Perception of Domestic and Foreign Brands by Young People

This research aims to study the effect of a brand's perceived international and local image, which is formed through a strategy of authenticity in brand positioning, on product assessments, purchase intentions, and willingness to pay. Furthermore, the study will examine how these effects vary across different market segments, such as mass market and mid-tier, for both international and domestic brands. For these purposes, we have developed a self-administered survey that was disseminated to Russian consumers via the convenience sampling technique. Data was gathered through online platforms such as social media and internet communities and analyzed by structural equation modeling (SEM), confirmatory factor analysis (CFA), and exploratory factor analysis (EFA). In addition, we tested the mediation effects of authenticity on companies’ branding strategies and consumer buying decisions. The study is organized with a review of the current literature on perceived foreignness (PF), perceived localness (PL), brand authenticity (BA), purchase intention (PI), and willingness to pay more (WTP) or price premium. It discusses brand authenticity, which encompasses heritage, quality commitment, originality, sincerity. The research methods of this study are thoroughly described in the second section, while the third section details the data and forecasts the anticipated outcomes of the analysis.