Evaluating Cross-Cultural Advertising

Advertising is now considered to be a key part of international trade and essential to the global interchange of goods and services. This paper examines the parameters of international advertising, its impact across world markets and its effect on con- sumer behavior. Currently, there is controversy concerning the benefits of using globalization over localization as an advertising strategy in reaching the consumer. For the multinational f i i making this choice, con- -------- sideration must focus on a number of different factors, including criterion5 of recognition, reach, reaction, size and expenditure. By analyzing the role advertising plays in given societies, international advertising spending, government regulations and the intended use of text and messages, each of these aspects is touched upon as it relates to this framework of decision-making. Overall, as the US market becomes more saturated, firms may be forced to target markets overseas, be it through the globalization and localization routes. Furthermore, successful entry into these markets requires both a clear understanding of the culture, where the devel- opment of advertising differs'in each country, as well as comprehen- sion of its laws and restrictions, an area which places greater limita- tions on advertising practices.     

Online advertising disclaimers in unregulated markets: use of disclaimers by multinational and local companies in the Brazilian toy industry

ABSTRACT

Researchers have documented whether and how companies use advertising disclaimers in regulated markets. We complement the extant work by analysing a sample of 449 online toy advertisements targeting children in Brazil, a largely unregulated market. Results show that multinational corporations are more likely to include disclaimers in their online ads than local Brazilian companies. Further analyses reveal, however, that advertising disclaimers used by multinational subsidiaries have more distractors that reduce viewer comprehension. Our research contributes to the fields of advertising and institutional theory by being the first to document whether and how multinational subsidiaries use disclaimers in online ads targeting an unregulated market.     

The Determinants and Consequences of Multinational Advertising Agencies

This article examines the determinants of multinational advertising agencies (MNAs) within the framework of foreign direct investment theory (FDI). The essence of FDI theory is that in deciding to go international, a company must have an advantage. Key advantages discussed here include the huge size of MNAs, their access to capital, the loyalty given to them by multinational advertisers, their knowledge and skill, and their ability to use their foreign locations to service regional markets. Internalization, the advantage of being able to coordinate markets better, provides another relevant strand to FDI theory. The key factors for MNAs involve protecting the home market as well as reacting to competition abroad, escaping contracts which forbid competitive accounts and constrain growth, maintaining quality control over international advertising, and raising profits and efficiency by controlling all or a significant part of the business of a multinational advertiser. A discussion of the consequences of MNAs is also provided.     

跨国广告集团全球扩张模式的选择及其影响因素

本文运用对外直接投资理论和交易费用理论的相关原理，具体阐述了跨国广告集团全球市场扩张的经济动因，即跨国企业全球市场拓展和广告公司自身业务发展的双重需要。在此基础上，作者深度剖析了跨国广告集团全球扩张模式的三种主要模式及其选择不同模式的影响因素。文章最后重点分析了跨国广告集团在中国的市场扩张战略，以期为民族广告公司的可持续发展和国际化转型提供策略参考。     

全球广告标准化与全球品牌一致性的关系模型

全球化背景下,通过全球广告策略来建立和维护能被不同国家市场普遍接受的具有独特形象的全球品牌是跨国公司亟需解决的问题,本文据此提出了全球广告标准化与全球品牌一致性的关系模型。全球广告在综合考虑企业内外部因素的前提下,通过战略、执行和语言的不同程度的标准化,可以塑造全球品牌的识别和全球品牌形象,进而实现全球品牌个性、文化、定位和价值的一致性,并最终促使全球品牌正面性、认知度和忠诚度的提升。     

Advertising visuals in global brands’ local websites: a six-country comparison

The visual strategies employed in top global brands’ local advertising websites were compared between two groups of nations: the Western group, consisting of the US, UK and Germany; and the Eastern group, consisting of Japan, Korea and China. The results of a content analysis of 253 web ads show a clear pattern of differences in the role of visuals (literal vs symbolic), the use and role of celebrity models, the use of photographs vs illustrations, and the frequency of product portrayals between two groups. Ads from high-context nations tend to rely on symbolic visuals, celebrity models featured as characters, mixed use of photographs and illustrations, and indirect portrayals of advertised products. Ads from low-context nations are found to be the opposite, reaffirming the association between Hallx2019;s information contextuality and advertising visual strategies. The findings imply that the idea of employing advertising visuals that reflect the communication styles of a particular national market appears to be a promising strategy to effectively reach consumers around the world. With this in mind, multinational advertisers might prefer to implement differentiated ad visual strategies in web advertising for Western and Eastern markets.     

The influence of advertising on the demand for chocolate confectionery

This paper addresses the impact of advertising on the size of five European chocolate confectionery markets: Belgium, France, Germany, the Netherlands and the UK. It is prompted by suggestions that advertising may be responsible for excessive consumption of confectionery by children. The literature on whether advertising affects the total market size is not one-sided but the balance of previous research indicates market effects to be less likely. Chocolate confectionery in Western Europe is a mature market in slow decline. We found no significant association between the weight of advertising and market growth with either contemporaneous or lagged effects. There was, however, negative correlation between market size and price, as was to be expected. The results were consistent across the five countries.     

