FORTY-FOUR YEARS OF RETROSPECTIVE INTERNATIONAL ADVERTISING AND MARKETING RESEARCH: A SYSTEMATIC...

Abstract

We performed a systematic quantitative meta-analysis of international marketing/ advertising research with regard to standardization vs. localization or similarity vs. dissimilarity marketing approach across national markets. In the analysis we used nine estimated moderators from 1268

statistical models in 153 studies published in 10 major marketing, advertising, and international business journals during the period 1960-2004. The study was framed in an extended conceptual model which utilized 10 moderators: marketing mix, target market, market positioning, environmental factors, and organizational factors in marketing-related conceptual frame, and sender (agency/ company), advertising message/executions, channel of communication, receiver (consumer) and values/ customs/ psychographics in advertising-related conceptual frame. However, one moderator, outcomes of channel of communication (advertising media), on standardization vs. localization, was found to be rare in the existing inventory.

The study findings provided support for standardization approaches with regard to marketing mix (e.g., product, price distribution, promotion), organization factors, and studies regarding regional difference between North America and European countries for marketing-related factors that aggregates all moderators, and found slight or little relationship for localization approaches with target market, market position, environmental factors, information ad appeals, and regional difference between North America vs. Asia for marketing-related factors. The conceptual advertising moderators, which include sender (agency/company), affective ad appeals and ad executions, and receiver (attitudes toward advertising and beliefs, values/ custom/ psychographics), and studies regarding regional difference between North America and Asia, and North America and Europe corresponding to fully aggregated advertising-related moderators have been strongly influenced by the localization approach.

AUTHOR_AFFILIATION

Hongsik John Cheon, Frostburg State University, Frostburg, MD

Chang-Hoan Cho, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL

John Sutherland, Gainesville, FL