Local versus global food consumption: the role of brand authenticity

Purpose This paper aims at investigating the contemporary trend toward regional consumption from the perspective of consumers' search for brand authenticity. In particular, the paper joins literature on brand authenticity from the marketing literature and literature on the local food movement to investigate consumers' response to authenticity claims in the competition of local and global food brands. Design/methodology/approach The paper engages in a series of three experimental studies; one of which uses a Becker-DeGroot-Marschak lottery to assess individuals' willingness to pay for authenticity claims of (non)global brands. Findings Findings show that authenticity perceptions lead to higher brand value independent of brand globalness; while global brands can mitigate competitive disadvantages in localized consumer markets by actively authenticating their brand image. Originality/value This paper reveals the usefulness of authentic brand positioning for global beverage brands when competing with local beverage brands to overcome the liability of globalness. To sustainably benefit from the local food movement, local brands thus will require to build up brand images beyond associations of mere authenticity.