Table of Contents
There are many definitions of culture but there has never been a common definition that is authoritative in all areas of the human sciences. Culture is defined by Kroeber and Kluckhohn (1952) as the way of thinking, feeling and reacting that is acquired and which is transmitted mainly through the symbols that constitute the distinct performance of human groups: this includes their expression by artifacts, the culture with traditional ideas (derived and historically selected) and the values attached to them. Hofstede (1980, 2001) defines culture as a collective programming of the mind that distinguishes members of one group or category of people from another.
Although numerous, almost all definitions of culture share the idea that culture is shared and learned by individuals in a society (De Mooij, 1998). Among these definitions, we found that Hofstede’s (1980, 2001) approach was particularly significant in the perspective of our research. Indeed, it is frequently used in the marketing field (especially when it comes to the behavior of consumers) and international advertising (De Mooij 1998, Albers Millers and Gelb 1996, Cho et al.
Culture determines the identity of a human group in the same sense that the personality determines the identity of the individual. Thus, culture plays a very important role in understanding social behavior and in particular the consumption behavior of a specific culture. According to the author, the more we understand a person’s mental program and social context, the more accurate we can be in predicting behavior.
127 our experts are availableright now
Culture can manifest itself in various ways through symbols, heroes, rituals and values (Hofstede, 1980, 2001). Symbols are the most superficial manifestations of culture, with values being the deepest and the heroes and rituals of intermediate-level events.
Culture and Communication
Culture and communication are two sides of the same phenomenon; at all times, these have influenced each other. Culture affects the way people communicate with each other, but the way individuals communicate with each other can in turn influence and transform the common culture of these individuals. Hall (1990) proposed a structure for modeling culture through the elements of communication. Triandis (1994), for its part, has shown that subjective culture determines how to interpret the world of the individual and determines his behavior. Communication is a mode of exchange between the individual and his environment and the place where the marks of culture are most manifest. Among the four dimensions of Triandis’s culture (1994), the individualism / collectivism opposition is essential to the understanding of several cultural differences. The author has studied the characteristics of the communication in a collectivist culture as opposed to an individualistic culture.
Advertising: a trajectory of cultural values
McCracken (1986) studied how culture is reflected in consumer behavior. Cultural symbols evolve within the consumer society; they start from the cultural system and go to the consumer through consumer goods. According to the author, there is several instruments by which these cultural transfers are realized: advertising, the fashion system and four rituals of consumption.
Advertising communication is one of these means of transfer. Indeed, this mode of communication tries to make the image of consumer goods coincide with the representation of the culturally constituted world in the same advertising message. The purpose of advertising is to convey to the receiver of the message similarities between the symbols conveyed by the consumer good and the values of the culturally constituted world. Once this symbolic equivalence is established, the receiver will attribute the properties, the values of its culture to this consumer product.
Communication must always take into account cultural factors. Consumers indeed have their own cultural values that direct their interpretation of the world and their behavior. Therefore, for communication to be effective, cultural values must be taken into account when associating them with products and services.
Influences of Culture on Advertising
Several researches have looked at the influences of culture on advertising. Our literature review, which focuses specifically on this theme, has shown us that culture can be studied from two perspectives: cultural dimensions and cultural values. Most research uses an intercultural comparative approach between Western countries (especially the United States and European countries) and Eastern countries (China, Japan and South Korea etc.)
The synthesis of this research allows us to conclude that the culture studied by the dimensional approach and by cultural values has impacts on advertising variables such as creative strategies, advertising themes and the execution of advertisements.
Types of advertising information by crop
In their intercultural study on the influence of cultural dimensions on advertising in 23 different countries, Zandpour et al. (1994) cited different research on the informational level of advertisements in various countries; For example, they have shown that advertisements in the United States are more informative than those in Great Britain (according to the Weinberger and Spotts research, 1987 cited by Zandpour et al. (1994)), and in Sweden (according to Martenson, 1987). ) and in Asian countries such as Japan, China and South Korea (according to Keown et al., 1992).
The level of information is determined by the amount of event information in the message. Zandpour et al. (1994) concluded that the informational level of advertising was based on the culture and environment of the advertising industry. Advertisements in individualistic cultures are more informative than those of collectivist countries in order to meet the requirement of event information in the decision-making of the individuals of this culture
Cultural values and advertising themes
Mueller (1987) examined the role of culture on the content of advertisements in a study of Japanese and American advertising. Advertising strategies are divided into two categories: traditional strategies (based on themes such as group consensus, veneration of elders and traditions, social status, etc.) and modern and “western” strategies (based on themes such as independence, individualism, modernity, youth, etc.). Differences between the advertisements of these two countries of different cultures were found. However, surprising results have been found in relation to the author’s assumptions about the role of culture in advertisements where
The majority of advertising in Japan should have, we thought, reflected cultural values using traditional strategies as a priori. Indeed, these expected traditional values are not found present in contemporary Japanese commercials and modern and Western themes (individualism and independence) have rather seemed to dominate. The explanation of this phenomenon seems to be justified by reasons of profitability. Indeed, although the themes used in these advertisements do not reflect the cultural values that one would expect for such a culture, they prove to be effective in achieving profitability objectives.
