The Use of Advertising and Marketing Across Different
Cultures
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Advertising has always been a successful strategy in promoting brands in order to spread
awareness and interest of products to consumers to hopefully increase business revenue.
Advertisers attempt to convert potential buyers into actual buyers is done by making consumers
aware of the value that a product can bring to them. Large businesses that are successful may
look to expand a market to reach outside of the country and into international territory. Although
it is used worldwide, the effects of advertising across cultures is not always universal. One way
that culture can be defined by is as “the interactive aggregate of common characteristics that
influences a group’s response to its environment” (Zhang & Gelb, 1996). Cultural values vary
across countries, and as a result advertisers looking to appeal to markets in different countries
must have an understanding of what is valuable to the intended audience of those cultures.
However, some believe that a standardization of products and advertisements across cultures is
still beneficial, and can obviously save time and money. While this is true in some cases, ideally,
advertisements that are congruent with the values and beliefs within a culture are the ones that
will be the most successful. According to Moon & Chan (2003), “In international marketing and
advertising practices, understanding a country's core cultural values is important and these core
values have a powerful influence on a country’s characteristics and consumer behavior.” Thus,
to accurately understand what it is consumers want, advertisers should take into account the
cultural values that influence those desires. This paper will explore the cultural
dimensions--specifically focusing on individualism/collectivism and masculinity/femininity--that
influence the beliefs of people across cultures and how advertising is, or in some cases isn’t,
differentiated in order to create an appropriate consumer appeal.
Advertisers and marketers should understand the audiences that they are targeting in order to
verify that they are qualified leads. That is, that the product is a good fit for the consumer. In
order to better understand consumers, advertisers can look into the relationship between
advertisements and brands and the individual's self-concept. This means looking at the the
ways that products and brands affect the way others see the person. “Having delineated a
certain self-concept that he or she wishes to convey to others, the consumer must decide which
products are relevant to conveying these self-concepts, and exactly what self-concepts are
being conveyed by the use of different brands of the product, or different products within a class
of substitutable products” (Baker & Churchill, 1977). Advertisers should have an understanding
of this in order to predict what kind of advertisements are going to convey a self-concept that
individuals can identify with. If advertisements can align with an individual's self-concept, it is
more likely that consumers will be convinced that the product or brand being presented is
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something that they need.
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The personality of the individual and even brands is also influenced by these cultural
dimensions. Personality can be defined as, “unique and cross-situationally consistent and is
usually described in terms of trait such as autonomy or sociability” (Mooij & Hofstede, 2010).
Collectivistic cultures believe that personality traits are being continuously shaped by situational
influences. In individualistic cultures, personality is often attached to brands, and brand
personality is seen a culture specific. Ang & Lim (2006), say that “studies have demonstrated
that brand personality can evoke emotions, build trust and loyalty, and enhance consumer
preference.” For example, the personality ‘Ruggedness’ is associated with the United States,
and Japan and Spain are labelled ‘Peacefulness’. Also, a study of Korean brand personalities
found that “global brands like Nike, Sony, Levi’s. Adidas, Volkswagen, and BMW found two
specific Korean brand personalities, labelled ‘Passive Likeableness’ and ‘Ascendancy’(Mooij
et al., 2010). Brands might have the same consistent identity, but different cultures are going to
attach different personalities to the brand. This makes advertising across cultures challenging
because if a company is trying to convey a certain message through an ad, it may be perceived
differently by different cultures. Mooij et al. (2010) says, “The company that own global brands
want to b consistent in their message worldwide, but consumers attribute personalities to such
brands that fit their own cultural values, not the values of the producer of the brand.” In this
case, advertisers need to find a way to market products and brands so that the personalities
cultures attribute with it match that of the message being advertised. One way that is done is
through the use of metaphors. For marketers and advertisers, the use of metaphors are
encouraged because it “expands dimensional thinking, enhances ad responses, and leads to
more extensive ad processing” (Ang et al., 2006). Adding the element of metaphors to brands
help to heighten perception of brands and products across cultures.
An important cultural dimension that influences the self-concept and personalities and should be
considered by marketers and advertisers is individualism and collectivism within cultures. In
regards to the development of the self, people in individualistic cultures have to learn to function
independently, while people of collectivist cultures learn to function as part of a group. Studies
show that members of individualistic cultures lean towards, “egoistic or self-focused appeals
that emphasize separateness, personal welfare, or pride.” On the other hand, collectivist
cultures focus on “in-group members, connectedness, empathy, and altruism” (Nelson, Brunel,
Supphellen, Manchanda, 2006).
There is, however, discrepancy between individualism and collectivism and the preference of
self-appeals and other-appeals. Individualistic cultures do not necessarily prefer self-appeals,
sometimes there are other factors that influence preferences. For instance, although
individualism and collectivism are separate indicators from that of masculinity and femininity, on
average, Nelson et al., (2006) says that women saw social goals to be most important, where
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men thought ego goals were most important. Nonetheless, both individualistic and collectivist
cultures can be either feminine or masculine, each producing different values on the
surrounding environment. For instance, a collectivistic culture that is also feminine will have tight
connectedness with groups, high equality, low freedom, and overlapping gender roles.
