International Advertising and Communication

This investigation examines the variable product involvement and its relationship to the degree to which consumers perceive and believe advertiser’s claims. The study tests the hypothesis that consumers are more likely to believe the claims made on behalf of high involvement products — particularly for health-related goods and services. A survey revealed that while advertiser’s claims were clearly perceived by the vast majority of respondents, a large percentage also amplified the advertiser’s claims — always to the advertiser’s benefit. Respondent’s were significantly less likely to believe advertiser’s claims for low involvement products (such as shampoo), but were significantly more likely to believe claims made on behalf of a high involvement products, and in particular, claims for health-related products.

Short Term Advertising Strength is normally based on electronic single source data. In the present article, however it is estimated based upon personal interview data. The share of purchases among people exposed to advertising is divided with the share of purchases among people reported not to be exposed. These estimates are upward biased relative to electronic single source based estimates. The results suggest strong print media effects as compared with STAS measures for TV. The data also suggest that whereas for TV high campaign recall tends to come together with low STAS scores and vice versa, the same is not the case with print campaigns. Here campaigns high in both recall and STAS are found.

The aim of our study is to show how readers pay attention to ads embedded in national newspapers. A total of 26,556 respondents were surveyed about their reading behavior, their recognition of ads published in the previous day’s newspaper, and their appreciation of these ads. Several measures were used to evaluate attention at the different levels of ad processing. The 290 advertisements included in the study were then content analyzed and related to the readers’ responses. Results showed that media position (i.e., prominent position in the newspaper), ad layout (bigger size) and ad content (more colors) had a stronger influence in the first attention phases (where pre-attention and focal attention are drawn) than in subsequent phases. On the other hand, reader characteristics (reading intensity, ad liking, and involvement) had a stronger influence in subsequent attention phases, where comprehension of the message and elaboration take place.

Up to date studies on integrated marketing communication have mainly focused on visual and verbal stimuli. However, the interaction of different acoustic and visual stimuli to construct brand knowledge remains unexplored, even though these modalities may mutually support or constraint each other when memory structures are built. The present study demonstrates that the semantic integration of acoustic and visual stimuli is more advantageous for marketing communication than the formal integration of these stimuli, or the use of semantically different visual and acoustic stimuli. In addition, semantic integration has a positive bearing on memory.

The integrative framework for effective communication (IFEC) describes nine communication strategies. The awareness strategy can be used to increase campaign awareness and brand awareness. The likeability strategy can be used to increase campaign likeability and brand likeability. The IFEC describes seven consumer need strategies, each addressing a different need that can be used to increase purchase intention and purchase behaviour. To test the IFEC, 11.830 consumers were interviewed about forty advertising campaigns. Four campaign effects were measured: campaign awareness, campaign likeability, brand awareness, and purchase intention. It is shown that different communication strategies should be used for different campaign goals.

This paper looks at the idea of implicit memory and whether or not it is likely to be involved in the processing of advertising. Given what is known about implicit learning and memory, it is doubtful that even if there was unconscious or implicit processing of advertising, that there would be any effect upon attitude or behaviour. The only unconscious response to advertising likely to have an impact upon attitudes and behaviour is emotion.

How do consumers process outdoor posters within a split of a second? The very short time it takes to recognise the brand and the product advertised on 187 outdoor posters was measured using a tachistoscope and explained by 80 content and format variables (R² = 64% and 57%).

Product recognition is enhanced by clear branding (brand name, pack shot), including new product information and slowed down by large amounts of text, different colours and pictures of people (especially with eye contact).

Quick brand recognition is also enhanced by branding and slowed down by large and long headlines, information cues, humour and pictures of women.

Rhetorical figures can be effective means in the persuasion process. Traditionally, rhetorical figures are subdivided into schemes (i.e., superficial deviations such as rhyme) and tropes (i.e., meaningful deviations such as metaphors and puns). This paper reports of an experiment and interviews on the effects of verbal and visual schemes and tropes (versus non-rhetorical figures) in magazine advertisements on the attitude towards the ad. A taxonomy consisting of 9 categories (verbal versus visual non-rhetorical figures, schemes, and tropes) was used, and 4 ads per category (36 in total) were each presented to 79 participants (non-students). The results showed, amongst others, that the attitude towards ads with visual tropes was higher than towards ads without rhetorical figures. If and how the attitude towards ads with tropes differs from the attitude towards ads with schemes remains to be investigated.

