The Validity of Cultural Dimensions in the Development Process of International Advertising

Abstract: Culture drives how people communicate and what they communicate. In addition, culture influences the people’s perception of advertisements. Understanding the consequences of cultural differences is, therefore, crucial for marketing and advertising people when it comes to the development of international advertising. The main purpose of this dissertation was to investigate the approach of advertising agencies towards cultural differences during the development process of international advertising. Furthermore, the authors wanted to find out, if advertising agencies know and apply the cultural theories of Geert Hofstede and Edward T. Hall during this process, and whether it would be possible to expand their cultural theories by using the insights gained from the practical work of the agencies. In order to answer this paper’s research questions, four interviews with account managers and CEOs in three advertising agencies were conducted and documentary data were collected. Based on the research findings, one can conclude that even though advertising agencies are constantly aware of cultural differences during their development process, there is no structural knowledge or a structured approach to it. Furthermore, the cultural dimensions of Hofstede and Hall or any other scientist are not known to the agencies and also not applied, as they are for various reasons not regarded as supportive and useful guidelines for the development of suitable ads for culturally different target groups. In addition, the authors have learned that culture is not a dominating issue during the development process of international advertising. Thus, instead of adding further cultural dimensions to the existent theories, a model was developed which depicts the influencing factors on international advertising and puts cultural considerations in relation to them. Keywords: culture, cultural dimensions, advertising, advertising agencies