individualism,
power distance, masculinity, uncertainty avoidance and long- versus short-term orientation.

Author Year Brand identity elements

David Aaker 1996 Brand as product, organization, person and symbol

Kapferer 2007 Physique, personality, culture, brand relationship, reflection and self-image
Harris and 1998 Brand vision, brand culture, positioning, personality, relationship and
Chernatony presentation Table I.
Summary of brand
Source: Author’s own identity models
 JIMA On the basis of the ethnographic research undertaken in different societies, noted cultural
anthropologist Edward T. Hall (1976, 1981) proposed a model of culture. The research work
carried out by him mainly focused on the cultural differences exhibited during interpersonal
communication. He proposed that for a proper understanding of cultural orientations, it is
extremely important to consider three elements: context, space and time. On the basis of
these elements, he distinguished between two types of culture: high and low context
cultures. In the high context culture, the meaning lies in the context rather than in the
message itself, while in the low context culture, the information lies in the message itself
(Hall, 1976). He also differentiated between intimate, public and social spaces; these spaces
are perceived differently across different cultures. The third element, time orientation,
explains how different cultures structure their time. In monochromic time orientation, people
do one thing at a time, while in a polychromic orientation one tends to focus on multiple
tasks at the same time. As mentioned by Hall, Northern Europe Cultures have monochronic
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people, while people from the Mediterranean and Latin American cultures tend to be
polychronic.
Dutch management researcher Trompenaars (1994) presented a modified model of culture
which was based on the work of Hofstede. This model was developed on the basis of his
study of managers at Shell and several other organizations over a time of 10 years.
Trompenaars (1994) presents a different view of culture; he said it to be the way in which
different people solve different problems they come across in their lives. He further said that
the manner in which people solve problems is primarily dependent on three important
factors, which are the relationships these people have with other individuals, with their
environment and time. Corresponding to these three issues, he identified seven cultural
orientations. Out of these seven, five are related to the relationship shared among individuals,
and the rest two orientations deal with time and environment. These orientations have been
named as Universalism vs Particularism, Individualism vs Collectivism, Neutral vs
Affective, Diffuse vs Specific, Achievement vs Ascription, attitude to Time and an attitude to
Environment.
Working on the earlier research conducted by Clyde Kluckhohn (1951) and Kluckhohn
and Strodtbeck (1961) came forward with a model of culture, which can be considered the
forerunner among other models of culture. They suggested a model for the cultural
assessment of different societies, which encompasses five major dimensions (each
dimension has been presented with respective scale anchors): relationship with nature
(mastery, harmony and subjugation), relationship with people (individualistic, collateral and
linear), human activities (being, becoming and doing), relationship with time (past, present
and future) and human nature (good, neutral and evil).
As explained by Schwartz (1992), the desirable goals, often different in the order of
preference, which serve as the guiding principal in the life of individuals, are called values
(Schwartz, 1992, 1994).According to him, values are nothing but constructs lying on a
continuum that may overlap with one another, and these values are organized in the form of
structures, which often remain consistent across different cultures. Schwartz (1992, 1994)
and his associates said that the underlying differences between these social values are the
differences in the motivational goals that they reflect. Schwartz (2006) listed three
dimensions at the cultural level; they are conservatism vs autonomy, hierarchy and
egalitarianism and mastery vs harmony.
The GLOBE study was launched in the mid-1990s with an aim to explore cross cultural
interactions in organizations and the effect of culture on several aspects of an organization such
as leadership, competencies and effectiveness (House, 2004). The nine cultural dimensions they
identified as independent variables are uncertainty avoidance, power distance, institutional
 collectivism, in-group collectivism, gender egalitarianism, assertiveness, future orientation, Culture on
performance-orientation and humane-orientation. The thematic comparison of all the cultural consumer’s
dimensions is presented in Table II.
This table helps to bring unity of meaning to the dimensions. Different researchers have
perception
given different names to the dimensions of culture with similar meanings and implications.
For e.g. Kluckhohn’s dimension of relationship with time is similar to Hofstede’s long-vs
short-term orientation. Similarly, Schwartz’s “hierarchy-egalitarianism” is equivalent to
Hofstede’s power distance. Since in the research the nomenclature of the dimensions given
by Hofstede is used the researcher has compared the factors given by other studies with
those of Hofstede’s.
2.2.2 Cultural variables. Every society has its own set of cultural variables that are
unique to that society (Hofstede and Hofstede, 2005). These variables are responsible for
shaping the thoughts and behaviors of the members of the society. Branding activities are
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not an exception, and they are viewed with reference to these cultural variables. According
to Van Gelder (2003), there are three important variables for cross-cultural issues. They are
values, belief and symbols and customs. These variables varied across different cultures.
Gulf nations have their own established values and belief systems based on Islamic
principles (Karami et al., 2017). For instance, Sobh et al. (2013) through their study on Arab
hospitality found that the hospitality in the studied context is limited to the close group of
the same sex and hospitality to foreigner in these countries is hosted through foreigners
only. Thus, culture in these nations’ plays influences the consumer choices and business
operations. Even the culture in these Islamic countries differs on the basis of the degree of
religiosity (Temporal, 2011). This cultural difference among gulf countries and its impact on
branding has been investigated in this study.

