From adaptation to standardization: the positive cycle of cross cultural communication

The work considers the theory of culturally and cross-culturally customized communication as an instrument for increasing the efficacy of marketing strategies and for overcoming the “adaptation or standardization” dilemma when a company has to deal with international markets. From a methodological point of view, after analyzing the most recent academic contributions on the topic of international communication, three focus groups were conducted on similar targets (two in the U.S.A. and one in Italy) in order to compare the way in which some television commercials for Italian companies working on the American market were perceived. Both convergences and divergences emerged from the analysis, which adopted as its reference point Hofstede’s model of the manifestations of culture. The empirical analysis shows evidence with which the author identifies the positive cycle of adaptation (or “return” standardization) which confirms the efficacy of cross-culturally customized messages and enables companies to gain economic advantages.