Do Global Brands Use Similar Executional Styles AcrossCultures? A Comparison of U.S. and Japanese TelevisionAdvertisingCharles R. TaylorVillanova School of Business, Villanova University, Villanova, Pennsylvania, USAShintaro OkazakiCollege of Economics and Business Administration, Universidad Aut±onoma de Madrid, Madrid, SpainA major development in global marketing research is theevolution of global consumer culture theory and the notion thatglobal consumer culture positioning (GCCP) strategies can beeffective across markets. This study compares the content of alarge sample of U.S. versus Japanese television advertising andlooksatseveralexecutionalvariables(timingandcountingvariables) used in prior studies to explore whether global brandsuse more similar executions across the United States and Japan incomparison with local brands. Results indicate fewer differencesfor global brands on these dimensions. This pattern of resultsappears to be consistent with the notion that the use of GCCPstrategiesaimedatrespondingtothetrendtowardglobalconsumer culture have taken hold and that for global brands it ismore possible to standardize executions, in addition to strategy,than was the case in the past. However, results suggest that theamount of time that visuals are on screen is more difficult tostandardize than other elements of the ad, and that ads forservices show somewhat more similarities than ads for physicalproducts. Theoretical and managerial implications are discussed.In recent years, global consumer culture theory (GCCT) hasbecome influential in international marketing (Arnould andThompson 2005). GCCT argues that over time the globaliza-tion of markets has led to the existence of a global consumerculture in which many consumers share consumption valuesregardless of the countries in which they reside. Advocates ofthis theory argue that the existence of global consumer culturemakes it more feasible than in the past to engage in practicessuch 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 culturepositioning (GCCP), as outlined by Alden, Steenkamp, andBatra (1999), has direct implications for theory pertaining tointernational advertising. This concept suggests that the sharedconsumption-related beliefs, symbols, and behaviors of manyconsumers across markets create an opportunity to use posi-tioning strategy that cut across cultures. As outlined by Akakaand Alden (2010), the existence of global consumer culturedoes not suggest complete homogenization or “globalization”of markets in the way suggested by Levitt (1983); instead, itallows for the idea that under some circumstances marketingmixes must be tailored. However, GCCP does suggest a grow-
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