A Comparative Study Of Cultural Values In Internet Advertising

Controversy of standardized versus specialized international advertising had fueled an increasing demand for more cross-cultural advertising content study, especially after the appearance of Internet as a totally new media of Advertising. Internet is characterized by information informativeness, interactivity, globalness, and technological nature. Should Internet advertising be standardized or specialized is an even more confusing question. Little research has been done due to short history and lack of theoretical background. Whether Internet advertising reflects cultural values through advertising appeals is still in question.To meet this demand, this study is to investigate the similarities and differences of cultural values reflected in Chinese and U.S. Internet advertisements by advertising appeals, to test the idea that Internet advertising reflects cultural values through advertising appeals in a predictable manner. Hofstede's cultural values and Pollay's advertising appeal system are employed as theoretical framework of this study. Hofstede's cultural values are for comparing cultural values reflected in Internet advertising in China and U.S. Pollay's appeal system is used to relate advertising appeals to cultural values. These two systems serve as overarching structure for examining cultural differences in U.S. and China Internet advertising.A content analysis of 80 advertising websites is performed to seek answers to the following questions: what are the dominant cultural values manifested in Chinese and U.S. Internet advertising? In what cultural value dimensions does Internet advertising differ between China and U.S.? Where these differences are originated from?Similarities are visible in the use of primary appeals, some cultural values emphasizing product merits are frequently utilized in both Chinese and U.S. Internet advertising. But a clear pattern of differences are observed between Chinese and U.S. Internet advertising when the ads are examined within Hofstede's theoretical frameworks. So, this study support the idea that the observed between country differences are attributable to between country differences in cultural values.This study demonstrated the effectiveness of Hofstede's theoretical frameworks and their linkage with advertising appeals in visualizing a broad representative picture of cultural differences in Internet advertising. However, the mixed results of this study suggest that neither a perfect standardized nor a specialized approach yet exists in Internet advertising. But meaningful suggestions for Internet advertisers are given by this study results. According to study findings, Internet advertisers could consider utilizing some Chinese cultural values such as "family integrity", "interdependence with others", and social status", "tradition and close to nature in advertising content when...