Topic > Marketing and Advertising Issues as a Result of Cultural Differences

Index IntroductionLiterature ReviewMethod of AnalysisPractical Recommendations or FindingsThe report covers difficulties based on cultural differences that marketers and advertising agents face when setting up an advertising campaign. We say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an original essay IntroductionThe research report will try to show what are the main problems that marketers face when organizing an advertising campaign for the world markets. It is not the aim of the essay to find new approaches to avoid costly mistakes linked to a wrong advertising campaign. It should rather show with examples where global companies have made mistakes in the past, what the consequences were and it should show what companies do to avoid such embarrassing mistakes and perhaps where the changes are to avoid such mistakes. The methods chosen by companies or advertising agencies to avoid marketing errors should be informed via a questionnaire, which will be sent via email to the largest advertising agencies in New Zealand. They are all expected to use similar approaches in modeling and converting campaigns for their target markets. The topic of the report has been a growing factor in the design of international marketing strategies in recent years and will become more important in the next millennium. The reasons are a world that is getting ever closer depending on the rapid development of new technologies, which allow us to communicate every time with almost every part of the world. To avoid irritation based on cultural differences we need to know about cross-cultural differences. Another no less important factor are the numerous mergers in recent years, which lead to an increasing number of global players, entering global markets with their marketing strategies. . To create the right mix they must spend time studying the differences in consumer behavior based on cultural differences before creating a marketing strategy. What are the limits in setting up an advertising campaign regarding different consumer behavior based on cultural differences? How marketers shape and convert existing advertising campaigns for target markets. What do they do to avoid marketing errors caused by brand names, which could be misunderstood? What parts of culture primarily influence the work of marketers? Where are there markets where an advertising campaign and the same brand does not cause problems due to similar consumer behavior? Which markets need marketers to adjust their campaigns the most due to large cultural differences compared to other markets? Literature Review There are many theories that address the topic. And there has also been a lot of research done to prove these theories. But only a few authors have been able to develop strategies or solutions that take advantage of the recognition granted by research. The reason may be that there is no universal strategy that fits all problems caused by cultural differences. To find out something about the limits of cross-cultural advertising you need to know how marketing and culture are connected and what belongs to culture. In the research report culture should include language, as a key to its culture, non-verbal communication, religion, time, space color, numbers and food preferences. All of these elements are included in an advertising campaign and can lead to costly mistakeswhen marketers do it. do not consider the differences when creating, for example, a commercial. Another very important fact, which must be considered, is that there are high- and low-context cultures. Many authors have written on this topic. One of the first to mention it in relation to global marketing was Wells (1987, cited in Martenson 1989). It assumed that high- and low-context cultures exist and that this should be considered when setting up an advertising campaign. His hypothesis was confirmed by research by Rita Martenson (1989). It tested 239 people from five cultural groups with varying degrees of context level. The result clearly supported Wells' claim that high-context cultures obtain more information from nonverbal communication tools than people who belong to a low-context culture. Another hypothesis that was tested was that of Jacobs and Campbell (1961, cited in Martensson 1983). The assumption was that a person belongs up to four or five generations to his or her culture of origin when moving to another, before fully adapting to the new culture. The research showed that a link exists but that it lasts about three generations until the new culture has fully adapted. This result is particularly interesting for the research report, because it will try to find out (through the questionnaire, which will be sent to the largest New Zealand advertising agencies) whether and how advertising agencies consider this circumstance when creating an advertising campaign for New Zealand. Many people from the Pacific Islands live in New Zealand. They belong to a high-context culture, and many people with European ancestry belong to low-context cultures. In addition to this connection between advertising and culture, there are other theories. All marketers know that they must satisfy consumers' needs and wants, and that needs and wants are culture-based. But there are many different opinions on how an advertising campaign should be designed for global markets. Published articles, theories, and research studies have led to a “standardization versus adaptation” debate. As long as the world exists, people want to get the most with the least effort. In global advertising this means entering global markets with a universal strategy. Theodore Levitt wrote in his article (1983, cited in Herbig 1998) that cultural preferences will be a thing of the past and the world will become more and more the same. Needs and desires will become the same everywhere in the world. Levitt assumes that global campaigns will only achieve long-term success when they satisfy everyone's wants and needs. He recommended looking at the similarities and not the differences of cultures. To prove his point he includes examples such as Coca-Cola, McDonald's, Pepsi-Cola and Marlboro. But a closer look at these examples shows that they do not use Levitts' idea of ​​global culture. Rather they transfer American culture to other cultures. Other theorists say that local variations must be accommodated. This was confirmed by a survey conducted by Management Center Europe when 246 people from 17 countries were asked what would be the best way to advertise a product (cited in Martenson 1989). The majority thought that the best solution would be an international campaign with local variations. Only a few thought that a standardized campaign would be the best solution or that a completely new one adapted to local needs would be the best solution. There is no doubt that a standardized campaign is the solution.