The measurement of emotional responses to advertising stimuli is a central field of advertising research. Although the role of feelings at a verbal and therefore conscious level has been investigated extensively in the marketing literature, little is known about how the human brain is involved in advertising perception processes. The methodological problems associated with previous pioneering approaches in this context seem to be mostly compensated for new methods of modern neuroscience. These methods and possible applications for advertising research are discussed in the present paper with a particular focus on the method of functional magnetic resonance imaging.

Brands with a consumer-relevant and unique brand positioning are often preferred in purchase decisions. Hence, conveying a distinctive brand positioning is a key concern of modern brand management. This study considers the contribution brand names can provide to communicate a brand positioning. Recent cognitive theories of conceptual combination form the theoretical basis for analyzing consumer reactions toward brand names. Following these theories, three techniques to integrate brand name and product are developed. Reaction time measurements and association tests show that the techniques presented are an effective and efficient means to convey a brand’s positioning.

In the past few years a large number of studies have been published examining the various practical and theoretical aspects of event-marketing and event-sponsorship. The academic research aims to explain the effectiveness of these marketing communication tools. Primarily the elements of recall and recognition have become central factors within this field of research (Walliser 2003). However, the effects of marketing-events on creating a positive attitude towards the involved brands have received little consideration so far. Accordingly, there are inconsistent theoretical approaches and only few empirical studies focussing primarily on this aspect of event-marketing. It is known that marketing-events can modify a certain attitude towards a brand, but it is not clarified why and how. Even though different models have been established to estimate the influence of marketing-events on attitude formation (cf. Baux 1991; Walliser 1993; Ganassali & Didellon 1996; Gwinner 1997; Hoek et al. 1997; Courbet 2000; Meenaghan 2001; Nufer 2002; Drengner 2004), not one of those has proven its superiority in empirical research so far (Walliser 2003). Instead of adding another model to explain the effects of event-marketing and event-sponsorship on attitude formation this paper aims at reviewing the broad approach in this field of research in order to educe a general understanding of the effectiveness of marketing-events. We assume that the attitude towards the brand (A_B), as a main objective of event-marketing and -sponsorship, is essentially influenced by three determining factors: The attitude towards the event (A_E), the attitude towards the communication activities presented at the event (A_AD) and the prior attitude towards the brand that existed before visiting the event (A⁰ _B). This paper outlines the literature reporting an empirical or conceptual investigation of the attitude formation in the context of marketing-events. Based on this state of research we generate our understanding of the impact of marketing-events on the attitude towards the brand. The results of an empirical study which examined the influence of A⁰ _B, A_AD and A_E on A_B will be reported. Based on our findings practical and empirical implications will be given. We conclude with suggestions for further testing of our model.

This study analyses the communicational implementation of green brand associations. Three distinct types of emotional brand benefits suitable for green branding are identified: the feeling of well-being (“warm glow”) from acting in an altruistic way, self-expressive benefits, and nature-related consumption experiences. Dimensionality of green brand associations and impact on brand attitude are tested in the scope of a survey of consumer perceptions of three established energy brands in the Spanish consumer-energy market, one of them recently positioned as a green energy brand. Results of the study confirm significant perceptual effects of green brand communications, proposed dimensions of green brand benefits, as well as significant positive attitude effects of green brand associations.

In a personal sales conversation between a customer and a salesperson the salesperson usually presents arguments for purchase alternatives to the customer. In this article we analyse effects of customers’ mood on their product evaluation in a personal sales conversation. In order to determine these effects, we simulated a sales conversation in a role-playing experiment. Other authors analysing mood effects often consider only direct mood effects on the evaluation of environmental stimuli but they do not examine indirect mood effects or moderator variables. The results of our study show that customers’ mood has a direct effect and an indirect effect through the customers’ perception of the strength of the arguments provided by the salesperson on product evaluation. The results also illustrate that the strength of both mood effects depends on customer involvement.

The moderating role of the personality trait Discomfort With Ambiguity (DWA) on the processing of mixed emotions in advertising is studied. In our experiment, the emotions between the medium context and the embedded advertisement were mixed. Results indicate that discomfort with ambiguity, which can be seen as a proxy for how well people are able to deal with mixed emotions, has a moderating effect on advertising processing. Individuals having a high discomfort with ambiguity respond less positively to mixed emotions in advertisements and contexts. Further analysis shows that high DWA people respond better when a joyful ad is embedded in a joyful medium context compared to a sad context. For low DWA people, as expected, no significant differences were found.

