کاربرد رنگ در چاپ تبلیغات بنگاه به بنگاه در سطح بین الملل
کد مقاله | سال انتشار | تعداد صفحات مقاله انگلیسی |
---|---|---|
23432 | 2000 | 7 صفحه PDF |
Publisher : Elsevier - Science Direct (الزویر - ساینس دایرکت)
Journal : Industrial Marketing Management, Volume 29, Issue 3, May 2000, Pages 255–261
چکیده انگلیسی
The use of appropriate color in international business-to-business advertisements can profoundly impact the success of an advertised product. This study compares the usage of colors in business advertisements in France, the United States, and Venezuela. The findings conclude that Venezuelan ads use significantly more red, orange, and green colors, while advertisements from France and the U.S. use higher proportions of black and brown colors. The U.S. also utilizes significantly more black-and-white ads than either France or Venezuela. These findings differ from prior theories of color preferences, indicating that cultural meanings may influence business' color selections for advertisements. Managerial implications for color usage in advertising across national boundaries are discussed and suggestions for future research are provided.
مقدمه انگلیسی
Color decisions in international business-to-business advertising have typically been based upon personal tastes, anecdotal evidence, or successful home country campaigns. Because of a vacuum in decision-making knowledge, international marketing managers often follow a trial-and-error selection process that originates with color schema developed in other regions of the world, in essence, a de facto standardized color strategy 1 and 2. However, given the complexities of this situation, marketing managers may not make the best color selections for global advertisements without well-developed empirical guidance frameworks 3, 4 and 5. As global harmonization continues, business-to-business advertising may have greater potential than consumer advertising for standardized global advertisements 6 and 7. Globalization of industrial markets, web-based advertising, and increased pressure to achieve market efficiencies have motivated business-to-business marketers to consider the adaptation of standardization strategies in international promotions, including the colors utilized in advertisements. The color choices made in standardization efforts are integral to industrial product success [8]. That is, if people in various cultures and/or geographical areas possess disparate perceptions of colors, a standardization color strategy is unlikely to succeed. Hattwick et al. [9] explain the importance of color in advertising: Color is an important tool for shaping customers' feelings and responses. It is a tool which can do greater harm than good if indiscriminately used. The advertiser who chooses colors on the basis of broad generalizations or of personal bias is in danger of making gross mistakes (p. 3). Ricks [10] documented numerous international product failures resulting from inappropriate color decisions. It is generally believed that both color preferences and color usage influence advertising effectiveness [11]. Although studies of standardization and color are well documented in the trade press, few empirical studies have examined the color schemes utilized in business-to-business advertisements across national boundaries [12]. The purpose of this study is to gain a greater in-depth understanding of the color strategies used in business-to-business advertisements across countries. To operationalize this study, selected French, U.S., and Venezuelan business magazine ads were analyzed to provide managers with a richer level of knowledge about the ability to standardize colors in international business-to-business advertising.
نتیجه گیری انگلیسی
These findings provide support for H1, that color usage differs in business magazine advertisements from divergent cultures. However, the large quantity of blue and white colors present in all magazines may demonstrate a potential opportunity for business-to-business color standardization. In contrast to earlier findings [8], the use of bright colors of red, green, and orange was significant, indicating that sunlight may indeed play a factor in color preferences among the three countries. Also, the proportion of dark colored magazine ads detected in northern, industrialized areas indicate that prior theories of color preferences and color ranges may not be (1) accurate, or (2) practiced in current business-to-business advertisements. As color has been shown to evoke meanings [33], the results of this study may potentially be explained by advertisers' use of cultural meanings in their selection of color schemas. For example, in the U.S. blue is viewed as a masculine color, while in France the masculine color is red. Purple is the mourning color in Venezuela, whereas, it is black in France and the U.S. The color green is associated with money in the U.S. and pharmacies in France. An international advertiser with a thorough understanding of the feelings associated with these colors may adapt the color schemas to country specific ads in an attempt to invoke the desired image for the product. Opportunities for standardization are limited by those color combinations that evoke radically inconsistent meanings across cultures. However, opportunities for color standardization still exist where color usage and meanings are consistent or neutral across cultures. The findings also provide support for H2, suggesting that business magazines differ in the usage of black-and-white ads between cultures. U.S. advertisements use the greatest use of black-and-white color schemas, while Venezuelan ads use the fewest. Further examination of the black-and-white ads selected from Fortune confirm extensive use of these ads in the fields of financial services, insurance, and luxury items. This may indicate an attempt by U.S. advertisers to communicate a traditional, conservative message to consumers, through old-style color schemas. But, in emerging economies, black-and-white ads may not be viewed as being appropriate for these types of business-to-business ads. Black-and-white ads may be perceived as being “cheap” and of lower quality, certainly not an appropriate or desired image for the securities and luxury product industries. The use of color in advertisements may also reflect modernity and progress, key elements for potential investors in emerging economies. Standardization of black-and-white advertisements may therefore be restrained by a country's economic development level. While this study's sample is composed of ads from three divergent cultures, the sample is not comprehensive enough to suggest the acceptable color combinations for standardized advertisements. Caution is advised therefore in generalizing this research beyond the parameters established in this study. However, only through continued research can the question of color standardization in international business-to-business advertisements be fully answered. Future research should extend into additional countries, a wider variety of business-to-business publications, the time dependency of color usage, and use alternative research methodologies. As a framework is developed that offers greater guidance in color selection for marketing managers, international business-to-business advertisers must weigh the costs of adaptation against the risks of using standardized color schemas not totally appropriate for the market. Excessive pressure toward increased market efficiency and lower costs through standardization in color usage could result in a reduction of effectiveness in international business-to-business advertising. In summary, this study provides initial guidance for marketing managers about how to utilize colors within international business-to-business advertising publications. This study also has important implications for marketing managers that include: (1) culture limits the use of standardized colors in business-to-business ads; (2) economic development levels affect the use of black-and-white ads across national boundaries; (3) colors used in business-to-business advertisements must be carefully selected based upon target market perceptions or “meanings”; and (4) caution must be exercised when approving colors recommended by international advertising agencies. Local understanding is still an important criterion for designing an advertisement that communicates what the sponsor wants the recipient to understand and/or feel. By possessing a more thorough understanding of the influences of colors in business-to-business advertisements, industrial marketing managers can make more informed advertising decisions that will lead to greater market efficiency and increased profits for the firm.