Transformations  in
Business & Economics

THEORETICAL MODEL ABOUT THE INTERNATIONAL BRANDING PATH OF CHINESE BRANDS - BASED ON THE PERSPECTIVE OF LEGITIMACY
Hui Wang, Tao Wang

ABSTRACT. There were many studies on the upgrading path of Chinese enterprises successfully implementing international branding. However, most studies regarded international branding as the advanced stage of enterprise internationalization and consider that in the process of internationalization enterprises continuously improve the capabilities of international marketing and operation to realize the international branding.
This study argues that there is an essential difference between the international branding and enterprise internationalization which only considered the international operation of brands and neglected a series of "liabilities of newness" and "liabilities of foreignness" caused by the overseas institutional environment as well as adopted the strategic response in response to these systems. Based on the legitimacy perspective of institutional theory, this paper explored the international path of the three telecommunication companies, summarized the main problems and upgrading strategies for each stage of international branding, and hoped to provide theoretical supports for Chinese enterprises and offer practical advices for Chinese managers in the process of international branding.

KEYWORDS: brand, legitimacy, internationalization, brand strategy, China.