Global Advertising in a Cultural Context [1 ed.] 9783836619950, 9783836669955

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Mirjana Milenkovic

Copyright © 2009. Diplomica Verlag. All rights reserved.

Global Advertising in a Cultural Context

Diplomica Verlag

Mirjana Milenkovic Global Advertising in a Cultural Context ISBN: 978-3-8366-1995-0 Herstellung: Diplomica® Verlag GmbH, Hamburg, 2009

Copyright © 2009. Diplomica Verlag. All rights reserved.

Dieses Werk ist urheberrechtlich geschützt. Die dadurch begründeten Rechte, insbesondere die der Übersetzung, des Nachdrucks, des Vortrags, der Entnahme von Abbildungen und Tabellen, der Funksendung, der Mikroverfilmung oder der Vervielfältigung auf anderen Wegen und der Speicherung in Datenverarbeitungsanlagen, bleiben, auch bei nur auszugsweiser Verwertung, vorbehalten. Eine Vervielfältigung dieses Werkes oder von Teilen dieses Werkes ist auch im Einzelfall nur in den Grenzen der gesetzlichen Bestimmungen des Urheberrechtsgesetzes der Bundesrepublik Deutschland in der jeweils geltenden Fassung zulässig. Sie ist grundsätzlich vergütungspflichtig. Zuwiderhandlungen unterliegen den Strafbestimmungen des Urheberrechtes. Die Wiedergabe von Gebrauchsnamen, Handelsnamen, Warenbezeichnungen usw. in diesem Werk berechtigt auch ohne besondere Kennzeichnung nicht zu der Annahme, dass solche Namen im Sinne der Warenzeichen- und Markenschutz-Gesetzgebung als frei zu betrachten wären und daher von jedermann benutzt werden dürften. Die Informationen in diesem Werk wurden mit Sorgfalt erarbeitet. Dennoch können Fehler nicht vollständig ausgeschlossen werden und der Verlag, die Autoren oder Übersetzer übernehmen keine juristische Verantwortung oder irgendeine Haftung für evtl. verbliebene fehlerhafte Angaben und deren Folgen. © Diplomica Verlag GmbH http://www.diplomica-verlag.de, Hamburg 2009

TABLE OF CONTENTS List of Figures and Tables ...........................................................................................II 1 Objectives and Structure of this Thesis...................................................................1 2 Concept of Culture ....................................................................................................3 2.1

Definitions of Culture.......................................................................................... 3

2.2

Elements of Culture ............................................................................................. 4

2.3

Culture and Consumer Behavior ......................................................................... 8 2.3.1

Hofstede’s Five Dimensions................................................................... 9

2.3.2

High-Context Cultures versus Low-Context Cultures ......................... 12

3 Global Advertising...................................................................................................15 3.1

Characteristics of Advertising ........................................................................... 15

3.2

Advertising as a Communication Tool.............................................................. 17 3.2.1

Advertising Strategy............................................................................. 17

3.2.2

Advertising Execution .......................................................................... 21

3.3

Specifics of Global Advertising ........................................................................ 23

3.4

Standardization of Global Advertising .............................................................. 25 3.4.1

Kinds of Standardization ...................................................................... 25

3.4.2

Arguments for Standardization............................................................. 26

3.4.3

Arguments against Standardization ...................................................... 28

3.4.4

Culture and Global Advertising Strategy ............................................. 30

3.4.5

Culture and Global Advertising Execution .......................................... 34

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4 Overcoming Cultural Differences ..........................................................................45 4.1

“Culture-free” Products ..................................................................................... 45

4.2

Cross-Cultural Market Segments ...................................................................... 48

4.3

Universal Appeals ............................................................................................. 49

4.4

Culture-Cluster .................................................................................................. 50

4.5

The “Country-of-Origin” Effect ........................................................................ 52

4.6

The “Middle-of-the-Road Approach” ............................................................... 54

5 Conclusion ................................................................................................................57 Bibliography.................................................................................................................59

I

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LIST OF FIGURES AND TABLES

Figure 1:

Elements of Culture ........................................................................................... 4

Figure 2:

High-Context versus Low-Context Cultures ................................................... 13

Figure 3:

Three Types of Advertising............................................................................. 15

Figure 4:

First Television Advertisement for Bulova Watch ..........................................16

Figure 5:

Emotional Advertisement of Marlboro Cigararettes........................................ 20

Figure 6:

Advertisement by Benetton.............................................................................. 22

Figure 7:

Advertisement by K-Fee .................................................................................. 23

Figure 8:

Two-Stage Standardization of International Advertising ................................ 25

Figure 9:

Soft-Sell Japanese Advertisement for Mayonnaise .........................................36

Figure 10:

Commercials for High Power Distance and Low Power Distance Cultures ... 37

Figure 11:

Dutch Commercial for Blue Band Margarine..................................................38

Figure 12:

Role Differentiation in Masculine and Feminine Cultures .............................. 39

Figure 13:

German Commercial for Jever Beer ................................................................40

Figure 14:

Visualizations of “Oriental” for the German and American Culture............... 42

Figure 15:

Standardized Advertisement for Chanel in France, Germany and USA.......... 43

Figure 16:

Image Campaign for Martell Appearing Internationally ................................. 46

Figure 17:

Advertising for Designer Fashion as an Example for “Universal Appeals”.... 49

Figure 18:

Culture Cluster ................................................................................................. 51

Figure 19:

Stereotypes in a German Book for English Pupils........................................... 53

Table

Associations of Colors in different Countries ................................................... 8

1:

II

1

Objectives and Structure of this Book

The ongoing process of the globalization of markets in context with the innovation of technologies caused that more and more companies expand their market activities internationally (Müller, 1997). At the same time product offers at saturated markets increasingly are qualitative alike and thus, become exchangeable. A differentiation solely through product attributes is not possible anymore. Advertising became a key function in marketing as communication through advertising provides the only opportunity for companies to differentiate from their competitors (Went, 2000). Both, the globalization of markets and the great importance of advertising raise returning discussions whether global advertising and its planning should be standardized or not. Standardization means that an identical advertisement can appeal different cultures in the same way. On the one hand it can not be denied that things like ethnical cuisine, tourism, and worldwide media lead to an exchange between cultures. On the other hand it is questionable if this exchange causes an automated homogenization of cultures (Müller, 1997).

In 1983 Theodore Levitt already was dealing with the necessity of standardized advertising in the course of globalization. However, Levitt asserted that a standardization of advertising is necessary but did not go into detail how this can be realized best (Went, 2000). Furthermore, he did not consider the enormous impact of culture on the perception and behavior of people and the resulting difficulties to use one single advertising campaign across cultures. In addition to that different national advertising restrictions have to be taken into account. As it is assumed that the trend to globalization will continue and strengthen, the issue of global advertising is always relevant. In this book, the focus is exact on the obstacles of standardized advertising in front of the cultural background. Furthermore, characteristics of various approaches to overcome cultural differences and their

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suitability for standardized advertising will be examined (Went, 2000).

1

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2

2

The Concept of Culture

2.1

Definitions of Culture

Culture is a high complex institution that is composed of many different elements for which one universal valid definition does not exist. More than 160 definitions of culture have been created. This huge amount exposes the complexity of this concept (De Mooij/Keegan, 1991). One definition describes culture as: “[…] the collective mental programming of the people in an environment. Culture is not a characteristic of individuals; it encompasses a number of people who were conditioned by the same education and life experience” (De Mooij/Keegan, 1991, p.73). Culture is also defined as “[...] the values, attitudes, beliefs, artefacts and other meaningful symbols represented in the pattern of life adopted by people that help them interpret, evaluate and communicate as members of a society” (De Mooij, 1998, p.42). All created definitions are similar but nonetheless, each has its own elements depending on the respective field of activity. Culture influences the way people behave but nevertheless it must be considered that no matter how strong culture influences human behavior, everyone has his own needs and capacities for self-governing thoughts, feelings and actions (Usunier, 2000). “A person’s behavior is only partially predetermined by her or his mental programs: she or he has a basic ability to deviate from them and to react in ways that are new, creative, destructive, or unexpected” (Hofstede, 2005, p.3). Due to the fact, that all cultural components are first learned and transmitted within the family, continuing with the neighborhood, at school, at the workplace and so on, culture can be seen as an ongoing process and so, it is learned and not innate (Hofstede, 2005). Moreover culture affects how the reality and, thus foreign cultures are perceived. Foreign cultures are always judged against the background of the own culture. This behavior is called ethnocentrism. Ethnocentrism is an “[…] attitude whereby [people] judge other societies by the standards that apply in [their] society” (n.u., (n.d.) Ethnocentrism). Everyone is ethnocentric without exception and it happens absolutely unconscious. The basis for

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ethnocentrism is the experience, someone already has made and that determines what seems to be the “reality” (Barger, 2004). In the case of advertising ethnocentrism can lead to low attention of country differences or even to the assumption that cultural aspects, which are valid to the own culture are also valid for foreign cultures. This perception is linked with the idea that advertising campaigns that worked in the home country will also work abroad. But different values, beliefs, and needs complicate the universal use of an international advertising campaign and are quite difficult to reveal (De Mooij, 1998). Thus, beside a cultural self-awareness it is very important to build a 3

cross-cultural awareness as well (Went, 2000). As global companies concentrate their activities on particular countries and have to deal with the respective cultures in this investigation the term culture is limited to national cultures.

2.2

Elements of Culture

The easiest way to comprehend culture is by the sum of its elements. “Its elements are organically interrelated and work as a coherent set” (Usunier, 2000, p.5). Those describe and affect the way people think and behave and thus, how people respond to advertising. It is of high importance for international marketers to know them and to know the cultural differences. Figure 1 illustrates particular elements of culture. These elements are shared by communities and make each culture unique.

Figure 1:

Elements of Culture Language

Va l u e s

Rel i gi on El em ent s of Cul ture Ri tual s

Heroes

Sy m bol s Source: Usunier 2000, p. 12

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The first element is language. Language is a great tool of communication and has a leading role in international marketing. “[…] [I]t’s crucial to understand the close relationship between culture and language” (Mueller, 1996, p.90). “The language reflects all manifestations of culture, the expressions and the values. Language illustrates culture” (De Mooij, 1998, p.52). What language people speak is as well as their communication style influenced by their respective culture. Language can be distinguished in verbal and nonverbal language. Verbal language refers to the specific language spoken by a group. Nonverbal 4

language consists of facial expressions and gestures and is seen as even more essential. “[…] [It] is largely used as an additional interpretative framework which allows people to overcome the shortcomings of verbal communication” (Usunier, 2000, p.422). Even if a message seems to be entirely verbal, a part of this message is always of nonverbal nature. Investigations yielded, that little more than 20 per cent of a communication of two individuals within the same culture consists of verbal language. As a result, most communication is nonverbal, through a nod of the head, a smile or a wave with the hand. Even if the main part of communication is of nonverbal nature it must be considered that these methods are not more universal than verbal language. The way how people use nonverbal language is culture-bound. It is said that people who speak different languages perceive reality different, because language leads to categorizations in people’s minds. These categories determine which things are judged to be similar and which deserve to be differentiated. This process is determined by people’s Weltanschauung (German word for worldview) that means, how they observe and describe things, how they interact as well as the way they construct their reality. Great differences in the perception are one of the main causes of misunderstandings in communication. With regard to advertising, language is used to convey messages such as to describe consumer benefits, product qualities and to convince potential buyers. The close connection between language and the perception of the reality makes clear why translations in other languages are so difficult. Thus, for international advertisers it is essential to handle translations with great care (Mueller, 1995; Usunier, 2000). The context dimension refers to the extend people communicate direct or indirect. In highcontext cultures most of the information is internalized in the person whereas in low-context cultures nearly all is made explicit as a part of the message by using a large number of words. The task of international marketers is to decide to what extend nonverbal messages should be mixed up with verbal messages. That means whether it is better to present information elements through verbal language or more nonverbal language in the form of signs and

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symbols in the advertising execution. However, language is not the only indication for equal cultures can be seen clearly by the example of Switzerland. The Swiss have been sharing a common culture for several centuries although they use different languages (Usunier, 2000). Sometimes even the way around is the case. In different cultures members speak the same language. Like English, that is spoken in the United States, Canada, Australia, and Ireland. As a result, a common language can facilitate the development of a common culture but does not determine it (Dmoch, 1997).

