A third of Americans would shun a Chinese brand

A major reason for the low Chinese brand recognition, according to Sperling-Horowitz, is that many Chinese companies are too focused on establishing and perfecting their brands at home, and have not dedicated enough resources to promoting them in overseas markets such as the United States.

Many Chinese companies have entered the US and international markets by acquiring Western companies with a pre-existing footprint, rather than launching there on their own, he said.

But Sperling-Horowitz said there is still room for Chinese companies to improve their marketing strategy.

He added that after attending many trade shows in the US over the years, one striking impression is that many Chinese companies — even multi-billion dollar ones — attend such events using staff who cannot speak English proficiently. They also use brochures and other promotional materials which can contain many grammatical mistakes.

Chinese companies are also not good at telling their own success story, he said.

"Believe it or not, the average consumer is exposed to more than 3,000 advertisements per day.

"Companies that tell a compelling and authentic story are more likely to succeed in gaining consumer attention.

"But without getting across your story, a brand and product is quickly forgotten," Sperling-Horowitz said.

David Brain, Edelman Asia-Pacific's president and CEO, said it takes years to build a country's brand recognition.

However, it can take just a few recognized brands to change people's perceptions about a whole country.

For example, he said, Hyundai, Samsung, LG and Kia had managed to improve the perception of South Korea and its brands.