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Do Global Brands Use Similar Executional Styles
Across Cultures? A Comparison of U.S. and Japanese
Television Advertising
Charles R. Taylora & Shintaro Okazakib
a Villanova School of Business, Villanova University, Villanova, Pennsylvania, USA
b College of Economics and Business Administration, Universidad Autónoma de Madrid,
Madrid, Spain
Published online: 13 Jan 2015.
To cite this article: Charles R. Taylor & Shintaro Okazaki (2015): Do Global Brands Use Similar Executional
Styles Across Cultures? A Comparison of U.S. and Japanese Television Advertising, Journal of Advertising, DOI:
10.1080/00913367.2014.996306
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Do Global Brands Use Similar Executional Styles Across
Cultures? A Comparison of U.S. and Japanese Television
Advertising
Charles R. Taylor
Villanova School of Business, Villanova University, Villanova, Pennsylvania, USA
Shintaro Okazaki
College of Economics and Business Administration, Universidad Aut
onoma de Madrid, Madrid, Spain
A major development in global marketing research is the
evolution of global consumer culture theory and the notion that
global consumer culture positioning (GCCP) strategies can be
effective across markets. This study compares the content of a
large sample of U.S. versus Japanese television advertising and
looks at several executional variables (timing and counting
variables) used in prior studies to explore whether global brands
use more similar executions across the United States and Japan in
comparison with local brands. Results indicate fewer differences
for global brands on these dimensions. This pattern of results
appears to be consistent with the notion that the use of GCCP
strategies aimed at responding to the trend toward global
consumer culture have taken hold and that for global brands it is
more possible to standardize executions, in addition to strategy,
than was the case in the past. However, results suggest that the
amount of time that visuals are on screen is more difficult to
standardize than other elements of the ad, and that ads for
services show somewhat more similarities than ads for physical
products. Theoretical and managerial implications are discussed.
In recent years, global consumer culture theory (GCCT) has
become influential in international marketing (Arnould and
Thompson 2005). GCCT argues that over time the globaliza-
tion of markets has led to the existence of a global consumer
culture in which many consumers share consumption values
regardless of the countries in which they reside. Advocates of
this theory argue that the existence of global consumer culture
makes it more feasible than in the past to engage in practices
such as targeting market segments that cut across culture,
offering similar products to such segments, and following sim-
ilar strategies across markets (Taylor 2010).
While GCCT has gained influence, to date its use in adver-
tising studies has been somewhat limited. However, an out-
growth of the theory, the concept of global consumer culture
positioning (GCCP), as outlined by Alden, Steenkamp, and
Batra (1999), has direct implications for theory pertaining to
international advertising. This concept suggests that the shared
consumption-related beliefs, symbols, and behaviors of many
consumers across markets create an opportunity to use posi-
tioning strategy that cut across cultures. As outlined by Akaka
and Alden (2010), the existence of global consumer culture
does not suggest complete homogenization or “globalization”
of markets in the way suggested by Levitt (1983); instead, it
allows for the idea that under some circumstances marketing
mixes must be tailored. However, GCCP does suggest a grow-
ing opportunity for marketers of global brands to use global
positioning strategies. Thus, it is worthwhile to examine
whether global brands are being advertised in similar ways
across markets.
The purpose of this study is to examine whether executional
aspects of U.S. and Japanese advertising for global brands and
local brands have become more similar than was the case in
the past. To this end, a large-scale content analysis of Japanese
and U.S. television commercials was conducted. The specific
variables measured are the 10 timing and counting variables
(see Online Appendix 1) by Stewart and Furse (1986), who
identified them as important executional elements of an ad.
The timing variables refer to either (a) the amount of elapsed
time before the product itself, the brand, or company name is
shown or (b) or the total time these variables are shown on
screen. The counting variables reflect the number of times the
brand or company name is shown visually or mentioned
verbally.
A study by Miracle, Taylor, and Chang (1992) showed sub-
stantial differences in executions of Japanese versus U.S. ads,
with Japanese ads being less direct and typically showing the
Address correspondence to Charles R. Taylor, Villanova School of
Business, Department of Marketing, 800 E. Lancaster Ave., Villa-
nova, PA 19085-1678. E-mail: raymond.taylor@villanova.edu
Charles R. Taylor (PhD, Michigan State University) is the John A.
Murphy professor of marketing, Villanova School of Business, Villa-
nova University.
Shintaro Okazaki (PhD, Universidad Aut
onoma de Madrid) is an
associate professor of marketing, College of Economics and Business
Administration, Universidad Aut
onoma de Madrid.
1
Journal of Advertising, 0(0), 1–13
Copyright Ó2015, American Academy of Advertising
ISSN: 0091-3367 print / 1557-7805 online
DOI: 10.1080/00913367.2014.996306
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brand and product or package later in the ad and less often, as
measured by the timing and counting variables. However, adver-
tising executions in the United States and Japan may have
changed over the past 20 years. As a result, we examine whether
such differences persist for both local and global brands. If differ-
ences in ad executions persist for local brands but do not exist, or
are attenuated, for global brands, this pattern of results would
appear to be consistent with the propositions of GCCT/GCCP.
This study also explores whether global brands are using more
similar executions across Japan and the United States than local
brands, which would be consistent with the notion that advertisers
of global brands are more likely to standardize advertising execu-
tions in these markets than in the past. In addition to a quantitative
content analysis of timing and counting variables, the study also
provides qualitative insights into positioning strategies used by
global versus local brands in the United States versus Japan.
LITERATURE REVIEW AND THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK
Global Consumer Culture Theory
Consumer culture theory focuses on the relationships
among consumer actions, the marketplace, and the cultural
meanings that result (Arnould and Thompson 2005). Con-
sumer culture theory has been applied to several research
areas, including (a) better understanding consumer identity
and how consumers interactively develop “constitutive and
coproductive” mechanisms from interacting with marketer-
generated communications in developing their sense of self;
(b) developing the marketplace culture perspective, which pos-
its that consumers are culture producers rather than culture
bearers; (c) investigating sociohistoric patterning of consump-
tion, by examining institutional structures that affect consump-
tion; and (d) examining how mass -mediated marketplace
ideologies and consumers’ interpretive strategies influence
consumers, how they process messages, and how they develop
critical responses (Arnould and Thompson 2005). Consumer
culture theory, as applied to global markets, has been referred
to as GCCT and has become an important theory in interna-
tional business and marketing (Taylor 2010). As a testament to
this, GCCT has re-defined what constitutes a global brand for
many scholars. Ozsomer and Altaras (2008) argue that in con-
trast to the traditional view of a global brand that is rooted in
the marketing standardization literature, GCCT puts consumer
perception of brand globalness at the center of what defines a
global brand. GCCT has also impacted the way globalization
has been conceptualized by scholars.