5

The next element of culture is values. Values are the ideas and beliefs people hold within and are the deepest manifestations of culture. On this level national cultures differ mostly. Most human values remain unconscious but nevertheless determine the way people think and behave. “A value is a preference for one mode of behaviour over another mode of behaviour” (De Mooij, 1998, p.95). Values are organized in a system in which they are ordered according to priority with regard to other values. They influence attitudes, beliefs, choices and behavior of cultural members. ”A value system is a learned organization of principles and rules to help one choose between alternatives, resolve conflicts, and make decisions” (De Mooij, 1998, p.95). The core values are deep-rooted and very stable. They do not change or if any, then only over a long period of time and they do not look like they are converging (De Mooij, 1998). These “[r]ankings of values differ from culture to culture” (De Mooij/Keegan, 1991, p.88). So, a value such as having an exciting life may be very important for one culture and less important for another. Values are communicated by parents or elder siblings first and are over the years supplemented by teachers, classmates, sports and TV idols (Hofstede, 2005).

Religion is a further element of culture. Although religion can be perceived as a cultural universal, it must be taken into account that the belief in one god and the rituals of worship differ from culture to culture considerably. Moreover the intensity of religious feelings differs (De Mooij, 1998). What is accepted in one culture can be a scandal in another culture. One example is a Pepsi-Cola commercial featured by Madonna that had to be withdrawn in the United States. This was caused by a music video, that came out at the same time as the commercial showing Madonna dancing in front of burning crucifixes. People in the United States felt offended and associated the video with the commercial (De Mooij/Keegan, 1991). As religion influences the value system of people, they are both closely linked together and affect consumer’s buying habits. For example this can be the consumption of alcohol in Arabic countries, of pork in Israel as well as of meat in India. Moreover religion determines in which grade consumers copy the Western life-style by accepting or depreciating imported

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goods (Kreutzer, 1990).

An additional element of culture is rituals. Rituals are characterized as “collective activities considered socially essential within a culture; they are carried out for their own sake. Examples include ways of greeting and paying respect to others as well as social and religious ceremonies” (De Mooij/Keegan, 1991, p.76). Nearly all cultures have their own rituals in the form of celebrations, festivals and more. It depends on the respective culture how birthdays and weddings are celebrated, or even if graces are said at the table (Hardig, 1995). 6

Advertising displays the rituals around products and brands. This must fit the rituals of the respective culture.

Heroes are the fifth element of culture. Heroes are defined as “[…] persons, alive or dead, real or imaginary, who possess characteristics that are highly prized in a culture, and thus serve as models for behavior” (Hofstede, 2005, p.7). Every culture has its own heroes such as the poets Goethe and Schiller in Germany. Advertising heroes can be used to link a brand, for example to a particular sport or type of music. Because there are only few persons known worldwide, as for example Michael Jackson, Michael Schumacher or Madonna, it is advisable to show national heroes in advertising who are known well in the particular cultures. One company that pursued this strategy in its worldwide concept and chose the heroes according to the culture is Coca-Cola. In different countries different heroes represented different sports according to the individual culture and its popular sports (De Mooij/Keegan, 1991).

The last element of culture to be explained is symbols. Symbols are the most apparent element of culture and are defined as “words, gestures, pictures or objects which carry a particular meaning only recognized by those who share the culture” (De Mooij/ Keegan, 1991, p.76). Symbols and their meanings provide orientations for the members. Elements of symbols are for instance colors, gestures and numbers. As a result, they vary considerably from culture to culture. It frequently occurs that in different cultures the same color has an utterly different meaning. Table 1 on page 7 illustrates how different associations of colors in each country are. Whereas, for example in Brazil the color white stands for cleanliness and freshness, in Pakistan it is the color of mourning (De Mooij, 1998). Furthermore black does not stand for mourning in all countries. In Brazil it is cardinal red, and in Mexico yellow (Kreutzer, 1990). Except Denmark in all presented countries red is the

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only color that is associated with anger.

7

Table 1: Color

Associations of Colors in different Countries Austria

Brasilia

Denmark

France

Italia

Pakistan

Mourning

Mourning Dead Secret

Mourning Worry

Worry Drunkenness Jealously Pessimism

Depression

Mourning Helplessness

Innocence

Freedom Cleanliness Chasteness

Innocence Chasteness

Chasteness Young

Innocence Fear Unsuccessful Love Affair

Mourning Soberness Elegance

Anger Love Passion Fire

Warmness Passion Hate Fire, Anger Violence Hope Freedom Immature Desease

Love Danger Fire

Anger Heat Pleasure Bashfulness

Anger Danger Fire

Anger Marriage Commitment

Hope Boredom Healthiness

Adolescence Fear

Luck Christianity Constant Life

Loyalty

Silence Coldness Carelessness

Quality

Anger Fear

Enviousness Youth Lack of money Depressive Anger Fear

Jealously

Fun Sun Luck Enviousness Desease

Danger

Disease

Anger

Virginity Weakness Anger

Hope

Source: Habegger, S. (2003)

Gestures have different meanings as well. There are two gestures that are often perceived as universal, but they have completely different meanings: The OK signal and thumbs up. The U.S. OK sign means “zero” in France and Hungary and “money” in Japan. The thumbsup gesture is used by pilots all over the world but in some countries it is not accepted anyway. The degree to which symbols are used in advertising varies from culture to culture and is

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related to high- and low-context (De Mooij, 1998).

2.3

Culture and Consumer Behavior

The consumer behavior is deeply influenced by the respective culture and differs in essential cases. Many scientists like Fons Trompenaars, Charles Hampden-Turner, Edward T.Hall and Hofstede have researched commonalities and differences between cultures and developed, 8

based on the results, concepts of different dimensions. Probably, the best known concepts are the 5-D model by Hofstede and the context dimension by Hall. These concepts are used by many international companies to recognize similarities and dissimilarities between cultures (Hauke, 2006). To comprehend consumer’s culture-bound behavior, in this book these both concepts are essential and will be explained in the following.

2.3.1

Hofstede’s Five Dimensions

This model “is based on 30 years of quantitative research. The original data were from an extensive IBM database for which –between 1967 and 1973- 116,000 questionnaires were used in 72 countries and 20 languages.” (De Mooij, 1998, p.72). Hofstedes’ model consists of five dimensions: Power Distance, Individualism versus Collectivism, Masculinity versus Femininity, Uncertainty Avoidance, and Long-Term Orientation. International marketers must know the characteristics of a culture and the behavior of its members to develop a proper advertising campaign that agree to their expectations and needs. Power Distance In every society inequality occurs. But how people are dealing with the fact that some people get more status and respect than others differs from culture to culture and relates to the first dimension of Hofstedes model. The power distance dimension refers to “[...] the extend to which less powerful members of a society accept and expect that power is distributed unequally” (De Mooij, 1998, p.74). The power distance influences the way people deal with authority. In large power distance cultures like China, everyone has his rightful place in a social hierarchy and an unequal distribution of power is accepted. In cultures scoring lower on the power distance index, for instance Denmark, equality in rights and opportunity in the workplace are high estimated. But the power distance dimension does not only refer to the workplace, but also to the family. In small power distance cultures, children at a young age are parented to be self-determining and to avoid becoming dependent

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on others, except of immediate family members only. In contrary to that, children in large power distance cultures are longer protected by the parents and their independence is expected at a larger age (De Mooij, 1998).

Masculinity vs. Femininity Hofstede defines the opposite between masculinity and femininity as follows: “The dominant values in a masculine society are achievement and success, the dominant values in a feminine 9

society are caring for others and quality of life” (De Mooij, 1998, p.80). Performance, status and achievement are highly estimated in masculine cultures and being the “winner” has a major importance. Everyone can reach success, as long as he tries hard enough. In feminine cultures quality of life, people orientation and sympathy for the underdog are more estimated. Advertisements in American, English, and German cultures, identified as high on masculinity, consist of values like winning, success and status. This would be unthinkable in feminine cultures like Dutch, French, and Spain, where modesty is a core value. Furthermore values like decisiveness, liveliness, and ambition are observed as mainly masculine while caring, gentleness, and humility are identified as mainly feminine. Values of feminine cultures cause more gendereous equality. While men and women can have the same jobs in feminine societies, jobs are clear distinguished in male and female work in masculine cultures. Men who deal with female jobs as washing up are seen as milksop in masculine cultures (De Mooij, 1998). These strict distinctions cause, that in masculine cultures men are less involved in daily buying decisions while in feminine cultures the marriage partner is quite integrated in that process. Individualism vs. Collectivism The difference between individualism and collectivism can be described as “people looking after themselves and their immediate family only, versus people belonging to in-groups that look after them in exchange for loyalty” (De Mooij, 1998, p.76). In individualistic cultures people are “I”-conscious, give priority to the task, and try to actualize themselves. In contrary to that people in collectivistic cultures are “we”-consious, give priority to relationship with people, and group decisions are more valued than individual decisions. People of collectivistic cultures try to avoid loss of face, because mistakes made by someone have not only an effect for oneself but also on the in-group the person belongs. In collectivistic cultures the in-group has a wide influence on the views, needs, and goals of someone, because it determines the identity of an individual and can not be changed (De

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Mooij, 1998). In individualistic cultures it is different. The members of those cultures belong to many ingroups which are joined willingly and can be changed over time. They are not as intimate as the in-groups in collectivistic cultures and do not have such a great influence on the decisionmaking of the individual (De Mooij, 1998). Hofstede found out that cultures scoring high on power distance are mostly collectivistic cultures and the other way around. Moreover this dimension affects the communication style 10

of people according to their culture. In individualistic cultures members often use the “I” pronoun when referring to themselves and the English language is the only one, where “I” is written in capital letter. In contrary to that, people from collectivistic cultures do not use the pronoun as long as it is not specified grammatically (Hofstede, 2005).