2.3 Effect of culture on branding elements

In the area of consumer research, recent works have highlighted the interrelation that exists
between culture and brand meanings of a region. Holt (2002) analyzed different brands with
relation to the co-evolution of marketing practices and the existing consumer culture. He
asserts that in the postmodern marketplace, marketers struggle for integrating their brands
into various spheres of popular culture. While designing the marketing strategies, the
brands across different countries or regions often try to understand the role of culture in the
process of adoption or rejection of the brand. On one side, there are groups of marketers who
argue that it is the brand culture that plays a role, not the culture of the region in the success
of the brand. Hence, they favor standardized marketing strategies that have been tried and
tested over time. Further, they do not pay any attention to the culture of the country. On the
other side, there is another group that feels that the role of the culture of the region is very

Hofstede Hall Schwartz Kluckhohn Trompenaars House

Power distance 1 1 1 1 2
Uncertainty avoidance 1 1 2 1
Masculinity vs feminity 1 1 1 3 Table II.
Individualism vs collectivism 1 1 2 2 Thematic
Long- vs short-term orientation 1 1 1 1 comparison of
Note: Number indicates the number of cultural dimensions from the various models that fit with Hofstede cultural dimensions
dimension with Hofstede’s
Source: Author’s own dimension
 JIMA important and there should be customized strategies for different cultures (Whitelock and
Fastoso, 2007). Ignoring the role of culture may lead to a major failure. These groups prefer
mixing of brand–culture with country culture and try to align the brand heritage and the
heritage of the country they are targeting and their strategies are based on this (Nijssen and
Douglas, 2008; Whitelock and Fastoso, 2007). Marketing intends to create and nourish a
strong bond between the consumers and the brand. Fournier (1998) describes the
relationship between consumers and brands as a multifaceted construct to capture the
richness of fabric from which brand relationships arise. A brand said to obtain its meaning
by a three step process involving meaning transfer: “From the cultural elements in the social
worlds to consumer groups, to individual consumer” (McCracken, 1986). The concept of
brand concept goes much deeper than the concept of product. A product is able to offer only
tangible benefits while a brand is a bundle of tangible as well as intangible benefits. While
creating a brand, an organization creates a brand heritage and this brand heritage works in
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conjunction with the cultural heritage of the host country. If there is a gap between brand
and cultural heritages, then contradictions arise and marketers must resolve this gap for
improving the efficiency of their brand.
2.3.1 Islamic branding. In line with the above argument, culture influences consumer
perception about the brands. Religious belief is one of the most influential cultural
variables (Mokhlis, 2009; Kotler, 2000). Shah Alam et al. (2011) proposed that “Religiosity
has been shown to influence one’s makeup and lifestyle, information search, purchase
risk aversion, attitude toward advertising, purchasing behavior of major durables and
selected aspects of behavior”. This influential role of religious belief leads to emergence of
new stream of research on Islamic marketing and branding. Wilson (2012) defined
Islamic marketing as:
An acknowledgement of a God-conscious approach to marketing; A school of thought which has a
moral compass which tends towards the ethical norms and values of Islam and how Muslim
interpret these, from their varying cultural lenses; A multi-layered, dynamic and three-dimensional
phenomenon of Muslim and non-Muslim stakeholder engagement, which can be understood by
considering the creation of explicit and/or implicit signaling cultural artefacts – facilitated by
marketing.
In fact, Islamic marketing is “fit for purpose” marketing (Wilson and Grant, 2013). According to
Alserhan (2010) “Islamic branding can be defined in three different ways: Islamic brands by
compliance, by origin or by customer”. This study focused on the third aspect of this definition,
i.e. Islamic brands defined by customer. Alserhan (2010) elaborated this as:
Describing brands that emanate from non-Islamic countries yet are designed specially to target
the Muslim consumer. Although these brands are usually owned by non-Muslims they are
described as Islamic based on their target customers, that is, Muslims.
This study focused on the consumer perception of the brands. The findings of this study
could be used by foreign origin or local brand targeting Muslim consumers.

