What Is International Advertising?

Advertisement or sales promotion activities in the international market are basically the same as those in the domestic market, and some practices are common. However, due to the complexity of the international market environment, different countries' different levels of economic development and national cultural habits, their attitudes towards advertising are also different. For example, in the United States, companies consider advertising as an important decision in market operations; in some countries, advertising is considered an economic waste. Therefore, when formulating an international advertising plan, it is necessary to understand the specific conditions of different countries and different attitudes to advertising, and adopt corresponding methods and strategies. Cultural risk is one of the main risks of international advertising, and it is necessary to avoid the establishment of an "audience-centric view of advertising communication" mainly through firm establishment.

International Advertising

International advertising is the product of the development of international marketing activities. International advertising refers to product advertisements made in the country or region where the products are exported in order to cooperate with international marketing activities. It is based on the development of domestic advertising and then enters the world market.

Compared with domestic advertising, international advertising has its own characteristics because its appeals and target markets are international and advertising agencies are global. This is because different countries and regions have different social systems, different policies and laws, different levels and structures of consumption, different traditional customs and habits, different natural environments, different religious beliefs, and the differences they form. Consumer concepts and market characteristics. ?

International advertising must consider the economic environment of the importing country.

International advertising must respect the customs and habits of the host country.

International advertising must adapt to the culture of each country.

International advertising must respect the religious beliefs of various countries. ?

International advertising should comply with the regulations of various countries on advertising.

International advertising should pay attention to the natural environment of each country, the income level of the people, the cultural and educational level of the people, and the characteristics of the language of each country.

(1) Formal strategies of international advertising:

International Advertising Culture Risk

Divided by the degree of harm of cultural risks. Risk of negative effects: Advertising hurts the feelings of the audience or local government, harms their interests, and even violates relevant laws and regulations, causing resentment, anger, and banning. The "Toyota" off-road vehicle ad falls into this category. Risk of inefficiency or ineffectiveness: The information conveyed by advertisements is not understood by the audience or cannot be fully understood due to cultural differences, resulting in ineffective or inefficient advertisements.

Divided according to the content of cultural risks. Conceptual risk The difference between the value concept of the international advertising communicator and the value concept of the recipient causes the audience to fail to understand or correctly understand it, and even disgusted, resulting in inefficient, ineffective, and even negative effects of international advertising. National risk: The harm caused by the advertising information hurting the national self-esteem and national feelings of the released region and national audiences. The "Toyota" RAV4 multi-purpose sports car was advertised in the United States in 2001, and the trouble caused by racial discrimination is such a risk. Customs and religious risks: The direct and indirect information conveyed by international advertisements is incompatible with the customs and religious taboos of the audiences where the advertisements are published, resulting in audience resistance and opposition. Advertising of Sony recorders in Thailand violated the taboo of worshiping the Buddha for blaspheming the Buddha, which was widely opposed by Thais. Translation risk: International advertisers who adopt standardized strategies publish advertisements in different cultural countries. Because translation makes the audience of advertisements incomprehensible or inaccurate, advertisements are inefficient, ineffective, or negative. "Ford" introduced the "Comet" car to Mexico and called it "Caliente". The term in Mexican jargon is "streetwalker", which will definitely prevent people from buying or even refuse to buy such a car.

Major causes of cultural risks

The direct cause of cultural risks in international advertising is the cultural distance between advertisers and advertising audiences. In cross-cultural communication, cultural distance exists objectively, and the occurrence of cultural risks is the disregard and disrespect of the advertising subject The cultural differences in the place where the advertisements are published or the processes and results that are contrary to the subjective and objective interaction of the culture in the place where the advertisements are published. Explore the causes of the international advertising culture risks from the subjective and objective categories.

Lack of cultural risk awareness or weak

The lack of awareness or lack of awareness of cultural risks by advertising subjects is the root cause of cultural risks in international advertising. The lack of awareness of the cultural risks of the advertising subject makes it impossible to detect and avoid cultural risks in advance, and if cultural awareness is not strong, it is easy to ignore risks, let alone prevent risks. Therefore, the lack of awareness or lack of cultural risk is the root cause of cultural risk in international advertising. After the "Toyota Advertising Storm", the advertising agency came out to explain the apology. The apology of the general manager of Toyota China Investment Company also proved this. From the perspective of the interests of advertisers and the interests of advertising agencies, it is wrong to analyze the brand awareness of the show to hurt consumers. Because "Toyota", an international company and an internationally renowned brand, can neither be so stupid, nor is it necessary.

