Department of Advertising

International

BIBLIOGRAPHY:

As this web site develops, in the space below we will provide a bibliography of articles and books relevant to this topic. To the extent practical, bibliographic references will be annotated.

Anyone interested in submitting additional bibliographic material for this reference page, or for any of the others at this site, is welcome to send such material via e-mail to jef@mail.utexas.edu. Please type the references in the same format as is used here, and keep the annotations to a few sentences.

Culture

  1. Jae W. Hong, Aydin Muderrisoglu, and George M. Zinkhan (1987). Cultural Differences and Advertising Expression: A Comparative Content Analysis of Japanese and U.S. Magazine Advertising. Journal of Advertising, 16 (1): 55-62, 68.

    Cross-cultural differences in advertising content and expression are examined in terms of the degree of emotional appeal, informativeness, and comparativeness. Ads for two product categories (personal and non- personal products) selected from major women's magazines of the two countries, Japan and the U.S., are content analyzed. Results indicate that Japanese ads utilize more emotional appeals and American ads employ comparative techniques more frequently. Although Japanese ads include more information cues on average, no cross-cultural difference is found in informativeness when information about the price is excluded.

  2. Russell W. Belk and Wendy J. Bryce (1985). Materialism and Individual Determinism in U.S. and Japanese Print and Television Advertising. Advances in Consumer Research, 12: 568-72.

    Extending previous research by Belk and Pollay , this study examines cross- cultural trends in materialism and individual determinism as displayed in magazine and television advertising in the U.S. and Japan since World War II. The data for the U.S. magazine ads analyzed in the previous study are compared with a sample of Japanese ads obtained from the three largest circulation Japanese magazines. Television advertising for both countries is studied for the year 1984 with a sample of 203 U.S. commercials and 191 Japanese commercials. Results show that advertisements of the two countries are overall comparable in the level of materialism with Japanese advertising surpassing the U.S. advertising in some occasions. It is also indicated that U.S. ads tend to stress actively changing the environment rather than adapting to it and such tendency is stronger in print than in television advertising.

International Strategies

  1. Ali Kanso (1992). International Advertising Strategies: Global Commitment to Local Vision. Journal of Advertising Research, (January/February): 10-13.

    The author's research is dedicated to two purposes: 1) looking at various international advertising strategies used by American agencies, and 2) examining the role of culture in international advertising. The study revolves around two research questions and a hypothesis: (1) Do international advertising messages tend to follow the standardized approach or the localized approach? (2) Is there any significant relationship between managers' attitudes toward controversial cultural issues and advertising approaches (i.e., standardized or localized) used by their firms? The study found that 75 percent of respondents adopt the localized approach while 25 percent employ the standardized approach. It also uncovered a significant relationship between attitudes toward sensitive issues and approaches used. One area of agreement between the two philosophies was that ads appearing in foreign markets should relate to the lifestyles of the customers in that market. The author concludes from the study that the use of the standardized approach in international advertising is waning. He also believes that each foreign advertising situation should be viewed separately to avoid errors, even though the study suggests that human needs are likely universal.

  2. James L. William and John S. Hill (1991). International Advertising Messages: To Adapt or not to Adapt. Journal of Advertising Research, 31 (3): 65-71.

    This study focuses on three questions concerning the consumer nondurable industry. First, the truth lies between two extremes - standardization and adaption - but where exactly? Second, whether the change in sales platforms result in a change in creative context. Third, whether there are circumstances or market decisions that require the standardization or adaption of international advertising messages. Fifteen multinational corporations, with their overseas subsidiaries (117), participated to this survey. They were asked about promotional messages concerning any two recent product transfers, and also to answer questions about themselves. The results show that standardizing subsidiaries have less than $25 million in sales, have mainly products made in USA, and located in less affluent markets. Adapting subsidiaries have over $25 millions in sales, are placed in rich markets, and have a limited number of US products.

Products of Foreign Origin

  1. C. M. Han (1989). The role of consumer patriotism in the choice of domestic versus foreign products. Journal of Advertising Research, 28 (3): 25-32.

    A survey is used to study the role of consumer patriotism in the purchase decisions between domestic and foreign products. This research considers two views that affect the choice of a product: one based on cognitive factors, such as quality and serviceability, and the other based on affective factors, such as patriotism. The author used these three components to determine the role of consumers' patriotic emotions in the purchase of domestic versus foreign products. The results of the study showed that patriotism has a large influence in the choice of domestic versus foreign products. Furthermore, they indicate that patriotic consumers were mostly older, white, female, and blue-collar, and suggested that a successful advertisement should stress the positive economic consequences of the purchase of domestic products, and avoid to produce feelings of guilt about the purchase of foreign products because it may not be effective.

  2. John S. Hill and Richard R. Still (1984). Adapting Products to LDC Tastes. Harvard Business Review, (March/April): 236-254.

    This study looks at how products are marketed to less developed countries. The authors surveyed 61 subsidiaries of consumer packaged goods manufacturers, operating in 22 LDCs, to find out how they modify the products they transfer. Three concerns guided the research: 1) The problems encountered when transferring modern products to developing markets. 2) The question of adaption and standardization in product transfer. 3) How companies utilize adaption in LDC markets. This article helps to clarify the reasons why companies standardize or adapt in advertising.