3. Methodology
Literature review helped to fully understand both culture and brand identity. The important
outcome of the literature review was the factors of brand identity and culture. However,
there was a lack of study that proved the relationship between these two. Therefore,
research started inductively, to carve out a more comprehensive, coherent and in sync of the
exploration of factors of brand identity and culture. Because qualitative research methods
are suited for this exploratory study as they are not influenced by the preconceived notions
of the research and also enable to develop the in-depth understanding of the area under
 study (Creswell, 2008). Thus, for this phase, Delphi technique was used. The relationship Culture on
that was identified through qualitative approach was further tested through a quantitative consumer’s
survey (n = 1,152).
perception
3.1 Empirical Study 1 - Delphi technique
For our study, the panel of 15 experts included academic researchers, faculty members
specializing in branding and cross-cultural studies, posts graduate students, active
consultants and advertising gurus who have worked in these fields and brand managers of
prominent firms working in relevant industries specifically fashion clothing, FMCG
products, fast food and toiletries. All the panel members had worked in relevant areas of
branding and culture.
Keeping this in mind, in the first iteration the panel was made aware of the
research and the factors of brand identity and culture obtained through literature
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review. The next round was divided into two subparts. The first sub part of the
second iteration was dedicated for the purpose of eliminating repeating or similar
factors of brand identity. Factors with obvious conceptual overlap were also removed
or renamed, which generated a reduced list of 24 factors of brand identity. The next
subpart of the second iteration focused on extracting factors of culture similar to the
first process.
After the finalization of the factors of brand identity and culture, the panel was tasked
with blending the factors of brand identity with the factors of culture. Here, blending was
clarified as the interaction between any factors of brand identity with any factor of culture,
retained until now. This exploratory study resulted in the blending of the brand identity and
culture factor that are presented in Table III.

Hypothesis
(No.) Brand identity theme Brand identity factors (interplay with cultural factors)

H01 Brand as an entity Product shape (uncertainty avoidance)

Product size (individualism vs collectivism)
Packaging size (individualism vs collectivism)
H02 Brand as added value Quality (uncertainty avoidance)
Extra feature and services (long-vs short-term orientation)
H03 Brand as outlook Packaging colors, images and shape (custom and symbols)
H04 Brand as a stance Product differentiation (uncertainty avoidance)
Frame of reference (uncertainty avoidance)
Point of parity (uncertainty avoidance)
Enhanced self-perception of consumers (masculinity vs femininity)
Enhanced fit with the environment (individualism vs collectivism)
Brand distribution (power distance)
H05 Brand as mental imagery Brand ambassador(persons/icons)
Personality (beliefs about destiny)
Sponsorship (images)
Brand customer relationship (manners)
Mascot (animals/natural elements)
H06 Brand Through Place and Country of origin (belief about world)
time Brand heritage (custom and symbols)
Brand vision (long- vs short-term orientation)
Table III.
Organization attributes (belief about world) Brand–culture
interaction
Source: Author’s own framework
 JIMA 3.2 Empirical Study 2 - Questionnaire
The above exploratory research probed the problem area, identifying the interaction among
brand identity and culture elements and providing some understanding of the influence of the
culture on consumer perception of the brand identity. However, the degree of influence and the
possible interaction among identified elements, however, remained incomplete. Therefore, it
was needed to include the large sample and further explore this proposed relationship among
these elements fully and provide the relative importance to select consumer group in select
industries. Thus, the hypothesis has been developed to prove it further. Here, the null
hypothesis states that culture and brand identity have no relationship at all.

