Multinational corporations and the challenge of global advertising : What do US headquarters consider important in making media‐selection decisions?

Purpose – Despite the increasing volume of scholarly work in international advertising, media selection has received very little attention. This study seeks to address three fundamental issues in media selection for non‐domestic markets: the relative importance of cultural factors, the relationships between organization structure, and the relative weight that executives place on cultural and non‐cultural factors in their media selection, and the relationships between cultural orientations of advertising executives and their perceptions of specific non‐domestic factors of media selection. Design/methodology/approach – A mail survey of executives for US consumer durable manufacturers operating internationally was conducted. The sample involved managers responsible for media selection in 106 firms listed in the Fortune directory of the 500 largest industrial multinational corporations (MNCs). Three waves of the same questionnaire were sent. Of the selected executives, 84 returned the questionnaire, making the response rate 79.25 percent. Findings – The findings reveal that advertising executives of US MNCs place more importance on general environmental factors (type of product, target market, budget size, cost efficiency, reach and frequency, and competition) than on specific non‐ domestic factors (media availability, language diversity, legal constraints, level of economy, literacy and cultural considerations). Furthermore, managers in centralized decision firms and managers in decentralized decision firms do not differ significantly in their assessment of the relative importance of general and specific non‐domestic factors. However, non‐culturally oriented managers in contrast to their culturally oriented counterparts place greater importance on media availability when determining and executing media‐selection decisions. The surveyed executives also tend to be more involved in establishing objectives and setting budgets than in designing creative strategies and selecting specific media for international advertising campaigns. Originality/value – Although localized and globalized marketing campaigns have steadily increased in the last 20 years, very few studies have examined MNC advertising managers' views about media selection. The research adds new insights to the understanding of this critical‐decision process.