This paper aims to conduct a classification of influence factors on purchase behavior of customers regarding consumption goods. This classification is empirically tested by means of a factor analysis. Data is surveyed using event-contingent protocols, one form of the diary method. Over a couple of weeks, 86 test-subjects evaluated their purchases in terms of relevant influence factors. Altogether, the classification is based on 3,458 purchase evaluations. Particular attention is paid to the comparison between non media-based and media-based influence factors. 12 factors are extracted using Principal Component Analysis (PCA), 9 non media-based and 3 media-based influence factors. Among the media-based influence factors, neutral information transmitted through the media exerts the highest influence on purchase behavior, followed by TV and print advertising. Among the non media-based influence factors, the factor positive brand experience exerts the highest influence on purchase decisions, followed by the situational factor convenience purchase with low cognitive control.

The paper further aims to test if personality influences the extracted factors affecting purchase behavior of consumers. Personality is analyzed on the basis of the NEO-FFI (five-factor model) by Costa and McCrae (1992). The five factors of the NEO-FFI are replicated. Cluster-analysis reveals four distinct consumer groups that differ with regard to their personality. The four personality groups show significant differences in all 12 factors. Results suggest that personality may well be suited for explaining which factors influence consumers’ purchase decisions.

Democracy in families is growing fast. Consequently there is a strong movement from individual to joint decisions, which has serious implications for advertising. In the first study described in this paper we try to understand the intricacies of the family decision-making process. A quantitative study was carried out among roughly 300 families, involving several members of individual families. Four choice processes were studied, relating to: savings account, shampoo, car, soft drink. The data show that there is a lot of disagreement in the decision process, especially as regards the weights assigned to the relevant choice criteria. Different influence and conflict-resolution strategies are used in the family. In a second study, group discussions were held with members of the advertising world concerning the implications of these findings. The project is an example of fruitful co-operation between the academic and commercial communication world.

This study examined gender-role and gender-trait portrayal of television commercials in children’s programs in China using content analysis. Altogether 139 unduplicated commercials broadcast on the Central China Television (CCTV) channel and three regional television channels in 2002 were coded. Results show that males dominated the voice-overs. Males were more likely to be portrayed in independent roles while females were more likely to be portrayed in relationship roles. Males were more often featured in active, aggressive and anti-social activities while females were more often featured in inactive, dependent, and caring/sharing activities. Commercials targeted at both children and adults were more gender stereotyped than those only targeted at adults. Gender stereotypes in children’s television commercials were attributed to traditional paternal cultural values and higher moral expectation for females.

This study examined gender portrayal in a sample of 780 television commercials broadcast in prime time programs in Korea and Hong Kong using content analysis. Cultural differences between Korea and Hong Kong suggest hypotheses about the gender portrayal in advertising. Literature suggests that Korean culture differs from Hong Kong culture on the dimension of Masculinity/Femininity proposed by Hofstede. The differences between the two societies provide a valid test of theory. The results of the study showed significant differences between the two countries in terms of product profile, presence of central characters, voice-over, setting and reward type. Contrary to expectations from Hofstede’s framework, greater sex-role differences are reflected in occupation and credibility in Korea, a feminine society, not in Hong Kong, a masculine society. The study confirms that the difference on the masculinity dimension is not able to elucidate all differences in gender role portrayals in television advertising, thus, the concept of ‘gender of nations’ needs further examination.

We investigate the impact of website interactivity in connection with its attention-getting effect on imagery processing and the generation of mental imagery. Results of an experiment indicate that the use of interactivity on brand websites can increase the activity of the Internet users’ imagery and support different dimensions of mental imagery, such as vividness or complexity. Furthermore, highly interactive and imagery-strong websites can lead to more favorable attitudes toward the site and the brand as well as to stronger behavioral intentions. Implications for theory and practice of internet advertising are discussed at the end of this article.

This study explores multinationals’ online standardisation in terms of the similarity between home country and host country sites in logo, colour, layout, textual information, static visuals, and interactive images. We compare the home websites of 64 American brands, chosen from Business Week’s brand ranking, with their websites created in Germany, France, and Spain. The findings suggest that American brands are likely to tailor the specific website components to each market, while maintaining a minimum level of uniformity for the European markets, in logo, colour, and layout. Other components, such as textual information and visual images, tend to be dissimilar across markets.