Informative Brand Advertising and Pricing Strategies in Internet Markets with Heterogeneous Consumer Search

The use of information intermediaries has been shown to undermine the effect of brand in online markets. In this paper, the effect of consumer search on the relationship between brand advertising and pricing strategies is analysed. Price data are taken from the leading UK motor insurance comparison website, with the advantage that prices can be related to the search characteristics of consumers and to the advertising expenditure of firms. The paper finds that more-advertised firms have lower price rankings at the comparison site, indicating that advertising is informative in this market. The main result is that consumer search weakens the relationship between advertising and pricing. An implication is that increased usage of price comparison sites will make informative brand advertising less important.     

Characteristics and influences of multinational subsidiary entrepreneurial culture: The case of the advertising sector

This paper undertakes an exploratory study into the characteristics of entrepreneurial culture of the multinational subsidiary; and, into the associated influences and manifestations linked to multinational corporation (MNC) and environmental contexts. The theme of multinational subsidiary entrepreneurial culture is an unexplored theme in the literature, and has considerable research and managerial significance. This qualitative research is based on eight multinational subsidiaries in the advertising sector in the UK. The evidence suggests that the constituents of multinational subsidiary entrepreneurial culture include global vision, entrepreneurial orientation and entrepreneurial MNC network management. The related influences and manifestations refer to subsidiary autonomy, target market servicing and responsiveness to local environmental conditions. In addition, the findings show that while entrepreneurial behaviour was evident in all investigated subsidiaries, its locus varied significantly. Specifically, entrepreneurship in multinational subsidiaries can be subsidiary-, headquarters-, or jointly-driven.     

Product Differentiation,Industry Concentration and Market Share Turbulence

Building on the current theory of industrial concentration, we analyze the relation between market size and product differentiation, and show how product differentiation impacts market share turbulence. We first propose that in markets where vertical product differentiation dominates, firms will have an incentive to escalate investment in advertising and/or R&D as market size increases. Secondly, such (firm‐specific) investments will make competitive advantage more sustainable as the firm is less imitable. This will not be the case if the market is primarily characterized by homogeneous products or horizontal product differentiation. Our predictions are tested using an original EU dataset for 1987 and 1997. Our results strongly support our predictions – the degree of market share turbulence increases with market size. However, this relation is weakened by competitive investment in advertising and R&D.     

College Student Attitudes Toward Advertising's Ethical, Economic, and Social Consequences

Little research has focused on college students' attitudes toward advertising's ethical, economic, and social consequences over the last two decades. Exploring and tracking the attitudes of college students toward advertising is important, however, for several reasons. College students represent an important segment of consumers for many marketers, negative attitudes toward advertising on the part of college students could lead to their support for restrictive regulation in the future, and there are potentially negative consequences concerning the effects of advertising that college students uniquely share with other youth markets. The results of this study – a differentiated replication of an earlier study of college students in the late 1970s – indicate the salience of various beliefs that help determine attitudes toward advertising and provide a useful benchmark for future studies. The implications of the study's findings for advertising practice and future regulation are discussed.     

Mitigating consumer ethnocentrism via advertising and media consumption in a transitional market

Consumer ethnocentrism is considered an important barrier to consumption in the global marketplace. Although the concept of consumer ethnocentrism has been investigated over many years in developed markets, there is little research addressing the mitigation of consumer ethnocentrism in transitional economies, which are becoming increasingly important in the global marketplace. One such market, Russia, represents a major potential investment opportunity for global marketers. In this study, we undertake an exploratory study investigating consumer ethnocentrism’s negative influence on Russians’ attitudes towards foreign products and their frequency of purchase of foreign products. We also demonstrate that the influence of consumer ethnocentrism on the frequency of purchase of foreign products is moderated by consumers’ exposure to mass communication (i.e. exposure to television, exposure to foreign movies) and by marketing communication efforts (i.e. exposure to foreign product advertising, involvement with foreign product advertising). In addition to extending theoretical research to a transitional, non-Western context, the empirical results also provide implications for international advertising practitioners.     

Exploring the missing point of view in international advertising management: local managers in global advertising agencies

In the decades-long debates about whether standardised or adapted strategies are better for global brands, and whether centralised or decentralised international communications planning is more effective, little attention has been given to the perspective of local managers in the subsidiaries of global agencies. This paper reports on the experiences and opinions of account managers and creative directors in Korean subsidiaries, with regard to the international advertising policies of their agencies and clients. The authors find less centralisation than prior research has reported and yet more negative experiences with standardised global advertising. Creativity is a key consideration for the Korean managers, especially for products, be they consumer or industrial, that have universal demand. The perspective of subsidiary managers in multinational corporations should be considered in the advertising planning process in order to avoid conflict which could decrease the effectiveness of global campaigns.     

