Dealing with Stereotypes and Cross Media Challenges in Corporate Communication

Abstract

Stereotypes are mental devices that help to save humans' limited cognitive resources by reducing everyday complexity. Furthermore, they are activated fast and nearly automatically. In times of a huge amount of communication that leads to an information overload on the consumers' side, stereotypes are a helpful advertising instrument to get consumers' attention. The present paper focuses on the challenges of using stereotypes in advertising messages in an international context, following the idea of a company's integrated communication strategy. Furthermore, a two-step procedure is proposed that examines possible adaptation strategies considering these circumstances.