Ritualization: A Strategic Tool to Position Brands in International Markets

Most brands now-a-days attempt to develop a self-brand connection with their customers. Multiple studies propose that a brand can achieve a sacred status through “rituals”. However, there is limited understanding of the mechanism through which rituals and customers' ritualized behavior influence brand awareness. As firms in international markets face intense competition from local brands, understanding the impact of customers' ritualization can help them enhance brand awareness. Accordingly, we develop a conceptual framework and provide theoretical understanding on the relationship between rituals and brand awareness for firms operating in international markets. Specifically, we propose that internal ritualization leads to brand recall and external ritualization leads to brand recognition. As the customer-firm relationship can be affected by market, firm, and customer-specific factors, we argue that cultural orientation, competition, firms' marketing spend and customers' personality moderate the proposed relationships. We provide several research propositions to understand “rituals” as a strategic tool. The findings of this study indicate that managers must incorporate customers' ritualized behavior while developing global branding strategies in international markets.