An Introduction
International advertising was a concept introduced as back as in 1923 by a personality none other than the manager of Goodyear Tire and Rubber Company, David Brown. He was of the view that there existed the same humanitarian feeling in every soul round the globe. He wasn't aware of the complexities this idea consists of. After about three quarters of a century, the debate continues with Globalization supporting standardization and heterogeneity supporting adaptation.
Standardization in advertising refers to defining certain standards and working on it throughout the world. There is no demarcation based on diversities. The world is considered a single unit under this concept. Companies use the techniques of standardization to establish a brand name.
On the contrary, adaptation means to go accordingly. Companies are concerned with local issues in advertisement. They believe that not every country is developed to the same extent so there should be a difference in ideologies. Companies use adaptation to prevent failure due to a lack of synchronization between the promotion of product and understanding between the customers1.
A Chronological survey
The debate over standardization and adaptation had taken a prominent shape in the 1950's. One can talk over the issue from the perspective of an academician or a practitioner. Many a times this controversy has lead surveyors to prefer both standardization and adaptation to a certain degree depending on the situation.
The scenario in the 1950's was more towards adaptation than anything else. The members of the ad agencies believed that a company must consider the culture, capacity, buying behavior and characteristics for advertisement. They believed that a company is supposed to make proper translation when adapting advertisement in a particular country. Advertisement had to be adapted according to culture during translation. There was an opposition from Cornejo of Washington Corporation who believed in standardization on grounds of avoidance in duplication and efficient use of resources. Most academicians came to the same conclusion of adaptation just that there reasons were different. They were in favor of adaptation because they considered education, language, customs and methods of living to be different2.
1960's saw an improved inclination towards standardization. Practitioners were of the view that advertisement should be followed by surveying the product or the service, quality, market intended etc. It was for the first time that substantial benefits of standardization could be seen in the form of strength of uniformity and advantage of economy. Development in communication was another factor responsible for the increment of standardization. Practitioners were of the view that it was the need of the hour to look for common denominations than differences. This could be debated by the difference in nature of attitudes. Even during these periods, it was the difference in culture that kept many practitioners in support of adaptation. But, it can be concluded that practitioners favored standardization to some extent because of the homogeneity in motives. There was a common example of Xerox that wasted a lot of resources due to duplication. The academicians were of both views. It is highly justified that a marketer should work according to the market. He should consider the physical environment, Government tariffs, homogeneity or heterogeneity and availability of media before advertising. So, while some of the practitioners were in favor of standardization on ground of economy, some were against it on grounds of cultural differences. Academicians went according to the situation. If the product cleared all restrictions of adaptation, it could be standardized.
In the 1970's, there was a turnaround in the thoughts of practitioners. They came back to the idea of adaptation as they believed in the talent of local media. They said that translation in accordance with customs and beliefs was the order of the day. The academicians once again went as the situation offered. They opt for complete adaptation on the basis of psychological characteristics, consumption pattern and cultural criteria. They said that complete standardization could also be followed by overcoming factors such as demographic characteristics of the foreign market, cultural behavior, perception of the product, criteria used by foreign customers in evaluating a product class, pattern of communication and understanding of silent languages.
In the 1980's there was a distinguished debate between the academicians and practitioners. The former went for standardization and the latter went for adaptation. The word-Globalization was introduced in this decade. Practitioners said that though strict but if standardization was carried out with positive attitudes, one could attain it. Coco-Cola and Pepsi were strong examples of standardized advertisement. Better communication facilities, increased travel and economies of scale were in support of standardization, though one could debate in favor of adaptation on grounds of expense and difficulty. One could say, it is successful communication that matters not accent of speech. The academicians, once again were more in favor of adaptation. They believed in the importance of types of appeal, content of themes, and emotional cues for advertisement. Again cultural sensitivity came into the picture. They felt the need of extent and conditions for coming to a conclusion about advertisement.
The debate continues since then till today. The subsequent sections prove the fact that neither standardization nor adaptation can be given uniform use all around the world.
