Cultural elements such as customs, language, and art of a specific region enrich brands with a wide range of nuanced dimensions, which facilitate their development in new markets. Accordingly, countries with rich cultural contexts can leverage brand cultural involvement as a strategic tool for penetrating international markets. Considering that Iran, as a culturally rich nation, is at the early stage of global branding, this study aims to develop an Interpretive Structural Model (ISM) of brand cultural involvement using a mixed methods approach. In the qualitative phase, in-depth interviews were conducted with 13 marketing experts, through which the components of the brand cultural involvement model were extracted. Findings of ISM steps reveal that identifying commonalities, gaining international credibility, product strategy, and enhancing competitiveness with both local and global brands constitute fundamental drivers in creating brand cultural involvement. The proposed model provides a brand cultural involvement framework that can assist marketers in designing cultural brand elements to attract consumers in international markets.