While globalization has long been thought to be multi-dimen-
sional, including social, economic, political, and cultural dimen-
sions, several scholars have assigned culture a stronger role in
defining and examining this construct (see Ford, Mueller, and
Taylor 2011). Waters (1995) argues that culture has shown a
faster tend toward globalization than have either the political or
economic arenas. Nijman (1999) goes even further, stating that
economic globalization has been occurring due to the increased
globalization of cultural values and identities. Nijman’s (1999, p.
148) definition of cultural globalization is the “acceleration in the
exchange of cultural symbols among people around the world to
an extent that leads to changes in local popular cultures and iden-
tities.” From this perspective, cultural symbols and the exchange
of these symbols among people in different parts of the world are
the two key factors that impact the further growth of globaliza-
tion. Under GCCT, brands are key cultural symbols that arise out
of consumption culture and contribute to globalization (Arnould
and Thompson 2005).
The transfer and sharing of culture is highly dependent on
media content and advanced communication technologies
(Nijman 1999; Ford, Mueller, and Taylor 2011). As a result,
advertising and media play a key role in the development of
global consumer culture. Over time, the growth of a global
consumer culture has allowed marketers to target segments
that transcend national boundaries (Keillor, D’Amico, and
Horton 2001; Holt, Quelch, and Taylor 2004). To the extent it
is possible to target cross-market segments successfully, it fol-
lows that marketers of global brands will also have more
opportunity to standardize ads than in the past.
Research taking a GCCT perspective is critical of attempts
to explain consumer behavior based solely on cultural dimen-
sions such as individualism versus collectivism (Cayla and
Arnould 2008); instead emphasizing similarities across mar-
kets as well as diversity within a given country. For example,
Alden, Steenkamp, and Batra (1999) found empirical support
for the notion that the global reach of a brand contributes to
quality perceptions of the brand as well as the level of brand
equity earned. A related construct, perceived brand globalness,
has also received attention (Holt, Quelch, and Taylor 2004).
Steenkamp, Batra, and Alden (2003) formally defined per-
ceived brand globalness as the degree to which consumers
believe the brand is marketed and recognized as global across
countries. They also found support for the notion that per-
ceived brand globalness can positively impact brand quality
and prestige perceptions. Because perceived brand globalness
is influenced by consumer exposure to brand advertising it is
applicable to advertising issues as well (Akaka and Alden
2010). The findings of enhanced image further suggest an
incentive for advertisers to emphasize shared symbols and val-
ues when targeting global consumer segments (e.g., Becker
-Olsen et al. 2011).
Global Consumer Culture Positioning
Drawing on GCCT, Alden, Steenkamp, and Batra (1999)
proposed GCCP strategy, which suggests that, as a result of
the increase in shared consumption beliefs and shared symbols
and behaviors, firms can benefit from using a positioning strat-
egy that associates their brands with global consumer culture.
GCCP can be defined as a strategy that identifies the brand as
a symbol of global culture. The use of such a strategy means
2C. R. TAYLOR AND S. OKAZAKI
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the brand must be associated with signs such as language, aes-
thetics, and theme that reflect the emerging global culture
(Alden, Steenkamp, and Batra 1999). In essence, the brand is
identified as a symbol of global culture by the advertiser.
GCCP does not necessarily dictate the use of standardized
advertising across all markets in which a company does busi-
ness (Alden, Batra, and Steenkamp 1999). However, the exis-
tence of global consumer culture allows for a greater
possibility that this option may be effective. Two additional
options, when GCCP is not used, are local consumer culture
positioning (LCCP) and foreign consumer culture positioning
(FCCP). LCCP exists when a company intentionally does not
make associations with globally shared cultural meanings but
rather focuses on meanings shared within the local culture.
The influence of GCCT as a theoretical base used in inter-
national advertising studies has grown in recent years (e.g.,
Zhou and Belk 2004; Amine, Chao, and Arnold 2005; Oka-
zaki, Mueller, and Taylor 2010; Oyedele and Minor 2012).
Alden, Batra, and Steenkamp (1999) found substantial inci-
dence of GCCP strategies, but fewer than the use of LCCP
strategies. However, the authors observed that the late 1990s
was a period nearer to the beginning of globalization and sug-
gested that the trend was toward more GCCP strategies being
used. Indeed, few would dispute that the 2000s saw the use of
more GCCP strategies (Taylor 2010).
GCCP, which evolved from GCCT theory, suggests that
global brands have the opportunity to use common symbols
(brands) and themes in advertising to appeal to consumers’
shared understanding of these symbols and shared values per-
taining to consumption. As a result, we expect that global
brands will be prone to employ more similar advertising
approaches across markets. Meanwhile, local brands will be
more likely to use local appeals that draw on locally shared
symbols and values. Our hypotheses for global brands are pre-
mised on this view. Before posing hypotheses, we review
some literature on Japanese advertising focusing on the influ-
ence of cultural values.
Literature on Japanese Advertising and the Influence
of Culture
Many studies on Japanese advertising were published in the
1980s and 1990s. These studies mainly focused on cultural
variables and their impact on advertising styles. Differences
were noted in several aspects of U.S. and Japanese advertising,
including information content, appeal type used, gender-role
portrayals, and stylistic elements of the ad (e.g., Madden,
Caballero, and Matsukubo 1986; Hong, Muderrisoglu, and
Zinkhan 1987; Mueller 1987, 1992; Miracle, Taylor, and
Chang 1992; Lin and Salwen 1995; Ford, Kramer, and Honey-
cutt 1998).
