The globalization of the marketplace and how this process is shaping the cultural characteristics of people around the world is arguably the most critical issue facing international marketing managers today, and is the subject of intense discourse in the social sciences. Are global forces making everyone (and every place) more and more alike, or are they causing local resistances which serve to more solidly entrench cultural differences? Or is globalization simultaneously making individuals increasingly dissimilar within countries, while making individuals progressively similar across...

This book integrates new thinking on the image, marketing, and branding of places at all levels, from town squares to cities and countries, and of the products and peoples associated with them, thereby bridging the 'country' and 'place' silos in place-related research and practice. Insightful contributions from top scholars reflect fresh theorizing and provide a critical appraisal of conventional wisdom by juxtaposing intriguing contexts, questioning commonplace practices, and challenging methodologies and theoretical assumptions. Chapters explore interdependencies among residents,...