Abstract:

This paper discusses the assumptions implicit in much advertising used in Western European countries and how these are not always appropriate to what are often new markets in Central and Eastern Europe. In the same was as all Western European countries cannot be considered similar and may require different advertising, the same is TRUE when considering markets further East. It examines what are the sources of acquisition of knowledge, such as TV and films (often American), what can be taken as shared knowledge and what cannot, and how this is likely to affect understanding and interpretation of the images presented in advertising. Examples are given from recent research carried out in a number of countries in Central and Eastern Europe.