Global Prestige and Local Pride: A Phenomenological Study of Indonesian Consumer Experience of Foreign Brands Manufactured Locally

Abstract

Global brands increasingly manufacture inside the emerging markets where they sell, and Indonesia is one of the countries experiencing it. Country of origin, consumer ethnocentrism, and xenocentrism each assume a consumer can place a product on one side of a foreign-local divide, yet a foreign brand made at home collapses that divide into a single object. This study examines how consumers in North Sulawesi experience that fusion. Using a transcendental phenomenological design, we interviewed 20 footwear and apparel buyers and analysed 398 meaning units through the seven Van Kaam stages, with Social Identity Theory as the interpretive lens. Six themes emerged: consumption evaluation, social identity, local legitimacy, origin cues, social influence, and brand trust. Consumers accept locally made foreign brands as legitimate when quality, pricing, and local benefits are clear; otherwise, the locally made label may weaken the brand