H01. Culture in brand as an entity does not play a significant role in developing
consumers’ perception of brand identity.
H02. Culture in brand as an added value does not play a significant role in developing
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consumers’ perception of brand identity.

H03. Culture in brand as an outlook does not play a significant role in developing
consumers’ perception of brand identity.
H04. Culture in brand as a stance does not play a significant role in developing
consumers’ perception of brand identity.
H05. Culture in brand as mental imagery does not play a significant role in developing
consumers’ perception of brand identity.
H06. Culture in brand through place and time does not play a significant role in
developing consumers’ perception of brand identity.
3.2.1 Questionnaire development. The research objectives and hypotheses were translated
in a questionnaire. In the questionnaire, factors of culture were taken as independent
variables as the culture of a country or community does not vary but is drawn through
centuries of existence of the community. On the other hand, the factors of brand identity
identified and grouped into themes were taken as single variables. These were the
dependent variables as perception of brand identity was hypothesized to be dependent upon
cultural factors.
A single questionnaire consisting of 21 questions was developed. The questionnaire had
three sections and each section had seven structured questions. Structured questions specify
the response alternatives and format available to the respondents beforehand, and they can
have multiple choices for an answer and can be dichotomous or even a scale. This study
used Likert scale for the questions.
The data points for each hypothesis are given in Table IV.

S. no Variables Questions/data points

1 Brand as entity 1a, 1b and 1d

2 Brand as added value 1e, 1f and 1g
3 Brand as outlook 1c
4 Brand as stance 3a, 3b, 3c, 3e, 3f and 3g
Table IV. 5 Brand as mental imagery 2a, 2b, 2c and 2f
Factor-questions 6 Brand through place and time 2d, 2e, 2g and 3a
mapping for
questionnaire Source: Author’s own
 3.2.2 Pretesting of the questionnaire. The questionnaire for the study was developed on Culture on
the basis of a review of literature and discussions and consultations with the experts. For consumer’s
pre-testing of the questionnaire, first of all, face validity was tested, wherein a panel of
five experts was consulted to rate the questions on the basis of whether they represented
perception
the theme. Each question was rated on a scale of 1 to 5, where 1 represented inappropriate
and 5 represented appropriate, and questions with a rating of 4 or above were selected.
From the initial questionnaire comprising 24 questions, 3 questions were excluded so that
the final questionnaire had 21 questions for deployment.
The final questionnaire was then tested for the following:
3.2.1.1 Reliability. For testing the reliability of the questionnaire, two tests were conducted:
(1) Test retest reliability was conducted first on 14 respondents who were selected
through convenience sampling. After ten days, the retest was done on the same
sample; this time gap was there, keeping in mind that during the gap, the
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respondents neither fully remember the study nor fully forget it.
(2) Then, Pearson correlation coefficient (two-tailed) was calculated; the two-tailed test
was conducted as the null hypothesis and the alternate hypothesis were not
directionally established. Pearson Correlation coefficient value was 0.768 at a 0.01
significance level, which established a high degree of correlation between the test
and retest. The results are shown in Table V.

After this, the internal reliability of the questionnaire was tested using Cronbach’s alpha
(Cronbach, 1951). It is the most common determinant of reliability (Peterson, 1994). For the
questionnaire, Cronbach’s alpha was calculated using SPSS. A minimum score of 0.50 is
important to retain an item in a scale (Peterson, 1994), which is an acceptable value in social
and psychology research (Robinson, Shaver and Wrightsman, 1991). In this research, a value
of 0.827 has been obtained, which indicates a very high degree of internal reliability. This is
presented in Table VI.

