Creating an Effective Print Advertisement for the China Market:

Abstract

Since 1979, the year when advertising was once again permitted in China following a ten year ban, marketing practitioners and academicians have expressed interest in gaining a greater understanding of advertising in China. This study evaluates the relationship between the ad content of U.S. industrial advertisements in Chinese edition industrial magazines and perceived overall effectiveness of the advertisements. The panel of Chinese business managers who evaluated the aids perceived that the most effective ads were those that provided information on product performance, were visually attractive and offered evidence as to the product's benefits using either a rational appeal and/or symbolism. The analysis indicates that, compared to the previous research on ad content in China, the industrial ads were more informative and relied to a greater extent on performance and quality cues.