The influence of cultural and socioeconomic variables on reactions to ad appeals

• Main Author: Lepkowska-White, Elzbieta Magdalena
• Language: ENG
• Published: ScholarWorks@UMass Amherst 1999
• Subjects: Marketing|Sociology
• Online Access: https://scholarworks.umass.edu/dissertations/AAI9950182

When entering foreign markets global marketers often try to standardize their marketing strategies and tactics (Taylor, Miracle and Wilson, 1997; Chan, 1996; Sandler and Shani, 1992). In this research I focused on standardization in advertising, concentrating on factors that may influence standardization of advertising appeals across nations with different cultural and socioeconomic characteristics. The purpose of this research study was twofold. First, based on research by Hofstede (1980) and Roth (1995a&b), I analyzed the influence of the individualism-collectivism dimension, uncertainty avoidance, power distance and socioeconomic factors on the reactions to different ad appeals designed for different product types. The reactions to ads included attitude towards ads, attitude towards products and purchase intention. Products were divides into four groups based on the FCB Matrix (Vaughn, 1980). Then I attempted to utilize these findings to compare the preference for ad appeals of Polish and American consumers.