Title: Are bank advertisement appeals adapted to local culture? Lessons from multinational banks present in Romania and Hungary

Authors: Mónika-Anetta Alt; Zsuzsa Săplăcan

Addresses: Faculty of Economics and Business Administration, Babeş-Bolyai University, Cluj-Napoca, Romania ' Faculty of Economics and Business Administration, Babeş-Bolyai University, Cluj-Napoca, Romania

Abstract: This study presents our findings on how multinational banks have dealt with the 2007 EU enlargement in terms of their advertisement appeal adaptation to Romanian and Hungarian cultures. The aim of this paper is to identify relevant cultural dimensions for bank advertisement appeal adaptation. The research is based on 785 unique print advertisements, published between 2006 and 2014 in national newspapers, belonging to eight banks operating in both countries. Content analysis based on Pollay's 42 appeals reveals 11 representative appeals for banks. The most frequently used advertising appeals in the banking industry in both countries are informational ones and are related to masculinity and power distance dimensions. The cultural adaptation of messages is more visible in case of transformational appeals and it is reflected mainly in the cultural dimension with the highest differences among countries, namely individualism/collectivism.

Keywords: international advertising; adaptation; cultural dimension; appeal; bank; Romania; Hungary.

DOI: 10.1504/EJIM.2019.100801

European Journal of International Management, 2019 Vol.13 No.4, pp.533 - 552

Received: 13 Oct 2017
Accepted: 26 Jan 2018

Published online: 18 Jul 2019 *

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