One of the problems facing international companies is the question of whether to use standardized international advertising or to adapt advertising messages in each country. This paper provides empirical evidence for whether or not to be able to use standardized advertising based on a comparison of evaluative criteria for automobiles and toothpaste among American, Japanese, and Korean consumers. There appears to be a similar pattern among respondents of the three countries in rank of attribute importance. Especially, the result of toothpaste shows an almost identical pattern. The findings do support the idea that international advertising can be standardized due to the similarities among world-wide consumers.

• Soo Hyung Lee