The effectiveness of global brands is traditionally measured by its ability to turn the brand’s target audience into consumers. Yet the focus on consumption overlooks the significance of customer equity within non-target audiences. Studying this phenomenon has become increasingly important with the advent of the internet and cross-border mass-communications which expose brands to global non-target audiences. Yet, little is known about how consumers who have no experience with the brand anticipate such experience purely based on brand popularity? Also, little is known how are components of the global brand personality particularly active in shaping the anticipated brand/customer experience? Thus, this study examines customer anticipated experience of a global brand - Hard Rock Café, in Ukraine. The conceptual model focuses on the relationship between brand popularity with brand excitement and competence and their influence on customer perceived value of the anticipated brand experience and the impact of the perceived value on customer liking of the experience and intention to engage with the brand. Using 214 Ukrainian respondents, the conceptual module was supported with significant implications for global brand engagement in target and non-target audiences.

• Ibrahim Abosag(SOAS University of London, UK)
• Barbara Čater(University of Ljubljana, Slovenia)
• Vesna Žabkar(University of Ljubljana, Slovenia)
• Anthony Grimes(Sheffield Hallam University, UK)
• Oleskii Bekh(University of Manchester, UK)