Materialism and Individual Determinism in U.S. and Japanese Print and Television Advertising

Hypotheses that Japanese advertising would approach or surpass U.S. advertising in the level of materialism evinced since World War II were supported. Hypotheses that U.S. advertising would be more likely to stress actively changing the environment (primary control) rather than adapting to it (secondary control) were also supported, but more strongly in print than in television advertising. Cross-cultural and crossmedia differences in consumption appeals are discussed. ECONOMIC GROWTH AND CONSUMER MATERIALISM Materialism is defined by Belk (1983) as the tendency to view possessions as the primary sources of satisfaction and dissatisfaction in life. As Belk and Pollay (1985b, 1985c) have shown, twentieth century U.S. print advertising has increasingly depicted and appealed to a materialistic lifestyle among American consumers. Although it is unclear whether such advertising is leading or following cultural value changes regarding materialism, it cannot be denied that advertisements at least support and reinforce materialistic values. The present study sought to further explore materialism and related values as displayed in magazine and television advertising in the U.S. and Japan since World War II. Differences over both time and culture were of interest. While there are many reasons for cultural differences based on factors such as religion, political history, geography, language, and traditions, an even more important factor shaping materialism and derivative consumption aspirations may be the ratio of economic growth to work force growth. This ratio is important for at least two reasons. One is that it reflects the relative increase or decrease in the availability of goods and services, which in a free market system thereby affects prices and consumer expectations of what they will be able to acquire. Secondly, given a level of technology and a relatively fixed ratio of imports to exports, economic growth relative to work force growth also reflects the surplus or scarcity of available jobs and an individual's potential rate of job advancement as older more or less numerous workers retire and as new jobs are created through economic growth. The impact of these factors on consumer materialism was seen by both Inglehart (1971, 1977) and Easterlin (1980), although they reached opposite conclusions about its effects. Both agreed that the economic climate when one is growing up should have a strong impact on adult consumption aspirations. However, Inglehart concluded that growing up during the post-war economic growth decades in the U.S. and Japan (as well as Europe) should satisfy lower order consumer needs (Maslow 1954) so that less materialistic higher order needs would gain prominence. Easterlin on the other hand concluded that one who, for instance,grows up in the suburbs and is driven or drives to school, friends, movies, and stores will come to regard an automobile as a necessity along with all of the other products of affluence. Thus Inglehart predicted decreasing materialism among a generation raised in a time of abundance, while Easterlin predicted increasing materialism. While the value changes of the 1960's made it appear that Inglehart was correct, subsequent increases in materialism among the U.S. and British baby boom generations and the parallel Japanese "bulge" generation (which quit bulging about a generation earlier in Japan--Reischauer 1977) contradict Inglehart's predictions and appear to support Easterlin's predictions of increasingly materialistic attitudes (Ike 1973, Marsh Member Login