Product global reach, advertising standardization, and cultural values: an analysis of 2008 Beijing Olympic TV commercials

Abstract

This study examined the influence of the global reach of the product, multinational vs. domestic, on the degree of standardization of and the use of advertising values in 2008 Beijing Olympic commercials telecasted in China. This study is the first to examine systematically advertising standardization and values within one country in a mega-sporting event context. Overall, the study revealed that multinational product advertisements are more likely to be standardized, and more likely to portray Western-oriented values in their advertisements compared to domestic product advertisements. These findings indicate the importance of considering the global reach of the product in advertising to meet the expectations of the customers, especially during international sporting events such as Olympic Games.

Consumers' reactions to global versus local advertising appeals: A test of culturally incongruent images in China

“…Similar to other developing countries, the consumers in China today are influenced by a mixture of foreign and local goods, images, advertising appeals and consumption (Davis, 2000;Nelson & Paek, 2007;Tai & Pae, 2002). Although the trend using Western advertising appeals seems still to be on the rise, foreign advertisers nowadays tend to locally adapt certain aspects of their advertisements to cater for the Chinese market (Cheong, Zheng, & Kim, 2011).…”

Mediating science and nature: Representing and consuming infant formula advertising in China

“…Following two decades of material deprivation and anti-consumerism, advertising began to play a more prominent role in communicating product information to consumers. 1 Since the Chinese authorities allowed newspapers and television to carry domestic and international advertisements for the first time in (Anderson, 1981), 2 the Chinese consumer market, including the advertising industry, has expanded rapidly, with growing gross domestic product (GDP) per capita, accession to the World Trade Organization (WTO) and increasing disposable income among the middle class (Cheong et al, 2011;Paek and Pan, 2004;Wang, 2000Wang, , 2003Wang, , 2008Zhou et al, 2002). The growth of the advertising industry has been particularly boosted by foreign advertisers and multinational advertising agencies (Hong, 1994;Sinclair, 2008).…”

“…Direct, hard-sell and rational approaches are being increasingly replaced by indirect, softsell and image-oriented appeals (Chan, 1997), and variations of the 'rational' and 'emotional' approaches are being flexibly used based on the demographic, regional and socio-economic background of Chinese consumers. 4 Complex advertising campaigns based on identity formation and symbolic values have become effective in particular among young and urban consumers (Cheong et al, 2011;Ferry, 2003;Paek and Pan, 2004;Zhou and Hui, 2003). Conversely, some literature has demonstrated that audiences are becoming increasingly sophisticated in their reading of media messages, and that consumer responses are becoming increasingly diverse (Donald et al, 2002;Zhao, 2008).…”

Choosing celebrity endorsers for advertising campaigns in cosmopolitan China: Does their ethnicity matter?

“…This is, of course, a specific case of the general globalization-versus-localization argument, which has become the subject of intense interest among specialist academics and thoughtful practitioners (Cheong, Zheng & Kim, 2011;Cui & Yang, 2009;Gan, 2006;Hong, 1994;Morimoto & La Ferle, 2008). In a context where celebrities are used as brand endorsers, our understanding is that companies that try to provide their products with a global international image might prefer to use foreign celebrities, while companies that desire to project a local image would possibly opt for choosing Chinese celebrities.…”