Correlations TEST RETEST

TEST
Pearson correlation 1 0.768**
Sig. (two-tailed) 0.001
N 14 14
RETEST
Pearson correlation 0.768** 1
Sig. (two-tailed) 0.001
N 14 20

Note: **Correlation is significant at the 0.01 level (two-tailed) Table V.

Source: Author’s own Co-relations results

Reliability statistics
Cronbach’s alpha Cronbach’s alpha based on standardized items No. of items

0.827 0.832 24
Table VI.
Source: Author’s own Reliability statistics
 JIMA 3.2.1.2 Validity. For testing the validity of the questionnaire, two tests were performed:
content and criterion validity tests. Content validity involves subjectively evaluating the
scale developed for research. For the purpose of this research, a horizontal, balanced Likert
scale was used with an odd number of categories, including strong adjectives like never,
rarely, sometimes, often and always, for getting strong and genuine responses from the
respondents. The scale was then reviewed by an independent expert and then it was
finalized for deployment (Table VII).
Then, the questionnaire was tested for construct validity for testing whether the
questions measure what they intend to measure. For this, a panel of five experts was asked
to rate the questions on the basis that they represented the theme. Each question was rated
on a scale of 1 to 5, with 1 being inappropriate and 5 being appropriate, and the questions
with a rating of 4 and above were included in the questionnaire for final deployment. In the
end, 3 questions from the initial 24 questions were removed so that the final questionnaire
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had 21 questions for deployment.

3.2.2 Sampling. As the study was to have a cross-cultural perspective, three nations were
selected from the Middle East region of the world. This was done because the Middle East
region poses a challenge for International brands and organizations from the cultural
perspective. The three countries chosen were Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates (U.A.E)
and Qatar. First of all, these countries were chosen for the study because of the economic
growth these countries are experiencing as many international brands and organizations are
making an entry in these countries. Another reason was the relative political stability of
these nations in the Middle East region as compared to other nations, which provided
accessibility to the researcher.
The target population was defined as.
For the purpose of questionnaire deployment, simple random sampling was used. The
total sample size was 1,152.
3.2.3 Administration of the survey. The mall intercept method was used for
administering the questionnaire. This was chosen because of the younger generations’
propensity to visit malls for consumer goods. Furthermore, personal intercept was used so
as to ensure that any doubts or difficulties regarding the questions could be immediately
clarified, as culture is not an explicit entity, but manifests itself in behavior. Questionnaires
were administered on all the days of the week including weekends and the responses were
collected. Even in case of Saudi Arabia, the questionnaires were conducted on all the days
including weekends. For each country, two weeks were spent for collection of responses
from the respondents.
Before the deployment of the questionnaire, it was realized that as the target audience
will be Arabic, it would be required that the questionnaire be translated to Arabic. Thus,
first of all, with the help of expert the questionnaire was translated to Arabic. It was aimed
at making it understandable and more convenient for people in the targeted countries to
understand. After translation the questionnaire was tested for face validity with a sample of
respondents of Arab nationalities to check its fluency and understandability.

Elements Male and female residents of age group 18 to 40 years

Sampling units Young male and female consumers
Extent Saudi Arabia, U.A.E and Qatar
Time 2011-2012
Table VII.
Target populations Source: Author’s own
 4. Results Culture on
4.1 Sample profile consumer’s
Table VIII shows the demographic characteristics of the respondents. It is concluded from
the table that 51.13 per cent of respondents were female and 48.87 per cent were male. The
perception
respondents were from three different countries (Saudi Arabia, UAE and Qatar) and from
three different industries (toiletries, home appliances and fashion). The details are
mentioned in Table VIII.

