“Cultumization?” The Impact of Cultural Priming on Customized Communication

Abstract

This study examined the impact of cultural priming on the effects of customized communication. Two existing customization approaches (tailoring and targeting) were tested with 102 participants in an experiment. It was found that when participants were primed with individualistic meanings, they tended to generate a more favorable attitude toward tailored messages than targeted messages. In contrast, when participants were primed with collectivist meanings, they formed a more favorable attitude toward targeted messages than tailored ones. Based on the study findings, the conceptualization of customization needs to incorporate the cultural factor.

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Notes on contributors

Cong Li

Cong Li (Ph.D., University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, 2008) is an Assistant Professor in the School of Communication at University of Miami. His research interests include applying theoretical perspectives from online communication and cultural psychology to the study of advertising and marketing messages, particularly as they inform cognition, affect, and behavior.