A Comparative Analysis of Brand Building Research between China and the United States over the Past Thirty Years

Abstract

This article conducts clustering, comparison, and inductive analysis of research articles on brand building between China and the United States from January 1, 1990, to October 31, 2024. The study finds that the focus of Chinese brand building research has continuously changed with the country’s policies and economic development needs, gradually expanding to cover multiple fields, including rural revitalization, cultural branding, first-class enterprise construction, and high-quality development, although the publications are relatively scattered. American brand building research started earlier, with rich and in-depth research topics involving consumer decision-making, corporate social responsibility, customer engagement, data models, and more. The publication institutions are relatively concentrated, and the researchers are more stable. Both countries emphasize the importance of brand building, valuing the role of social media, the digital economy, and innovative development in promoting brand building. However, China places more emphasis on the importance of brands to enterprises and macro policies, while the United States focuses on the relationship between brands and consumers, such as brand love and loyalty. The United States has more in-depth research in constructing theoretical sandcastles of brand building, theory-driven frameworks, data, and model analysis, whereas China is relatively weak in these areas. The study suggests that future research on brand building should integrate national development strategies with consumer-oriented brand building research, brand value co-creation research, brand building and education integration research based on new technology applications, cross-cultural brand communication and global brand building research, and data-driven decision-making research in brand building. Through data-driven simulation and prediction, brand building strategies should be optimized to enhance the ability of brands to respond to market changes. The article also proposes suggestions for strengthening brand building research institutions and talent cultivation, as well as enhancing international cooperation and exchanges in the field of brand building research.