Determinants of the control of international advertising by headquarters of multinational corporations

The arguments for and against the standardization of international advertising are numerous and varied. However the organizational and control variables related to international advertising are not well understood. This paper attempts to identify the factors influencing multinational headquarters' degree of control over their international advertising and their standardization strategy. Significant differences exist between home countries on the degree of control but not based on the nature of the product. Certain decision-making factors that affect the degree of control over advertising, as well as standardization strategies, have been identified. Finally, an original decision-making model is proposed for further testing.