In an examination of the timing and counting variables,
Miracle, Taylor, and Chang (1992) found that Japanese televi-
sion ads were considerably more indirect than U.S. ads, with
the brand and product being shown significantly later in the ad
and shown and mentioned less often. For example, in the
United States, the brand name was shown significantly earlier
in the ad, mentioned more often, and shown for a longer period
of the time than in the Japanese ads. Similar to other studies,
these differences were attributed to cultural differences. These
differences include Japan being (a) a higher context culture
(Hall 1976); (b) a more collectivistic culture (e.g., Hofstede
1980); and (c) a society that places more value on harmony
seeking versus confrontational behaviors in comparison to the
United States. Miracle, Taylor, and Chang (1992) found that a
higher proportion of Japanese ads were 15 seconds in length
than the U.S. ads. Consistent with Japan being a higher context
culture, this difference in typical commercial length has been
attributed by past researchers to the desire and ability of the
Japanese consumer to get to the point with less conversation
or words and rely on devices that the viewer can pick up on
quickly, such as celebrity endorsers (e.g., Johansson 1994;
Karlin 2012). This is in contrast to the United States, where
there is often a desire to communicate product features and
their advantages, whether attribute or image based, to the
viewer (Johansson 1994; Karlin 2012).
While only a limited number of studies have been con-
ducted on Japanese advertising executions in the
“postbubble” economy, those studies suggest that weak eco-
nomic growth in the 1990s and 2000s led to some changes
in Japanese advertising styles. Money, Shimp, and Sakano
(2006) found that negative information about a celebrity
endorser did not decrease evaluations of a product in Japan.
This was surprising to the authors, who believed that nega-
tive information would have a deleterious impact in a col-
lectivistic culture such as Japan. Okazaki and Mueller
(2008) analyzed the appeals used in Japanese and U.S.
advertising and found that while soft-sell appeals remained
common in Japanese advertising, there were more product
merit appeals and hard-sell appeals than before. The authors
observed that Japanese advertising may have become more
“American” in the postbubble environment. They did note,
however, that Japanese advertising remains distinct. In a
quasi-experimental study of perceptions of soft-sell and
hard-sell appeals, Okazaki, Mueller, and Taylor (2010), also
found more acceptance of hard-sell appeals in Japan. In
addition, in both the United States and Japan there was very
little difference in attitude toward the ad between the hard-
sell and soft-sell ads test. This finding suggests a possible
cultural shift in the United States, as soft-sell appeals have
become more commonly accepted (see also Okazaki and
Mueller 2008). In a study of Western and Asian models in
Japanese fashion magazine advertising, Morimoto and
Chang (2009) also found changes, observing that the use of
Western appeals has become more acceptable in Japan as
Japanese women have gained more buying power and have
had more exposure to other countries through more frequent
travel.
DO GLOBAL BRANDS USE SIMILAR EXECUTIONAL STYLES ACROSS CULTURES? 3
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Okazaki and Mueller (2011) explored the impact of the
“Lost Decade” on Japanese advertising in a study that con-
ducted qualitative interviews with high-ranking industry pro-
fessionals. They concluded that significant changes were
driven by the economic uncertainty of the 1990s, including a
shift toward a more direct and persuasive selling approach.
The executives believed that more competitive times had led
to a shift from emotion to sales, more use of direct approaches,
and more emphasis on value. Nonetheless, they felt that Japa-
nese advertising was still unique in that a more tacit under-
standing of messages was needed and that being too blatantly
direct was still problematic.
HYPOTHESES
Our hypotheses examine whether there are differences in
the timing and counting variables for U.S. and Japanese ads
and whether these differences are attenuated for global versus
local brands. As more than 20 years have passed since the
Miracle, Taylor, and Chang (1992) study, it is worth examin-
ing whether the ways in which global versus local brands
advertise in the two countries are consistent with trends pre-
dicted by GCCT. We focus on the timing and counting varia-
bles because they incorporate multiple aspects of the
consumer culture positioning dimensions examined by Alden,
Batra, and Steenkamp (1999). These include perspectives of
spokesperson appearance, theme, pronunciation of brand
name, visual display of brand name, and brand logo design.
Thus, this study focuses on the timing and counting of verbal
and visual mention of the brand and company, with special
emphasis on the latter three dimensions (pronunciation, visual
display, and logo design).
As GCCT posits that there is greater ability to employ posi-
tioning strategies that cut across cultures, it would follow that
more similarities in the style of Japanese and U.S. advertising
would now exist for global brands. In other words, GCCT
would postulate that the existence of a global consumer culture
and associated advantages of global reach and perceived brand
globalness have become more entrenched and have made it
more possible for global brands to use GCCP strategies. In
essence, greater use of GCCP strategies would suggest less dif-
ference between Japanese and U.S. ads for global brands in
terms of advertising strategy and execution than in the past.
The notion that cultural factors are still a key influence in
developing effective advertising executions would, however,
suggest that differences with respect to these dimensions in
the United States and Japan would persist for local brands.
Thus, an alternative perspective is that the key cultural differ-
ences identified by Miracle, Taylor, and Chang (1992) would
continue to drive differences in advertising executions in
Japan. There is considerable evidence that these cultural dif-
ferences do remain intact at a societal level. As defined by
Hall (1976), a low-context culture, such as that found in the
United States, places more value on words and direct verbal
communication, and people are encouraged to be direct, pre-
cise, and unambiguous. In contrast, high-context cultures like
Japan consider verbal communications to be only a part of the
overall message, and communicators rely much more heavily
on contextual cues. Thus, local Japanese ads are likely to be
less direct and, for example, show or mention the brand name
later and less often in the ad. Consistent with Geert Hofstede’s
work, the GLOBE study (House et al. 2004) verified that
Japan is more collectivistic, both at an institutional and in-
group level, and less assertive than the United States. These
findings are consistent with Japan being a less confrontational,
higher context culture.
Consistent with all three of these cultural dimensions, Mira-
cle, Taylor, and Chang (1992) predicted that Japanese ads
would be more indirect and take a longer time to “set the stage
for the ad” because (a) Japan is a higher context culture in
which less direct appeals are appreciated and (b) it takes time
to build up trust in a nonconfrontational and indirect manner.
Japanese advertisers have traditionally tended to take more
time at the beginning of an ad to build understanding, trust,
and dependency, often by telling a story or making the viewer
feel comfortable before moving on to the main message (Mira-
cle, Chang, and Taylor 1992).
Timing Variables
Following the previous discussion, we would expect two
contrasting findings for global versus local brands across coun-
tries. For global brands, if the emergent global consumer cul-
ture is leading to more use of GCCP we would expect that
timing and counting variables will be similar in the United
States and Japan. That is, if multinational corporations attempt
to position their brands globally and target the ads to a global
consumer segment, the firms may employ similar executional
strategies in multiple markets. On the other hand, the execu-
tional strategies of local corporations may still reflect inherent
cultural characteristics because they are primarily targeted to a
local consumer segment.
