Standardization versus Adaptation

STANDARDISATION VS ADAPTATION

The standardisation versus adaptation debate is an old one in international marketing, as the discussion timidly started more than eight decades ago, in the 1920's, was generalized in the 1960's and continues until today (Vrontis, Thrassou & Lamprianou, 2009). Standardisation and adaptation are two diametrically opposite marketing philosophies, which both have strong advocates and the debate wasn't limited to the academic world, but it also expanded to the real, business world. In other words, it is not only a theoretical dispute, but a real strategic choice for every business that operates in an international scale. Everyday companies all over the world need to make the decision to standardise or adapt their products, their price policy or their promotion methods in order to be successful.

As we have already mentioned, the historical background of the debate is deep and it may well be the oldest debate in marketing history (Vrontis et al, 2009). As soon as globalization made it possible for a firm to sell its product in more than one country, the choice of standardizing or adapting it emerged. In the first decades of the 20th century, when mass production was the rule among businesses and cost minimization their main goal, many economists argued that people in all countries have some universal characteristics, hence standardisation was the best marketing strategy (Ryans, Griffith & White, 2003). Others claimed that all markets are not the same and therefore, a certain type of product adaptation should be applied. Later, in the sixties, businesses who aimed for cost saving opted for standardisation, whereas firms that believed that markets presented a high degree of heterogeneity choose to adapt ...

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... marketing strategies, their products or campaigns or face a hostile market, because it is not easy to “impose” a new product against consumers' special tastes and needs. In consequence, companies that tend to opt for standardisation, should also have in mind the strategy of adapted standardisation, that combines elements from both theories (Vrontis and Papasolomou, 2005). Adapted standardisation's slogan is “Think global, act local” and there are voices who argue that the best choice is to maintain the brand's core the same everywhere, allowing at the same time minor changes to the uniform marketing strategy in order to suit local preferences (de Chernatony, Halliburton and Bernath, 1995). Adaptation -at least of some sort- is more than often the key to success in “difficult” markets and it must be always considered as a viable option by all multinational firms.