Countries that fall into this category are Chile, South Korea, and Thailand (Nelson et al., 2006).
These dimensions together separate cultures based on how they value both groups, and the
self, as well as equality and freedom among others.
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Masculine and femininity alone have a huge impact on advertisements across cultures. Both
dimensions are opposite of one another, but refers to the distribution of values between
genders. “The IBM studies revealed that women’s values differ less among societies than
men’s values and men’s values from one country to another contain a dimension from very
assertive and competitive and is maximally different from women’s values on the other side
(Hofstede, 2011). ” According to Nelson et al., (2006) studies have shown that values of both
men and women in high masculine countries different from men and women in low masculine
countries. In addition, most feminine countries had a reversal of gender roles, where women are
more ego focused and men are more social focused. This reversal of roles show that
advertisements may need to be altered to fit the intended culture. In order to create ads that
consumers can connect with, they should agree with a culture's beliefs of what they believe to
be true. Actors and models in television ads usually portray people that align with the way those
in that culture would act. For example, in masculine countries, men are usually depicted as
authorities and in occupational roles, where women are portrayed as subordinate and often
featured in the home (Paek, Nelson, Vilela, 2011). This is often how masculine countries view
gender roles, so this could be a product of advertisers attempting to mimic a type of gendered
behavior that is familiar. As a result of these varied beliefs of gender roles, research has shown
that, “more feminine countries typically feature more relationships and fewer occupation-related
depictions in their advertising than do masculine countries” (Paek et al., 2011). The goal of
advertising is to appeal to consumers, and so it typically reflects the way people act and live in a
way that attracts them to products that they will find value in.
From the standpoint of consumers, ads will not only confirm cultural beliefs, but encourage them
as well. For instance, “if media predominately favor one gender over another, that gender
inequality could be detrimental to both genders because it limits the socially accepted roles of
men and women depicted” (Paek et al., 2011). For instance, if men are more likely to be used
in advertisements of exercise equipment, it may send a message that women should not
workout as much as men. It could also send a message that men need to workout in order to fit
social norms. As a result, advertisements although catering to cultural values, may reinforce
outdated beliefs and stereotypes and influence how people view others. Advertisers therefore,
have the power to use advertisements to either build upon or break gender roles that a culture
creates. They may not convey the message that a particular culture resides with, but instead by
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doing the opposite it could result in an even larger impact on the way consumers react to it.
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Although cultural values influence gender roles illustrated in advertising, some research has
suggested that products are associated with gender image, which usually portrays the gender of
the audience that the advertisement is intended to reach. That is, “retail stores, health and
beauty aids/pharmacy, and fashion/clothing have been traditionally viewed as women’s product
categories, whereas automobiles/automobile supplies, electronics/appliances, insurance,
financial, and political commercials are usually associated with men” (Paek et al., 2011).
Although these products can be used by either gender, advertisers looks to target the particular
gender that is most likely to identify with these products more. A cross cultural study that was
completed determined that females were more likely than males to be in television ads for
personal care products in both masculine and feminine countries. These countries included:
Kenya, Portugal, Malaysia, Japan, Taiwan, and the United States (Paek et al., 2011).
Advertisers do this because when the image of a spokesperson aligns with the product being
advertised, the message it conveys will be better understood by the intended audience.
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As mentioned before, women tend to connect more with products such as beauty products
when they are being advertised with other women. However, the concept of beauty itself varies
across countries, meaning advertisements must be shaped to fit what the intended audience
believes beauty to be. For instance, women in Western cultures believe that their bodies are
most important in regards to what men find beautiful, but in Asian cultures, they believe that the
face is most important. A study completed between female consumers in Singapore, Taiwan,
and the U.S. showed that women’s hair, skin, and face products show the greatest proportion
of ads in the Asian countries, while clothing ads had the largest proportion of advertisement in
the U.S. (Frith, Shaw, & Cheng, 2005). This difference could be the result of the sexualization of
the female body in Western culture, something that is not predominant in the Asian context. The
reason why this distinction occurs could be as Frith et al., (2005) suggests, a reflection of more
conservative Confucian cultural values that the two Asian countries hold, or women in Asia have
not yet internalized feminist liberal philosophy yet. Although, that is not to say that this
sexualization does not occur in Asian countries entirely. In fact, Caucasian women are prevalent
in the advertising of lingerie in countries like Malaysia and Indonesia. Since it is not acceptable
for women in these countries to be seen with little clothing on, advertisers use Western models
to advertise these kinds of products. This inconsistency in cultures may result in the
advertisement of products like lingerie not being as effective in Asian cultures as it is in Western
ones.