The first three timing and counting variables (in hypotheses
1, 2, and 3) deal with the elapsed time before the brand, com-
pany, and product/package appear on screen. GCCT suggests
that global brands would be able to use similar executions in
multiple countries. However, we predict that, for local brands,
cultural factors will lead to significant differences between
commercials in Japan and the United States. We therefore pro-
pose the following:
H1: The difference in the time elapsed before the brand name is
identified across countries will be less for global brands than for
local brands.
H2: The difference in the time elapsed before the company name is
identified across countries will be less for global brands than for
local brands.
4C. R. TAYLOR AND S. OKAZAKI
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H3: The difference in the time elapsed before the product or pack-
age is identified across countries will be less for global brands than
for local brands.
Hypotheses 4, 5, and 6, which address the total time the
brand name, company name, and product package are shown
on screen, follow the same theoretical logic in that cultural
factors are expected to drive differences between the United
States and Japan for local brands. For global brands, however,
consistent with the idea that the implementation of more
GCCP strategies would lead to more similarities, we posit that
differences on these variables will be smaller.
H4: The difference in the total time that the brand name is on screen
across countries will be less for global brands than for local brands.
H5: The difference in the total time that the company name is on
screen across countries will be less for global brands than for local
brands.
H6: The difference in the total time that the product or package is
on screen across countries will be less for global brands than for
local brands.
Counting Variables
The counting variables measure the number of times the
brand name and company name are shown visually (hypothe-
ses 7 and 8) and the number of times they are mentioned ver-
bally (hypotheses 9 and 10). Our hypotheses again follow the
logic suggested by GCCT theory: If there has been a trend
toward more targeting of global consumers via GCCP, we
would expect smaller differences for global brands. Mean-
while, cultural factors would suggest larger differences for
local brands. Thus:
H7: The difference in the number of times the brand name appears
visually on screen across countries will be less for global brands
than for local brands.
H8: The difference in the number of times the company name
appears visually on screen across countries will be less for global
brands than for local brands.
H9: The difference in the number of times the brand name is men-
tioned verbally across countries will be less for global brands than
for local brands.
H10: The difference in the number of times the company name is
mentioned verbally across countries will be less for global brands
than for local brands.
METHODOLOGY
Samples
In both the United States and Japan, television commercials
were recorded according to a sampling plan that was designed
to ensure a comparable and representative sample of the uni-
verse of ads. The sampling plan ensured balanced representa-
tion of key viewing times, including prime time, daytime, and
fringe times. The population of commercials was defined as
brands normally advertised on television in each country. In
contrast to the 1992 study, it was necessary to include cable
television networks because they gained considerable viewer-
ship in the intervening 20 years. With the assistance of IMS
TV (Infomercial Monitoring Service), a leading media
research company, we devised a sampling plan that consisted
of major over the air networks and one major cable television
network from the genres of news, sports, and children’s pro-
gramming. IMS recorded the commercials that were used for
the analysis. A comparable sampling plan was then set up and
executed in Japan, using comparable networks, and commer-
cials were again professionally recorded.
In the United States, the networks included were ABC,
CBS, NBC, Fox, CW, CNN, ESPN, and Nickelodeon. A
comparable set of networks was used for the Japanese sam-
ple. They were NTV, Tokyo Broadcasting System, Fuji TV
(news network), TV Asahi, TV Tokyo, WOWOW Live, and
SKY PerfecTV! (sports programming). Recording was done
in the spring and summer of 2011, with care taken to avoid
holiday periods. Local advertising, political advertising, advo-
cacy, government, and generic product category ads were
excluded from the sample, and duplicate commercials were
eliminated. The sample consisted of a total of 826 unique
U.S. commercials and 1,270 unique Japanese commercials.
The difference in sample size is primarily due to a higher
number of duplicate ads being present in the United States.
Commercials of all lengths were included in the sample. Con-
sistent with previous research, a majority of the U.S. sample
consisted of 30 second commercials (61.1%), followed by 15
second commercials (31.0%). Also consistent with prior stud-
ies, a majority of the Japanese commercials (53.2%) were 15
seconds in length, followed by 30 second commercials
(38.9%).
Table 1 shows the breakdown of the sample by product cat-
egory. As expected, the sampling method led to the inclusion
of a comprehensive range of product categories.
Data Coding Instrument and Coding Procedure
Both a data coding instrument and codebook with opera-
tional definitions of the variables were developed in English
and translated and back-translated into Japanese with the help
of professional translators. The researchers were involved in
this process to help ensure that equivalent data were collected.
Two MBA students were recruited in each country (the U.S.
students coded the U.S. ads and the Japanese students coded
the Japanese ads) and were paid an hourly rate for their coding
services. The coders were not aware of the purpose of the
study. Extensive training sessions with the coders in each
country were conducted. The training consisted of four formal
DO GLOBAL BRANDS USE SIMILAR EXECUTIONAL STYLES ACROSS CULTURES? 5
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sessions over which a total of more than 50 ads that were not
part of the main sample were coded.
The variables coded in the study are shown in Online
Appendix 1. Operational definitions of the timing and counting
variables were drawn from Stewart and Furse (1986). The cod-
ing scheme for product category used in Miracle, Chang, and
Taylor (1992) was adopted. Because no generally accepted
definition of global brand was found in the literature, the
authors developed their own definition for this study. An effort
was made to be consistent with several prior theoretical defini-
tions of the term global brand. Thus, prior definitions were
sought out, and the following are identified as being useful
definitions of global brand:
1. Cambridge Dictionary—Global brand is the name of a
product or service that is known and sold in all parts of the
world by a particular company.
2. Q Finance Dictionary—Brand name known everywhere;
the brand name of a product that has worldwide recogni-
tion. A global brand has the advantage of economies of
scale in terms of production, recognition, and packaging.
3. Cateora, Gilly, and Graham (2013)—in International Mar-
keting: The worldwide use of a name, term, sign, symbol
(visual or auditory), design, or a combination thereof to
identify goods or services of a seller to differentiate them
from competitors. (p. 605)
4. Czinkota and Ronkainen (2013)—in International Market-
ing: A brand/product that has worldwide recognition.
(p. 648)
5. While not a definition of global brand per se, we also con-
sidered Steenkamp, Batra, and Alden (2003) definition of
“perceived brand globalness,” which measures the degree
to which consumers believe the brand is marketed and rec-
ognized as global across countries.