Influence of Product Type:
Product type has a vital role to play in advertisement. Products that are of universal significance or carry context free messages are given the form of standardization. Such products could be tobacco, banks, airlines and many more. But products that like food or motor that are of local significance are given the form of adaptation. There are certain products that do not come under any of the two categories. Such products depend on durability or type of use (whether personal or not). For them any form of advertisement is acceptable. Summarizing the influence of product type, one can say that product influence has a reciprocate relation with cultural influence. Countries that are different in culture have a less prominent product influence and vice-versa.
Influence of Technology:
The basic reason for adaptation in advertisement was communication. Now, with the advent of technology, the trend communication around the world is just a thought away. IT has compressed the meaning of isolation. Now, everyone wants to see or experience things that he hears about. The very meaning of Globalization is convergence. Technology is a stepping stone towards global community. The wings of technology have spread into every crevice of life. The facilitation of Mc. Donald's, Coco-Cola and Pepsi throughout the world is an outcome of technology. Technology has given industries software, by virtue of which an online market price of commodities is controlled. The whole world can know the products by just accessing online.
Influence of Country of Origin:
The words "made in", are of great concern in customer attitudes in buying a product. Before the intervention of "made in", there were a number of revisions to survey the quality of product. There are certain products that are thought to be to best if they are of a certain nation. French products are said to be the most luxurious where as English products are said to be unreasonably priced. Consumers built in a much higher quality perception of imported goods from certain specific nations. A survey resulted in the conclusion that in the minds of people all over the world, products from USA are of highest value. When it came to views about Japanese products, only automobile and food had a global significance. So, for the goods made in Japan, adaptation was the right choice. The German market is high-yielding as always. But Germans are not influenced as such by branding of products. So, it is useless applying standardization of products in Germany. One can witness a large swing between standardization and adaptation on the basis of pattern followed in advertisement. A schema based knowledge, resulted in the conclusion that country of origin was significant for globalization only if it is mentioned before attribute description. So, country of origin is more significant than brand name for globalization only if the trend is followed as mentioned5.
So, it's a necessity for firms to refer an international statistics before selecting between standardization and adaptation.
An International Survey
Here's a brief outlook of Globalization in the year 2003. This section shows that countries that have most internal drifts are bound to adaptation in advertisement. Countries that are a little more broad minded in their approach have a larger scope of Globalization.
The biggest disaster to the world in the year 2003 was 'The Iraq War'. It caused a number of fissures in the relation of USA with its allies. The result could be projected. In the first half of the year everyone was convinced for a downfall of Globalization in USA. But the second half of the year proved the world wrong. The extensive use of technology took USA to the top 5 in Globalization. This very example is self-sufficient to prove that Globalization has caused a revolution. It has its dependencies on technology, spanning trade and international political engagements.
The year saw Singapore leading the charts of Globalization. The only reason was its increased bilateral relations worldwide. The world's perception of Singapore as the leader was due to its involvement with the activities of UN. It's a lesson for every country that has scarcity of resources.
USA was initially behind in the chart. This was because, for a country as big as USA, foreign trade is not all that necessary. Its self resources are sufficient to suffice the needs of the people. But the advancement in technology, took USA way above many nations striking out all other factors.
China is engaged incessantly in the development of infrastructure. So, it has an obvious demand for foreign trade. Standardization is a perfect technique used here. But the question is that globalization is based on per-capita statistics. Owing to a large population, it is not one of the leaders in global trade. So, places in China that have a lower literacy rate are still stuck with adaptation. This is the importance of education for the masses.
Countries that are a part of the European Union are involved in cross border trade. Such countries are Croatia, Romania, and Ukraine etc. The influence of union has helped them climb the ladder of Globalization but there are other countries in the same European Union which have a slip in Globalization, going towards adaptation. This is due to a lack of foreign trade in these countries. Other countries in the world that are not members of European Union do not have a satisfaction in investing in such countries. So, there can be cross border trade between them but only in the vicinity of the union. So, if forming a union is a boon, it is also a bane at the same time in the context of Globalization. In times to come, the countries of the union are much prone to face global problems, so advertisement products that are not imported from among these members should be adapted.
While India is busy over discussing the pros and cons of Globalization, it has taken a good shape in Canada. This is only due to a betterment of communication skills in the country. So, with USA next door, cultural links across the world and lower labor costs Canada is on a soar in Globalization. Here again, we can6 see that a higher literacy rate in Canada as compared to India has been beneficial.