Uncertainty Avoidance Everyone has to deal with the fact, that the future can not be predicted, because nobody can look into the future. But the way people deal with this fact differs from culture to culture, according to the level of uncertainty avoidance. Hofstede’s fourth dimension is defined as “[...] the extent to which people feel threatened by uncertainty and ambiguity and try to avoid these situations.” (De Mooij, 1998, p.83). Uncertainty is not innate, but acquired and learned (Hofstede, 2005). Children being raised as members of a high uncertainty avoidance culture such as Germany and Japan are taught by their parents at young age that life is threatening and dangerous. Children in low uncertainty avoidance cultures, as for instance Great Britain and Sweden learn to be independent as fast as possible and to structure their lives for themselves (De Mooij, 1998). People from high uncertainty avoiding cultures prefer rules and patterns and avoid making assumptions. Besides, they believe in experts and want to be entirely informed about a product, before they decide to buy it. Furthermore they try to decrease the uncertainty with the aid of technology, law and religion. Technology helps to avoid uncertainty caused by nature. Through laws people try to overcome uncertainties of human behavior. And religion helps people to deal with things, that are assumed to determine men’s life and can not be altered (Hofstede, 2005). To minimize medical risks members of the respective cultures try to have a very healthy diet and, thus buy mineral water rather than tab water and eat more fresh fruits. In contrary to that, uncertainty accepting cultures predominantly buy ready-made products such as ice cream, frozen foods and savory snacks (Hofstede, 2005). In contrary to that, people from cultures with low uncertainty avoidance do not need such a Copyright © 2009. Diplomica Verlag. All rights reserved.

structured life. There should be as less rules and formality as possible. They prefer to learn by trial and error and can handle insecurity. People from cultures with a high uncertainty communicate very expressive. They use their hands and raise their voices while talking and are showing their emotions without concerns (De Mooij, 1998).

11

Long-term Orientation The fifth and last dimension of Hofstede’s model is the long-term orientation and relates to the teachings of Confucius. This dimension results from a Chinese Value Survey, made by .

Michael Bond and a number of Chinese social students and was originally named Confucian Dynamism. The purpose of this survey was to explain the economic success of a number of Asian countries, because no dimension could give an explanation so far. It can be defined as “[...] the extent to which a society exhibits a pragmatic future-oriented perspective rather than a conventional historic or short-term point of view.” (De Mooij, 1998, p.87). People from cultures with long-term orientation like China are characterized by persistence, ordering relationships by status and observing this order. On the contrary, people with shortterm orientation such as Great Britain usually have a sense of urgency, feel respect for tradition and fulfill social obligations. Moreover they are characterized by personal steadiness and stability and pursue happiness rather than peace of mind. Important values in cultures with a long-term orientation are the respect for old age and ancestor worship. People see old age starting earlier, but also think that their life will be more satisfying (De Mooij, 1998).

2.3.2

High-Context Cultures versus Low-Context Cultures

An additional concept to categorize cultures and its members has been established by Edward T. Hall. He differentiates between high-context cultures and low-context cultures. He investigated the culture and social integration of Hopi and Navajo Indians and defines both communication styles as followed: “[...] A high context communication or message is one in which most of the information is already in the person, while very little is in the coded, explicit, transmitted part of the message. A low context communication is vested in the explicit code” (Mueller, 1995, p. 114). The context dimension refers to the level, whether people communicate direct or indirect. In high-context cultures most of the information is internalized in the person whereas in low-context cultures nearly all is made explicit as a part of the message by using a large number of words. In high-context cultures the verbal

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communication is seen as only one part of communication. The nonverbal is thought of as even more important and indispensable. (De Mooij/Keegan, 1991). “The distinction between high-context and low-context communication is helpful to understand the differences between cultures with respect to verbal and nonverbal communication, direct versus indirect advertising and the use of symbols versus facts and data.” (De Mooij, 1998, p.67). Examples of high-context cultures and low-context cultures are illustrated in figure 2 on page 12. Japanese, Chinese and Arab cultures are high-context ones, whereas Scandinavian, German and Swiss German cultures are low on context. The Swiss German culture is 12

identified as lowest on context, thus verbal communication is of high importance. On the other side of the arrow Japanese, Chinese and Arab cultures are placed as highest on context. These cultures communicate predominantly nonverbal (Usunier/Walliser, 1993). The communication style of a culture has direct implications for international advertisers, because it has a great impact if an advertisement is understood by the target group. While the advertising message in high-context cultures predominantly consists of symbolism or verbal expressions and only few words, in low-context cultures the advertising message is communicated by argumentation and rhetoric (De Mooij, 1998). “Where differences in the coding/decoding process are ignored by the communicators, they may persist throughout the whole interaction process” (Usunier, 2000, p.416). The language, no matter if through words or images, “[…] is the strongest link between advertisers and their potential audiences in marketing communications” (Usunier, 2000, p.453). Figure 2:

High-Context versus Low-Context Cultures

High-context Japanese Chinese Arab Greek Spanish Italian English French American

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Scandinavian German Swiss German

Low-context Source: Mueller, B. (1995), p.115

13

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14

3

Global Advertising

3.1

Characteristics of Advertising

The increasing homogenization of product offers caused that advertising, more precisely emotional advertising is of great importance for companies to differentiate from their competitors (Went, 2000). Advertising is a tool of the communication policy within marketing. The communication policy includes all arrangements of a company that are aimed to inform people about their goods and services and to pursue them to buy or use them, respectively (Dmoch, 1997). “Advertising is a one-way communication whose purpose is to inform potential customers about products and services and how to obtain them” (Advertising, 2007). Advertising exists since ancient times but the execution of advertising changed considerably. While, for example in Ancient Greece and Ancient Rome people used Papyrus to create sales messages, nowadays the opportunities for advertising are manifold. If in the radio, TV, newspaper, on the walls of an airport walkway or on the sides of buses, the main thing is that people call attention. Especially the World Wide Web opened new frontiers to place advertisements in different ways (Advertising, 2007).

Figure 3 shows a small choice of different types of advertising. The first type on the left side is advertising on signs hold by people. This is one of the oldest forms of advertising. The picture in the middle shows an IPod advertisement branded on buses and the picture on the right side illustrates an outdoor advertising for beer in New York.

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Figure 3:

Three Types of Advertising

Source: (N.U., 2007). Advertising

The first advertisement on television was for Bulova Watch and is illustrated in figure 4 on page 14. This very simple advertisement was a pure informative advertising and was broadcasted in the United States in 1941. 15

The Bulova Watch Company paid US 9$ for a 20-second spot before a baseball game. It displayed only a Bulova watch and the company’s slogan “America runs on Bulova time”. (Television Advertising, 2007).

Figure 4:

First Television Advertisement for Bulova Watch

Source: Television Advertising (2007)

As advertising material such as advertising by post, cinema or outdoor advertising are of little importance yet, this book deals with the classic print and electronic media only, thus with television, radio, and print advertising (Went, 2000). These types of advertising consist of word-, writing-, image- and audio character directed to an anonymous public.

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To reveal how advertising works and therewith its impact on the consumer behavior marketing people started to do research. The origin of market and consumer research is located in the United States of America, so that methods and styles in other countries are based on the American model. This means that all hypotheses about how advertising works are based on American theories and are taken over in different countries. But how people perceive advertising is culture-bound. One culture loves advertising and another hates it. In some cultures advertising is only seen as the attempt of companies to persuade people and to influence them to buy overpriced products that they do not even need. 16

In other cultures, advertising has a better reputation. It is considered as entertainment and the purpose to build trust between companies and consumers (DeMooij, 1998).

No matter, if people like advertising or not, the goals which all companies have, are everywhere the same. The goals of advertising can be split into common goals and specific goals for the market. Common goals of advertising are information, motivation, socialization, reinforcement, and entertainment. Companies want to inform customers about the product, improvements, and quality characteristics. Furthermore they want to control the attitudes, expectations and manners of the costumers. As a result, they want to motivate them to buy a particular product or at least to deal with it. By communicating values to a specific target group companies want to socialize customers. Examples are campaigns against drugs or educational advertising for AIDS. If a customer is motivated and decides to buy a product, advertising can reinforce this decision. Arguments confirm this buying decision and avoid doubts. The entertainment aspect is not a superficial goal but nevertheless not inconsiderable. In front of that goal stand the purpose to avoid zapping or paging forward and thus, an early termination of contact. Market specific goals are related to the introduction of new products, creation of a specific image, differentiation from competitive products, expansion of the market share, and holding the market leadership (Florack, n.d; Went, 2000). An absolute hierarchy of advertising goals does not exist. For every advertising campaign goals and their importance have to be specified individually. Most often these goals are specified on the basis of the involvement of the products or the product life cycle phase (Went, 2000).

3.2

Advertising as a Communication Tool

3.2.1

Advertising Strategy

The function of advertisements is to communicate a message to the target group and to persuade them to buy a product and to make use of the service respectively. Copyright © 2009. Diplomica Verlag. All rights reserved.

The entire communication concept of advertising bases on two major elements: advertising strategy and advertising execution. The advertising strategy refers to the definition of the target group, the positioning in terms of the unique selling proposition, the communication media, advertising message as well as the “Reason Why”. Hence, it will be determined what will be communicated to whom. This is the basis for the operative execution in terms of how to communicate to the target group (Kreutzer, 1990). 17

To determine the target group and its behavior segmentation is necessary. Possible segmentation criteria are demographic, socio-economic, psychographic and behavioral characteristics. Demographic characteristics are the classics like age, gender, income and social stratum. Psychographic characteristics, however, are the motifs, interests and attitudes, to name but a few. They give concrete indications about the reasons for purchase, but gathering this information is complicated and expensive. Behavioral characteristics refer to quantities of purchase, frequentness, points of time, points of purchase, and so on. They are of special meaning, because they do not describe determinants for the purchase but demonstrate their result (Bruhn, 2003). Although demographic and socio economic characteristics are easiest to gather, they make only a small contribution for the explanation of consumer behavior. They give information about what consumers buy indeed, but do not explain why. Psychographic and behavioral characteristics give the most indications for a successful advertising planning (Went, 2000). After identifying and characterizing the target group it must be analyzed what media this group uses mostly and at what time. On this basis advertisers have to decide where, in which form and which time to insert an advertisement best. More precisely: Which advertising medium, as for instance television, radio or magazines, should be used with what kind of advertising material (e.g. TV-spot). As advertising material such as advertising by post, cinema or outdoor advertising are of little importance yet, this book deals with the classic print and electronic media only, thus with television, radio, and print advertising (Went, 2000). These three advertising materials are particularly suitable because of the great number of alternatives within these advertising materials. In Germany exist, for example, 30 weekly papers, more than 3,000 public and technical

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magazines, 20 nationwide television networks and 221 radio stations. A big difference between print media and electronic media is that advertisements by electronic media are temporally and locally determined. So, a multiple contact with the advertisement is not possible. An additional difference is that generally the information content in print media is higher than in electronic media.

18

The selection of the right media is not restricted to one single medium but rather to a mediamix (Went, 2000).

With regard to the standardization of the advertising message, marketers determine if the message should be created informative or emotional. Advertisements providing consumers with information about functional attributes of a (new) product, only through speech and writing, are called informative advertising. This kind of advertising is frequently used for new and accordingly in need of explanation products or high involvement products respectively and is supposed to be more credible and to help to generate a good reputation. In some cases informative advertising is used to overcome advertising bans as for tobacco or alcohol. “Alcohol producers have been running advertisements with the general message being “don't drive drunk”. Moreover some unions and trade organizations execute informative advertising to call attention to themes like AIDS, animal protection or environmentalism (Informative Advertising, 2007; Kroeber-Riel, 2004).