When considering commonalities in these definitions, it is
clear that they converge on the idea that the brand is sold and
known worldwide. Thus, in this study we employ the follow-
ing theoretical definition:
Global brand: A brand that is sold and widely recognized in every
part of the world where products are commonly marketed.
Consistent with this definition, the following operational
definitions were used in this study:
Local brand: Code if the brand, to the best of your knowl-
edge, is either sold and known only in the country where the
commercial is shown, or the home country and just a few other
markets.
Global brand: Code if, to the best of your knowledge, the brand is
sold and known in the home market and many other parts of the
world.
A key advantage of the timing and counting variables is that
they can be measured objectively via a stopwatch (timing vari-
ables) or by simple counting (counting variables). Thus, there
is no need to rely on potentially subjective judgments of
coders in making classifications. Nevertheless, during the
training process, two coders coded commercials to make sure
no unexpected phenomena were encountered. As the coders
went through the training, it was apparent that they were
invariably reaching the same result. Therefore, no further
intercoder reliability tests for the timing and counting varia-
bles were conducted. During the main coding process, in each
country both coders coded product category and brand type.
For the coding of brand type, the coders were asked to consult
both the company’s website and/or a business research librar-
ian at their institution for guidance toward appropriate refer-
ence materials if they were unsure whether the brand was
global or local. Disagreements on both brand type and product
category were resolved in consultation with the researchers.
Table 2 shows the cross tabulations for brand type and for
length of commercial. In the United States, 23.7% of brands
were classified as global versus 76.3% that were categorized
as local. Meanwhile, in Japan, 38.4% of the ads were coded as
being for global brands versus 61.6% for local brands. It
should be stressed that, to be categorized as a global brand, the
brand name needed to meet the standard of being recognized
and sold worldwide. In the United States, this led to brands
such as Kmart (currently with stores in the United States,
Guam, Puerto Rico, and the U.S. Virgin Islands), Alpo (owned
by Nestle/Ralston Purina, but marketed primary in the United
States), Verizon, Progressive, Texaco, and Circle K being clas-
sified as local. While some brands may be owned by compa-
nies that have operations in multiple countries, or even
globally, this alone did not qualify them as global brands. In
contrast, other brands in the U.S. sample, such as Intel, Gen-
eral Electric, McDonald’s, Toyota, and Levi’s, clearly met the
criteria.
Because of possible effects of different relative frequencies
of varied commercial length, we created an index by dividing
the timing and counting variables by the overall commercial
length in order to focus on the proportion of the ad in which
the phenomenon occurs (see Miracle, Chang, and Taylor
1992). For example, for the mean number of seconds before
the brand name is identified, this number of elapsed seconds
was divided by the commercial length. These adjusted num-
bers were used for our subsequent analyses.
RESULTS
Reliability was assessed for both product category and
brand type. In the United States, percentage agreement, as
measured by Cohen’s kappa, was .93 for product category and
.88 for brand type. In Japan, percentage agreement for product
category was .95 and .90 for brand type. These numbers are
indicative of acceptable reliability (Kolbe and Burnett 1991).
6C. R. TAYLOR AND S. OKAZAKI
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As shown in Online Appendix 1, for the timing and count-
ing variables measuring elapsed time (hypotheses 1, 2, and 3),
coders were instructed to use code 999 if the item of interest
(brand name, company name, and product/package) never
appeared in the ad. A significant number of the U.S. ads (32%)
did not identify the company name. Meanwhile, in Japan,
some ads (13%) did not identify the company name, while a
similar number of others (also 13%) did not identify the brand
name. These findings are consistent with those of Miracle,
Taylor, and Chang (1992); following the procedure used in
that study, the ads coded 999 were excluded from the analysis
for the elapsed time variables (hypotheses 1, 2, and 3).
To test hypotheses, we conducted a series of multiple
regression analyses. Our two independent variables are
TABLE 1
Breakdown of the Sample by Product Category (%)
Product categories United States (nD826) Japan (nD1,270) Total (nD2,096)
Food and beverages 18.4 17.6 18.0
Alcoholic beverages 0.7 4.7 3.2
Tobacco products 0.0 0.2 0.1
Automobile and automobile related 9.4 3.5 5.9
Over the counter drugs/medications 5.7 5.6 5.6
Household and lawn and garden supplies 9.3 4.3 6.3
Electronic appliances/products 2.5 4.8 3.9
Cosmetics and personal care products 9.7 8.8 9.2
Diet and exercise products 0.0 3.7 2.2
Clothing, shoes, and apparel 3.3 0.9 1.9
Furniture 2.9 0.5 1.4
Entertainment and entertainment supplies 3.0 3.9 3.5
Home computers and computer supplies 0.5 0.1 0.2
Office equipment and supplies 0.0 0.1 0.0
Sporting goods, toys, and games 0.7 2.5 1.8
Pets, pet food, and pet supplies 1.0 0.9 0.9
Publications 0.0 1.2 0.7
Movies 1.2 3.1 2.3
Retailers 0.0 1.7 1.0
Banking and financial services 2.5 4.7 3.9
Telecommunications services 3.4 4.1 3.8
Transportation services 1.0 0.9 1.0
Nonprofit organizations 1.2 1.5 1.4
Miscellaneous products 5.2 6.1 5.8
Miscellaneous services 14.8 14.1 14.4
Others 3.5 0.4 1.4
Total 100.0 100.0 100.0
TABLE 2
Breakdown of the Sample by Brand Type
United States Japan
15 seconds 30 seconds Other lengths Total 15 seconds 30 seconds Other lengths Total
Brand type # % # % # % # % # % # % # % # %
Local 208 81.2 368 72.9 54 83.1 630 76.3 386 57.4 323 65.5 70 70.7 779 61.6
Global 48 18.8 137 27.1 11 16.9 196 23.7 286 42.6 170 34.5 29 29.3 485 38.4
Total 256 100.0 505 100.0 65 100.0 826 100.0 672 100.0 493 100.0 99 100.0 1264 100.0
DO GLOBAL BRANDS USE SIMILAR EXECUTIONAL STYLES ACROSS CULTURES? 7
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classifications of the ads—the country (United States versus
Japan) and brand type (global brand versus local brand)—nei-
ther of which was directly measured or manipulated by the
authors. Thus, regression is an appropriate analytical tech-
nique. The dependent variable was the index created in the
preceding section (i.e., the proportional measure of the timing
and counting variable). Table 3 summarizes the results of
hypotheses testing.
