THEORETICAL VALIDITY AND IMPLICATIONS OF ADVERTISING PLANNING MODEL: THE CASE OF FCV GRID MODEL

Lee, Myoung-Chun(Major in Journalism and Mass Communication The Graduate School of Hanyang University)

The Purpose of this thesis is to examine the theoretical validity and applicability of FCB GRID model constructed as a total communication planning model for advertising in the context of Korean culture.

The FCB GRID model is introduced by Richard Vaughn in 1980. Since then, the model has been evaluated positively from practionners and scholars in the advertising field by its scientifically constructed nature as well as its implacability. The model contain various assumptions of advertising planning, creative and research.

Vaughn explains consumer behavior by two basic dimensions(concepts): involvement and think/feel. By these two dimensions the advertising products should have different communication planning and marketing strategies. He also suggested that the dimensions of involvement and think/feel can be applied in the context of other culture. I.e., the model is applicable for explaining consumer behavior in various cultural context.

This thesis, therefore, was designed to examine the cross cultural nature of the model by using the FCB GRID instruments and procedure in order to compare the GRID solutions of consumer purchasing guardline from the research done in the United States and in Korea. In addition, this study employed multidimensional scaling(MDS) research method for comparing the results of FCB GRID methods and the MDS solutions.

The results indicated that the solutions of the USA research and the Korean study were very similar. However, there were some differences. It seemed that the involvement dimension was useful for both countries. But the think/feel dimension was rather confusing. The results also showed same patterns when the comparison was made to the solutions of FCB GRID model and the MDS results.

From the results of this study, it can be suggested that the applicability of conceptional and methodological principles of FCB GRID model, especially think/feel dimension, in the cross cultural setting need more scholastic attention to enhance the validity and the implacability of the model.