Emotional advertising refers to the communication of emotions as well as to the consumption experience that the viewer makes through advertising (Müller, 1997). Cigarettes, for example, get associated with freedom or emancipation. Emotional experiences are made up of cognitive components as beliefs, values, and evaluation as well as physiological components which produce feelings and desires. A precise example is the advertising of Marlboro cigarettes illustrated in figure 5.

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Since many years, the Marlboro man is being used as a symbol for adventure and freedom.

19

Figure 5:

Emotional Advertisement of Marlboro Cigarettes

Source: Kroeber-Riel/Esch, 2004, p.81

One reason for using emotions in advertising was the recognition of American advertisers that consumers’ emotions have a significant influence on the purchase and consumption (De Mooij, 1998). They detected that decisions people make are more often controlled by feelings than by brain. Even if the decision seems to be totally rational a small part of feelings is always involved. Emotional advertising applies exactly to these subconscious motivations, whishes and fears (Monzel, 2007). An additional reason for the emotional aspect was the information overload through advertising. Information overload means the part of neglected information within the sent information in total. In the United States and Germany the offer of information increases about 260% yearly. The consequence of that is a minimal attention period for particular

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campaigns. People either do not perceive advertising at all, or the relevant information does not get attention, because a termination of contact takes place before (Müller, 1997). Most of the households are equipped with durable goods like television set, computers, and fridges. The markets are saturated and the products and services of competing companies are more and more identical (Löffler, 2000). They can be hardly distinguished in their functions or even in their appearance. As a result, advertisements, which only inform about qualitative or functional characteristics, do not give criterion for the preference building of the consumer or positioning of the products in saturated markets (Müller, 1997). To differentiate products 20

and thus brands from each other, emotional added values need to be used. These emotions are associated with the particular product and make it imitable. To drive Mercedes means to experience prestige and perfumes are often associated with erotic. In standardized advertising the emotional stimuli must be globally understood by the viewers and must cause associations, which coincide with the core message (Dmoch, 1997). It is essential to build a strong and memorable identity for the respective product, which can not be easily replaced by another competing product (Monzel, 2007). Consequently, nowadays informative advertising in its pure form is extremely rare. Boundaries between both informative and emotional advertising are getting more and more mixed up. Each informative advertisement has emotional elements and backwards each emotional advertisement has informative elements as for instance the name of the company or brand (Monzel, 2007). Before advertisements are getting realized by formal elements, marketers have to decide for what media the respective advertising should be executed to reach the target group with as few as possible spreading losses. For the right decision it is essential for advertisers to know what media the target group uses most.

3.2.2

Advertising Execution

The centre of advertising execution is the embodiment of the core message which marketers define within the framework of advertising strategy. The elements of advertising execution can be separated in verbal elements, visual elements and acoustic elements. Headlines, text, and slogans belong to the verbal category. Visual elements consist of symbols, pictures, product or brand names and colors, and acoustic elements imply music and language (Kreutzer, 1990). According to the selected media different formal elements are being used. Acoustic elements like jingles have been added to television advertisements in the 1980s.

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Jingles are songs or melodies with the intention to associate good feelings communicated by the song on display. Furthermore to connect the jingle with the company that should remain in the minds of television viewers. Later, even popular songs have been used in television advertisements like “Freeway of Love” by Aretha Franklin for Burger King or “Revolution” by the Beatles for Nike athletic shoes.

21

In the majority of cases companies catch people by positive elements like music, humor and animation (Television Advertising, 2007). But sometimes companies also use negative components such as shock, fright, consternation or abhorrence. Feelings initiated by the advertisement, as for instance compassion or concernment, are still better than no feelings at all. The clothing company Benetton is one example for it. The company uses mainly scandalous pictures of ecological disaster, holocaust, deadly disease, etc. One example of those advertisements is illustrated in figure 6 on the next page. It shows the company’s name and bloody clothes of a soldier who was killed at war in Bosnia. No image promotion, no product promotion. The company aims for attention and discussion (n.u., (n.d). Kleidung des getöteten kroatischen Soldaten Marinko Gagro, 1993).

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Figure 6:

Advertisement by Benetton

Source: (n.u., (n.d). Kleidung des getöteten kroatischen Soldaten Marinko Gagro, 1993).

An additional example of negative components is a German advertisement for coffee that is illustrated in figure 7.

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Figure 7:

Advertisement by K-Fee

Source: K-fee movies

The company K-fee created an advertisement with shocking elements. At first, the viewer sees a harmonic landscape accompanied with harmonic music. Suddenly an antic appears for a second on the monitor, screams and disappears. This advertisement ends with the slogan “So wach warst du noch nie” (You have never been so awake before). No matter, if advertisements initiate positive or negative feelings, the main target is that the viewers remind the brand. That is the basis for the attainment of the real goals of companies.

3.3

Specifics of Global Advertising

The advanced globalization process caused, that national dimensions get a decreasing impact on the success of companies. To assure their existence, it becomes essential for companies to orientate their activities also international. New information and communication technologies encourage the globalization process and the involved linkage between markets (Went, 2000). Companies, which advertise globally, are confronted with more challenges than companies which advertise only on the home market. They have to decide, if an advertising campaign can work in all foreign markets equally or if advertising campaigns should be developed for each market individually. Companies which decide for a standardization of advertising have to identify transnational

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homogeneous target groups and have to deal with the cultural environment and government’s barriers for each particular country. They have a higher necessity for coordination, what makes standardization even more difficult (Usunier/Walliser, 1993). The need for coordination between sender and recipient, in this case between advertiser and viewer, increases with the number of the target markets (Dmoch, 1997). “[…] [A]n advertisement will be effective if the viewer or reader decodes the advertisement successfully […]” (De Mooij, 1998, p.9). Therefore advertisers, using one global stimulus for different cultures have to take into consideration that different needs, feelings, and values of the 23

respective cultures can lead to misunderstandings of the core message. Furthermore, different associations and thus different images of the company can cause that the advertisement does not lead to the desired behavior. At the worst the advertisement does not reach the receiver at all (Kreutzer, 1990; De Mooij/Keegan 1991; Went, 2000).

Beside cultural restrictions advertisers have to notice also legal restrictions, which complicate standardization of advertising. Those can implicate advertising bans and formal instructions for “foreign” advertising (De Mooij/Keegan, 1991). Some examples of advertising bans are advertising of alcoholic beverages, advertising of tobacco products, and products available only on prescription (n.u., 2007, Werbeverbote). But companies have not only attend what may be advertised and what may not, but also how they may advertise. In some countries the government requires that all advertisements have to originate from the receiving country and employ local people, habits and expressions. In the Netherlands, for example in television advertisements for sweets, a toothbrush has to be illustrated during the whole spot. Furthermore, in Malaysia, known as a Muslim country, women are not allowed to be illustrated with sleeveless dresses or unclothed arms and in Saudi-Arabia it is prohibited to illustrate women even unconcealed (Went, 2000). Moreover the government regulates formal elements as, for instance the usage of foreign languages in advertising. Just like the French, who try to prevent their language from foreign influences by tolerating other languages in advertisements only if they are combined with a French translation. For example, the Coca-Cola slogan “Coca-Cola is it” that became “Coca-Cola c’est-ca” (Usunier/Walliser, 1993). In Mexico, Philippines and Malaysia foreign languages are only permitted, if a translation is impossible. In other countries advertisers are restricted in their creative freedom of configuration. In Saudi-Arabia “better than”- statements are not allowed. In China superstitious and pornographic contents are prohibited and to protect kids, in Great

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Britain the usage of girlhood or boyhood idols are not allowed (Kreutzer, 1990).

Except bans on advertising and formal restrictions, bans regarding the import also exist. They complicate a standardization of advertising even more. Extreme examples are Australia, Southern France and Malaysia. In these countries the import of TV-spots from foreign countries are not allowed at all. Due to that, Goodyear and Adidas have been forced to produce their international spots in the respective countries once again. In Indonesia high duties on imports of advertising material are requested and only in exceptional cases 24

Indonesian-speaking advertisements from abroad are accepted. These all restrictions make it very difficult to standardize advertising (Kreutzer, 1990).

3.4

Standardization of Global Advertising

3.4.1

Kinds of Standardization

Standardization of advertising consists of two steps and is illustrated in figure 8 on page 23. The first step is the standardization of the core message and the second step is the standardization of its linguistic and visual elements. This differentiation is meaningful, because sometimes a standardization of both is impractical. Sometimes the core message can be standardized, but its linguistic and visual elements have to be adapted according to different cultures (Dmoch, 1997). The same execution elements rarely cause equal associations in all cultures. In some cases those elements are not understood at all.

Figure 8:

Two-Stage Standardization of International Advertising

Standardization of the Core Message

Informative Core Message

Emotional Core Message

Standardization of the Execution

Standardization of the Execution

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Linguistical Execution

Pictorial Execution

Linguistical Execution

Pictorial Execution

Source: Dmoch, 1997, p. 7

An example is an advertisement of impulse deodorant with the purpose to introduce that whole-body spray in thirty-seven countries. The company used one single campaign with the idea of a short romantic encounter between a man and a woman. The origin television version 25

showed a man walking through a park in a hurry, taking a bunch of flower without paying for it. He gives this bunch of flower a passing, sweet-smiling girl with the purpose to start a relationship with her. As this version would not be appropriate in all thirty-seven countries, cultural adaptations had to be made. In Islamic countries like Malaysia, the woman shows only a flattered smile and never would accept such advances. To start a relationship with a stranger would be considered as very unrefined. Furthermore in this version the man pays for the bunch with a highdenomination bank-note, because not paying for it would be unimaginable. And, as it is strictly forbidden to walk on public lawns, the man stands on the paths instead (DeMooij/Keegan, 1991). Every company has to weigh up the pros and cons of standardized advertising and has to determine the appropriate extension of standardization. The most mentioned reasons for and against standardization of advertising will be expounded in the following.

3.4.2

Arguments for Standardization

The success of brands like Coca-Cola, Marlboro, and Nike has been greatly influenced by the standardized campaigns of these brands and are often demonstrated as an argument for standardization (De Mooij, 1998). Those global brands have been using advertising to create a culture around the brand. “It is possible to give a brand a certain identity in several countries simultaneously” (De Mooij/Keegan, 1991, p.165). In addition to that, brands like “Marlboro, Coca-Cola, Sony and Levi’s have become more than brands; they have become universal symbols of life-styles, images and satisfactions in which consumers all over the world want to share” (De Mooij/Keegan, 1991, p.177). These entire worldwide advertising have set a standard for global advertising (De Mooij, 1998). The cost savings and growing homogenization of needs across borders are additional arguments for standardization. Costs can be saved by authorizing just one single agency to

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develop one international advertising campaign instead of authorizing different agencies for each target market. Furthermore cost can be saved in using one good idea several times, as for instance one television advertisement in many European countries. Moreover the cost saving argument is substantiated by simplified coordination and control, and in the better use of management abilities and resources (De Mooij/Keegan, 1991). Furthermore the stagnating and partially diminishing demand caused a globalization of competition in almost all

26

consumer markets. This point of view is represented in 1983 by Theodore Levitt who wrote the book “The Globalization of Markets”. Levitt advocates in his book the convergence thesis and writes about the worldwide increasing convergence in needs. The increasing tourism is one reason for that. Whereas in the year 1987 367 millions of people left their home country for journeys abroad, it was twice as many in 1972. As several developing countries increasingly are perambulated, the tourists demonstrate the locals a life of luxury and, as a result become a peer group for them. Furthermore the food section is supposed to cause a convergence in needs. In many countries products from foreign cultures are offered. Food like Wiener Schnitzel or Danish butter and beverages as Apollinaris and Schweppes can be consumed worldwide (Kreutzer, 1990).