Timing Variables
Hypotheses 1, 2, and 3 posit that the difference in the mean
number of seconds elapsing before the brand name, company
name, and product/package is identified between U.S. and Jap-
anese commercials would be less (and not significant) when
global brands are advertised, compared with local brands,
where differences are expected. For the brand name, our
regression analysis shows that the interaction effect between
the country and the brand type is statistically significant (stan-
dardized coefficient D.08, tD2.76, p<.01). This result is
indicative of there being a significant difference in elapsed
time before l the brand name is shown for local brands, but not
for global brands. Thus, hypothesis 1 is supported. With regard
to the company name, our regression analysis indicates that the
interaction effect between the country and the brand type
is also statistically significant (standardized coefficient D.11,
tD3.31 p<.001). Thus, hypothesis 2 is also supported. How-
ever, for the elapsed time before the product/package is
shown, the interaction effect was not statistically significant
(pD.54), leading to the rejection of hypothesis 3 (see Online
Appendix 2).
Hypotheses 4, 5, and 6 address the total time the brand
name, the company name, or the product or package is shown
on screen. The prediction is that the values of these variables
will be similar across the countries for global brands but
TABLE 3
Hypotheses Testing Results
Unstandardized coefficients
Formal hypotheses (interaction effects) Country (C) Brand type (B) C £B Results
1. There will be significant interaction effects between country and
brand type for the time elapsed before the brand name is identified.
¡.15*** ¡.04 .09** Supported
2. There will be significant interaction effects between country and
brand type for the time elapsed before the company name is
identified.
¡.14*** ¡.07** .14** Supported
3. There will be significant interaction effects between country and
brand type for the time elapsed before the product or package is
identified.
¡.12*** ¡.01 .02 Rejected
4. There will be significant interaction effects between country and
brand type for the total time that the brand name is on screen.
.23*** ¡.04** ¡.02 Rejected
5. There will be significant interaction effects between country and
brand type for the total time that the company name is on screen.
.12*** .03 ¡.06* Supported
6. There will be significant interaction effects between country and
brand type for the total time that the product or package is on
screen.
.26*** .05* .04 Rejected
7. There will be significant interaction effects between country and
brand type for the number of times the brand name appears visually
on screen.
.03*** .00 ¡.03*** Supported
8. There will be significant interaction effects between country and
brand type for the number of times the company name appears
visually on screen.
.04*** .01 ¡.04*** Supported
9. There will be significant interaction effects between country and
brand type for the number of times the brand name is mentioned
verbally.
.02*** .01** ¡.02*** Supported
10. There will be significant interaction effects between country and
brand type for the number of times the company name is mentioned
verbally.
.02*** .01 ¡.01* Supported
Note. Based on multiple regression analysis. Dummy-coded country (1 DUnited States, 0 DJapan) and brand type (1 Dglobal, 0 Dlocal).
*p<.05; **p<.01; ***p<.001.
8C. R. TAYLOR AND S. OKAZAKI
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different for local brands. Our regression analysis results pro-
vide support only for the company name, as the interaction
effect between the country and the brand type is statistically
significant (standardized coefficient D–.06, tD–2.23, pD
.03). With regard to the brand name and the product or pack-
age, both interaction effects were insignificant (standardized
coefficient D–.02, tD–.70, pD.49 for the brand name; stan-
dardized coefficient D.03, tD1.26, pD.21 for the product or
package). Based on these results, we can conclude that hypoth-
esis 5 is supported, while hypotheses 4 and 6 are not.
Counting Variables
In hypotheses 7 and 8, we posit that the frequency with
which the brand name and company name or logo is shown for
global brands, compared with local brands, should be similar
across the countries. Our regression analysis results indicate
that this is true for both cases: (standardized coefficient D
–.13, tD–4.15, p <.001 for the brand name; standardized
coefficient D–.14, tD–4.37, p<.001 for company name).
Thus, hypotheses 7 and 8 are supported.
Hypotheses 9 and 10 deal with similar executional strate-
gies in terms of the frequency of the brand name or the com-
pany name mentioned being mentioned in the U.S. and
Japanese commercials for global, as opposed to local, brands.
Our regression analysis results indicate this prediction rings
true not only for the brand name (standardized coefficient D
–.14, tD–4.25, p<.001) but also for the company name
(standardized coefficient D–.09, tD–2.49, p<.05). Thus,
both hypotheses 9 and 10 are supported.
Analysis of Physical Products Versus Services
Finally, in attempt to test the robustness of our hypotheses,
we performed additional analyses on physical products versus
services. As shown in Table 4, 8 out of 10 interaction effects
were statistically significant for services, while half of interac-
tions were significant for product. Overall, these findings indi-
cate that ads for global service brands are similar on more of
the timing and counting variables across the United States and
Japan than are global products. It may be the case that for
some physical products, such as food, health and beauty aids,
or household products, it is somewhat more necessary to tailor
the ad to local tastes than would be the case for ads for hotels,
airlines, or investment banks. However, in comparison to Mir-
acle, Taylor, and Chang’s (1992) findings, it would appear that
there are more similarities in ads for global brands for both
products and services than was the case in the past.
Additional Qualitative Analysis
Because our content analysis focused only on the audio
identification and visual display of brand or company name/
logo and product and package, we also conducted qualitative
analysis with the aim of identifying exemplar ads that are rep-
resentative of typical positioning strategies used in Japanese
and U.S. ads for global and local brands. A group of exemplar
ads for each category is shown in Online Appendix 3. While
there is no doubt that a variety of ads was present in each cate-
gory, some generalizations can be made, especially vis-
a-vis
prior literature. For U.S. ads for global brands, it was apparent
from the analysis that GCCP appeals are frequently used and
that soft-sell appeals are also common. U.S. ads for global
brands often employed symbols of global consumer culture
(e.g., elegant clothing, goods, and settings indicative of luxury,
globally recognized images, beauty, globally known sports)
but were still likely to exhibit traditional patterns in terms of
the timing and counting variables (e.g., showing the brand and
product/package early and often), though perhaps to a slightly
lesser extent than in the past. In contrast, ads for local U.S.
brands used local consumer culture symbols (such as referen-
ces to U.S. popular culture, typical scenes from U.S. home
life, and references to local institutions or culture), an observa-
tion consistent with the findings of Alden, Steenkamp, and
Batra (1999). While there also appear to be somewhat more
soft-sell appeals in these ads than would have been present
20 years ago, in terms of the timing and counting variables
these ads appear to be very similar to those of 20 years ago.
