This research examines the status of advertising in Eastern Europe in the contemporary time period. For about 40 years, advertising was not a part of the societal fabric in most of Communist dominated Eastern Europe. Thus, most of this research is concerned with events occurring subsequent to the summer of 1989.
The Background of Change for Advertising in Eastern Europe
That advertising may occur on a large scale in Eastern Europe in the 1990s is a function of the collapse of most of the Communist dominated governments in that region, and, in the case of the Soviet Union, to a liberalized approach to the function of marketing. That advertising will occur on a large scale in Eastern Europe in the 1990s will largely be a function of the successful transition of Eastern European governments from one-party rule to pluralistic democracy, and upon the successful transition of Eastern European economies from centrally planned regimes to market driven regimes.
The late-summer of 1989 witnessed the beginning of a most dramatic and rapid change in most socialist bloc countries in Eastern Europe. The western press, ever adversarial, covered the events as if they were a supreme sporting event, such as the Davis Cup, wherein one system is about to be vanquished by another. The Associated Press proclaimed "Going, going . . . . . . . Communism almost gone." In all probability, the press is correctùone system is about to vanquish another. The problems with their analysis are that they have failed to (1) completely correctly identify either of the systems involved, (2) accurately identify the likely structure of the changes which will occur, (3) recognize that changes which do occur will not likely be uniform in all socialist countries, and (4) recognize the factors which could lead to a moderation of the change occurring in some socialist countries.
First and foremost, the political changes which began to occur in the Eastern Eur...