The increasing extension of international media leads to a raised market transparency and the so called media-overspill. That is a further argument for standardization. The communication technology supports the international use of national radio, TV and print media. It is argued that this development makes standardized advertising meaningful. A cross-cultural communication leads to a reduction of information deficits if the viewers get exactly the same information through standardized advertisements. Newspapers, for example, are supposed to be especially suitable. A number of both males and females magazines like Playboy, Penthouse and Cosmopolitan as well as special interest magazines are appropriate for international advertising (Kreutzer, 1990). “These […] magazines share the same editorial formula and reach fairly homogeneous international target groups, […]” (De Mooij/Keegan, 1991, p. 146). Additional impulses for a convergence between cultures rise from diverse movies and TV-series, which are broadcasted in many countries. Due to that, movies like James Bond or series such as Friends or Grey’s Anatomy and the involved products through product placement are popular in many countries and, thus in many cultures (Kreutzer, 1990).

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Convergent segments especially in the target group of teenagers regarding similar life-styles in music, leisure and further interests represent an additional argument for standardization. Further target groups, which are supposed to be proper for standardized advertising, are the social elite who buy products from brands as Cartier or Mercedes, frequent flyer, music lover and do-it-yourselfer (Went, 2000). Furthermore it is said that similarities exist as well in the business-to-business market, because products are bought for the same reasons over the world. 27

Levitt advises companies standardization because “companies […] can, as a result, achieve economies of scale in procurement, logistics, production and marketing, and also in the transfer or management expertise which will all eventually add up to lower prices” (De Mooij/Keegan, 1991, p.57). To standardize successfully, Levitt holds that “[…] one should not focus only on differences, one should look for commonality and similarity […]” (De Mooij/Keegan, 1991, p.58). Such similarities are supposed to be found in basic needs, physical or biological needs, basic emotions and basic frames of minds (De Mooij/Keegan, 1991). It is argued that standardized advertising allows companies to build a worldwide uniform corporate image. The worldwide identical recognition of the brand prevents confusion on the side of the consumer. Moreover standardization assures an international quality standard (De Mooij/Keegan, 1991). That good ideas can work in many countries proves the brand Lux. It uses the same concept with same movie stars such as Penelope Cruz, Jennifer Connely or Catherine Zeta-Jones in about hundred countries successfully. The argument advertising could not be standardized successfully, because cultures are to much influenced by patterns, values, tastes and fashions, becomes confuted by the fact that “[g]lobal advertising has influenced some cultural phenomena to a certain extent” (De Mooij/Keegan, 1991, p.388). An example is the advertisement for Maxwell instant coffee in China. The Chinese have been a typical tea-culture until they saw the advertisement and became aware that there is more than tea (De Mooij/Keegan, 1991).

3.4.3

Arguments against Standardization

Marketing people, who differentiate advertisements according to cultures, do not believe that one great idea can cross borders and help to sell the respective products to imaginary universal global consumers. Their first argument against standardization is, that the Copyright © 2009. Diplomica Verlag. All rights reserved.

assumption “[t]o sell the same things in the same way everywhere“ (Schmidt, Spieß, 1995) is wishful thinking and leads to false perception and cultural blindness.They are convinced that differences between cultures and the involved mentalities and values are too great and too deep as that the same stimuli could cause the same responses everywhere. One example is the advertising for toothpaste. Whereas Americans carry about cavities greatly, French are less worried about that.

28

In this case one campaign does not fit the needs and attitudes of both cultures, so that the selling proposition has to be adapted to cultural specifics. The toothpaste needs to be advertised as a cosmetic appeal in France and a dental health appeal in the United States (De Mooij/Keegan, 1991). Another example is eating that is often assumed as being universal. It is basically right that eating is a universal need, but the preferences for certain food and the way of cooking it, differs from culture to culture considerably. That this will change in the nearer future is hard to imagine. One reason for that grounds in the past of cultures. They base on divided memories and continuities since many generations and thus are historically specific (De Mooij, 1998).

To fit cultures by using the lowest common denominator by the execution raises the risk of a bland, meaningless and hence ineffective advertisement (De Mooij/Keegan, 1991). “Global communications have not made the world into one homogeneous culture; on the contrary, they have caused countries increasingly to assert their own cultural identity” (De Mooij/Keegan, 1991, p.387). Opponents take the view that global products and brands may exist but no global people. The motivations for purchase are different. As for instance the using of the Sony Walkman that is often seen as a global product, developed for global consumers with global needs. But while in the Western world the Walkman is used to enjoy music without being disturbed by others the cofounder Masaru Ibuka has the exact opposite in mind by inventing the Walkman. His intention was to listen to music without disturbing others (De Mooij, 1998).

An additional argument against standardization of advertising is the so called “not invented here” syndrome, which refers to the unwillingness of people to accept an idea or a product from another culture, as a form of nationalism (De Mooij/Keegan, 1991, p.142; Not Invented Here, 2007). The advertising laws, as mentioned in chapter 3.3, additionally cause that Copyright © 2009. Diplomica Verlag. All rights reserved.

sometimes a standardization of advertising is not worth it.

Moreover basic conditions which advertisers have to adhere complicate standardization. First is that “[…] the benefit which the product or brand offers to the consumer, imparted through the communication, is more or less identical in every country” (De Mooij/Keegan, 1991, p.140). In this context the brand or corporate image must be equal in all countries. Furthermore “[f]or each target group in each country the product or brand benefit must be 29

equally important and interesting enough to make them buy the product or take the brand into the “evoked set”” (De Mooij/Keegan, 1991, p.140). The evoked set involves various brands that a costumer keeps in mind while making buying decisions (Evoked Set, 2006). By using the same advertisement transnational it may be that the notified target group will not be addressed everywhere effectively because of different behaviors, tastes and economical stage of development. The precondition of same stages of product life-cycle complicates standardization of advertising as well. Advertisements in general are supposed to persuade the viewers to buy the respective products, but for introducing a new product another style of advertising is needed as for products that are already known. More precisely, for new products advertising have to inform viewers about the features of these novelties. In contrary to that advertisements for already known products have just to remember viewers about the merits and benefits of these products. So, if a product in one country is not known yet and in another it is already in the growth phase, it can not be used the same advertising (De Mooij, 1998). Often marketers who standardize advertising advance the argument of economies of scale and the involved cost savings. These arguments, however, could not have been evidenced by researches heretofore. In actual fact costs for developing one campaign that crosses borders are very high and beside that, the loss of ineffective advertising offset the cost savings simply (De Mooij, 1998). Last but not least higher coordination costs and the involving reduction of economic advantages keep advertisers from standardizing international campaigns (De Mooij/Keegan, 1991).

3.4.4

Culture and Global Advertising Strategy

Standardization of advertising strategy means to communicate transnational an identical performance bond, that take into account shared needs of the respective target groups in spite of cultural differences. The suitability of standardized advertising strategy is strongly influenced by the

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identification of homogeneous transnational target groups (Kreutzer, 1990). That this process is connected with great time and effort has been already described in chapter 3.2.

To standardize the advertising strategy implies simultaneously to standardize the advertising message. That means first, to determine if the message has to be informative or emotional or even a mixture of both, and second to use identical themes and concepts. With regard to the information content of advertisements differences between countries can be observed. Whereas German advertising contains lot of information, in France and Italy it 30

looks different. A comparison of the informative content in television commercials between the USA and Sweden revealed that US advertisements have more informative elements than Swedish advertisements. This result can be traced back to the high competition and huge number of different commercials in the USA. A commercial gets, if any, only attention if it has a clear and simple message. Furthermore information reduces uncertainty. The German culture, for example known as being high uncertainty avoiding, will always ask for information. In these cultures advertisements have to offer additional performances to avoid or reduce uncertainty, such as guaranties or service opportunities (Kreutzer, 1990). “Advertising campaigns, in print and on TV, for uncertainty avoiding cultures frequently feature experts, such as doctors in white coats, who recommend the product” (Hofstede, 2005, p.180). Global advertisers do not need world knowledge about different cultures and societies by creating informative advertising. Only the communication of the characteristics of the product is essential and associations on the part of the recipient are needless. The chances for a successful standardization are high-rated. (Brämer/ Weinzinger 2003; Müller, 1997).

The standardization of emotional advertising seems to be more problematic. A successful standardization is determined by the emotional stimuli and by the emotional response of the recipients. The connection between both are said to be genetically programmed or well established by previous learning. A number of studies revealed that emotions, such as happiness and sadness are universal. But nevertheless the responses of equal emotions or themes are quite different, because each culture has its own rules for the appropriate “communicative interaction” and emotional display. These rules determine what behavior is accepted and what should be avoided (Müller, 1997). In several weak uncertainty avoidance cultures, for example people tend not to show emotions at all and in strong uncertainty avoidance cultures people show their emotions in many

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different ways. They cry, laugh, talk loudly, use their hands while talking, and so forth. As a result, it seems that “[r]eactions to emotional behavior in advertising will vary with the level of uncertainty avoidance” (De Mooij, 1998, p.168). Furthermore it is important to know that in collectivistic cultures “[…] only positive emotions can be shown because a display of negative emotions will decrease harmony in the group” (De Mooij, 1998, p.148). So, emotions are socio-cultural determined and embedded in the cultural experience world of the individual. They base on emotional schemes which consist of social norms and rules (Müller, 31

1997). As a result it can be assumed that an equal response of same emotional elements is unlikely or at least difficult to accomplish. A limited number of various advertising appeals with common themes and concepts, which are used world-wide, have been identified indeed. Nevertheless cultural sensitivity is essential. Mostly the execution of these appeals needs to be adopted, because the success of a standardized emotional advertising arises from the way it is vocalized and visualized. The evidence for that conveys a comparison of US and Japanese advertising strategies. Although both used the same ten basic appeals, Japanese advertisements have been characterized by implicit, indirect communication, and by four times as many soft-sell appeals as in US advertisements (Usunier, 2000).

After committing the advertising message and information content advertisers have to determine which advertising medium can be set in, to reach the transnational target group best and simultaneously to save production costs for communication media. Standardization of a communication concept becomes limited by several aspects. First, the availability of media differs from country to country considerably. Whereas in industrial countries the availability of media is manifold, in developing and emerging markets many media do not exist at all. That makes it difficult to use the same advertising media everywhere. But even if the respective media are available in all target countries it may be, that it can not be used anyway because of certain media restrictions. Examples of those restrictions are the prohibition of sponsor advertising, of commercial breaks and product placement. Product placement means the presentation of particular brands in media.

