Advertising Research in the Post-WTO Decade in China

This paper reviews advertising studies on China published in 13 advertising, marketing, and business journals during the decade after joining the World Trade Organization (WTO) (2002-2011). Since its WTO entry, China's advertising industry (including regulatory environment and advertising practices) has fundamentally changed, turning it into the world's fastest-growing advertising market and the country with the largest pool of netizens. We adopt the "glocalization" framework to selectively highlight five themes in our review: (1) diversified/shifting cultural values, (2) language and brand names, (3) acceptable/offensive advertising, (4) media growth and control, and (5) agency management. Our discussion follows Taylor's (2005) suggested agenda for international advertising research and focuses on the implications for academic researchers and advertising professionals that these papers collectively provide. In the transitional market in China, insights from past studies are relevant for its future development in advertising both locally and globally.