Standardisation Versus Cultural Adaptation: The Case of Language of Advertisements in Turkish and German

Abstract

In the course of globalization, there are more and more companies that sell their products internationally. In particular international branded products have achieved a major upturn in the Turkish and German markets in recent years. A functioning international advertising is one domain where it is significant to distinguish between standardized - formally and content wise identical - and differentiated -adapted to the respective country. On the other hand, it is questionable whether standardization can be successfully implemented in all countries. Numerous factors with regard to country-specific characteristics - such as culture, underlying values and the form of society - play an important role here. The foundation of standardization is formed by an identical core message in all countries and has the goal of addressing and indirectly influencing the audience. Thus, an advertising message represents the decision-maker about the (in) efficiency of the advertisement or (non-) consumption of the product. Today, the product is attached to less functional, but mainly subjective characteristics that are supposed to cause emotions. This is especially true for branded products, as they try to build trust and build a bond with the consumer. Nevertheless, since often formal and content elements of the commercial - depending on the culture - can cause different interpretations and emotions, special attention must be paid to country-specific features and differences, especially when designing standardized commercials. However, it is possible to circumvent these cultural peculiarities by resorting to universal appeals. With this viewpoint, the present study aims to find out to what extent commercials are standardized or culturally adapted within the context of international comparison between Turkey and Germany.