A Notion against Globalization
If standardization has been increasingly used for the past decade and a half, there have a number of changes in what Globalization promised and what it lived up to.
Firstly, the World Trade Organization was formed in collaboration with the World Bank. Many developing countries that borrowed money from the World Bank have made pre-required returns having a feeling never to borrow again. The step is inevitable as the World Bank had been central to the problem of structural adjustments which left the countries under higher degree of poverty as earlier.
Secondly, Globalization was a little too hyped. Most of the trade even today, continues to take place in the within the country itself. Only a few of trade corporate have been allowed across the border. The reason is the incompetency in meeting the cultural requirements.
A few years back, Globalization was given a clean chit in form of free trade, today it is practiced only for protectionism. For example, the Bush administration works on the policy of free trade for the world but protectionism for its own country.
Globalization with its promise of free trade has been settled to neo-liberal policies. The advancement of Global finance much over Global products has caused chaos more than prosperity. In fact very few countries like China have progressed on the lines7 of prosperity, that too because of interventionist state policies rather than the neo-policies. Disasters such as the Asian financial crisis and the collapse of the economy of Argentina have caused evident revolts against Globalization.
Finally, Globalization is responsible for over exploitation by energy giants in countries of Latin America. They are now forced to nationalize these resources. The conditions have gone from bad to worse as countries like Argentina have forced its investors to take back just 25% of what the countries owed them, hence decreasing national pride. The countries now function on the idea of general co-operation rather than free trade.
An integration of Adaptation and Standardization
Till now we have seen ideas in support and against Globalization. So, it is the need of the hour to come up with a solution to fit both forms of advertisement such that differences are met and at the same time commonality is regarded. We know the significance of websites in Globalization. Firms can advertize their products globally on the web. But what if they integrate adaptation with the web? Cultural differences have a vital role to play in adaptation. Most of the ad agencies, academicians and clients have had fears of globalization because they were not able come up with a unified culture. Now, that we have the web at hand, cultural differences can be met on the web. Hofstede's cultural values give a mechanism to suffice the diversities of culture on the web.
Websites can offer options for languages of preference on their home page. One needs to work according to the following Hofstede's cultural values before advertisement on the web.
Small vs. Large Power Distances: It is the common perception of people in countries like Australia to treat people equally. This doesn't remain the same in countries like Malaysia where people are ready to follow from a higher authority. So, web pages should be designed according to the nation of preference opt by the consumer.
Individualism vs. Collectivism: In countries like USA people are of the individualistic view compared to other countries like China. So, it is more probable for an American citizen to look for individual benefits rather than society's benefits. On the contrary, people in China related8 their needs to the needs of the society. So, they look for a commodity that is beneficial for themselves and the society as a whole. So, web designers should go accordingly when designing a website.
Masculinity vs. Femininity: The USA demographics show a higher percentage of women accessing the web. So, features like beauty, quality of life, traditional themes, family themes and relationships should be more prominent in pages for American users and the countries having a similar ratio of women. Opposite to the case in America, countries like Mexico favor a masculine culture to be signified on the web. Characteristics like ambition, assertiveness, profits and material possession should b included in Mexican web pages. So, one can conclude that demographics has a major role to play in adaptation of ads.
Uncertainty Avoidance: Many cultural laws appreciate the uncertainty avoidance. Such cultures follow rules and regulations with a structured format. Rather than showing dreams of thinking different, web designers should adapt to the usual methodologies of living the same way.
Conclusion
Hence, we can conclude that neither adaptation nor globalization rules the world. It's the situation that rules. There are enough evidences to prove the fact. It happened in history and it has been happening till today. The advantage of a better economy in globalization and resolution of cultural differences in adaptation, play an integrated role in advertisement. We have seen that with a view of utilizing the techniques of Globalization in totality, many countries have faced grave problems. These could be restricted by the use of adaptation to some extent. The overall strategy is the satisfaction of the consumers. A marketer should do a home work of past trends in a region. If the people are broad enough in their views, go for Globalization but if recent examples show an obvious digression in it, then adaptation is the only other option.
