The Effectiveness of Standerdized Global Advertising

Abstract Abstract International advertisers are often faced with the problem of whether and to what extent they should change their messages from one country to another. Some advertisers feel that messages can be standardized across countries, while others believe adaptation is usually necessary. The study reported in this paper tests the acceptability of standardized advertising. Groups of consumers from three foreign countries are tested to determine whether they perceive the same product attributes important in the purchase of two common convenience products as a comparable group of consumers in the United States. The findings indicate substantial and consistent differences between the Americans and the other groups which suggest the inadvisability of standardized global advertising in these cases and perhaps in general.