For Japanese ads for global brands, we observed GCCP
being employed via the use of global symbols (e.g., Sponge-
Bob SquarePants or Pok
emon used in fast-food restaurant ads;
using soccer players as global messengers in a sport shoes ad).
These ads are more direct in terms of the timing and counting
variables than traditional Japanese ads, in part because brand
symbols appear earlier in the ads. In contrast, local Japanese
ads make reference to local symbols—often in combination
with “nonsense” humor (Johansson 1994) and “tarento” (Oka-
zaki and Mueller 2011)—and are still somewhat traditional in
terms of being less direct and showing the brand and product/
package less often, although this trend has somewhat
decreased from 20 years ago. Overall, these ads appear to pro-
vide support for the proposition that global consumer culture
has had an influence on global brands’ advertising in the
United States and Japan. However, there does not appear to be
a trend toward convergence for local brands but a unique mix-
ture between sales orientation and cultural traditions.
DISCUSSION
Theoretical Implications
In this study, we are primarily interested in whether there
are differences in advertising executions in commercials for
global and local brands in the United States and Japan. Seven
of the 10 hypotheses that predicted global ads would be more
similar to one another across the United States and Japan are
supported. Thus, this study supports the notion that global ads
are more similar than local ads in terms of the timing and
DO GLOBAL BRANDS USE SIMILAR EXECUTIONAL STYLES ACROSS CULTURES? 9
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counting variables across the United States and Japan than in
the past.
At a theoretical level, our findings are consistent with the pat-
tern of results that would be predicted by GCCP theory—that
more firms are targeting their brands to those consumers
who share consumption values independent of the countries
in which they live. The study is limited by the fact that the
content analysis methodology does not allow for an assess-
ment of either what advertisers intend or how consumers
respond to the ads. However, the finding that global brands
TABLE 4
Hypotheses Testing for Products Versus Services
Product Service
Hypotheses Country (C) Brand type (B) C £B Country (C) Brand type (B) C £B
1. There will be significant interaction
effects between country and brand type
for the time elapsed before the brand
name is identified.
¡.16*** ¡.04 .05 ¡.11*** ¡.04 .23**
2. There will be significant interaction
effects between country and brand type
for the time elapsed before the company
name is identified.
¡.16*** ¡.04 .10* ¡.13*** ¡.09* .23**
3. There will be significant interaction
effects between country and brand type
for the time elapsed before the product or
package is identified.
¡.13*** ¡.04* .03 ¡.09** .01 .03
4. There will be significant interaction
effects between country and brand type
for the total time that the brand name is
on screen.
.22*** ¡.04 .00 .24*** ¡.03 ¡.07
5. There will be significant interaction
effects between country and brand type
for the total time that the company name
is on screen.
.10*** .02 ¡.03 .19*** .05 ¡.14*
6. There will be significant interaction
effects between country and brand type
for the total time that the product or
package is on screen.
.27*** .05* ¡.01 .23*** .01 .16*
7. There will be significant interaction
effects between country and brand type
for the number of times the brand name
appears visually on screen.
.03*** ¡.01 ¡.03** .02* .01 ¡.05**
8. There will be significant interaction
effects between country and brand type
for the number of times the company
name appears visually on screen.
.05*** .01 ¡.05*** .02* .01 ¡.04**
9. There will be significant interaction
effects between country and brand type
for the number of times the brand name
is mentioned verbally.
.02*** .01* ¡.02** .01 .00 ¡.03*
10. There will be significant interaction
effects between country and brand type
for the number of times the company
name is mentioned verbally.
.03*** .01 ¡.02** .01* .01 ¡.02*
Note. Unstandardized coefficients based on multiple regression analysis.
*p<.05; **p<.01; ***p<.001.
10 C. R. TAYLOR AND S. OKAZAKI
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exhibited more similarities across the United States and
Japan than local brands is consistent with the idea that more
firms are planning strategy around the notion of a global
consumer culture and that they are using GCCP to market
their products more frequently. As indicated by Akaka and
Alden (2010), global advertisers actually have multiple
options when marketing their products, including LCCP and
FCCP. However, if marketers of global brands use GCCP
more often than in the past because it is more viable to do
so in certain instances, it would make sense that more simi-
lar advertising strategies and executions would be used.
An interesting pattern in the findings is that for all three
of the hypotheses that were rejected (hypotheses 3, 4, and
6), the variable involved the length of time a visual ele-
ment is present in the ad. Hypotheses 4 and 6 examine the
amount of time the brand name and the product/package
name appear on screen, respectively. Hypothesis 3 exam-
ines the elapsed time until the product or package is identi-
fied; unlike the brand name or company name, this
identification is almost always visual. It is possible that the
shift toward changes in executional styles is still evolving
and that differences in the length of time visuals appear on
screen is more likely to have a differential effect on con-
sumer sensibilities in different societies. It could be the
case, for example, that in high-context cultures, leaving the
visual on the screen for a long period of time may be
viewed as excessive, while such practice has traditionally
been more common and accepted in low-context cultures.
It should be noted that this pattern of time the visual is on
screen cut across both products and services, as hypotheses 3,
4, 5, and 6 comprise four of the five hypotheses that were not
significant for products, and hypotheses 3 and 4 were the only
hypotheses not supported for services. This pattern further sug-
gests that it may be more difficult to standardize the amount of
time visuals are shown on screen across Japan and the United
States.
Meanwhile, given that a significant main effect of country
is found for 9 out of the 10 timing and counting variables, the
differences in the timing and counting variables are consistent
with previously observed results and the suggestion that cul-
tural differences are at least partially responsible for these
results for local brands (Miracle, Taylor, and Chang 1992).
Close observation of interaction effects seem to indicate it is
the ads for local brands that drive the overall differences in the
timing and counting variables between countries (see Online
Appendix 2). In other words, our results are suggestive of
national culture still being reflected in the executions of ads
for local brands. This finding is also supported by our qualita-
tive observations of the sample.