4.2 Testing of hypotheses

To decide whether to use parametric or non-parametric tests for hypothesis testing, tests of
normality were conducted. These tests were Kolmogorov–Smirnov and Shapiro–Wilk tests.
Once the decision on the normality was reached the Kruskal–Wallis test was used for
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hypothesis testing. The analysis was carried out in SPSS window and the results are shown
in Table IX.
From the above results, the significant values for H1 to H6 were less than 0.05, thus
showing that the data for hypotheses testing do not follow a normal distribution. Thus, in
this study, non-parametric test i.e. Kruskal–Wallis test was used. The test statistics are
presented in Table X.
Table X shows the results of hypothesis testing. It is evident from the table that null
hypotheses, H01 ( x 2 = 55.166, Df. = 2, Asymp.sig. = 0.000), H02 ( x 2 = 14.004, Df. = 2,
Asymp.sig. = 0.001), H03 ( x 2 = 110.625, Df. = 2, Asymp.sig. = 0.000), H04 ( x 2 = 7.345,
Df. = 2, Asymp.sig. = 0.025) and H05 ( x 2 = 42.580, Df. = 2, Asymp.sig. = 0.000) has been
rejected. However, null hypothesis H06 ( x 2 = 3.937, Df. = 2, Asymp.sig. = 0.140) has been

Variable Frequency (%) of sample

Gender
Female 589 51.13
Male 563 48.87
Country
Saudi Arabia 384 33.33
UAE 384 33.33
Qatar 384 33.33
Toiletries
Saudi Arabia 136 34.52
UAE 121 30.71
Qatar 137 34.77
Home appliances
Saudi Arabia 118 35.44
UAE 105 31.53
Qatar 110 33.03
Fashion
Saudi Arabia 130 30.59
UAE 158 37.18
Qatar 137 32.23 Table VIII.
Demographic profile
Source: Author’s own of the respondents
 JIMA accepted. Apart from Hypothesis H06, all other hypotheses validated that culture indeed
plays a role in consumer’s perception of brand identity.
To study whether any significant difference exist between the three countries (Saudi
Arabia, United Arab Emirates and Qatar) on the ranking of six brand identity and culture
construct, the Kruskal–Wallis test was performed for each of the construct. The results of
the test are presented in Table XI. The Kruskal–Wallis test showed a significant difference
across three cultures. This may be owing to significant differences among these Islamic
countries on the basis of the degree of religiosity (Temporal, 2011). Table XI reveals that
only two values that were not ranked significantly different across three cultures were
brand as a stance and brand through place and time. Rest shows significant differences
among the studied Gulf countries.
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Kolmogorov–Smirnov* Shapiro–Wilk
Hypothesis Statistic Df. Sig. Statistic Df. Sig.

H01 0.133 1150 0.000 0.954 1150 0.000

H02 0.249 1150 0.000 0.855 1150 0.000
H03 0.247 1150 0.000 0.848 1150 0.000
Table IX. H04 0.093 1150 0.000 0.956 1150 0.000
H05 0.135 1150 0.000 0.963 1150 0.000
Kolmogorov–
H06 0.127 1150 0.000 0.953 1150 0.000
Smirnov test and
Shapiro–Wilk test Note: *Lilliefors significance correction
results Source: Author’s own

Hypothesis N SD Mean Chi-Square( x 2) Df. Asymp.sig.

H01 1151 2.46 1.8 55.166 2 0.000

H02 1152 1.12 0.8 14.004 2 0.001
H03 1152 1.53 2.3 110.625 2 0.000
H04 1152 3.11 5.5 7.345 2 0.025
H05 1151 2.84 2.9 42.580 2 0.000
Table X. H06 1152 2.5 3.7 3.937 2 0.140
Hypothesis testing
results Source: Author’s own

