Fairy tales of global consumer culture in a polarizing world

The purpose of this paper is to respond to the essay by Cleveland and Bartsch in this issue. The paper also aims to counter argue the various drivers of global consumer culture (GCC).

Based on many findings from the study of consumer behavior, the assumed drivers of GCC are discussed and a suggestion for new research is made.

Instead of globalization processes that drive GCC, the most dominant process is a local-global-local cycle of global products and brands.

It offers a different approach to the study of global vs local products and brands. It is suggested that instead of continuing abstract discussions of GCC, scholars do more service to international marketing by researching developments in the real world.