Correlates of successful brand advertising in China

Abstract

PurposeThis study aims to investigate the relationship between successful brand advertising campaigns in China and various factors such as message/creativity, media selection, market research, competition, market share, product uniqueness, and agency/client relationships.Design/methodology/approachThe data for the study were collected by mailing a questionnaire to 283 advertising agencies executives who were selected from the All‐Asia Ad Agency Guide. A total of 1,086 questionnaires were sent out and 163 were returned for a response rate of 15 per cent. Factor analysis was first used to identify various success factors, and ANOVA was used to compare the means of each factor related to the degree of success of the campaign. Correlation analysis was then used to examine the relationship between successful brand advertising campaign and various success factors.FindingsThe results of the ANOVA indicate that there are significant relationships between some items in each factor and the degree of success of an advertising campaign. Correlation analysis further reveals that message/creativity, media selection, market research, market share, and product uniqueness are significantly related to the success of brand advertising in China. No significant relationship is found between brand success and competition or agency/client relationship.Research limitations/implicationsThe respondents may have been biased about the extent to which their advertising campaigns are successful or how creative an advertisement should be. Their perceptions of successful or creative advertising could be very different, especially in relation to those questions that asked respondents to critique their own work. All of these affect the rigor of the study. Another limitation of the study is the low response rate. If the sample size had been large enough, comparisons could have been made concerning the correlates of successful brand advertising across different regions in China.Originality/valueIn addition to providing researchers with further understanding of brand advertising in China, this study provides some insights about the ways in which multinational advertising managers contribute to successful brand advertising.