A Cultural Analysis
of American & Indian Advertisements
Prof. (Dr) Sanjeev Bansal
Director-MBA & Head,
Department of Decision Science,
Information Technology
Ph.D. Programme
Amity Business School,
Amity University, Noida. Uttar Pradesh- 201301 India.
+91-98100-70464 (M), +91-120-4392333 (D)
Email-sbansal1@amity.edu
Varsha Khattri
Lecturer
Amity Business School,
Amity University, Noida. Uttar Pradesh- 201301 India.
+ 91-120-4392455 mobile: 919910160709
Email: vkhattri@amity.edu, varshakhattri@gmail.com
Brief Profile:
Dr. Sanjeev Bansal is Professoor in the area of Decision sciences. He has a work experience of over 17 years. Currently, he is the Director-MBA & Head, Department of Decision Sciences, Information Technology and Ph.D. Programme at Amity Business School, Amity University, Noida.
Ms. Varsha Khattri is a Lecturer in Amity Business School. She is a Post Graduate in Management with specialization in Advertising & Public Relations. She has more than 4 years of teaching experience. To her credentials, she has organized a large number of marketing events, conferences and seminars.
American & Indian Advertisements: A Cultural Analysis Abstract
Comparative analysis of advertising from Western industrialized countries and Eastern developing countries may reveal specific similarities or differences in manifest cultural values, norms and stereotypes in line with, or divergent from, those of Western nations. Such information can be used to address the question of cultural imperialism and the debates over whether and how advertising reflects, reinforces and affects cultural values of its target audience. On the other hand, findings about gender role portrayals in advertising may reveal how gender roles are changing in these societies, and to what extent the images of the gender in advertising are keeping pace with social change.
From a more pragmatic standpoint, if specific cross-cultural differences or similarities in advertising strategies, expressions and manifest values and norms can be identified, researchers and practitioners will better understand which aspects of advertising can be shared across several countries, and conversely, which aspects need to be adapted to local cultures.
From the standpoint of international marketing and advertising practitioners, such cross cultural understanding is imperative in order to be able to formulate effective localized advertising that would reflect the cultural values and norms of its intended audience. This research examines the cultural differences from the point of view of the advertisers who create the ads rather than from the point of view of the consumer. It also studies the advertising agencies policies of standardization across the nations where there are present and customization of advertisements keeping in view the cultural differences among nations. The study emphasizes the need for localized solutions, which are more efficient in getting its communication across.
Key Words: High-context cultures, Low-context cultures, Speech acts in Advertising, Imagery, Elements of Advertisements
American & Indian Advertisements: A Cultural Analysis
Introduction
The phenomenon of advertising has long been a topic of research in several disciplines such as mass communication, marketing, sociology, cultural anthropology, social psychology, semiotics and cultural studies. One area that has attracted a great deal of consideration in several disciplines during the last two decades is the analysis of mass media advertising content to gain insights into how cultural factors affect advertising strategies and expressions; how cultural values, norms and stereotypes are reflected in advertising; how advertising creates meanings and affects the audience and the larger society over time.
Although the phenomenon of advertising has been studied for several decades, cross-cultural advertising research is a relatively new area of study. In recent years, the study of cross-cultural advertising has become a subject of increasing importance because of several important developments:
• In recent years, there has been an increasing interest over the issue of how advertising reflects, reinforces and affects cultural values of its target audience
• As the integration of the world economy has increased significantly in recent years and as nations of the world have become increasingly economically interdependent through international trade, diverse people and cultures are coming into contact through interpersonal interaction as well as advertising and other media images and messages. In an increasingly global economic environment, international trade has achieved phenomenal growth resulting in increased international mass media advertising across diverse cultures.
• The "cultural imperialism" issue has attracted a great deal of attention over the impact of western advertising and other media products on the cultures of developing nations
Cross-cultural analysis of advertising can identify specific differences and similarities in advertising strategies, expressions, and manifest cultural values, norms and stereotypes of the target audience and the larger culture. Such findings may be used to address the question of whether the same strategies and expressions can be used in international advertising, and whether the values, attitudes, desires and tastes of consumers around the world are converging.
