Consumers Reactions to Tesco's market entry in Taiwan - a comparison with the UK experience

The purpose of this paper is to research consumer response to retail branding models in Taiwan by means of exploratory qualitative research comparing Tesco’s retail branding in the UK and Taiwan in order to find out the level of consumer acceptance of Tesco in Taiwan as a new market entrant. From the consumers’ viewpoint, Taiwanese Tesco’s retail corporate images, store positioning and retail branding process are not understood or clearly differentiated and identified by local consumers. This was a big problem for grocery shoppers and should therefore be considered as one of the key factors in Tesco`s withdrawal from the Taiwan market. It demonstrates the consumer acceptance issues even a strong retail brand faces transferring its brand to a new market with consumers unfamiliar with its retail brand proposition.