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Cross-cultural research presents unique challenges due to language and cultural differences. Based on a large-scale research project involving television advertisements from Japan, Korea, and the U.S., the article identifies a number of problems encountered in developing equivalent research instruments in, and discusses ways to achieve reliable and valid results in cross-cultural content analysis research. The importance of understanding the languages and culture, selecting, training and supervising coders in a consistent manner and the practical value of back-translation process in cross-cultural research in achieving reliable and valid research results are emphasized. Specific guidelines for ensuring equivalent research instruments are provided.

One example of misplaced marketing is the role of mass media in programs in the marketing of public health initiatives. After many years of mass media oriented campaigns against drunk driving it is clear that the goal of persuading the public to stop drinking and driving has not been achieved. Asserts that media should not be viewed as a short‐term change agent of behaviors, but rather as a change agent to gradually restructure the public’s cognition about various issues related to drunk driving. The assertion is based on agenda‐setting theory which argues that the media’s real power lies in its ability to tell the public what to think about rather than what to think.

Purpose – A considerable body of literature has evolved on the topic of appropriate research methodology for cross-national data collection. Additionally, prior commentaries on cross-national research in the marketing have cited significant deficiencies in this body of research in terms of the theoretical foundations, methods, and analytical techniques used. The purpose of this chapter is to summarize guidelines for conducting cross-national research in marketing and assess the degree to which these rules are being followed.

Design/methodology/approach – The literature on cross-national research methods in marketing studies is first reviewed to identify key issues and methodological guidelines. A content analysis of cross-national studies appearing in 10 major journals in the marketing and advertising field for the period from 2005 to 2010 is conducted to assess whether the guidelines for researchers are being followed. The chapter also explores whether recent research is addressing key deficiencies identified by prior commentaries on this body of research.

Findings –Results are indicative of some promising trends. A wider range of theory bases, methodological techniques, and analytical techniques are being used in cross-national marketing studies. Additionally, methodological guidelines for conceptualizing studies, including following appropriate procedures to ensure equivalence and verifying the existence of cultural differences, are being followed at a higher rate than in the past. Still, some studies do not follow accepted guidelines, and there is a need for a wider range of theory bases and methods to be used.

Research limitations/implications – The study examines only cross-national studies published in 10 journals over a recent six years (2005–2010). As a result, no direct comparison to earlier periods is made.

Originality/value of paper – This chapter outlines key guidelines for conducting cross-national studies in marketing. It also calls attention to the need to follow these guidelines based on the trend toward a majority of studies complying with them. Finally, the chapter calls attention to the need for certain theory bases and methods to be used more frequently.

This study assesses the level to which services advertisers follow guidelines for effective services advertising suggested by prior academic literature. The study analyzes George and Berry’s five guidelines for effective services advertising strategies and Berry and Clark’s four tangibilization strategies. The extent to which these suggested strategies are actually implemented by practitioners in the USA and South Korea is investigated, using a content analysis methodology. It is hypothesized that advertisers in a more advanced services economy like the US would be more in tune with the distinctive nature of services (e.g. intangibility) and would practice these guidelines more frequently than advertisers in a newly developed services economy like Korea. The findings suggest that US services magazine ads do use most of the suggested services advertising strategies more frequently than the Korean counterparts. However, there are a few exceptions, and some of the guidelines were not widely used in either country. Managerial implications and suggestions for further research are provided.

This cross‐national study seeks to examine the service quality dimensions and advertising appeals conveyed in services advertisements in the USA and Korea.

Using Hofstede's cultural dimensions as a basis for distinguishing cultures, this study explores the role of culture in services advertising strategy. Content analysis was used to examine services advertising in the USA and Korea.

The results of a content analysis of over 400 magazine advertisements suggest that advertisers may be able to standardize services advertising in magazines by type of advertising appeal and on specific service quality dimensions.

As the service sector continues to grow, future research is needed to compare services advertising for different types of services and in other media. Experimental studies that explicitly examine what types of cues are effective with Korean consumers are needed.

Implications for advertisers attempting to reach Korean consumers suggest that, in magazine advertising, rational appeals tend to be considerably more common than emotional appeals. Cues related to reliability and assurance also are used very frequently, suggesting that they may be well received by Korean consumers and thus that they should be used by many services advertisers. However, advertisers must consider the significance of what an Asian factor means for advertising strategy.

This study contributes to the literature and provides insights to services providers and advertisers by comparing which advertising appeals and dimensions of service quality are conveyed in services advertising in Korea and the USA and by comparing the advertising strategies with cultural dimensions.

“Garbage in, garbage out” is a common expression that academics and practitioners use to emphasize that empirical analysis is only as good as the basis on which it relies. Although the importance of sound data and valid measures has long been acknowledged, it is nevertheless often problematic to follow required quality standards in concrete research situations. Potential sources of error are usually unknown, methods to ensure data quality are unavailable, and existing methods for scale development, index construction, data collection, and data analysis are insufficient or erroneously applied. This is especially true of international marketing research, which often makes great demands on the data and measures used, as well as on the research methodology applied. Against this background, this volume addresses issues pertaining to measurement and research methodology in an international marketing context. Thanks to the efforts of authors and reviewers, we are pleased to present nine articles that deal with cutting-edge topics such as formative measurement, response-bias in cross-cultural research, marketing efficiency measurement, and segmentation methods.