Matching Advertising Appeals to Culture: The Influence of Products' Use Conditions

Abstract In an empirical study, the authors investigated the effects of different advertising appeals used in the United States and China. The study focused on the match between values expressed in advertising and values in each of the two cultures, and included the influence of product use condition (socially visible use vs. use in a private setting). Results indicate that although culturally congruent appeals were more effective in general, product use condition moderated the effectiveness of culturally incongruent advertising appeals. Specifically, the subjects' reactions to the appeal were more positive when the appeal matched the product use condition than when the appeal did not match either the culture or the product use condition. Managerial implications are discussed.

[1]  S. Schwartz.  Individualism-Collectivism , 1990 .

[2]  PRODUCT MANAGEMENT ON TRIAL , 1978 .

[3]  T. Levitt.  THE GLOBALIZATION OF MARKETS , 1983 .

[4]  J. Boddewyn,et al.  Standardization in international marketing: Is Ted Levitt in fact right? , 1986 .

[5]  John B. Campbell,et al.  Extreme Response Style in Cross-Cultural Research , 1974 .

[6]  C. D. Urban,et al.  Life-Style Analysis to Profile Women in International Markets , 1977 .

[7]  Rita Lohtia,et al.  Creating an Effective Print Advertisement for the China Market , 1995 .

[8]  Marsha L. Richins.  Valuing Things: The Public and Private Meanings of Possessions , 1994 .

[9]  Harry C. Triandis,et al.  Individualism and collectivism: Theory, method, and applications. , 1996 .

[10]  Eric Elinder.  International advertisers must devise universal ads , 1962 .

[11]  J. Ryans,et al.  Coordinating International Advertising , 1978 .

[12]  H. Triandis.  The Self and Social Behavior in Differing Cultural Contexts , 1989 .

[13]  F. Hsu.  Rugged individualism reconsidered , 1983 .

[14]  Russell W. Belk,et al.  Becoming a Consumer Society: A Longitudinal and Cross-Cultural Content Analysis of Print Ads from Hong Kong, the People's Republic of China, and Taiwan , 1989 .

[15]  J. Loevinger,et al.  Ego development : [conceptions and theories] , 1976 .

[16]  H. Triandis.  Cross-cultural studies of individualism and collectivism. , 1989, Nebraska Symposium on Motivation. Nebraska Symposium on Motivation.

[17]  M. Sirgy,et al.  Value-Expressive versus Utilitarian Advertising Appeals: When and Why to Use Which Appeal , 1991 .

[18]  S. McIntyre,et al.  Developing Practical Procedures for the Measurement of Personal Values in Cross-Cultural Marketing , 1979 .

[19]  J. Storey,et al.  Individualism and collectivism: into the 1990s , 1993 .

[20]  Harry C. Triandis,et al.  The measurement of the etic aspects of individualism and collectivism across cultures , 1986 .

[21]  T. K. Oh.  Theory Y in the People's Republic of China , 1976 .

[22]  H. Triandis,et al.  Allocentric versus idiocentric tendencies: Convergent and discriminant validation , 1985 .

[23]  G. Zinkhan,et al.  Cultural Differences and Advertising Expression: A Comparative Content Analysis of Japanese and U.S. Magazine Advertising , 1987 .

[24]  Donald E. Vinson,et al.  The Role of Personal Values in Marketing and Consumer Behavior , 1977 .

[25]  C. Kluckhohn.  2. VALUES AND VALUE-ORIENTATIONS IN THE THEORY OF ACTION: AN EXPLORATION IN DEFINITION AND CLASSIFICATION , 1951 .

[26]  Geert Hofstede,et al.  Management scientists are human , 1994 .

[27]  S. Jain,et al.  Standardization of International Marketing Strategy: Some Research Hypotheses , 1989 .

[28]  J. Spence,et al.  Achievement American style: The rewards and costs of individualism. , 1985 .

[29]  J. Carman.  Values and Consumption Patterns: a Closed Loop , 1978 .

[30]  G. Hofstede,et al.  Cultures and Organizations: Software of the Mind , 1991 .

[31]  L. Furby,et al.  Possessions: toward a theory of their meaning and function throughout the life cycle , 1978 .

[32]  M. Rokeach,et al.  The Nature Of Human Values , 1974 .

[33]  M. J. Rosenberg.  Cognitive structure and attitudinal affect. , 1956, Journal of abnormal psychology.

[34]  Linda L. Price,et al.  An Investigation into the Social Context of Early Adoption Behavior , 1992 .

[35]  Joseph B. Casagrande.  The Ends of Translation , 1954, International Journal of American Linguistics.

[36]  H. Triandis.  Individualism And Collectivism , 1995 .

[37]  G. Hofstede,et al.  Culture′s Consequences: International Differences in Work-Related Values , 1980 .

[38]  J. Donnelly.  Attitudes toward Culture and Approach to International Advertising , 1970 .

[39]  W. Peterson,et al.  Chu Hsi and Neo-Confucianism , 1987 .

[40]  W. Keegan,et al.  Global Marketing Management , 2018 .

[41]  W. Zinn,et al.  Standardization in International Marketing: The Latin American Case , 1991 .

[42]  Katherine Gallagher,et al.  Advertising and Cultural Values: Reflections in the Distorted Mirror , 1990 .

[43]  Murray S. Miron,et al.  Cross-Cultural Universals of Affective Meaning , 1975 .

[44]  Peter Walters,et al.  International marketing presentations: some options , 1972 .

[45]  Saeed Samiee,et al.  Cross-cultural research in advertising: An assessment of methodologies , 1994 .

[46]  H. Triandis,et al.  Individualism and Collectivism: Cross-cultural Perspectives on Self-ingroup Relationships We Wish to Thank Our Research Collaborators for Stimulating Ideas, Data, and Moral Support in Carrying out a Complex Set of Studies. They , 2022 .

[47]  Arthur C. Fatt.  The Danger of “Local” International Advertising , 1967 .

[48]  Sharon Shavitt,et al.  The role of attitude objects in attitude functions , 1990 .