Moreover temporal and commodity-specific advertising bans exist as for example for alcohol, tobacco and pharmaceutical products (Kreutzer, 1990). Different media standards complicate standardization of the respective media as well. Copyright © 2009. Diplomica Verlag. All rights reserved.

Each country has its regulations regarding the size of newspapers and magazines as well as the running time of TV and radio spots. The running time of spots, for example, differs between 7 and 20 seconds according to countries (Kreutzer, 1990). An additional obstacle is the different absolute and relative costs for booking of advertising. Whereas, for instance, in the Netherlands and Finland a half ad-page lies about 35 per cent under a TV price, in Portugal and Italy it lies more than 10 per cent over of a TV price. These

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Europe-wide differences in cost structures make clear how difficult it is to standardize the media plan. Different media usage patterns can complicate the standardization as well (Kreutzer, 1990). Already in Europe differences in media usage pattern can be observed. Whereas in countries like Portugal, Italy and Spain predominantly the medium television is used, in Scandinavian countries such as Norway, Denmark, Finland, and Sweden people use print media mostly. In other countries again like Germany, Great Britain and Ireland both television and print media are used equally. In Mexico, however, the radio as an advertising media is high rated. This can be traced back to the popularity of this medium and the available airtime of 24 minutes per hour. These differences in the media industry complicate standardization of international advertising. The country-specific media situation can cause that a standardized media plan automatically leads to an allocation of suboptimal media. For international marketers who want to standardize their advertising media it is advisable to classify countries in homogeneous cluster according to the significance of the particular media. To take advantage of media-overspill it is of great importance to use national and regional advertising media which are widespread across borders such as newspapers (e.g. Financial Times), magazines (e.g. Business Week, der Spiegel) or television networks (e.g. MTV). Media-overspill means that due to the transnational orientation and thus greater media penetration, additional persons can be reached (Went, 2000). It is recommendable to use Germany as basis for at least European international campaigns, because several media with overspill originate from there. However, it must be considered that language barriers reduce the efficiency of the communication process. It is assumed that this can be overcome if the communication via images gets of even greater importance (Kreutzer, 1990). The advantages of a standardization of media planning are, for one thing the reduction and simplification of the allocation of the media budget. For another thing it is the association of the brand as a worldwide brand, what in turn leads to an enhanced status (Went, 2000; Bruhn,

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2003). Moreover media with overspill can help to overcome some specific restrictions. All in all can it be said, that standardization of media plans can be meaningful, but differences in the media conditions are most responsible for the failure of standardization (Kreutzer, 1990). All these differences make it clear how essential it is that the advertising strategy fit the local expectations concerning the information content and style of advertising. In general, however, the ability to standardize advertising strategy is valued more positive than advertising execution. 33

3.4.5

Culture and Global Advertising Execution

To standardize advertising execution means to use identical design elements. The biggest obstacle in standardizing the execution is the language, verbal as well as nonverbal. Words expressing values and initiating emotions in one country can express completely other values and emotions in other countries. “This explains the difficulty of translating advertising copy into languages other than the one in which it is conceived” (De Mooij, 1998, p.47). But the challenge around standardization of verbal elements is not only the dubbing and subtitling. Standardization of verbal elements in the sense of speech and writing means also to fit the peculiarities of a language, the thoughts influenced by the language as well as the educational differences between diverse target groups. Language is an image building element for companies. A confident handling with the language helps to build confidence and credibility by the target group. If a company uses its home country language in an advertisement in other countries without translation, it runs the risk that the core message will be misunderstood or even not understood at all (Kreutzer, 1990). The use of the same language everywhere is only promising if the target group is oriented internationally and at least knows the basics of the language (De Mooij, 1998). Although standardization of verbal elements seems to be easier, in countries with the “same” language, an unexamined adoption due to different accents can lead to failure as well (Kreutzer, 1990). One example is the accident of a major paper towel producer. He used his U.S. slogan: “There is no finer napkin for the dinner table” also in England. The problem was that “napkin” means actually diaper in England. This example shows that even if the English language is classified as the lingua franca, thus as the language that is “[…] widely used beyond the population of its native speakers” (Lingua Franca, 2008) it must be considered that American English and British English are not the same. In some cases Americans even do not understand the British accent at all (De Mooij/Keegan, 1991). But even translations and back translations can not guarantee that the original message will be Copyright © 2009. Diplomica Verlag. All rights reserved.

communicated as it was intended (Kreutzer, 1990). “[…] [T]he most effective translation for advertising proposes is not likely to be the most literal one” (Mueller, 1996, p.154). “Words and expressions used in advertising express the core values of a culture which often cannot be translated” (De Mooij, 1998, p.218). One example for a bad translation is the slogan of Pepsi in the 1960’s, that sounds in the original form: “Come alive, you’re in the Pepsi Generation”. For the German market it was translated in: “Come alive out of the grave” (Mueller, 1996). Sometimes it is necessary to “play” with the language to get the right communicative accent, 34

what leads to a longer-term anchorage at the target group. A back translation helps to check if no loss of meaning and no interpretation problems exist. It is culture-bound, if something can be communicated by only few words or many words. Some words are so culturally significant that a translation is even impossible. Especially if a TV commercial has a lengthy copy an adaptation will be difficult, because the length of the spoken words vary from language to language. “[…] [The] translation of an English text into French requires on average, a 15 per cent increase in time; if it is translated into German this figure rises to 50 per cent” (De Mooij/Keegan, 1991, p145). If a dubbed advertisement will be accepted depends on whether the viewers are used to dubbed programs or not. In countries where subtitling is common the viewers can be high irritated by dubbed commercials (De Mooij, 1998). The communication style of a culture has direct implications for international advertisers. It has a great impact on how much signs and symbols are used and if an advertisement is understood by the target group. Whereas marketers in low-context cultures use hard-facts to persuade the buying public, they use more soft-sells in high-context cultures. People from low-context cultures would hardly understand advertising messages executed for high-context cultures as. Figure 9 on the next page illustrates a Japanese advertisement for mayonnaise. It shows only a huge tree in the middle of the picture. The information about the actual product and brand is placed at the end of the ad. This advertisement would not be understood by people from low-context cultures. A tree would never be associated with mayonnaise and it

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has to little data and facts to recognize at first view what it is about (Mueller, 1996).

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Figure 9:

Soft-Sell Japanese Advertisement for Mayonnaise

Source: Mueller, 1995, p.116

Claims used in low-context cultures are direct and explicit, and frequently contain words like “you”, “we” and “I”. Examples from U.S. commercials are: “When you were a kid…” (Doublemint Gum) or “You have a dream, make a wish…” (Reebok) (De Mooij, 1998). Differences can be also observed between masculine cultures and feminine cultures. While in feminine cultures claims are more relationship oriented, in masculine cultures they are more task-oriented. Examples are claims of U.S. commercials like “A dream come true” or “A

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world without limits” which reflect the “mastery” value of masculine cultures (De Mooij, 1998). Hofstede found a connection between collectivism and high context in cultures and the way around. In collectivistic cultures communication is more implicit and in individualistic cultures people communicate more direct (De Mooij, 1998). Differences in communication styles are also reflected in purchasing commands.

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Whereas in the USA hard sell commands in the form of comparative advertising are accepted, in countries like Japan more soft sell commands are common. In the latter the imagery appeal and emotional impulses are more used in advertisements and arguments about the features take a backseat. In Japan corrective advertising as it is used in the USA would lead to loss of face of the company and its employees. That is a great disgrace in the Japanese value system (Kreutzer, 1990). As a result it can be observed that advertising in high-context cultures consist more of indirect communication, less copy and more symbols. In contrary to that in low-context cultures more copy, argumentation, facts, and data are used (De Mooij, 1998).

The illustration of values demonstrates a particular obstacle for standardized advertising execution. Tradition and veneration of the elderly for example, found in Japanese advertisement, do not have such significance in the US culture. The respect elder family members get from young people differs depending on the power distance degree. The higher the power distance the greater the respect for older people. In the execution of advertising this is reflected by showing more senior actors who play the role of the experienced person. Figure 10 shows two examples of television commercials for different power distance cultures. The left one from Italy and France shows an elder woman advising her daughter or nice. The commercial on the right side from Sweden and Netherlands shows just the opposite. The younger person advises the elder.

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Figure 10:

Commercials for High Power Distance and Low Power Distance Cultures

Source: DeMooij, M. (1998), p.187

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The power distance also influences how children get perceived in advertisements. One example for different interpretations is the Dutch commercial for Blue Band margarine illustrated in in figure 11 below.

Figure 11:

Dutch Commercial for Blue Band Margarine

Source: De Mooij, M. (1998), p.188

A young boy is trying alone to enter a building with his bicycle. Whereas in small power distance cultures it would mean, the boy is independent and enterprising, in large power distance cultures this commercial would rather cause pity for the boy, because he seems to be alone and needy (De Mooij, 1998).

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Values differ also between masculine cultures and feminine cultures and influence the gender roles. This in turn influences how men and women should be portrayed in advertising to match the values of the recipients. Figure 12 on the next page illustrates two oppositional portrayals of gender roles in commercials.

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Figure 12:

Role Differentiation in Masculine and Feminine Cultures

Source: DeMooij, M. (1998), p.196

The first is from Germany, known as masculine culture, and the second is from Holland, known as feminine culture. On the left side the German commercial for a dish liquid shows a man who tries to wash up but act very clumsy to show that this is not men’s work. The woman is the expert and advises him how to use the product. In contrary to that, on the right side the commercial from Holland for a dish liquid as well, shows a couple that makes the washing up together (De Mooij, 1998).

How many people are displayed in an advertisement has great impact on the success of an advertisement, too. The German advertising for Jever Beer, for example, illustrated in figure 13 on page 37 would not be accepted in collectivistic cultures. This advertisement shows a man at the beach enjoying his beer alone. Whereas in individualistic cultures this advertisement with one person would not effect any reaction, in collectivistic cultures would it mean that this man has no friends and no identity, because his

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identity is in the group.

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Figure 13:

German Commercial for Jever Beer

Source: DeMooij, M. (1998), p.192

Regarding the relationship between parents and their children, it can be observed that in masculine cultures advertisements just show the combination of father-son or motherdaughter relationship while in feminine cultures combinations of father-daughter and motherson relation are shown as well. It is often said that problems with language and communication style can be avoided by using more nonverbal, thus visual elements in international advertisements. Opinions about which elements exactly belong to nonverbal communication in detail are deeply divided (Usunier/ Walliser, 1993). Nevertheless it is sure that using visual elements such as pictures, symbols and colors in

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advertisements lead to the so called “Picture Superiority Effect”. This means that pictures have a positive effect of the awareness of the advertising message. Pictorial information can be delivered faster and more remarkable than verbal information. Moreover pictures are suitable to transport emotional contents. Emotional stimuli that are used in advertisements are “[…] heard words and sound effects, music, seen words, pictures, color, and movement” (De Mooij 1998, p.168).

