Small = authentic: the effect of geographic brand name size on perceived product authenticity

Geographic naming is a prevalent practice among companies. Although geographic brand names often contain hints about the company's size, limited research has been dedicated to this aspect. Through a sequence of five studies focusing on consumer perceptions of product authenticity, we have uncovered that products manufactured by companies with small-sized geographic brand names tend to be perceived as more authentic. Moreover, our findings indicate the impact of geographic brand name size on perceived authenticity is subject to modulation by product type. We further identified purchase intention as a downstream effect of perceived product authenticity.