Targeting women in German and Japanese magazine advertising: A difference‐in‐differences approach

The goal of this paper is to present the difference‐in‐differences approach as statistical methodology specifically to address the importance of identifying culture‐specific advertising strategies when targeting global market segments. In applying this methodology to advertising research, the study analyses German and Japanese magazine advertising targeting women in four dimensions: advertisement format, usage of models, male and female role portrayal and value appeals. Despite some apparent transnational similarities in advertising aimed at women, the difference‐in‐differences analysis reveals marked cross‐cultural differences in the way that marketers adapt their strategies in the women’s market. The results indicate that non‐traditional approaches in targeting women seem to be far more culturally specific than the traditional ones, and that the male role portrayal, which has not yet gained much attention in research, is the crucial element of non‐traditional approaches in the Japanese women’s magazine.