Not enough understanding of different cultures

International advertising is cross-cultural communication and communication. The advertising subject must cross two hurdles to bridge the cultural gap, one is the hurdle of understanding and the other is the hurdle of performance. Cognitive psychology reveals that people recognize new things through their existing knowledge and experience. The advertising subject uses the knowledge and experience in a specific cultural context to understand intercultural phenomena and intercultural audiences. Therefore, advertisers' knowledge and understanding of different cultures are objectively distanced and prone to deviations. The international advertising agency's experience in international advertising operations can help reduce cognitive biases, but it is impossible to fundamentally change the limited, specific culture to understand the objective reality of differences, changeable and unlimited foreign cultures. . This determines that their knowledge and understanding of different cultures is limited. In addition, even local international advertising agencies, due to their self-proclaimed familiarity with culture, tend to have a paralyzed psychological tendency under the condition of weak cultural risk awareness, thus losing their vigilance against cultural risks. Advertisers' trust in local or international advertising agencies and their limitations and paralysis have prevented advertisers from gaining a deep understanding of different cultures. Therefore, the lack of deep understanding and incomprehensible understanding of different cultures by international advertising subjects is a phenomenon that is prone to emerge and is also an important cause of cultural risks. Advertising performance is an important part of international advertising communication. On the one hand, because the main body of international advertising does not have a deep understanding and understanding of different cultures, the use of expression symbols is prone to problems that are not understood or correctly understood by people of different cultures. The "Toyota Advertising Storm" in China and the "Toyota Advertising Storm" in the United States also prove the existence of this cognitive psychological tendency. On the other hand, people from different cultures are affected by the laws of cognitive psychology. They cannot stand on the cultural perspective of the advertising subject and use the cultural values of the advertising subject and the same or similar knowledge and experience to understand the performance of international advertising. Therefore, there is a large cultural and psychological distance between the international advertising subject and the advertising audience, which increases the communication of advertising performance. This is another objective reason for the lack of deep understanding and incomprehension of foreign cultures by international advertising subjects.

International Advertising Risk Aversion

Cultural risk is one of the main risks of international advertising. To avoid cultural risks, we should do the following:

Establish a "audience-centric view of advertising communication"

The communication of international advertising is characterized by cross-culture. Only by establishing an audience-centered view of advertising communication can the advertising subject ideologically avoid the cultural risks of international advertising. The audience for international advertising is an intercultural audience for the advertising subject. The concept of focusing on intercultural audiences requires that advertising planning, creativity, and publishing fully consider and respect the needs, values, emotions, and habits of intercultural audiences. Establish a correct view of international advertising communication, require that the tendency of advertising to "consume consumers' attention" should be abandoned, and that "consider consumers" should be replaced, so that international advertising communication should be based on the starting point and belonging point of intercultural audiences and respected And meet as the center. Adhering to the correct view of advertising communication, advertisers must fundamentally eliminate "advertiser-centered ideas," "inside-out ideas," "product-centric ideas," and "creative-centric ideas." Therefore, adherence to and implementation of the "audience-centric view of advertising communication" is a fundamental measure to avoid the risks of international advertising culture.

Strengthening research on differences between different cultures and national cultures

The globalization of marketing is an important feature of modern international marketing. Although the trend of convergence of international cultures is a trend, cultural differences between countries are still the main body and mainstream of culture. International advertising communication is based on respect and recognition of different cultures, and based on the study of differences between different cultures and national cultures. The emergence of international advertising cultural risks is directly manifested by a lack of awareness or deep understanding of the differences between different cultures and national cultures. Therefore, to strengthen the research on the differences between different cultures and national cultures is to avoid the risks of international advertising cultures on the level of knowledge and understanding. Important measures. In-depth study of intercultural and national cultural differences should be based on the following aspects: First, according to the characteristics of different cultural differences and the different sensitivity and intensity of cultural stimulus and response, establish a global classification system of national cultural differences in order to better the advertising subject To plan and implement cross-cultural advertising to reduce cultural risks. Second, a global checklist of national cultural taboos and cultural risks is provided to facilitate and reduce cultural risks in international advertising. Third, establish a global national cultural risk assessment system and establish a national cultural risk level, and build an early warning system to avoid international advertising cultural risks.

Establishing risk operation and implementation avoidance mechanism

The operational risk avoidance mechanism of international advertising culture means that international advertising must set up a cultural risk inspection link in the subject and creative performance fields. Inspectors conduct special reflections and evaluations based on specific indicators such as customs, habits, values, taboos, and national sentiments of different cultures, in order to identify possible problems. In addition, after the production of international advertisements is completed, representatives of all parties must be organized to watch and conduct cultural risk search to check the potential cultural risks. Before the official release, the advertisements can also be tested in a certain range to conduct special detection of cultural risks for the audience. Look for hidden cultural risks on a larger scale and eliminate them before they are released. After the advertisement is officially released, a timely monitoring mechanism for risks is established to detect the risks at any time and deal with them in time if abnormal conditions are found.