Dealing with a Negative Country Image

A key reason for adapting brand communications while attempting a global expansion is to hide a negative country association. This is common for brands from developing countries when attempting to enter markets in developed countries, as consumers in developed countries often associate brands from developing countries with poor product quality. To overcome negative country-of-origin associations, brands from developing countries can do the following: (1) Hide the country of origin and adapt the communication strategy; (2) Acquire a high-reputation brand; (3) Change the negative country image; and (4) Leverage a broadly defined region.