High-context cultures (including much of the Middle East, Asia, India, Africa, and South America) are relational, collectivist, intuitive, and contemplative. This means that people in these cultures emphasize interpersonal relationships. Developing trust is an important first step to any business transaction. These cultures are collectivist, have a preference for group harmony and consensus to individual accomplishment. And people in these cultures are less governed by reason than by intuition or feelings. Words are not so important as context, which might include the speaker’s tone of voice, facial expression, gestures, posture—and even the person’s family history and status. A Japanese manager explained his culture’s communication style to an American: “We are a homogeneous people and don’t have to speak as much as you do here. When we say one word, we understand ten, but here you have to say ten to understand one.” High-context communication tends to be more indirect and more formal. Flowery language, humility, and elaborate apologies are typical.
Low-context cultures (including North America and much of Western Europe) are logical, linear, individualistic, and action-oriented. People from low-context cultures value logic, facts, and directness. Solving a problem means lining up the facts and evaluating one after another. Decisions are based on fact rather than intuition. Discussions end with actions. And communicators are expected to be straightforward, concise, and efficient in telling what action is expected. To be absolutely clear, they strive to use precise words and intend them to be taken literally. Explicit contracts conclude negotiations. This is very different from communicators in high-context cultures who depend less on language precision and legal documents. High-context business people may even distrust contracts and be offended by the lack of trust they suggest.
The unique features of Indian market which call for special attention and thus, subsequent changes in the application of marketing concepts are as follows:
a) Cultural Outlook: The Indian consumer values old customs and tradition. Basic cultural values have not yet faded in India. Buying decisions are highly influenced by social customs, traditions and beliefs in the rural markets.
b) Literacy Rate: The literacy rate is low in India. This comes in way of the marketer in promoting the product. Advertising is very expensive making it difficult to communicate with the target audience.
c) Lack of Proper Communication and infrastructure facilities: Nearly fifty percent of the villages in the country do not have all weather roads. The Infrastructure Facilities like roads, warehouses, communication system, financial facilities are inadequate in rural areas making physical distribution becomes costly.
d) Many Languages and Dialects: The number of languages and dialects vary widely from state to state region to region and probably from district to district. Even though the numbers of recognized languages are only 16, the dialects are estimated to be around 850.
e) Low Per Capita Income: Even though about 33-35% of gross domestic product is generated in the rural areas it is shared by 74% of the population.
Literature Review
Most of the cross-cultural empirical studies that have been conducted to date compared either two or more Western industrialized countries or Western and Eastern industrial countries (with a few exceptions). Studies that conducted cross-cultural content analysis and provide background information for conceptual analysis were reviewed first. Other related studies that do not fall under the umbrella of cross-cultural content analysis but are relevant and useful in understanding the issues of cross-cultural advertising will also be reviewed.
Engel, Blackwell, and Miniard (1986) define culture as complex values, ideas, attributes, and other meaningful symbols that serve humans to communicate, interpret, and evaluate as members of society. Furthermore, the authors believe that humans develop their values by socialization and acculturation. Socialization is the process of absorbing ones culture. Acculturation is the process of learning a new culture. This occurs when a consumer moves to a new country or changes group identity.
Similarly, Stanton, Etzel, and Walker (1994) define culture as symbols and artifacts created by society and handed down from generation to generation as determinants and regulators of human behavior. The symbols/artifacts may be intangible (attitudes, beliefs, values, and language) or tangible (tools, housing, and products).
Weinberger and Spotts (1989) conducted a comparative content analysis of the information content in television advertising in the United States and the United Kingdom. The results revealed that U.S. television advertising contained a higher level of information content than British advertising. A comparison between the U.S. sample and a 1977 Resnik and Stern study showed that informativeness has increased in U.S. advertising over a decade. Overall, the ads for high involvement and rational products contained higher information content. The researchers concluded that the differences between the U.S. and British advertising are related to the underlying socio-cultural setting in the respective countries.
