Think and Feel Country Clusters: A New Approach to International Advertising Standardization

This article challenges the assumption implicit in regional approaches to international advertising standardization. As such, we address the geographic extent to which advertising can or should be standardized. We develop a model for predicting a country's most prevalent advertising appeals on the basis of cultural and market-related factors. The model is tested and then utilized to provide a positioning map of twenty-three countries and their respective predominant advertising appeals. Four country clusters are identified, with each cluster exhibiting a similar preference for emotional and rational advertising appeals. Contrary to the assumptions underlying regional advertising, the results seem to suggest that countries that are not part of a common geographic region may exhibit similar preferences with respect to the same strategic approach, in spite of cultural differences and lack of regional proximity.

[1]  E. Hirschman,et al.  The Experiential Aspects of Consumption: Consumer Fantasies, Feelings, and Fun , 1982 .

[2]  Fred Zandpour,et al.  Global reach and local touch: achieving cultural fitness in TV advertising , 1994 .

[3]  W. Mcguire.  Some Internal Psychological Factors Influencing Consumer Choice , 1976 .

[4]  Daniel Romer,et al.  Using Drama to Persuade , 1989 .

[5]  S. W. Dunn.  Effect of National Identity on Multinational Promotional Strategy in Europe , 1976 .

[6]  Stella Ting-Toomey,et al.  Culture and Affective Communication , 1988 .

[7]  Pradeep A. Rau,et al.  STANDARDISATION OF MARKETING STRATEGY BY MULTINATIONALS , 1987 .

[8]  G. Hofstede,et al.  Culture′s Consequences: International Differences in Work-Related Values , 1980 .

[9]  William B. Gudykunst,et al.  Communicating With Strangers: An Approach to Intercultural Communication , 1984 .

[10]  William B. Gudykunst,et al.  Communication, Culture, and Organizational Processes , 1985 .

[11]  L. Soenen.  Foreign exchange exposure management , 1979 .

[12]  John C. Condon,et al.  An Introduction to Intercultural Communication , 1985 .

[13]  S. Dibb,et al.  Pan-European Advertising: Think Europe-Act Local , 1994 .

[14]  Barbara Sundberg Baudot,et al.  International Advertising Handbook: A User's Guide to Rules and Regulations , 1989 .

[15]  J. J. Boddewyn,et al.  Comparison advertising : a worldwide study , 1978 .

[16]  How to Develop International Advertising Campaigns that Work: The Example of the European Food and Beverage Sector , 1993 .

[17]  R. Vaughn.  How advertising works: A planning model. , 1980 .

[18]  Helen E. Katz,et al.  Oceans Apart: an Initial Exploration of Social Communication Differences in US and UK Prime-time Television Advertising , 1992 .

[19]  Theodore Clevenger,et al.  Reasoned discourse and motive appeals in selected political speeches , 1965 .

[20]  Marshall R. Singer.  Intercultural Communication: A Perceptual Approach , 1987 .

[21]  T. Levitt.  THE GLOBALIZATION OF MARKETS , 1983 .

[22]  H. H. Kassarjian.  Content Analysis in Consumer Research , 1977 .

[23]  William B. Gudykunst,et al.  Theories in Intercultural Communication. , 1988 .

[24]  Drew Westen,et al.  Self and Society: Narcissism, Collectivism, and the Development of Morals , 1985 .

[25]  Harry C. Triandis,et al.  Individualism-Collectivism , 1986 .

[26]  Bruce L. Stern,et al.  An Analysis of Information Content in Television Advertising , 1977 .

[27]  T. RatchfordB.  New insights about the FCB grid. , 1987 .

[28]  David Shani,et al.  Brand Globally but Advertise Locally?: AN EMPIRICAL INVESTIGATION , 1992 .

[29]  Lawrence Bowen,et al.  Product Involvement and Pertinent Advertising Appeals , 1974 .

[30]  E. Hall,et al.  Understanding Cultural Differences , 1989 .

[31]  S. Sethi.  Advocacy Advertising: A Novel Communications Approach to Building Effective Relations with External Constituencies , 1987 .

[32]  J. Boddewyn.  Advertising Regulation in the 1980s: The Underlying Global Forces , 1982 .

[33]  Ann Swidler,et al.  Habits of the Heart , 1986 .

[34]  Rebecca B. Rubin,et al.  A cross-cultural examination of interpersonal communication motives in Mexico and The United States , 1992 .

[35]  Stella Ting-Toomey,et al.  Language, Communication, and Culture: Current Directions. , 1989 .

[36]  M. Bond,et al.  Hofstede's Culture Dimensions , 1984 .