IKEA’s Cross-Cultural Brand Communication Adaptation in China: A Media Ecosystem Analysis of official websites and social media

Abstract

This study discusses IKEA's brand storytelling across its official websites and
Chinese social media platforms, with a focus on the balance between consistency and localisation in its brand narratives on the Swedish and Chinese official websites, as well as the expression of local adaptation in the brand's official accounts on Xiaohongshu and Weibo. Through multimodal social semiotic analysis, the study identifies recurring themes and strategies that IKEA employs to achieve digital cross-cultural communication in the Chinese market.
Key findings reveal that, in digital cross-cultural communication, brands must prioritise the global consistency of their brand vision and values while strategically adapting narratives based on three dimensions: the regional social media ecosystem, local societal and cultural understanding, and emphasis on corporate sustainability and social responsibility. Furthermore, the research highlights that previous studies have predominantly focused on cross-cultural or brand communication, often overlooking the adaptation of brand narratives within the digital landscape of the social media era. The findings also reveal the importance of strategically integrating socio-cultural narratives with social media communication to enhance regional brand influence and support sustainable brand development.

Popular Abstract

The balance between demonstrating identity congruence and local adaptation across cultures in brand cross-cultural communication, as demonstrated by brands through narratives on social media, remains a key area of research. Research into this area can also help us better understand the relationship between brand cross- cultural communication and strategic communication. The strategic communication perspective argues that organisational resilience to other social systems determines the success of organisational development across regions (Falkheimer & Heide, 2022). Falkheimer and Heide (2022), based on the ritualistic view of strategic communication, state that interactive communication can be a good relationship that organisations build with regions rather than imposing control or persuasion. The lack of research on brand cross-cultural communication in the digital age in the existing literature is a problem. Brand cross-cultural communication research requires researchers to incorporate an adaptation of new media communication characteristics, pluralistic values and socio-cultural needs. Therefore, brand narratives on social media establish a friendly relationship between the brand and the region. Brands can also promote the sustainability of their digital development through digital narratives (Hallahan & Holtzhausen, 2007). In current research, communication studies, including social media relations, are still limited to public relations, news media campaigns, and political purposes (Falkheimer & Heide, 2022). It cannot be ignored that current research also lacks studies on brand social media communication. Future research should also focus on strategically adjusting brands' cross-cultural communication in the digital context to provide more targeted theoretical support and practical guidance for developing globalised communication.

• author: Liu, Yinming
• supervisor: Cecilia Cassinger
• organization: Department of Strategic Communication
• course: SKOM12 20251
• year: 2025
• type: H2 - Master's Degree (Two Years)
• subject: Social Sciences
• keywords: brand identity, brand narratives, cross-cultural communication, strategic communication
• language: English
• id: 9199700
• date added to LUP: 2025-06-23 09:47:37
• date last changed: 2025-06-23 09:47:37