Transformations  in
Business & Economics

The Effect of Cultural Differences on the Effectiveness of Advertising Appeals: A Comparison between China and the US
Charles R. Emery, Robert G. Tian

ABSTRACT. An important first step to successful global marketing is to understand the similarities and dissimilarities of values between cultures. This task is particularly daunting for companies trying to do business with China because of the scarcity of research-based information. This study uses updated values of the Hofstede’s (1980) cultural model to compare the effectiveness of Pollay’s advertising appeals between the U.S. and China. Nine of the 20 hypotheses predicting effective appeals based on cultural dimensions were supported. An additional hypothesis was significant, but in the opposite direction as predicted. These findings suggest that it would be unwise to use Hofstede’s cultural dimensions as a sole predictor for effective advertising appeals. The Hofstede dimensions may lack the currency and fine grain necessary to effectively predict the success of the various advertising appeals. Further, the effectiveness of advertising appeals may be moderated by other factors, such as age, societal trends, political-legal environment and product usage.

KEYWORDS: advertising appeals, cross-cultural marketing, Hofstede, China, US.