Cross-cultural advertising: A comparative study of brand communication in the automotive industry

Details

Supervisors

De Cock, Sylvie

Faculty

Faculté de philosophie, arts et lettres

Degree label

Master [120] en communication multilingue

Abstract

Globalization and digitalization are the reasons why new possibilities have opened up to advertisers around the world. They can promote and sell their products not only on the domestic market but basically everywhere in the world now. Simultaneously, cross-cultural researchers such as Geert Hofstede and Edward T. Hall argue that there are differences between cultures in their communication and behavior. As a result, a debate whether advertising should be standardized or adapted to the target audience has been ongoing for decades. The aim of this thesis is to provide an insight into the implementation of brand communication with regard to cultural differences in the automotive industry. Therefore, commercials and websites by the German car manufacturers Volkswagen and Mercedes-Benz as well as the South Korean carmakers Hyundai and Kia have been analyzed by means of a content analysis to find out to what extent they adapt their websites and commercials to the target country. The findings show that commercials are generally more adapted to a target audience than websites which are quite complex. However, it remains difficult to give an overall answer on the adaptation of brand communication. Not only a country’s culture plays a role in the development of a marketing strategy but also factors such as the positioning or the budget of the car brand as well as the specific car model.