The effects of cultural appeal, product involvement, and ethnic identity on attitudes and recall in online advertising

Abstract

The three studies presented here use four distinct samples that were gathered in mainland China, the United States, and Malaysia. We examined the persuasive effects of culturally congruent online advertising. We also explored the effects of interactions between ethnic identity and product category. Our findings showed that advertisements with collectivistic appeal, although they enhanced attitudes toward ads and brands across all samples, tended to diminish advertising recall. Furthermore, our results revealed that the level of ethnic identity and product category interacted with the main effects of culture on attitudes. Specifically, participants with high levels of ethnic identity had particularly strong reactions to culturally congruent advertisements. In addition, the attitudinal and cognitive effects of cultural appeal tended to diminish in high-involvement product advertisements, which may explain the decreased levels of recall observed in our initial inquiries. Our findings are presented in the contexts of global branding and future cross-cultural advertising research.

Keywords::

• culture
• advertising
• online
• attitudes
• cognition
• product involvement
• Chinese
• Internet
• accommodation
• digital

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Gennadi Gevorgyan

Gennadi Gevorgyan is an assistant professor at Xavier University in Cincinnati, Ohio. Dr. Gevorgyan currently teaches advertising creative strategy, media campaigns, media planning, visual communication, and social media marketing courses. Dr. Gevorgyan has held numerous marketing and advertising positions with print and digital media outlets. His research interests include global branding, human-computer and virtual interactions, online behavior, and decision-making.

Naira Manucharova

Naira Manucharova is the deputy editor of the newspaper Novoe Vremya (New Times). She has over 30 years of professional experience in news reporting, political commentary, and media management. Ms. Manucharova's research interests include political communication, gender issues, and online media consumption. She holds an MA in Russian Linguistics and Literature from Yerevan State University.