Abstract:

Should advertising of various products and services be standardized in the international market, or are there too many cultural obstacles? Should gasoline or petrol products, a hand lotion, clothing, and other products be advertised in essentially the same way in Italy, Germany and Japan ... or should there be variations in the advertising in different countries? At one extreme is the view that one basic advertising theme is desirable because of similarities in points of view about many products among people of different heritages, and also because one theme promotes the development of a consistent and universally recognized company image (Coca-Cola is an example). The opposite view is that more than one theme is desirable, in order to respond effectively to the cultural differences that exist among varying locales.