WESTERN CONCEPTS, RUSSIAN PERSPECTIVES - MEANINGS OF ADVERTISING IN THE FORMER SOVIET-UNION

Western advertising professionals base their interpretations of advert ising in the former Soviet Union on a Western model of advertising and neglect Russian perspectives on advertising. Symbolic interactionism suggests that things have different meanings for different people at d ifferent times. The author discusses the influence of Russian culture on advertising in the former Soviet Union and the problem of imposing Western concepts. A month-long research study was conducted in Moscow, Russia in May 1991. Interviews with government officials, business an d advertising industry professionals, academicians, and students were audiotaped. Findings suggest that advertising in the former Soviet Uni on is an interaction between social and economic realities and not jus t a means of uncovering a new marketplace.