If the Table For Mcworld Has Been Set By Hollywood, What Is Served By Bollywood?

ABSTRACT - Globalization is embraced for bringing international goods to new places and critiqued for creating a homogenized world where multinational brands supersede indigenous cultural offerings. We present a framework to explicate differences in attitudes toward glocalization; it operates on a continuum from acceptance (globally synchronous) to reactance/boycott (Swadeshi). Glocalized marketing strategies and consumer response to these strategies are assessed within the context of product placements in Bollywood films. A content analysis of brand placements within Bollywood films at four points in time since liberalization (1991, 1996, 2001, 2002) shows a rise in the number of brands, particularly multinational brands, which are more likely to be woven into the plot than domestic brands. According to results of a survey, middle-class Indians report both positive and negative attitudes toward international brands and brand placements. Brand placements are interpreted as a Western marketing practice and are embraced among globally synchronous consumers who look to films for cues for their own purchase behaviors. International brand placements and brands are critiqued for their potential negative influence on the Indian economy among Swadeshi consumers. Swadeshi (or home economy) was a nonviolent movement initiated by Mahatma Gandhi in the early 20th century. Gandhi urged Indians to boycott British goods as a form of protest against the Imperial power and to work towards local self-sufficiency. The recent introduction of multinational brands seems to evoke memories of this historic event among the young consumers and motivates their brand choice in the present day.

Citation:

Michelle R. Nelson, Sameer Deshpande, Narayan Devanathan, and C. R. Lakshmi (2005) ,"If the Table For Mcworld Has Been Set By Hollywood, What Is Served By Bollywood?", in NA - Advances in Consumer Research Volume 32, eds. Geeta Menon and Akshay R. Rao, Duluth, MN : Association for Consumer Research, Pages: 473-473.