The influence of culture on the standardisation of emotional advertising
The effectiveness of an international positioning by standardised advertising depends on all members of the target group commonly comprehending its formal execution. Therefore, standardised execu-tions should only be derived from those positioning items (i.e. claims) universally understood.
The common comprehension of a positioning item was operationalized by the concept of similarity in word meaning. Two aspects of the similarity in word meaning were examined: The congruency of meaning in terms of visual associations and in terms of the affective reaction.
The similarity of word meaning is limited by the cultural differences within the target group. In this survey, the concept of culture was operationalized by seven independent variables, the influence of which on the similarity of word meaning was empirically tested in Germany, France and Switzerland. Only the effect of the same language and of the in-group's collectivism proved to be significant.
Based on these results, pragmatic rules for crosscultural advertising research and international advertising design were developed.
Source: Dmoch, T. (1999), "Der Einfluß der Kultur auf die Standardisierbarkeit erlebnisbetonter Werbung", Marketing. Zeitschrift für Forschung und Praxis, Vol. 21, Nr. 3, p. 179 - 195.
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