The use of the mobile medium as a communications and entertainment channel between a brand and an end-user is gradually evolving. Academic research on mobile marketing has also begun to flourish. However, the growing body of literature on mobile marketing appears to be inconsistent and fairly fragmented. This paper conceptualizes a model that links the use of database information and mobile media to develop interactive and integrated marketing communication strategies. As a part of this model, we discuss the foundations of mobile marketing and interactive integrated marketing communications. Furthermore, we present a case study of a company that is developing and implementing a mobile marketing campaign in retailing. Although, we discuss the entire model, the case study focuses on the initiation stage of mobile marketing, and how customer’s age, gender, family size and interests affect their willingness to give permission to receive mobile marketing.

One important area of cross-cultural research identifies sets of cultural values useful in describing cultures. Resulting frameworks outline a number of cultural dimensions that attempt to explain a significant portion of country-tocountry variance. This article highlights four such frameworks. The first is Hofstede’s typology of cultural values, by far the most prominent approach to cultural dimensions in marketing and advertising research. Next, two less frequently applied frameworks are presented: Schwartz’s cultural values, and Inglehart’s World Values Survey. Finally, a new, alternative cultural framework — entitled GLOBE (House et al. 2004) - is examined. Drawn from organizational and management science, GLOBE outlines nine cultural dimensions and differentiates between societal values and societal practices. The GLOBE dimensions are briefly described and their applicability to marketing and advertising is addressed.

An accelerating integration of political, economic, and cultural dimensions during the 1990s enabled multinational corporations (MNCs) to operate on a truly global basis, rather than on a multidomestic basis. The standardization of advertising is one of the most researched topics in international advertising, having been formally studied in the academic literature for over 50 years. In recent years, however, researchers have begun to recognize that the “traditional” global-versus-local debate is becoming pointless, because it has been realized that the issue is not the extent to which an ad campaign for a brand can be completely globalise, but to what degree it is possible to standardize a global brand’s campaign throughout the world. Thus, this study aims to identify the antecedents and consequences of advertising standardization. Specifically, we attempt to establish a theoretical framework in European markets where, since the seminal work of Harris (1994), little research has been conducted into how advertising standardisation by MNCs operates in this region.

Meaningful cross-national comparisons of scales require that the indicators used to operationalize the underlying constructs (e.g., attitudes, values) are measurement invariant across countries. Linear multi-group confirmatory factor (MGCF) analysis is arguably the most common method to assess measurement invariance. Although, strictly speaking, this method assumes continuous variables, in empirical studies typically a covariance matrix for ordinal items (e.g., Likert-type scales) is analyzed. Simulation studies have indeed shown that single-group confirmatory factor analysis is relatively robust against violating the assumption of continuous variables if categorization is based on at least five answer categories and the data does not show excessive skewness and/or kurtosis. New simulation evidence, however, has revealed that these results do not necessarily carry over to multiple groups. These insights and the availability of robust WLS estimators which are considerably less demanding with respect to the required sample size than the full WLS approach strongly advocate the use of appropriate estimation methods for ordinally scaled variables. This paper contributes to comparative cross-cultural research by proposing a procedure for testing measurement equivalence based on the MGCF model for ordinal indicators. The procedure is applied to a cross-national study on attitudes towards a specific advertisement.

Internationally operating retailers are faced with the decision of pursuing standardized or locally adapted marketing and advertising strategies. In this context, the question is raised, whether retail advertising as a shopping motive of consumers is of different importance for consumers’ store choice in markets with differing cultural backgrounds. In addition, the authors analyze in this article the question of whether the demands of the consumer regarding the style and content of retail advertising are influenced by culture. The results of a consumer survey about grocery retailing, that was carried out in France and Germany, are presented on this basis. The authors show that retail advertising does not hold the same importance in every culture with regards to the purchase decision process. Moreover, it is verified for the first time that there exist cross-cultural differences in terms of the demands on retail advertising content and retail advertising style.

In spite of global marketing receiving increased attention from business, the public, and academicians alike, research on international advertising has not yet lived up to its potential in terms of advancing theory or helping managers. While some progress has clearly been made, more systematic research is needed. This paper reviews progress in international research and offers specific suggestions that can help research in this area make a bigger impact on the marketing and advertising fields. Topical areas in need of more research are discussed. Key research need areas include: the circumstances under which standardization of advertising is effective; the link between standardized advertising and firm performance; the relationship between global advertising strategy and brand equity; cross-market segmentation; theory on culture’s impact on advertising; the evolution of new advertising media; and public policy issues in international markets. The author stresses the need for more truly international research teams.