Assessing the Applicability of Hofstede\u27s Cultural Dimensions for Global 500 Corporations\u27 Facebook Profiles and Content

This research examines how Hofstede’s six cultural dimensions are reflected on the official corporate Facebook pages from 259 organizations on Fortune magazine’s Global 500 list. This research is grounded in original indices to measure the six dimensions across Facebook’s “About Us” section, the textual updates provided by the companies, as well as the media that they share (photographs and videos). This is the first attempt to create a conceptualization of Hofstede’s dimensions for organizational social media use. The results paint a mixed picture indicating that the global nature of these corporations is echoed in a somewhat similar overall presence on Facebook; but when the individual elements (About Us, updates, and media) are examined, statistical differences emerge in relation to the reflection of the cultural dimensions. Limitations and directions for future research are discussed

Controversial Product Advertising in China: Perceptions of Three Generational Cohorts

China is a country that has undergone a wide range of significant changes over the last 30 years, economically, politically, and socially. Major events not only have an important effect on the developmental history of a country such as China, but also create a new generational cohort, which can adopt different views and attitudes than those characterizing previous generations. This study analyses the results of a survey of three different generational groups in China, focusing on their attitudes towards the promotion of controversial products and advertising execution techniques. Research results show significant differences between the younger and older generations, especially in regard to gender-related products and certain advertising execution techniques