From Sweden with love : A study of the Swedish country image and its influence on Swedish companies

The purpose of this thesis is to explore the influence of the Swedish country image on the standardization or adaptation of promotion of a brand in an international context and provide deeper insights and understandings concerning this subject. Therefore, in order to achieve the purpose of the thesis, the following research question will be investigated and answered: How does the Swedish country image influence Swedish companies to whether standardize or adapt the promotion of their brand in international markets? The theoretical framework comprises theories and findings from previous research related to country image, country of origin, brand and promotion and the chapter conclude in a conceptual framework. The methodology chapter explains and motivates the different methods conducted throughout the study along with a presentation of the chosen case companies. This study had a qualitative approach with a deductive method and a multiple-case study design. The empirical findings present the respondents and the collected empirical data that was received from the chosen respondents. The analysis chapter includes a comparison between the empirical findings and the literature along with a discussion of its similarities and dissimilarities. The conclusions of the thesis are that the Swedish country image influences the creation of the company’s brand identity considering they choose to standardize their country of origin-strategies, hence the brand’s Swedishness. In addition, the Swedish country image also influences the promotion of the brand, but not the choice to standardize the promotion. Thus, the companies chose promotion adaptation in both the case of a positive or negative perception of the Swedish country image.