| This study intends to test the idea that advertising reflects cultural values through advertising appeals in a predictable manner. Hall and Hofstede's cultural values are employed as theoretical frameworks for comparing cultural values reflected in Internet advertising in Korea and the United States. Their cultural value systems were related to the modified version of Pollay's advertising appeal system.; A content analysis of 600 advertising websites was performed to seek answers to the following questions: What are the dominant cultural values manifest in Korean and U.S. Internet advertising? In what cultural value dimensions does Internet advertising differ between Korea and the US? Are there any differences in the use of information, creative, and technological elements in Korean and U.S. Internet advertising? If there are differences, how are they related with cultural values and why?; Similarities were visible in the use of primary appeals, information cues, and creative strategies, but when the ads were examined within the theoretical frameworks, a clear pattern of dissimilarities were observed between Korean and U.S. Internet advertising, supporting the idea that the observed between-country differences were attributable to between-country differences in cultural values.; Despite the similarities in the use of primary information cues and creative strategies, significant between-country differences were observed in the quantity and types of information cues and the use of Symbolic Assertion, Repeated Assertion, and Obligation strategy. The use of technological elements such as text links and animated images was also significantly different between the two countries.; This study demonstrated the effectiveness of the theoretical frameworks and their linkages with advertising appeals in visualizing a broad representative picture of cultural differences in Internet advertising. However, the mixed results of the study suggest that neither a perfectly standardized nor a specialized approach yet exists in Internet advertising. The author speculates that several factors may explain why neither of these “ideal-type” advertising strategies prevails in Internet advertising: strong medium-specific characteristics, the time lag to adopt innovative technology, integration of the world economy, and changing values within a single culture. |