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In Germany the amount of pictures in advertisements has more than doubled in last 20 years and the application of music increases deeply (Löffler, 2000). It is said that due to the use of visual elements ”[…] [w]ords will become very much less important, especially if the product is standardized, like Coca-Cola, Levi’s or Marlboro” (Mueller, 1996, p.156). Advertisements of Levi’s consist solely of moving pictures and music, so that the spots can be used throughout Europe without complicated dubbing procedures (Mueller, 1996). But it must be considered as well that “[…] nonverbal methods of communication are not more universal than verbal methods” (Mueller, 1996, p. 92). Using mainly visual elements in global advertisements perhaps to overcome language barriers requires the consideration of their cultural meanings. because “[…] [v]isuals can be as strong related to culture as language” (De Mooij, 1998, p.31). Before using same visual elements in different countries it is important that international marketers assure that the meaning is transmitted correctly. The use of animals, for instance can be problematic. All people know how a horse looks like and would recognize it in an advertisement. But the associations of the horse would differ according to whether the horse is seen as a working animal, food deliverer, luxury good or sport animal (Müller, 1997). If colors are correctly selected they can enforce the effect of an advertising medium. So, in some cultures a woman seems to be more innocent in a white dress rather than in a red dress (Dmoch, 1997). But if the meaning of colors is ignored, the understanding of the core message is endangered. The use of the same numbers in each country carries risk as well. They have different meanings to different people. One example is the number seven. While it stands for bad luck in Kenya, it means good look in Czech Republic and has magical connotations in Benin (Mueller, 1996). Pictures, signs, colors and more are very culture-bounded and a universal understanding is highly unlikely.

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The following examples show, how different associations with the same visual elements can be. A company intends to position a coffee brand internationally with the emotional concept “oriental”. In this point it is necessary to find examples for pictures that visualize “oriental” effectively and in the „common set of meanings and definitions“(Müller, 1997, p.20) in all cultures.

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Figure 14:

Visualizations of “Oriental” for the German and American Culture

Source: Müller (1997), p. 21

For example, German associations with oriental refer to the Middle East. In that case a picture with pyramids, camels, and desert would be appropriate as it is pictured in figure 14 on the left side. The American “common set of meanings and definitions” with regard to “oriental”, however, would lead to completely different visualisations. American people associate “oriental” with the Far East/ Asia. Pictures would need to illustrate things like rice, slanted eyes, chop sticks, or kimono as illustrated in figure 14 on the right side (Müller, 1997). By this example it becomes clear how difficult it is to initiate the same associations by using the same visuals cross-culturally.

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An additional example for the difficulty of using the same visual elements in different countries shows figure 15 on page 40. This ad for a perfume of the brand Chanel shows a man topless only with a towel around his hips. He seems to punch his own shadow.

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Figure 15:

Standardized Advertisement for Chanel in France, Germany and USA

Source: Dmoch, T. (1997), p.35

Inquiries with French, German and American students lead to the result that the international positioning of the brand Chanel is endangered. The French students had different feelings and associations with this ad than the German and American students. Whereas the French associate such feelings as beauty and power, the German and American see brutality in this picture. Negative associations can lead to defensiveness against this brand (Dmoch, 1997). Just the product and the brand name are appropriate to be used in several countries, because the brand is well-known internationally and the word “egoiste” can be easily translated in other

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languages.

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44

4

Overcoming Cultural Differences

Different cultural specifics causes the problematic to use one uniform advertising campaign in different countries. There are a lot of recommendations to overcome these cultural specifics such as the classification in culture-free and culture-bound products, formation of country cluster, the usage of the “Country-of-Origin” Effect and many more. Six approaches and their suitability to overcome cultural differences will be analyzed in the following.

4.1

“Culture-free” Products

It is said that specific product categories are particularly easier to market internationally and thus, the advertising style is related to product category. Both practitioners and academics categorize products in culture-free and culture-bound products. It is assumed, that culture-free products, due to intercultural homogenous criteria for buying and using, make it possible to use same campaigns in several countries without cultural adaptations. Fundamentally, capital goods are estimated as more suitable for standardization than consumer goods and facilities. Standardization is estimated more positive, because a culture-bound usage of capital goods will not be expected and the buying decisions are objective. Consumer goods and facilities are said to be culture-bound, because they appeal to the flavors, customs, and national rites. However, some marketers take the view, that consumer goods are not inappropriate for standardization from the start. They can be separated in culture-bound and culture-free products as well. According to their degree of cultural bondage, it can be decided about standardization (De Mooij, 1998; Müller, 1997). Concrete examples of so called culture-free products and services are “[…] cigarettes, hard liquor, industrial products and services as airlines, high-tech products (computers, compact disc players, television) and high-touch products (fashion, perfumes, jewelry)” (De Mooij, 1998, p.27). One example of a successful standardized campaign for alcohol is illustrated in figure 16 on page 42. It shows an image campaign for Copyright © 2009. Diplomica Verlag. All rights reserved.

the brand Martell, a producer of cognac. In some cases international campaigns are possible for the agricultural market and the pharmaceutical or medical industry as well (De Mooij/Keegan, 1991; Kreutzer, 1990). Furthermore products that are associated with the Western civilisation like cars, radios, and “modern” semi-luxuries are classified as being culture-free.

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Companies which standardize advertising campaigns for so called culture-free products are, among others, Lux, Colgate, Benetton, Esprit, Lacoste, and BOSS. Studies revealed that airlines and tobacco manufacturers are “the most global”, because they have the most standardized brands and advertising (Kreutzer, 1990).

Figure 16:

Image Campaign for Martell appearing Internationally

Source: Mueller, 1996, p.143

Culture-bound products are products which have long tradition within a culture. Especially food products are seen as strongly culture-bound. They underlie traditional practice and

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consumption patterns (Kreutzer, 1990). “Food is both substance and symbol” (Usunier, 2000, p.107). Differences exist in kinds of food and in the number of meals consumed each day. If the meal is self-made or ready-made, what beverages are consumed with the meal, and what social function food has, is culture-bound. In some cultures food is just seen as a vital part of a human being and in other cultures meal means being and chatting together as a kind of entertainment (Usunier, 2000). But although food is seen as most culture-bound, some proponents of the convergence thesis have the view that eating habits will converge more and more in the industrial countries. Not 46

only the Americanization of eating habits is meant, but also a coexistence of various food products.

New products or innovations are said to have a particular potential for standardization, because they are in the introduction phase and not yet steeped at the cultural heritage. They are too short at the market, so that a cultural rootedness does not take place and no association with specific values exists. Consumers have not built preferences and expectation towards these products yet. So companies have the opportunity to form consumer’s preferences through an advertising campaign. Furthermore these products can be advertised by informative advertising in the same way everywhere, because they are in all countries in the introduction phase. As mentioned in chapter 3.4.4 informative advertising is high-rated, because associations by the consumers are needless and only the communication about the product features is essential. The more novel a product, the greater is the willingness to develop uniform advertising campaigns for different countries and cultures (Kreutzer, 1990).

Nevertheless it must be considered that a decision for or against standardization on the basis of the cultural bondage of these products is always risky. First, because the existence of culture-free and culture-bound products are not empirical attested until now. Second, because this very products with a cultural bondage can be particularly suitable for standardization through their “Country-of-Origin” effect (Kreutzer, 1990). This effect will be explained in more detail in chapter 4.5. If a product is culture-free or not results from the analysis of the respective cultures. One example for the unsuitability of so called culture-free products is the bike. In China bikes are seen as a common means of transportation and in Europe and the United States the bike is a part of leisure and sport equipment. An additional example is cars. They are said to be culture-free, but the reasons for demand are quite different. Whereas Japanese demand cars as luxury products, Americans see their cars as a consumer good. Furthermore, if one culture is environmentally aware and

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another is not, both cultures need different information in an advertisement. So, it is certain that every product can be used differently by different people or can be used for the same reason by different people as well as can be used differently by the same people (Müller, 1997; Dmoch, 1997). It is recommended to use the same campaigns where cultural products appeal universal feelings, as for example by music or cinema movies (Usunier/Walliser, 1993).

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4.2

Cross-Cultural Market Segments

The basis of this strategy is the assumption, that specific attributes of a target group exist in all cultures and compensate cultural differences. It is said that advertising messages can be executed identically for all cultures, on the basis of the attributes of these segments. For this purpose life-style groups, such as young people, sports fans, businessmen or the very rich are well-defined. Companies use same concepts and often the same execution for these life-style groups. Examples are Camel, Martini, and Pepsi-Cola. Sometimes the execution needs to be adapted for different countries, but the concepts tend to have the same appeal (De Mooij/Keegan, 1991). According to this, expectant mothers, for example, could be summarized to one segment. Each mother wants the best for her baby, thus the corresponding needs seem to be cross-culturally identical. In this segment a standardization of advertising for baby food should be appropriate. However, these assumptions get refuted by the fact, that consumer behavior is determined by national and cultural influences. Consumers of the same market segments but of different cultures can have different buying motives, anyway. In this context the example of the broker is indefensible. It is said that a broker from New York has more in common with a broker from Paris than with a plumber from New York. With respect to their life-style, education and economic aspects may this assumption be right but their cultural norms, myths, and history are quite different. Because these very aspects are necessary for the communication through advertising, both brokers would never perceive the same advertisement equally. Even if people from the same segment demand similar things, different advertising contents are needed. They have different buying motives, despite equal demographic and even psychographic characteristics. The buying motives for convenience products for example, differ considerably between French women and American women. Whereas in France more emancipated women buy these products and traditionally prefer conventional products, in the USA is exactly the contrary the case.

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As a result, the formation of cross-cultural market segments do not authorize to standardized advertising, because the culture membership has more influence on the communication success than segment criteria. If companies decide for standardization on the basis of market segments anyway, another problem occurs. Each segment has a theme that gets adapted in the advertisement regardless of the respective culture. For the segment of expectant mothers for example, it would be to keep the baby dry through the choice of the right diaper.

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As all producers of diapers and at once competitors would standardize their advertisement on the basis of this market segment, all advertisements would become changeable (Müller, 1997).

4.3 Universal Appeals The advertising message is the most influential part of the standardization. It is said that some values and emotions exist, that affect attractive in all cultures equally and can be applied in standardized advertising campaigns. These so called “universal appeals” are for example beauty, attractiveness, prestige, fun, healthiness and relaxation. Fashion and cosmetic industries for example, standardize advertising campaigns cross-culturally on the basis of these “universal appeals”. Figure 17 illustrates advertising for Versace. It is believed that the target group wants to be “trendy” and “beautiful” in the same way everywhere. The fashion and cosmetic industry occupy a specific position in doing so.

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Figure 17:

Advertising for Designer Fashion as an Example for “Universal Appeals”

Source: http://fashionbox.17.forumer.com/viewtopic.php?t=206

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Through fashion shows, international fashion magazines and fashion TV the industry can determine what “trendy” is and is able to standardize advertising very successful (Müller, 1997). Universal appeals are already used in advertisements very intensive at all markets. More than 85 per cent of themes that are used in advertisements in Germany, France, England and the USA can be traced to entirely eleven basis appeals. This leads to a big disadvantage, because a differentiation from competitors on the basis of universal appeals is very unlikely. But just the differentiation of the product is the goal of advertising. By using universal appeals, only a weak connection with the respective brand takes place. Advertisers are forced to compensate that with increased creative effort or increased advertising pressure. The existence of such universal appeals is not empirical attested yet, so that it can not be said, that cultural differences really can be overcame by using them. It is for sure that, for instance beauty is a value that exists in all cultures and, thus is a sort of a universal appeal. But it must be considered that the definition of beauty differs from culture to culture significantly. Each culture has its own beauty norms according to its common socialization experiences. To use a “universal” appeal is not a sufficient condition for the success of a standardized campaign (Müller, 1997). Companies which standardize advertising by using universal appeals anyway, limit their room for differentiations, compared to their competitors. Moreover they run into danger that the advertising message seems to be banal.

