1411 Copyright © 2015, IGI Global. Copying or distributing in print or electronic forms without written permission of IGI Global is prohibited. Chapter 69 DOI: 10.4018/978-1-4666-7357-1.ch069 Self-Brand Congruity and Brand Communication ABSTRACT Brand communication through advertising plays an important role in developing strong brands in emerg- ing markets, especially in India. This chapter investigates how ethnocentrism moderates the efects of advertising adaptation levels (globalization, glocalization, and localization) on Indian consumers’ ad evaluation and self-brand congruity. It uses self-brand congruity to explain the psychological reasons behind the Indian consumers’ preferential patterns of the levels of advertising adaptation. A 2 (local celebrity, global celebrity) x 2 (local verbal cues, global verbal cues) full factorial between-subjects experiment is set up with 219 Indian consumers. Ethnocentrism is measured at the individual level. Results show that highly ethnocentric individuals respond more positively (attitude towards the ad and self-brand congruity) to localization and glocalization advertising strategies compared to a globalization strategy, while lowly ethnocentric individuals do not respond diferently to these strategies. The practical and theoretical implications as well as suggestions for further research are discussed. INTRODUCTION This chapter reports a study set in India, one of the largest emerging markets of the world with a fast growing population of more than 1.2 billion. India’s constant growth in purchasing power in recent years (IMF, 2012) indicates the ability of Indian consumers to purchase a whole new variety of products. Euromonitor International (2010) forecasts that India will be one of the best perform- ing emerging economies in 2020 with annual real GDP projected to grow by 7.1%. This makes India an attractive market for multinational companies. The Indian market is culturally and socio-eco- nomically diversified (Kumar, 2007). Developing and preserving a strong brand in a diverse market Mahdi Rajabi University of Antwerp, Belgium Nathalie Dens University of Antwerp, Belgium Patrick De Pelsmacker University of Antwerp, Belgium & Ghent University, Belgium