Saudi Arabia UAE Qatar

Construct N Mean rank N Mean rank N Mean rank

Brand as an entity vs culture 384 625.82 384 628.13 383 473.78

Brand as an added value vs culture 384 604.20 384 598.30 384 527.00
Brand as an outlook vs culture 384 439.71 384 647.60 384 642.19
Brand as a stance vs culture 384 599.67 384 590.31 384 539.52
Table XI. Brand as mental imagery vs culture 384 634.88 384 605.17 383 487.71
Kruskal–Wallis Test Brand through place and time vs culture 384 585.20 384 594.55 384 549.76
results for three
countries Source: Author’s own
 5. Discussions Culture on
The aim of the study was to study the influence of culture on consumer perception of consumer’s
brand identity, wherein we studied the consumers of Gulf countries. A mixed-method
approach has been used to examine the stated objective. This involved both
perception
qualitative and quantitative approach. The findings of the qualitative study have
been used to move on to the quantitative phase of the study. Conclusions and
inferences have been drawn on the basis of qualitative as well as the quantitative
analyses of the data. From hypothesis testing, it can be concluded that culture does
play a significant role in shaping how consumers perceive brand identity. As five out
of six hypotheses testing the influences of blended elements of brand identity and
culture on consumer perception of brand identity found to be significant in the studied
context (H1-5). On the contrary, H6 found to be insignificant. To study whether any
significant difference exist between the three countries (Saudi Arabia, United Arab
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Emirates and Qatar) on the ranking of six brand identity and culture construct, the
Kruskal–Wallis test was performed for each of the construct. The Kruskal–Wallis test
showed a significant difference across three cultures. The reasoning could be
attributed to the presence of significant differences among the perception of people in
the studied Islamic nations. Different religions have different belief systems and this
cannot be ignored while studying a particular culture (Shyan Fam et al., 2004). In fact,
these cultural elements lead to different perception and choice behavior. For instance, if
we take brand as an outlook, same packaging can be interpreted differently by people of
two different Islamic nations. So while it is good that a brand maintains consistency to
become a global brand, differentiating on the basis of culture can be a good strategy if
appropriate modification in brand identity can be done. Here, we support the Wilson
(2012) arguments of culture based marketing. Brand as an added value can bring about
change in buying behavior of consumer simply on the basis of short- or long-term
orientation of the people of a specific culture. Even mental imagery, brand as an entity
and brand as a stance can influence consumer choices. However, brand through place
and time seems to play little role in how consumers perceive brand identity. This can be
explained on the basis that brands with already established heritage, culture, etc. have
truly become global brands and that modification of such values would bring no good
as such. In conclusion, however, culture seems to play a significant role in consumers’
perception of brand identity since we found out significance influence of culture on
consumer perception of brand identity. Marketers can employ culture-specific
brandings strategy to increase their acceptability among target consumers. Islamic
branding could be one such strategy as it imbibed the principles of Islam.