Phenomenology of Aesthetic Organising--Ways Towards Aesthetically Responsive Organizations

Through explication of a visual research method, this paper theorizes how masculine identity interacts with consumption—of imagery, products, desires, and passions in advertising and consumer culture. We analyze the male body as a discursive “effect” created at the intersection of consumption and several marketing discourses such as advertising, market segmentation, and visual communication, balancing between brand strategy—what the marketer intends—and brand community—the free appropriation of meaning by the market. The paper’s contribution rests in extending previous work on male representation into historical, ontological, and photographic realms, providing a necessary complement between understanding advertising meaning as residing within managerial strategy or wholly subsumed by consumer response. We argue that greater awareness of the connections between the traditions and conventions of visual culture and their impact on the production and consumption of advertising images leads to enhanced ability to understand how advertising works as a representational system and signifying practice.     

Efficiency Sorting Among Foreign Affiliates: Evidence From China

This paper uses a large micro‐level data set to investigate the efficiency sorting pattern of foreign affiliates serving different markets. We find systematic differences among the attributes of foreign affiliates serving the local and overseas markets. Affiliates serving only the host country market are the most productive, the most capitalintensive and the most skill‐intensive. Affiliates serving only the international market are the most unskilled and labour‐intensive, the least efficient, pay the lowest wages and invest least in innovation and advertising. Affiliates serving both markets offer high wages and invest most in innovation and advertising. The results also suggest that the most productive affiliates choose to serve the host country market, whereas the least efficient affiliates target the international market.     

Missed opportunities? Reaching the ethnic consumer market

Changing population demographics within the UK have become a source of increased interest to marketers as companies have realized the importance of targeting their products and advertising efforts towards minority and ethnic groups. In addition, as the UK’s ethnic minorities grow in both numbers and in terms of prosperity, so does the commercial significance of this market. A clearer understanding of both the nature of changing markets and the relative importance of different minority ethnic groups as consumers is imperative to facilitate both consumer understanding and business development; marketers need to understand better how to target these people, what they have in common with the mainstream and where the differences lie. This paper seeks to describe current understanding of ethnic consumers and their impact on the marketplace while highlighting an area where future research is potentially of considerable benefit.     

Advertising and Economic Development

In this article it is argued that West Germany has developed into the largest advertising market with the highest productivity per employee in Western Europe. We observe a continuous increase of net advertising turnover during the 1970s. Some extraordinary characteristics of the German advertising market (such as the structure of the TV advertising market and the printed media industry), which set it into sharp contrast to other European advertising markets, are discussed. Furthermore, we analyse the relationship between advertising and the business cycle movement (procyclical v. anticyclical advertising strategies) and we find that the majority of German business firms still pursue a procyclical advertising strategy although evidence seems to prove that an anticyclical advertising policy adopted during recessions will result in higher market shares and strengthened market positions of advertised brands.     

我国农产品批发市场区域分布状况分析及其改进——基于人口密度视角

农产品批发市场作为我国农产品流通的主渠道,在联结产销、平衡供求、形成价格等诸多方面发挥着主导作用。由我国地域辽阔,区域经济发展不平衡,产业发展集聚程度差异较大,导致农产品批发市场在快速发展的同时,面临着区域分布不均衡、规模大小不协调等问题,难以满足不同地区居民的需求。为更好地发挥批发市场的作用,文章通过分析现有农产品批发市场区域分布特征,对东、中、西和东北部地区现有农产品批发市场覆盖城市人口数进行测算,并结合不同地区批发市场的规模差异、分布情况,借鉴国际经验,对我国未来建设农产品批发市场的区域布局和规模等级进行讨论,并提出对策建议,以期对科学规划布局各地区农产品批发市场提供参考。     

Multinational Headquarters Control of UK Subsidiaries' Advertising Decisions

This study confirms the relative importance of the multinational headquarters international coordinator as a main player in UK subsidiary-advertising agency relations. Five alternative headquarter strategies towards the subsidiary's advertising decision making are identified and their rationales discussed. In general, international headquarter advertising personnel are shown to have substantial control over strategic advertising decisions but allow local adaptation at a tactical level. The research also suggests that during the 1980s such control increased, and that a greater degree of standardized advertising decision making may be expected in the future.     

Are Local TV Markets Separate Markets?

In sweeping revisions the US Telecommunications Act of 1996 relaxed rules respecting broadcast TV ownership regulations. In particular Congress directed the Federal Communication Commission (FCC) to conduct a rulemaking on whether the 'duopoly rules' preventing businesses from owning multiple broadcast stations in the same market should be relaxed, modified or eliminated. Naturally, this directive raises questions concerning competition. Specifically, would concentration and consolidation of local media firms have deleterious effects on advertising rates, output and consumer choice? In the present paper we examine, using own-price and cross-price elasticity demand estimates, the question of whether local TV markets constitute a separate market for advertising. Our structural tests, with appropriate caveats, reveal that local TV advertising is not, by itself, a distinct market - one relevant for antitrust action.