Impact of National Culture: How Style Elements Affect Viewers’ Attitudes toward TV Ads

In the times of globalisation, marketers’ task to construct advertising communication appealing to consumers of several different countries, has never been more challenging. The complexity arises when considering the different cultural aspects of each country, which affect the perception of the ad and, hence the brand. In this study, the impact of national culture on the attitude towards advertising will be examined, providing a constructive framework on how to create appealing advertising considering various cultural differences.

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In today’s globalised world, where goods and brands easily cross international borders, the difficulties encountered by multinational businesses in developing successful advertising campaigns are more complicated than ever before. The early 21^st century has seen an intense increase in globalisation. Economic activity is increasingly crossing international borders in the age of global trade and economic integration. Simply consider a scenario in which a single advertisement, regardless of its support, needs to be attractive to consumers in Sydney, Beijing, Los Angeles, Buenos Aires, and Paris, each with its own distinct culture.

The complexity of cultural diversity presents a challenge to the universality of advertising communications. Nowadays, the success of a worldwide company depends not only on the superior quality of its products but also on its aptitude for handling complex interplay between advertising and culture (Retnowati, 2016).

This study aimed to investigate the impact of national culture in the field of cross-cultural advertising. The research analysed how national culture moderates the relationship between particular style elements in TV ads, including the presence of family/friends, verbal communication, and humour, and viewers’ attitudes towards these commercials. This experimental quantitative study delved into the analysis of 1320 advertisements across 35 countries for a total of 34,988 participants.

STYLE ELEMENTS IN TV ADVERTISING

In TV advertising, style elements are a creative innovation that gained great attention as a selling technique over the years. They are the foundation for powerful communications in advertising. These elements are the creative factors that influence the presentation and interpretation of an advertisement by the target audience (Mahmud, 2017).

The present study examines the impacts of visual elements (the presence of Family/Friends) and narrative elements (Verbal Communication and Humour) on the viewers’ Attitudes towards advertising. Each of the components has the capacity to influence people’s Attitudes toward advertising, resulting in a dynamic interplay. Additionally, they were also selected for their ability to facilitate the coding of advertisements without encountering language barriers throughout the 35 countries involved.

The dependent variable is measured by the evaluation statement ‘this ad gives me a positive feeling’, which is measured after full exposure to the ad.

HOFSTEDE CULTURAL FRAMEWORK

For the present research, the cultural diversification of countries leads to the consideration of the Hofstede cultural model, which provides a framework for examining and contrasting national cultures along six dimensions (Hofstede, 2001).

In the present research, three out of the six dimensions were used for the analysis, namely Power Distance, Individualism/Collectivism, and Masculinity/Femininity. These three variables were selected as they can accurately predict how consumers react to advertisements and align with the study’s objectives, reducing the development of an excessive number of potentially irrelevant hypotheses.

STUDY SET-UP

This experimental quantitative study delves into the analysis of 1320 advertisements across 35 countries. The data of this study consists of a combination of primary and secondary data. The secondary dataset is composed of the findings from a prior study carried out by DVJ Insights. During its cross-country research about advertising response in cross-country advertising, different surveys, one per country, were conducted among approximately 27,000 respondents from 30 different countries.

The coding of TV commercials for the purpose of this research represents the primary dataset. The ads are binary-coded, a subtle yet effective tactic that uses zeros and ones to convey specific information to the right audience. In total, the data for this study includes on average 37 TV adverts per country, for 35 countries, for a total of 1320 ads, and 34,988 participants.

A multi-level methodology is used for the data analysis, including analyses at the individual and national levels. A thorough analysis of the ways in which different advertising style components interact with national culture to influence Attitudes towards advertising is made possible by this multi-level approach.

FINDINGS AND INSIGHTS

The findings of this study first shed light on the direct impacts of style elements in TV advertising on Attitudes towards advertising.

• The presence of Family/Friends had a positive impact on Attitudes towards advertising.
• Surprisingly, both Verbal Communication and Humour generated negative impacts on Attitudes towards advertising.

Additionally, the study analysed the impacts of National Culture on the relationships mentioned above.

• A higher level of Power Distance of culture strengthens the negative effect of Verbal Communication on Attitudes towards advertising.
• A higher level of Individualism in a country leads to a stronger negative impact of Humour on Attitudes towards advertising.
• A higher level of Masculinity decreases the negative impact of Verbal Communication on Attitudes towards advertising.
• In both Masculine and Feminine cultures, the presence of humour generates a negative impact on Attitudes towards advertising.

MANAGERIAL IMPLICATIONS

The study’s findings regarding the complex relationship between cultural factors and advertising performance have important managerial implications for marketers and advertisers who are faced with the complexities of international markets. Different cultures, each with their own values, communication standards, and tastes, define the global advertising framework. Managers must take an educated and culturally sensitive approach to campaign planning since they recognise the significant influence that cultural factors have on the success of advertising (De Mooij & Hofstede, 2002). Additionally, the necessity of adjusting marketing strategies for cultural relevance is one of the most important lessons for managers to learn.

An all-encompassing strategy is no longer feasible in a society where cultural variety is a distinguishing feature. To guarantee that ads engage genuinely with target audiences, managers should place a high priority on cultural sensitivity in content production, adaptable methods for various cultural contexts, and data-driven decision-making.

Master thesis summary by Julien Mariéthoz

References

De Mooij, M., & Hofstede, G. (2002). Convergence and divergence in consumer behavior: implications for international retailing. Journal of retailing, 78(1), 61-69.

Hofstede, G. (2001). Culture’s consequences : comparing values, behaviors, institutions, and organizations across nations (2nd [rev. and updated]). Sage.

Mahmud, M. O. (2017). Visuals as effective extralinguistic feature of language of television advertisement. Journal of Literature, Languages, and Linguistics, 37, 45-53.

Retnowati, Y. (2016). Challenges in cross cultural advertising. Humaniora, 27(3), 340–349.