Cross‐cultural studies on the information content of service advertising

Abstract

Differences in cultural values may result in perceptual differences and thus necessitate the use of different advertising information content in varying cultures. Intends to test the relationship between cultural values and the information cues employed in service advertising, using an affective response approach instead of the traditional cognitive response approach (content analysis). The results show that Hong Kong has significantly more information cues than does service advertising in the USA. The results also show that information content and cultural values often relate in a non‐random way. The use of price cues is associated with power‐distance, due to the close relationship between price and status. People from masculine cultures prefer performance information cues, as to them achievement and status are important for indicating success. People in less individualistic cultures with high uncertainty avoidance prefer content cues, in order to protect group interests and eliminate uncertainty in buying decisions. Information cues on availability tend to be appreciated in long‐term orientation cultures with high power‐distances. However, no relationship was found between quality cues and cultural values.