Consumers sometimes see brands as relationship partners and expect that they conform to certain expectations, or relational norms. However, there is no valid and universal operationalization of these norms for the specific context of consumer-brand relationships. We address this gap by developing and validating a new scale in four studies.

In an increasingly globalized world, consumers are continuously exposed to global products in their domestic markets. As a result, companies are seeking ways to adapt their business in order to target the global consumer segment, which is favorably disposed to global market offerings (Papadopoulos & Martin Martin, 2011). Research on conceptualizing consumers’ positive dispositions towards global products is burgeoning, with a number of researchers focusing on the role of global/local consumer identities (i.e. Tu, Khare, & Zhang, 2012). Global identity implies that a person identifies with the entire human kind and feels as a resident of the entire world (Cannon & Yaprak, 2002), and consequently has a more positive view toward globalization and shows more interest into global events (Guo, 2013). Local identity, on the contrary, derives from the overall awareness of belonging to a community that shares the same national values and cultural norms (Thompson, 2001). Empirical evidence shows that global and local identities positively influence the evaluations and willingness to purchase global and local brands, respectively (Verlegh, 2007; Zhang & Khare, 2009). Despite the growing academic focus on consumers’ location-based identities (i.e. global/local) and their impact on consumer decision making, research on this topic is mainly focusing on tangible products, ignoring how digitalization has transformed the international marketing landscape. Drawing on social identity theory and the existing literature with regards to how global/local identity is influencing consumers’ disposition towards global products, this paper considers the case of global digital products. In particular, we aim to investigate whether global and local consumer identities influence the usage of two of the most famous global Social Network Sites (SNSs), namely Facebook and Instagram. Combining existing literature on global consumer culture and marketing of SNSs, we develop and empirically test a set of hypotheses with two samples of Facebook and Instagram users from Austria and Thailand. The choice of these specific countries allows us to explore whether consumers with global or local identities behave similarly in marketplaces characterized by completely different settings regarding the availability and use of SNSs.