Food advertising as a mirror of intercultural differences: the case of the UK and Greece

Abstract

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to identify cultural preferences in advertising style in the UK and Greece through the comparison of advertisements for food products of local brands. Design/methodology/approach – In total, 39 advertisements were collected from local food magazines in 2012-2013. Each copy was content-analyzed based on three dimensions of advertising style: advertising forms, appeals, and verbal communication style. Findings – The analysis of the copies shows a tendency for Greek advertisements to adopt a forceful style and to convey an abundance of factual information in direct forms, combined with emotional appeals emphasizing local origin, nostalgia, and long-standing cultural traditions. On the contrary, UK copies tend to emphasize the entertainment value of advertisements, while communicating rational appeals in an informal register. Research limitations/implications – The variations in advertising style for the promotion of food products in the UK and Greece reflect the different ways in which advertising works, and potential differences in consumers’ decision making when it comes to the purchase of the products. The findings could have relevance for the design and transcreation of multinational food campaigns, and they could facilitate the development of research questions to be addressed in food marketing and advertising and consumer behaviour research. Originality/value – The study adopts an interdisciplinary approach to the analysis of the copies and the interpretation of findings, which draws on marketing and advertising and integrates a linguistic analysis of the text. By focusing on a particular product category and origin, it attempts to comprehensively account for their effect on advertising practices.