Biswas, Olsen and Carlet (1992) comparatively analyzed magazine advertisements of France and the United States in terms of information content, emotional appeals, use of humor and sex. The study revealed that French advertisements made greater use of emotional appeals, humor and sex appeals, while U.S. advertisements contained a greater number of information cues. Cutler and Javalgi (1992) conducted a comparative analysis of the visual content of print advertising from the United States, France and England. The results revealed greater country differences than similarities in terms of various visual components in advertising. Differences were found in seven elements (size of the visual, use of black & white visuals, use of photograph etc).
Demographics facts and figure to analyze the population trends in both US and India, along with consumer buying behavior, trends, influence of children, teenagers, women, and celebrities were analyzed for this research.
Belk and Bryce (1986) examined television advertisements in Japan and the United States. Using a content analysis method they attempted to determine if there was any cultural value difference in advertising in terms of materialism and individual determinism. The study found that the U.S. advertisements placed more emphasis on individual determinism and materialism.
Mueller (1987) examined magazine advertisements of Japan and the United States. Using a content analysis method, the author compared the themes in advertising and concluded that there were considerable similarities among the consumers in the two countries. The researcher found that the same basic advertising appeals were used in both U.S. and Japanese advertisements. However, the degree to which these appeals were used varied from one country to another. Muller suggests that the sensitivity to cultural differences is reflected through the varied degrees of the same appeals. The author concluded that appeals such as product merit and status appeal are universal.
Information Content
While value orientations and advertising appeals have been used in studies, others have examined the information content of advertising messages from one country or several countries (Al-Olayan & Karande, 2000; Dowling, 1980; Ha, 1998; Johnstone, Kaynak, & Sparkman, 1987; Katz & Lee, 1992; Martenson, 1987; Renforth & Raveed, 1983; Tai & Chan, 2001; Weinberger & Spotts, 1989; Zandpour, Chang, & Catalano, 1992). These studies take inspiration from Resnik and Stern’s (1977), or Stern, Krugman, & Resnick’s (1981) studies of information content. They look for information cues about the product advertised. As a result they are useful in describing how much information advertising messages actually give about products. The cues considered with the information content framework are most often pricevalue, quality, performance, components or contents, availability, special offers, taste, nutrition, packaging or shape, guarantees and Warranties, and safety.
Nitish Singh of St. Louis University in his paper on ‘Analyzing Cultural Sensitivity of Websites: A Normative Framework’ states as the web is advertising and a cultural document, it is important to be sensitive as to how signs and symbols are used in the text and graphics. Barber and Badre (1998) use the term cultural markers to signify interface design elements and features that would be preferred and understood by a particular cultural group.
He further goes on to talk about country-specific symbols that include anything that portrays a way of life or culturally specific knowledge. For example in Arabic cultures use of pictures of men, women, and animals is discouraged, while elaborate text in form of calligraphic style is acceptable and liked. Furthermore, use of visual metaphors (star, crescent, cross), animal figures, religious objects and signs, taboo words, graphics of hand gestures, aesthetic codes, forbidden food (beef n India), may need a detailed enquiry in the specific culture.
J.Harwood & A.Roy (1999) in their study on ‘The Portrayal of Older Adults in Indian and U.S. Magazine Advertisements’, found a cross-cultural bias against older women in their mass media presence. The predominance of elderly men over elderly women in the advertisements reflects the “double jeopardy” of being old and female (Sontag, 1979). Whereas older males are sometimes evaluated as wise and mature, older females rarely receive any form of positive evaluation, even though they outnumber elderly males in the U.S. population (United States Bureau of the Census, 1994). It should be noted that women do not outnumber men among older adults in India (Bose, 1988).
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