Kihan Kim

Advertising appeals as a reflection of culture: a cross-cultural analysis of food advertising appeals in China and the US

This study examines the cultural factors influencing the use of advertising appeals in two culturally diverse countries: China and the US. Findings from the content analyses of the Chinese and the US food advertisements support eight of the 10 hypotheses, suggesting that community, popular, ornamental, status, dear, health, and nutrition appeals are more frequently used in countries with a more collectivist, greater power distance, and stronger long-term orientation culture such as in China than in the US, whereas an independence appeal was more frequently used in an individualistic society like the US than in China. Overall, findings suggest that advertising appeals in global markets reflect the dominant cultural values in each country. Implications and suggestions for future research are discussed.

The Power of Reach and Frequency In the Age of Digital Advertising: Offine and Online Media Demand Different Metrics

ABSTRACT A survey was conducted of 104 U.S. advertising-agency media directors regarding current practices in media-schedule evaluations—for both offline and online media—and the application and perceptions of reach-and-frequency estimation models. Results suggest that traditional exposure-based criteria such as reach-and-frequency distribution remain important and often are used in evaluations of offline media schedules. For online media, however, a majority of agencies rely on qualitative assessments followed by cost-based criteria or Internet-specific measures (page views). The findings also indicate decreased levels of satisfaction with computerized reach-and-frequency estimation models compared to media directors in the mid-1990s. The authors urge continuous validation of model accuracy and development of new reach-and-frequency estimation models.

Creative strategies of Super Bowl commercials 2001-2009: an analysis of message strategies

This study employs creative strategies to contentanalyse Super Bowl commercials from 2001 to 2009, focusing specifically on message strategies. The findings aim to answer four research questions. What are the message strategies commonly employed in Super Bowl commercials? What are the trends of the message strategies employed in Super Bowl commercials over time? What are the relationships between the message strategies and the commercial likeability? What are the specific roles played by the high- vs. low-involvement product categories?

Intraorganizational Conflict within Advertising Agencies

Researchers have limited understanding about the antecedents and consequences of intraorganizational conflict within advertising agencies. To remedy this, we surveyed directors of account services and creative and media departments in agencies across the United States. Findings demonstrate that degree of centralization, formalization, internal volatility, and psychological distance are all positively related to level of destructive conflict, whereas team spirit has an inverse relationship. We also demonstrate that destructive and constructive conflict are distinct constructs and not simply opposing ends of a continuum. Finally, we show that destructive and constructive conflict each influence perceived quality of agency output.

Advertising spending efficiency among Top U.S. advertisers from 1985 to 2012: : overspending or smart managing?

The current study tests two competing predictions of long-term adspend efficiency: the “overspending perspective” predicts continued high inefficiency, while the “smart manager perspective” predicts improved efficiency. Longitudinal analysis of efficiency among top 100 U.S. advertisers from 1985 to 2012 using data envelopment analysis reveals that inefficiency has increased over time. Approximately 61% of top advertisers are inefficiently using their ad dollars and are overspending by an average of 34%. Findings also indicate that the Internet, a medium highly praised and utilized for the amount and depth of consumer data it generates, has not impacted overall efficiency in any meaningful way.

Choosing the right message for the right cause in social cause advertising: type of social cause message, perceived company–cause fit and the persuasiveness of communication

This study introduces two different types of communication strategies in social cause advertising: a partake-in-our-cause message attempts to engage audiences to take part in a social cause, whereas a promotional social cause message simply conveys information on what a company does for the social cause. The results of two experiments showed that the type of social cause message and the company–cause fit interacted to influence the perceptual and behavioral intention variables related to the company sponsoring the social cause. The partake-in-our-cause message led to more favourable perceptions and stronger behavioral intentions about the company when the company–cause fit was low, rather than high, and such a relationship was partly mediated by the perceived corporate self-serving motive and shared support for the social cause. In contrast, the promotional social cause message appeared to be more persuasive when the company–cause fit was high, rather than low, due in part to the enhanced processing fluency. These findings suggest different psychological mechanisms for each type of social cause message. Implications of the findings and future research directions are discussed.

Advertising and promotion budgeting during volatile economic conditions

This paper provides a perspective on traditional budgeting approaches and managerial processes in the midst of the severe economic downturn during May 2009, in the United States. Specifically, it examines the extent to which various company, brand and organisational factors are related to the level of decentralisation in the budgeting for advertising and promotion. Also, the influences of the level of decentralisation in the budgeting on the marketing budget size and the advertising-to-promotion ratio were examined. It appeared that the company size, company profitability, brand equity, brand price, brand type and the influences of the marketing and the finance departments were associated with the level of decentralisation in the budgeting, which, in turn, had significant impact on the actual budget size and allocation.

The image management function of sponsorship

A general framework to understand how sponsorship affects the image of the sponsor has been developed from the information-processing perspective. According to this framework, sponsorship information is processed in one of two relatively distinct modes of processing – holistic or analytic – depending on the amount of processing resources available to consumers. Each mode of processing, in turn, is theorised to play a significant role in influencing different components of the image of the sponsor. A set of research propositions is presented, along with a specific research agenda, and the implications of the proposed framework.

Product global reach, advertising standardization, and cultural values: an analysis of 2008 Beijing Olympic TV commercials

This study examined the influence of the global reach of the product, multinational vs. domestic, on the degree of standardization of and the use of advertising values in 2008 Beijing Olympic commercials telecasted in China. This study is the first to examine systematically advertising standardization and values within one country in a mega-sporting event context. Overall, the study revealed that multinational product advertisements are more likely to be standardized, and more likely to portray Western-oriented values in their advertisements compared to domestic product advertisements. These findings indicate the importance of considering the global reach of the product in advertising to meet the expectations of the customers, especially during international sporting events such as Olympic Games.

An assessment of direct-to-consumer (DTC) pharmaceutical advertising spending

This study applies data envelopment analysis to evaluate the financial efficiency of a sample of 63 top US pharmaceutical advertisers, based on their sales and media advertising expenditures in 11 key media outlets (i.e. network TV, cable TV, syndicated TV, spot TV, magazines, Sunday magazines, national newspapers, newspapers, network radio, national spot radio, and outdoor). The analyses reveal that, on average, 35% of a pharmaceutical advertising budget is wasted, the largest portion of which is on network TV. In addition, the results of tobit regression indicate that magazines and Sunday magazines significantly contribute to the advertising inefficiency.