The impact of cultural and religious values on television and newspaper advertising content and appeal: A cross-cultural study of the United States and the Arab world

Standardization versus adaptation of advertising has been a subject of great controversy that has been debated for more than 50 years. Scholars have pointed out the increasing demand for more cross-cultural research on advertising content that can contribute to the standardization versus adaptation debate. Scholars have also pointed out that although the Arab world offers great opportunities for multinational corporations, the Arab world has been severely neglected in academic research. To comply with this demand, this study investigates the similarities and differences of the manifestation of cultural and religious values in the U.S. and the Arab world (Egypt, Lebanon, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia and United Arab Emirates) newspaper and television advertisements. This study also investigates whether advertising appeals are in accord with the conceptual cultural and religious value orientation of each country. This study utilized the method of content analysis to analyze research data. A sample of television and newspaper advertisements was taken from one national television network and one national newspaper from Egypt, Lebanon, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates and the United States. This study investigated 28 cultural and religious values and 31 advertising appeals that have been identified in the literature. Research results indicated that there are some similarities and differences in the manifestation of cultural values and advertising appeals between the U.S. and the Arab world. Cultural values that were most frequently manifested in both the U.S. and the Arab countries newspaper advertisements included: utilitarian, enjoyment, and honesty. This study also reveals that product features and merits were highly used in both the U.S. and the Arab newspaper advertisements. Enjoyment, economy and beauty were the most frequently manifested cultural values in the U.S. and the Arab world TV advertisements

Cultural Values Reflected in Arab and American Television Advertising

This study examines cultural values as reflected in U.S. And the Arab world television advertising. A total of 866 television commercials from Egypt, Kuwait, Lebanon, Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates and the United States were analyzed. Contrary to the common notion that the U.S. culture and the Arabic culture are vastly different, we found many similarities between the two cultures regarding TV advertising content and appeal. The findings contribute to the debate of standardization versus adaptation of international advertising

A Framework to Localize International Business to Business Web Sites

The main purpose of this study is to propose and apply an analytical framework to help B2B marketers assess and develop web sites that are localized not only for the B2B marketplace but also for international markets. This study deals with an area that has not received much attention in academic research as previous studies have mainly focused on B2C web sites. The study focuses on B2B web sites and provides a framework to assess web site localization. A content analysis of American and Korean web sites was conducted to analyze the proposed framework. The overall results show that U.S. companies have not accomplished a high degree of localization for B2B markets. The study results indicate that most U.S. companies focus primarily on the translation of web content from English to Korean to create web sites.While it is true that globalization has brought us closer than ever to Mcluhan\u27s (1964) idea of a global village, major differences across countries and regions exist and play a significant role in how consumers react to web site designs and content. Therefore, this framework is vital to business seeking consumers globally. Using this framework should allow businesses to localize their B2B web sites and included key areas that appeal to local consumers.The study concludes by providing marketers insights into factors that can help them better localize their international B2B web sites

A Framework to Localize International Business to Business Web Sites

The main purpose of this study is to propose and apply an analytical framework to help B2B marketers assess and develop web sites that are localized not only for the B2B marketplace but also for international markets. This study deals with an area that has not received much attention in academic research as previous studies have mainly focused on B2C web sites. The study focuses on B2B web sites and provides a framework to assess web site localization. A content analysis of American and Korean web sites was conducted to analyze the proposed framework. The overall results show that U.S. companies have not accomplished a high degree of localization for B2B markets. The study results indicate that most U.S. companies focus primarily on the translation of web content from English to Korean to create web sites.While it is true that globalization has brought us closer than ever to Mcluhan\u27s (1964) idea of a global village, major differences across countries and regions exist and play a significant role in how consumers react to web site designs and content. Therefore, this framework is vital to business seeking consumers globally. Using this framework should allow businesses to localize their B2B web sites and included key areas that appeal to local consumers.The study concludes by providing marketers insights into factors that can help them better localize their international B2B web sites

A Comparison of Print Advertisements from Egypt, Lebanon, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates and the United States

This study examines cultural differences between the United States and the Arab world regarding low/high context, collectivism/individualism, time orientation and man\u27s relationship with nature in print advertising. Study reveals that the main differences between the United States and the Arab world include cultural values that are embedded in religious values and beliefs

Exploring perceptions of advertising ethics: an informant-derived approach

Whilst considerable research exists on determining consumer responses to pre-determined statements within numerous ad ethics contexts, our understanding of consumer thoughts regarding ad ethics in general remains lacking. The purpose of our study therefore is to provide a first illustration of an emic and informant-based derivation of perceived ad ethics. The authors use multi-dimensional scaling as an approach enabling the emic, or locally derived deconstruction of perceived ad ethics. Given recent calls to develop our understanding of ad ethics in different cultural contexts, and in particular within the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region, we use Lebanon—the most ethically charged advertising environment within MENA—as an illustrative context for our study. Results confirm the multi-faceted and pluralistic nature of ad ethics as comprising a number of dimensional themes already salient in the existing literature but in addition, we also find evidence for a bipolar relationship between individual themes. The specific pattern of inductively derived relationships is culturally bound. Implications of the findings are discussed, followed by limitations of the study and recommendations for further research

Cultural and Informational Differences in Television Commercials in the Arab World and the United States

Standardization versus adaptation of advertising has been a subject of great controversy (Agrawal 1995; Hill & Shao 1994) that has been debated for decades. The review of the literature indicates that the pros and cons of international advertising and adaptation versus standardization in particular continue to be debated. This paper investigates cultural differences between the United States and the Arab world in regard to individualism/collectivism, contextualization, time orientation, and human relationship with nature. Results show that there are significant differences between the United States and the Arab world