Albers-Miller and Gelb (1996) used Hofstede’s (1980) cultural variables and Pollay’s (1983) advertising themes to conduct a study of the countries in which they asked the question: “Do the systematic differences in advertising content is a mirror of a real cultural difference? “The results of this study demonstrate that cultural variables largely influence the differences that can exist between advertisements across countries. By studying the advertising of a country, we can somehow understand the cultural values of this country and by contrast, by studying the cultural values of a country, can predict the advertising themes that will be used. These conclusions make it possible to carry out intercultural advertising strategies from understanding of cultural variables.
Aaker and Williams (1998) studied the persuasive effect of emotional advertising on individuals in a collectivist versus individualistic culture. This research was conducted with Americans and Chinese. The results are a little contradictory to the assumptions made. Indeed, the study has shown that advertisements based on self-directed emotional stimuli (eg, “ego-focused”) – for example, pride and joy – result in more favorable attitudes among individuals in a particular culture. collectivist while “other focused” advertising-where emotional stimuli such as sympathy and peace dominate-engender more favorable attitudes among individuals with an individualistic culture.
These unexpected results could be explained by the novelty of individuals in the treatment of these advertisements: individualist feelings and ideas appear in collectivist individuals, and collective feelings develop in individuals of individualistic culture.
The literature review in this area allows us to have a more global view of the differences in advertising from one culture to another. Advertisements in Western cultures emphasize the control of individuals over their actions, comparison and competition. On the other hand, in non-Western cultures, advertisements often refer to the symbolism of social status, the use of emotional themes as well as indirect modes of expression where comparisons are avoided. The results of this research show that so-called connectedness themes are more used in Chinese ads, while in the United States, ads show a strong tendency to express so-called “separateness” themes.
Cultural differences and forms of advertising
Basic forms or execution styles are defined according to the context in which the advertising message is presented (De Mooij, 1998). The author has revised the conformity of each form of execution according to the different cultures.
Ads: The first form of ads, pure presentation, is more verbal for low context cultures and more visual for high context cultures. Low context and individualistic cultures value the factual explanation.
The format of the presentation generally offers more freedom culturally and is therefore more appropriate for international advertising.
Transfer by association: in male cultures is often done by association with people who are successful or rich while in women’s cultures, it is more the friendly and friendly people that we will try to imitate. Visual metaphors are more commonly used in high context cultures while verbal metaphors are more ingrained in low context cultures. The transfer by celebrity is rather indirect for collectivist and contextual cultures and this form is particularly effective for individualistic and low context cultures.
Lesson forms apply more to low-context individualistic cultures. In individualistic cultures, there is only one presenter who stands out for his originality, his uniqueness, while in collectivist cultures, several people share the role of the presenter at a time. “Endorsement” or “product user testimonial” advertisements are more common in low context cultures and often come from American companies. Comparative advertising has an impact only in individualistic, masculine and low-level uncertainty.
“Drama” type advertising is indirect in form and is more useful in high context cultures. The solution to a problem is more popular in Western countries, and this is explained by the tendency to conceive the world in a causal relationship.
“Entertainment” strategies, as described above, are typical in Japanese advertising or in many other collectivist cultures: they build trusting relationships between consumers and companies.
The imagination: this mode does not vary from culture to culture.
Special effects are widely used in the youth market segments and these artistic effects are used more in some cultures than in others. De Mooij’s conclusions (1998) on the effectiveness of implementation across cultures will have to be corroborated by future studies to be confined.
Conclusion
We examined some aspects of intercultural advertising most marked by cultural differences. Most research follows a comparative intercultural approach to highlight differences in culturally-based advertising. The differences seem obvious and inevitable because of cultural differences.
As part of our research, we observed some trends in developing countries, specifically in Asia. In the process of development and modernization, Asian countries are in a situation where social and cultural change and change are inevitable and to some extent these changes are sometimes contrary to their will. Thus, the literature review teaches us that advertising communication must serve as a mirror for culture. Taking into account the influence of the standardization strategy and the importance of international advertising agencies (especially American and European agencies), we must now ask ourselves questions about the cultural values conveyed by advertising in Asian countries.