4.4

Culture Cluster

Next will be examined, if cultural differences can be overcame by building homogeneous culture cluster. Building culture cluster means to summarize cultures to one similar cluster with regard to particular criteria. On the basis of these similarities it is assumed, that cultures of one cluster can be addressed by the same advertising campaign. Sometimes culture clusters are built on the basis of economical criteria. In this case, countries like Japan, Switzerland,

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Ireland, and Greece would get classified into one cluster, although they are culturally wide apart (Müller, 1997). Actually, this cluster could never be addressed by one advertising campaign successfully. The communication style alone is too different between Japan and Switzerland. Whereas Japan is a high-context culture that does not need much information in advertising Switzerland however is a low-context culture and needs as much information as possible.

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To assure that really similar cultures get summarized to one cluster, it is advisable to build cluster on the basis of cultural criteria (De Mooij, 1998). One opportunity is, to develop two-dimensional maps and to place the respective countries according to their characteristics on the basis of Hofstede’s cultural dimensions. With the aid of these two-dimensional maps it becomes clear in what cultures the same appeal or concept will be effective. An example of such two-dimensional maps is demonstrated at illustration 18 on page 47.

Figure 18:

Culture Cluster

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Source: De Mooij, M. (1998), p.205 Note: AUL = Australia, AUT = Austria, BEL = Belgium, CAN = Canada, CHL = Chile, DEN = Denmark, FIN = Finland, FRA = France, GER = Germany, GBR = Great Britain, GRE = Greece, GUA = Guatemala, HOK = Hong Kong, ISR = Israel, ITA = Italy, JPN = Japan, KOR = Korea, MAL = Malaysia, MEX = Mexico, NET = the Netherlands, NOR = Norway, PAN = Panama, POR = Portugal, SIN = Singapore, SPA = Spain, SWE = Sweden, SWI = Switzerland, THA = Thailand, USA = the United States, VEN = Venezuela.

In this map the focus is on “status” as possible appeal or concept in advertising. It is influenced by both power distance and masculinity. “Status is used to show power in

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large power distance cultures and to show success in masculine cultures.” (De Mooij, 1998, p.205). Both dimensions and their characteristics are placed in the map. 30 countries are classified according to their score on both dimensions and are summarized to clusters that are more or less appropriate for the advertising appeal “status”. In the upper left-hand corner are cultures located which are feminine and low on power distance as for example Scandinavia and the Netherlands. In these cultures status is a negative appeal, because they are characterized by modesty and jealously. As a result, it can be assumed that the status appeal would be counterproductive and would not work in these countries. In the lower left-hand corner countries such as Germany, Great Britain, Switzerland and the USA are summarized to the Anglo-German cluster. The status appeal will be most promising in these countries, if it will be connected with success, because people use status to show their success. A mixture of European, Latin American, and Asian cultures is located in the upper right-hand corner. In these cultures status is used to show power and both should be used in the execution of advertising. Japan, Venezuela, and Mexico are clustered in the lower right-hand corner. As they use status to show both, power and success they demonstrate the extremes (De Mooij, 1998). Although this approach is promising it must be mentioned, that implementation of this approach is very extensive and time-consuming.

4.5

The “Country-of-Origin” Effect

A further possible strategy to overcome cultural differences is the Country-of-Origin Effect. “Country of Origin is defined as the country with which a particular product or service is associated “ (Prema, 2006). In some cases this very cultural bondage can be used to overcome cultural differences and to standardize advertising. Many investigations of the social psychology revealed that associations with foreign countries or regions are strong rooted and very widespread.

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Because the Country-of-Origin Effect means also to release particular associations with a country, stereotyping plays a leading role. These associations base on economical and on social characteristics of the own or the foreign country as well as on its institutions and citizens. These particular visual characteristics of a culture, such as sights of foreign cities or the skin color of the citizens, lead to equal associations worldwide.

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Stereotyping thinking starts already in the school. A content analysis of American school books revealed, that foreign countries and regions are illustrated in all books identically (Dmoch, 1997). Figure 19 on page 49 shows examples of stereotypes in a German book for English pupils. The French is demonstrated with a moustache and the Eiffel Tower in the background. The German is drinking beer in a rural environment and the Austrian stands with a huntsman’s hat in front of big mountains. The Spanish couple is illustrated by a flamenco dancing woman and a man as a torero. These stereotypes learned at a young age do not change considerably any more (Dmoch, 1997).

Figure 19:

Stereotypes in a German Book for English Pupils

Source: Dmoch, T. 1997, p.122

Because people in most instances do not have the possibility to get to know all foreign cultures face -to- face, their associations referring to visual characteristics are very consistent. For many product categories, country specific stereotypes can be particularly used in the execution of global advertising. Such product categories concern perfumes, wines, cars, highfashion clothes, consumer electronics and software. More precisely, positive stereotypes are Copyright © 2009. Diplomica Verlag. All rights reserved.

for example Columbian coffee, English tea, Swiss chocolate, Russian caviar, French perfume, Japanese electronics, and Jamaican Rum. For all cultures it is certain that Marlboro, CocaCola and Mc Donald’s originate from the USA, Chanel No.5 is a French perfume, Buitoni is Italian pasta, and Johnny Walker is a Scotch Whiskey (Mueller, 1996; Prema, 2006).

This strategy is very promising in countries where products from foreign cultures are used to distinguish from others. This applies for example to specific food cultures where the cultural 53

bondage, such as the “American Way of Life” represents an important factor of success. One company that uses the Country-of-Origin effect very successfully is the airline Lufthansa. Its slogan sounds: “Germans are known for being very punctual, Lufthansa is known for being very German” (Kreutzer, 1990, p. 324). Lufthansa takes with its slogan advantage of the good reputation of German products and services. German products and services are perceived as very solid and of high quality. In the execution the local language can be used in text, picture or sound of the advertising material, because foreign cultures are frequently associated with the respective local language. Nevertheless it must be considered that associations by members of different cultures, related to a country, can always be both positive and negative (Kreutzer, 1990). To make sure that the Country-of- Origin Effect can be used equally everywhere, it is basically important that marketing managers know the associations and use only the positive ones. Moreover they have to know the stereotypical myths to use these stereotypes in the execution of advertising (Prema, 2006).

4.6

The “Middle-of-the-Road” Approach

The middle-of-the-road approach is a concept which allows companies on the one hand to exploit standardization advantages and on the other hand to account for cultural differences. In other words: Companies standardize as much as possible and adopt as much as needed. In this case, the communication strategy is standardized for all countries and provides as a guideline. Within the communication execution, however, cultural specifics are considered, so that content and formal aspects become adopted. The communication strategy is usually determined in the origin country by the lead agency and the communication execution is designed by each subsidiary individually. Within the framework of the communication strategy, the target group, the goals, the advertising message, the communication leading figure as for example Marlboro’s Cowboy, advertising media and the corporate design are getting determined. Whereas these elements in general remain identical, the advertising

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execution is getting adopted. There are three different ways to pursue the middle-of-the-road approach. The advertising execution is separated in content and formal elements.

First possibility is, to adopt the content elements and to keep the formal aspect identical. Another opportunity is just the opposite, whereas the content remains identically, the formal aspects get adopted. The third kind is that neither content nor formal elements in advertising execution need to be adopted, so that the concepts can be used completely standardized. 54

The middle-of-the-road approach avoids misunderstandings at the part of the viewers and avoids the decreasing acceptance due to the “not-invented-here” syndrome. An additional advantage of this concept is, that a reduction to a common denominator is eliminated and consequently a dilution of the advertising message can be avoided (Kreutzer, 1990). A popular example for a company that pursues this concept and developed a global brand is the Beiersdorf AG with its brand Nivea. On the one hand, it pays attention to a standardized transnational market appearance with same color code in blue and white and focus on human beings and care. On the other hand, there is sufficient scope for local adjustments of the

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respective markets (Went, 2000).

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56

5

Conclusion

Culture and its immense impact of the human beings determine how people behave, what they eat, how they perceive the reality, what they desire and the cultural symbols and heroes. It is often argued that due to the existence of global symbols like Nike or Coca-Cola and global rituals such as fast food, a global consumer must exist as well. But it is not considered that the core values responsible for consumer behavior do not become global. With regard to the globalization it should be differentiated between globalization on the supply side and globalization on the demand side. Whereas globalization on the supply side already happened, it will take very long time, if ever, until various cultures and the behavior on the demand side will be identically. The deep rootedness of culture makes it unlikely, that consumer behavior could converge in the extend of a “global consumer” (De Mooij, 1998). This fact makes it extremely difficult to cause same reactions and behavior across cultures by using identical advertising stimuli. It is assumed that standardization of advertising will become more important in the course of globalization and it is for sure beneficial, if a company appears equally everywhere. Irritations on the part of consumer’s can be avoided. It should always be distinguished between advertising strategy, advertising execution and the media planning. All three areas vary in their suitability for standardization (Müller, 1997).

The advertising strategy seems to be most appropriate for standardization, followed by advertising execution. The global media planning causes most problems for standardization, because of the country-specific regulations. With respect to the advertising execution the difficulty of standardization arises from the transnational different perceptions of visual and verbal elements (De Mooij, 1998). Standardization on the basis of so called culture-free products is not recommendable. The existence of those products is not evidenced to this day, so that standardization of advertising could lead to undesired outcomes.

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The second approach, cross-cultural market segments, is not suitable for standardization as well. Although people of same segments seem to be equal, they differ nevertheless in their perception, what consequently leads to different responses to advertising. Moreover a company that concentrates on cross-cultural market segments will use the same theme in their advertising as their competitors, so that they will be no difference between them. The same applies to the universal appeal approach. This approach in global advertising hinders companies to stand out from the crowd. To form different cultures to homogeneous groups and standardize advertising on this basis is 57

promising. To assure that advertising campaigns are understood equally across cultures and differentiate the company from its competitors, it is essential to cluster cultures on the basis of cultural criteria and, thus with regard to consumer’s responses. Effective advertising must reflect the needs, motives, and values according to the culture clusters. In this case crosscultural awareness is inevitably. The middle of the road approach is the only one that on the one hand exploits the advantages of standardization and on the other hand respect and regard cultural differences. For companies it is advisable to use this method, because it seems to be most promising.

No matter, if companies decide to standardize advertising or not, it is most important, that the values in advertising match the values of the recipients. For the future it is said, that the continuous high innovation rate of information and communication technology will reinforce the information overload. So, the necessity of global advertising will become even more important (Went, 2000). Social and political scientists remain of the conviction that one global culture or converging values will not exist in the near future. People will orientate themselves on their specific local

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values instead (De Mooij, 1998). As a result, regarding cultural differences remains essential.

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