Chinese Versus American:Effects Of Emotional Appeals In Advertising Across Cultures

One of the critical decisions to make when designing an advertisement is what information should be included in the advertisement, i.e. advertising appeals. Advertising appeals, based on their psychological mechanism, are distinguished into rational appeals and emotional appeals. Both are attempts at persuasion, with the former providing information about product performance and features, advantages over competing brands and user experience and the latter stimulating emotional reactions and associations. Popular advertising emotional appeals include humor, guilt, fear, nostalgia and empathy. Empirical studies reveal that effects of emotional appeals vary with the appeal strength and type, products and audiences.This research first compares the persuasion effects of emotional appeals and non-emotional appeals. Then it compares effects of emotional appeals when they work on members of two different cultures: Chinese and American and examines how persuasion effects are influenced by socio-psychological differences. Effects of emotional appeals are also affected by product features. This research, therefore, incorporates product as an important variable. It focuses on products for children under six. For products used by very young children, product users are children, whereas the buyers are usually their parents. The research takes a further step by comparing effects of emotional appeals on mothers of two different cultures when appeals are used respectively in children products and women products.Literature is firstly reviewed to show the status quo of researches in related fields. Cross-cultural advertising studies have focused on the differences in conventions, languages, religions and taboos and increasing research attention now is given to cross-cultural advertising effects studies. Studies that compare attitudes and responses towards advertising (Guo et al,2012), towards advertising tactics (Choi&Miracle,2004), towards advertising appeals (Terlutter&Diehl,2010; Aaker&Williams,1998) provide important empirical experience to this research. Important theories about emotional appeals and cross-cultural socio-psychological studies are then briefly summarized.The comparative studies of this research are realized through two tests. Test participants are Chinese and American mothers of children under six. Correspondingly, three emotional appeals, guilt, fear and empathy are focused upon. Test1compares the effects of emotional appeals and non-emotional appeals and discovers that working on mothers of both cultures, emotional appeals, compared with non-emotional appeals, exhibit stronger persuasion effects. Test2have emotional appeals used respectively in children product advertising and women product advertising and compare the effects on mothers of two different cultures. Test2has two discoveries. First, guilt and empathy appeals have stronger persuasion effects on Chinese mothers, compared with American mothers. Effects of fear appeals on mothers of two cultures do not exhibit significant difference. Second, emotional appeals used in children product advertising, compared with ones used in women product advertising, stimulate stronger purchase intentions in Chinese mothers. In contrast, emotional appeals used in two types of product advertising working on American mothers do not exhibit significant difference in persuasion effect, except that guilt appeals, when used in women products, compared with ones used in children products, work better with American mothers.Values of the research are observed in the following aspects:1. Studies of children product advertising usually assume children to be the receivers of advertising and focus on how persuasion effects may vary with age or advertising tactics. Young children’s cognition of advertising intention is rather limited. This research focuses on products for children under six, of which users and buyers are in most cases separated. Mothers purchase children products to satisfy the needs of their children. If advertising is able to satisfy mothers’emotional needs, it presumably may stimulate stronger purchase intention. This hypothesis is proved by test1results, i.e. emotional appeals, compared with non-emotional appeals, work better with mothers. The efforts and discoveries of this research provide valuable experience for further studies on products, of which consumption roles are separated.2. Cross-cultural advertising studies have focused on effects of advertising, advertising appeals or advertising tactics cross cultures, cross-cultural studies of emotional appeals are limited. Further studies in this field may turn to this research for experience and empirical evidence.3. Emotional appeals studies usually examine how persuasion effects are affected by product or receiver. This research assumes both as variables and examines the matching between emotional appeals, products and receivers. This provides valuable methodology experience for multi-factor studies of emotional appeals.The research results have important practical implications for the advertising industry as well, e.g. when mothers are the buyers of children products, employment of emotional appeals may stimulate stronger purchase intention.