Fredric Kropp

Cultural Values Reflected in Theme and Execution: A Comparative Study of U.S. and Korean Television Commercials

Abstract This study develops a cross-cultural content analysis framework to examine underlying cultural dimensions: individualism/collectivism, time orientation, relationship with nature, and contextuality. Most cross-cultural content analyses have inferred that differences in execution have been due to assumed cultural differences in the societies examined (often based on the work of Hofstede [1980]); the development of the structure proposed here will allow the direct investigation of those cultural issues. Television commercials from the U.S. and Korea were selected as being representative of North American and East Asian commercials. Both countries are present-time oriented, and while individualism and collectivism are prevalent in both cultures, individualism is more dominant in the U.S. Korean commercials stress oneness-with-nature slightly more than U.S. commercials, and U.S. commercials use more direct approaches. Directions for refinement and future research are identified.

Explaining international performance: marketing mix, planning, and their interaction

The extent of globalization of many world markets has made international marketing a crucial determinant of firms’ performance. Most prior research used few measures of performance and explanatory strategy variables and, in some cases, did not discuss their reliability and validity. The research reported here includes a more comprehensive set of performance variables and investigates the reliability and validity of these measures of performance, as well as explanatory variables’ measures. Research hypotheses about export performance as an outcome of international firm strategies covering channels of distribution, product, promotion, pricing, and planning are tested by data from a mail survey and from in‐depth interviews. The findings are used to suggest managerial implications in the context of international marketing strategy.

Personal Values and their Impact on Telic Dominance

We examine the relationship of personal values and arousal tendencies. The relationship is based on telic dominance, a state-based theory developed to explain risk-taking. However, antecedents of telic dominance have been under-studied. Our study seeks to identify the role of personal values as antecedents. In general, we find that personal values and telic dominance tendencies are related.

Children’s Influence on Family Purchasing Decisions: An Israeli Replication

Studies exploring kids’ influence have used different methodologies. Thus, it is virtually impossible to compare their findings. Additionally, most previous studies have been conducted in the US. Therefore, cross-cultural comparisons are few and far between. We replicate Ward and Wackman’s study (1972) and present a cross-cultural comparison between Israeli and US samples. The study revealed differences across products and age groups. Israeli children request more frequently products that are used primary by children such as clothing, bicycles and records. US children mostly try to influence the purchase of food products such as breakfast cereals, snacks and soft drinks. Additionally, for most products, Israeli mothers tend to yield more often than US mothers do.