  3. Sung-Tai Hong and Robert S. Wyer Jr. (1989). Effects of Country-of-Origin and Product-Attribute Information on Product Evaluation: An Information Processing Perspective. Journal of Consumer Research, (September), 16: 175-187.

    This study examines the effect of country of origin and product attribute information on product evaluation. Four countries were used for the study: 1) West Germany 2) Mexico 3) Japan 4) South Korea. The hypothesis that had the most weight in the study was the cognitive elaboration hypothesis: "According to this hypothesis, a product's country of origin stimulates subjects' interest in the product and, consequently, leads them to think more extensively about product information and its evaluative implications." The study shows that the country of origin had a direct effect on product evaluations, and also made subjects think more about other product attribute information.

  4. Johny K. Johansson, Susan P. Douglas, and Ikujiro Nonaka (1985). Assessing the Impact of Origin on Product Evaluations: A New Methodological Perspective. Journal of Marketing Research, (November), 22:388-396.

    Country of origin has an important role in evaluating products, but it is not the only factor that influences a purchase. This study tries to demonstrate that other variables play a major role in purchasing decisions. They can be prior experience and familiarity with a certain good or brand, as well as the demographic, national, and individual characteristics of respondents. The data showed that the country of origin of a car generally does not have any influence on consumer purchases.

  5. Israel D. Nebenzahl (1991). The Effectiveness of sponsored events in promoting a country's image. International Journal of Advertising, 10 (3): 223-237.

    This article looks at the effect of sponsorship on a country's image. The author looked at Seoul, South Korea, and how the Olympics effected its image. South Korea had an image of low quality products. The study used questionnaires to elicit feedback from respondents about their image of South Korea before and after the Olympic games in 1988. Results showed that South Korea's image increased after the Olympics. Respondents were more likely to purchase South Korean made products after the Olympics. However, it was determined that there are several factors that should be weighed before using sponsorship to increase country image.

  6. Nicholas Papadapoulous and Louise A. Heslop (1993). What Product and Country Image Are and Are Not. In Product Country Images: Impact and Role in International Marketing, New York: International Business Press: 3-38.

    This study looks at the background of why "made in" images are important. It gives a brief history of Product-Country Image (PCI). It concludes by reviewing some of the continuous issues in PCI study and research. Research on PCI has been directed to the effects on the producer of the product. Papadopoulos and Heslop look at the overall effects of PCI in global markets.

  7. Ravi Parameswaran and R. Mohan Pisharodi (1994). Facets of Country of Origin Image: An Empirical Assessment. Journal of Advertising, 23 (1): 43-56.

    This study looks at how country of origin (CO) image can be used as a marketing tool. The authors look at what type of models can be used in understanding country of origin image. They suggest that to find effective country of origin measures, first there must be precise answers found to a variety of questions. This study uses statements based on general country attributes, general product attributes, and specific product attributes to estimate the influence of country of origin effects. It shows that specific product attributes may not be appropriate for measuring CO image. In essence, this provides a framework for measuring CO image as a multifaceted construct.

  8. S. Schleifer and S. Watson Dunn (1968). Relative Effectiveness of Advertisements of Foreign and Domestic Origin. Journal of Marketing Research, (August), 5: 296-299.

    This article tries to show how people's opinions toward a particular country influence the purchase of products made in that country. According to the authors, an effective advertisement would depend on the following conditions. First, whether the advertising is related to its country of origin. Second, whether the advertised products are associated with its country of origin consumers. Third, whether consumers' opinions about a product are known. 152 U.S. students answered to a questionnaire which revealed their attitudes toward four products advertised both in an American and foreign version - the latter followed by an English translation. The results indicate that ads associated with Americans would be more successful than those associated with foreigners.

  9. Don H. Sunoo and Robert D. Schooler (1969). Consumer Perceptions of International Products: Regional vs. National Labeling. Social Science Quarterly, (March): 886-890.

    This study compares the impact of country of origin versus regional area of origin on consumer responses. General areas, such as Latin America or Western Europe, can limit and even neutralize consumers' attitudes toward one specific country of that area. The study shows the benefits of transferring a label from a national to a regional level in order to "circumvent bias." The respondents examined in the study did not show preconceptions against products that originated in regional areas.

  10. Chih-kang Wang and Charles W. Lamb, Jr. (1983). The Impact of Selected Environmental Forces Upon Consumers' Willingness to Buy Foreign Products. Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science, 11 (2): 71-83.

    This study focuses on how U.S. consumers evaluate products according to the country where they were produced. Variations such as culture, political situation, and economic development of products' country of origin are considered influential factors in the U.S. consumers' willingness to buy foreign products. These variations are called "environmental differences." After the country selection process, 36 countries were finally examined. A sample of 94 U.S. students were tested. The results show that the respondents were aware of the different variations concerning the countries examined. Consequently, they were not willing to buy all the products from the determined countries. They were receptive to products made in advanced countries, but would easily refuse those produced in poor countries.

© 1995, 1996, 1997 Jef I. Richards
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