What’s in a name? Cross-national distances and subsidiary’s corporate visual identity change in emerging-market firms’ cross-border acquisitions

Liou, Ru-Shiun; Rao-Nicholson, Rekha; Sarpong, David

What’s in a name? Cross-national distances and subsidiary’s corporate visual identity change in emerging-market firms’ cross-border acquisitions

Files

Liou_IMR2018_Accepted.pdf (919.06 KB)

Date

2018

Authors

Liou, Ru-Shiun

Rao-Nicholson, Rekha

Sarpong, David

Publisher

Emerald Publishing Limited

Abstract

Purpose – Addressing the unique challenge facing emerging-market firms (EMFs) of branding and marketing in their foreign subsidiaries, this study evaluates the foreign subsidiary corporate visual identity (CVI) transitions during the post-acquisition period. Design/Methodology/approach – Data on 330 cross-border acquisitions from five emerging-markets, namely, Brazil, China, India, Russia and South Africa (BRICS) are used. The cross-sectional multivariate analyses are used to test the hypotheses. Findings – Utilizing a sample of worldwide acquisitions conducted by EMFs originated from BRICS, this study establishes that various cross-national distances do not consistently cause the targets to take on the parent’s CVI. While economic distance and formal institutional distance increases the likelihood of an acquired subsidiary’s CVI change, cultural distance decreases the likelihood of CVI change. Practical implications – Lacking international experience and shaped by national differences between the host and home markets, EMFs often grant foreign subsidiaries substantial autonomy to respond to diverse stakeholder demands in subsidiary branding. Contrary to extant literature, the findings show that some distances are more pertinent to CVI transformation in the subsidiaries than others in the context of the EMFs. Originality/value – This research shows that the formal institutional distance and economic distance, will increase the likelihood of CVI changes in the subsidiaries, whereas, the cultural distance requiring soft skills like the cultural adaptability from the EMFs will decrease the CVI change possibility. The findings presented in the paper have significant implications for future research and strategic application.

Description

Accepted Version CC BY-NC 4.0

Keywords

Corporate visual identity, Subsidiary branding, Institutional distance, Economic distance, Cultural distance, Emerging-market firms, Cross-border acquisitions

Citation

Ru-Shiun Liou, Rekha Rao-Nicholson, David Sarpong, (2018) "What is in a name? Cross-national distances and subsidiary’s corporate visual identity change in emerging-market firms’ cross-border acquisitions." UoTIR.