Although models in advertisement may transfer across cultures, like the instance of Caucasian
women advertising lingerie in Asian countries, they portrayal of these models do not always
transfer. For instance, the use of male and female nudity in advertisements is generally
accepted in the U.S., but the same cannot be said about other cultures. According to Nelson &
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Paek (2008), “researchers found that France and Brazil showed the greatest percentage of
women in the highest level of undress. In terms of mean scores on an ordinal nudity scale,
however, the Thai ads actually scored the highest among the six countries, while China scored
significantly lower than all other countries.” As a result of these findings, researchers can
conclude that nudity in cultures in not simply based on East-West values. Instead, the values
related to sex and sex roles can further be related to again, masculinity and femininity. When
researchers look at similarities and differences in gender among cultures, they found that highmasculinity countries showed inequality between genders, whereas low-masculinity countries
like Denmark showed more equality in terms of individuals and gender (Nelson et al., 2008). In
another finding, it shows that in feminine cultures, it is acceptable for both women and men to
have premarital sex, but in masculine cultures, women tend to wait longer to have sex and are
not expected to be sexually active. This differences in attitudes could explain the why nudity is
advertisement is more likely to occur in some countries, but not others (Nelson et al., 2008).
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Although there are evident differences between the values of cultures and the use of
advertising, some experts still believe in the standardization or globalization of advertisements.
Standardization has become even more of a debate now that technology has made the
communication and sharing of information across cultures easier. Those that believe in
standardization will say, “because of faster communication there is a convergence of art,
media, activity, living conditions, cultures, and, consequently, that advertising should follow suit”
(Kanso & Nelson, 2002). They also believe in the globalization of advertisement not as a just a
consideration, but a necessity for a global corporations. Theodore Levitt, who believes in
standardization, does so because he says that, “the world is becoming a common marketplace
and people all other the world are remarkably alike regarding love, hate, fear, envy, joy, and
their lives” (Kanso et al., 2002). Specifically, when advertisers and marketers look at the
standardization of products and brands, they may look at the standardization of marketing
program. The term “program” comprising of different aspects of the marketing mix, including
product design, product positioning, brand name, packaging, retail price, basic advertising
message, creative expression, sales promotion, media allocation, etc. They may also look into
the marketing process, which helps in the development and implementation of the marketing
program (Jain, 1989). Advertisers and marketers can standardize either one of these, or both if
they choose.
Focusing on market program, advertisers can see the impact standardization has on specific
marketing factors in global businesses. For instance, market position looks at the different
stages of development in different markets. A foreign market may be in a different stage of
development than its United States market. As a result, changes have to be made to the
marketing of that product in order to match the stage of development of each market. Jain
(1989), mentions how, “Polaroid’s Swinger camera is claimed to have failed in France because
the company pursued the same strategy there in the United States when the two markets were
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in different stages of development. The United States market was in the mature stage, whereas
the French market was in the introductory stage” (Jain, 1989). These cultures are in different
stages of development as a result of the the awareness and familiarity of a product. Using the
same advertisement for a country who is familiar with a brand or product will not have the same
effect on a country who may not know anything about it.
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The nature of the product is also considered when determining if standardization will be
successful for a global company. For example, industrial goods tend to be more adept to
standardization than consumer goods. Products such as computer hardware, machine tools,
heavy equipment, and photographic equipment can easily be distributed among different
cultures, without much differentiation (Jain, 1989). Thus, if a product meets an universal need, it
is more likely to be successful as a standardized item. Jain (1989), used the example of Corning
Glass Works, and how they considered its electronic and medical products to be universal, but
not its Corningware because it needed to adapt in order to fit various market needs. They found
that the “oven-to-freezer” feature was popular in the U.S. but not France, and the souffle dish
was more popular in France than the United States. Therefore, the standardization of products
such as these is not appropriate.
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However, there are other factors that go into the similarities and differences in cultures. There
are also scholars that believe in the opposite, saying that “as people around the world become
better educated and more affluent, their tastes actually diverge” (Jain, 1989). Those that do not
believe in standardization, instead believe in localization of advertisement. That is that,
“advertisers have to consider insurmountable barriers among countries, such as differences in
culture, taste, media infrastructure, and economic development. As well as, consumers’
resentment of international corporations’ attempts to homogenize their differing tastes and
cultures” (Kanso et al., 2002). While standardization may work for some products, others are
more complicated and need to be addressed with consideration to the values of different
cultures, especially while doing business globally.
The differences among cultural values is evidently very impactful on the use of advertising and
marketing. Companies that intend to do business globally will find that they have the options to
either standardize their appeals, or localize them to specific markets within different cultures.
Sometimes, businesses can be successful in standardizing, if the different markets have similar
attitudes towards products or the same awareness of products. In most cases, the advertising of
products and brands will not successfully overlap into other cultures, and instead need to
specialized in order to be understood by that market. Advertisers also must look into what
cultures identify with in terms of cultural dimensions. Such that, individualistic, collectivistic,
masculinity, and femininity of cultures all play a role in what people find value in. In addition,
these dimensions affect the individuals belief if the self and others, especially in terms of gender
roles. All of these factors go into the branding and advertising of products, and advertisers and
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marketers are the ones who have to make these decisions. Many researchers have concluded
that although there have been studies on advertising across cultures, there is still a lot more that
needs to be done to better understand how the advertisement of products and brands is
influenced by cultural values and beliefs.
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