News Release

Standardization versus differentiation in advertising has been on the minds of market researchers for more than 50 years. When is standardization appropriate and when will it do more harm than good? Melina Young, assistant advisor at JayRay, has researched standardization and made an important discovery that can guide global brands.

University of Washington Tacoma graduate Melina Young discovered that ads for brands bought with the heart are similar in different countries, while brands consumers buy with their heads need different advertising depending on the country. Her research findings will be presented in January 2009 at the Association for Consumer Research (ACR) Asia-Pacific Conference in Hyderabad, India.

This research was conducted through a requirement of the UWT Global Honors Program, a rigorous two-year program that requires study abroad and an internationally focused senior thesis. Young was the first and only business student to graduate from the Global Honors Program in 2007.

Young reviewed Japanese and U.S. magazines and collected ads from brands like Citizen, Dolce & Gabbana, Louis Vuittion and Volkswagen. Young then analyzed the relationship between involvement and standardization among the ads from both countries. The research was conducted with the help and guidance of her thesis advisor, Dr. Eugene Sivadas.

Involvement refers to how a person gets involved with a product, through emotion or research, and how much a person gets involved with a product or brand.

Standardization refers to the advertising itself. An advertisement is standardized when a brand uses the same advertisement regardless of the country – the more differences there are between advertisements means less standardization among countries.

“Our research demonstrated that ads with less text are more likely to be standardized,” Young said. “In addition, we found that standardization is more likely in ads for products that consumers have a more emotional involvement with, like clothing, purses or jewelry. Advertisements for products people put a lot of thought into buying, like cars, are less likely to be standardized.”

“The Association for Consumer Research conference is highly regarded and for an undergrad thesis, it’s a fine hit,” said Sivadas.

Sivadas will travel to India in January to present the work at the conference. Young said, “I’m honored to have my work accepted into an international conference. It’s nice to know all those late nights might actually make a difference.”

Prior to graduation, Young presented her findings on the Tacoma and Seattle campuses of UW.

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