Managerial Implications
It has been known for some time that more advertisers
are standardizing strategy even if they are adapting
executions (e.g., see Harris 1994). It has been recommended
by several authors (e.g., Duncan and Ramaprasad 1995; Tai
1997) that a shared “intracountry” denominator be used in
international advertising. The extant research suggests that
standardized advertising strategy be used, but modified as
necessary with respect to execution (e.g., Cho et al. 1999;
Taylor 2005). Our results are consistent with the idea that
for global brands some executions may be becoming more
similar than in the past as well. However, the finding of
some differences also suggests that even managers of global
brands may sometimes need to modify certain executional
elements of their ads and that, perhaps, that the length of
time visuals (brand and product/package) are on screen may
be an example of an executional element that is difficult to
standardize. This could be an artifact of some key cultural
factors still playing a role in consumer preferences even for
consumers more influenced by global consumer culture.
Nonetheless, our findings for global brands are consistent
with the idea of a gradual movement toward convergence
and frequent implementation of GCCP being reflected in
advertising. Clearly, a trend in this direction is not “all or
nothing,” and it is more likely that such movement is also
reflected gradually in advertising. Yet our pattern of results
is consistent with the idea that the existence of global con-
sumer culture makes it more feasible for global brands to
consider using standardized advertising at both the strategic
and executional levels that was the case in the past. For
local brands, our findings suggest that that executions in the
United States versus Japan remain consistent with key
aspects of the culture, including context, individualism/col-
lectivism, and harmony seeking/assertiveness. While content
analysis method does not allow for a statement that execu-
tions consistent with these cultural variables are causally
associated with higher effectiveness, our results are sugges-
tive of advertisers of local brands at least believing this is
the case and hence implementing such executions.
With respect to prior research on Japanese advertising,
our study may help reconcile the findings of prior studies.
For example, it has been posited that Japan’s Lost Decade
has altered advertising in Japan (Okazaki and Mueller
2008, 2011; Okazaki, Mueller, and Taylor 2010) but that
some practices have remained static. The idea that global
brands are somewhat more standardized in their approach,
while cultural differences remain predominant for local
brands, may help explain this apparent paradox. With stud-
ies such as Okazaki, Taylor, and Zou (2006) finding man-
agers report that standardized advertising campaigns lead
to higher performance, it appears that a strong logical argu-
ment can be made for global brands using more standard-
ized strategies when they are feasible (e.g., positioning,
unique selling proposition) while also standardizing more
executional elements of the ad than in the past, subject to
analysis of whether these variables need to be responsive
to cultural factors.
DO GLOBAL BRANDS USE SIMILAR EXECUTIONAL STYLES ACROSS CULTURES? 11
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LIMITATIONS AND SUGGESTIONS FOR FUTURE
RESEARCH
The content analysis method places limits on what can
be firmly concluded from the study in that the technique
is descriptive of actual advertiser behavior as opposed to
being an experimental test of what level of the timing and
counting variables is optimal. Moreover, our method does
not take into account that a limited number of ads may
use unique creative devices, such as instances in which 15
second ads are used as bookends in a pod that might mod-
ify the format of these ads. However, as most advertising
is developed by highly trained professionals, many of
whom are informed by solid marketing research, it is use-
ful to examine differences between countries as was done
here. Over a large sample of ads, it is likely that practice
largely reflects what is effective and that less frequent
novel approaches used more often in one country will not
have a major impact on the results.
In terms of future research, a content analysis of additional
variables, such as spokesperson appearance and theme, as rec-
ommended by Alden, Steenkamp, and Batra (1999), as well as
other variables, such as gender, age, and ethnicity of models in
the ads, use of music, ad format, and appeal type (e.g., humor,
fear, comparative, problem solution, soft sell/hard sell), would
be worthwhile to extend this research. In addition, further
development of measures that can be used to code positioning
type (GCCP versus LCCP versus FCCP) beyond Alden and
colleagues’ (1999) measure should be undertaken. More spe-
cific focus on definitions of what types of symbols represent
global consumer culture would be especially worthwhile.
While the United States and Japan are exemplars of countries
with key cultural differences that have been found to be
reflected in advertising, descriptive research on more countries
is needed and could help lay the foundation for experimental
studies that test the effectiveness of such approaches with
consumers.
Clearly, additional experimental research on differences in
the effectiveness of both strategic and executional variables in
advertising for global brands is needed to advance this stream
of research. For example, building on the findings of this study
with respect to the apparent difficulty in standardizing the
length of time that visual elements are on screen, future experi-
mental research could test whether ads for global brands that
show the brand for a shorter period of time are rated higher by
Japanese consumers than by U.S. consumers.
In general, experimental research on various strategic (e.g.,
positioning strategy) and executional elements in which key
elements of an ad are manipulated and then tested on consum-
ers from two or more countries is needed to directly test the
effectiveness of such ads. An examination of whether such
results vary based on individual-level variables, such as global
citizenship or cosmopolitanism, would also be valuable not
only to tease out whether GCCP strategies and/or various exe-
cutions can be standardized but also to examine whether ads
using these approaches appeal more to certain types of con-
sumers. More research directly testing impact of cultural varia-
bles such as individualism/collectivism, context, and harmony
seeking versus the confrontational nature of communication is
also needed.
CONCLUSION
Results of this study are suggestive of advertisers being
responsive to the trend toward global consumer culture when
advertising global brands across the United States. and Japan.
The empirical findings here, while limited by the use of a
descriptive as opposed to experimental methodology, are con-
sistent with the notion that more GCCP strategies may be
being implemented today. This finding is suggestive of at least
some trend toward convergence driving a greater ability to
standardize some aspects of advertising than in the past. As
the same time, our results document that for local brands, dif-
ferences between the United States and Japan remain prevalent
for almost all of the timing and counting variables. As a result,
it is clear that cultural factors are still very much reflected in
ads for local brands.
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
This article was submitted under, and processed by the for-
mer Editor-in-Chief, Wei-Na Lee. The authors thank Profes-
sor Lee, the Associate Editor, and the four anonymous
reviewers for their helpful comments on previous versions of
the manuscript. The authors also thank C. Luke Bowen, Trevor
Hayward, and Morikazu Hirose for assistance in data collec-
tion. The authors are indebted to Sam Cantanese, founder and
former CEO of IMS Inc. in Broomall, PA for his kind assis-
tance in the recording of the U.S. television commercials ana-
lyzed in this study.
FUNDING
This study was partially funded by a research grant from the
Spanish Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness
(ECO2011-30105).
SUPPLEMENTAL DATA
Supplemental data for this article can be accessed at www.
tandfonline.com/ujoa.
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DO GLOBAL BRANDS USE SIMILAR EXECUTIONAL STYLES ACROSS CULTURES? 13
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