Are brand benefits perceived differently in less developed economies? A scale development and validation

The purpose of this paper is to develop a scale measuring consumers’ brand benefits in less developed economies. Based on the literature, items have been gen-erated in qualitative and quantitative studies and tested by using exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses. The findings show that brand benefits converge into a two-factor structure (functional and symbolic) instead of three (functional, experiential and symbolic). These findings can be justified by the fact that consumers in developing economies do not have as much experience with brands as the ones from developed economies. The results also relate to previous literature findings on the topic of utilitarian and affective brand relationships. This scale can be used to advance the domain of brand benefits in a cross-cultural environment and can be employed by marketers when businesses plan to brand their products in developed economies.