6. Implications
This study has significant research implications for practitioners as well as academia.
Speaking about the implication for practitioners, this study investigated the influence
of culture on consumer perception of brand identity. The six elements of the brand
identity has been identified and blended with the elements of the culture. The resultant
has been tested on consumer perceptions of brand identity. The findings related to all the
six blended elements could be used by marketers for positioning of the brand in the
studied context. First, brand as an entity deals with the existence and feel of the offerings
to the consumers. Various factors that work together to enable the brand to function as an
entity are primarily dependent on the shape as well as the size of the offering as well as
the shape and the size of its package. The product package matters even more for the
products which are not being offered in the solid state. It can be easily interpreted with
 JIMA the help of the dimensions of culture: uncertainty avoidance and collectivism versus
individualism. As for example, in case of countries where uncertainty avoidance is high,
customers prefer those products that have well-defined shape, size and features. Also, in
collectivist countries larger package will be preferred over a smaller one. “Halal” labelling
can be used as a differentiator for this market segment (Aoun and Tournois, 2015).
“Halal” labelling on packages is not only limited to “meat and money” (Wilson and Liu,
2010); however, it could be applied on cosmetic and other products produced as per
Islamic principles. Second, brand as an added value refers to the value consumer derived
from consumption of product and service. The value so added can be the outcome of
several factors such as quality, augmentation, warranty and customer care system.
These factors that comprise the brand identity of the product are dependent on the time-
orientation of the culture of the country. Also, those countries where uncertainty
avoidance is high may prefer better quality product even if that entails paying higher
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prices. Third, brand as an outlook implies how a consumer views the brand or product
from the outside. This manifests itself through the packaging colors, images and shapes.
Packaging that adheres to the local customs and symbols such as interpretation of a
particular color, local or community manners etc. and does not seem alien or out of place
for the consumer will gain more acceptances as compared to packaging that does not do
so. Islamic culture has their definition of colors, which could be used as differentiator for
brand. Fourth, brand as a stance is how a brand stands itself in the public or peers of
similar products. Factors that determine the stance of a brand or product stem from how
it differentiates itself (product differentiation), what product category it belongs to and
what the brand has in similar to the products of different brands in the same category. It
also evolves from enhanced self-perception of consumer, their enhanced self-perception
and how the brand or product is distributed. Factors of culture that come into play
here are individualism vs collectivism and uncertainty avoidance, masculinity vs
femininity and power distance. Individualist communities may prefer a brand that
differentiates itself more and regularly for other brands while catering to only a single
need of a consumer may be read as an interpretation of high uncertainty avoidance. In
high power distance countries a brand distributed through exclusive showrooms will
attract consumers who hold power, while in a low power distance country, the place of
brand distribution will not make much difference; hence, investing in glitzy showrooms
may not yield the desired dividends. Also, in countries that have more masculine
tendency in terms of personal achievement, brands that make a consumer stand out from
the crowd will gain more acceptance. Fifth, brand as mental imagery refers to how a
brand will describe itself in the mind of the consumers through its personality,
metaphors, sponsorships, brand ambassador and mascot and the kind of relationship it
intends to form with the consumer. How a consumer will interpret them is influenced by
local or community customs and symbols such as colors, local or national persons and
icons, habits and manners. This will determine if consumers feel comfortable with the
mental imagery so projected by the brand, if it is according to their culture. A brand
sponsoring a local sport may be the preferred brand in a country or community. Lastly,
brand through time and place includes factors that influence the making of a brand. The
country of origin may influence the types of brands and products that might be created.
This is more relevant for creation of new brands. Brand heritage manifesting itself
through its popularity, brand culture and brand vision are other similar factor which
make up the construct of brand through time and place. The interplay or influence of
cultural factors comes from community or country customs and symbols and beliefs about
the world in which the organization is headquartered, long vs short-term orientation of
 consumers and uncertainty avoidance. For example, popular culture of the brand may be Culture on
interpreted as a sign of less uncertainty and will be preferred by communities with high consumer’s
uncertainty avoidance. The understanding about these blended elements interaction
could help the marketers in positioning of their brand in the studied context.
perception
Speaking of the theoretical implications, the findings of this study contributes to two
established academic disciplines, culture and branding. More specifically, this study
integrated these two bodies of knowledge. This study improves the existing understanding
on the interaction of culture with the brand identity elements. Furthermore, this study also
enriches the existing understanding regarding the consumer perception of brand identity in
the Gulf nations.

7. Limitations and future scope

The research work presents a comprehensive understanding of effect of culture on
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consumer perception of brand identity for select countries; however, owing to paucity of
time, resources and other limitations of survey-based studies and the study faces some
limitations. These are as follows:
 the study was conducted in only three Gulf Countries, thus to confirm the
generalization of the study more sample based surveys will be needed;
 more Islamic culture specific values could be considered for studied context;
 moreover, the sample included only the young people but has been observed that
even older kids and people above the age of 40 years are brand conscious;
 the interventions suggested are highly context specific;
 the survey was conducted on only the mall visiting population; hence, to make this
study more general in nature, future study may include other public places as well;
and
 the survey was an offline questionnaire-based survey, in which respondents had to
fill in their responses; therefore, it suffers from general limitations of questionnaire-
based offline survey.

The study provides a starting point for firms and managers who want to enter and succeed
in Gulf countries; it will help them in creating a brand identity that will be aligned with
inherent cultural values of the population and their specific needs. It provides avenues for
further research in following major areas:
 the study has focused on three major countries; further, research may include other
countries as well to make the results more general; and
 for recommending strategies for brands and brand managers to bring cultural
integration and acceptance of brand, more company-centric case studies should be
included and analyzed.

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Corresponding author
Shiksha Kushwah can be contacted at: shiksha.kushwah@gmail.com

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