Advertising in Asia A Cultural Perspective Dr

Advertising in Asia – A Cultural Perspective Dr Kim-Shyan Fam Visiting Professor Szechenyi Istvan University Gyor, Hungary Oct 16 – 21, 2006 Advertising in Asia My Research

Why Asia? “Contemporary Asia cannot be considered a homogeneous entity. The region has a total population well in excess of three billion people. Its people speak several hundred different languages and dialects, and the region is characterized by a cultural, political, economic and social diversity far greater than anywhere else in the world”. Of every 100 people in the world, 61 live in Asia, 14 in Africa, 11 in Europe, 9 in Latin America, 5 in North America and less than one in Oceania according to the French Institute for Demographic Studies (ODT June 25 -26, 2005).

Why Contemporary Asia? Contemporary Asians have moved beyond a ‘needs-driven’ to that of a ‘wants-driven’ motivation => the new Asian consumers have shifted from a functional orientation to a more aesthetic orientation.

Force-Process-Outcome (Fam: ‘Effective advertising in China and India’, Proceedings of International Conference on Research in Advertising, 2005, pp. 161 -167) Force Process Outcome

Impact of Cultural Differences on Consumer Behaviour & Marketing Communications Elements of Culture: Material Language Aesthetics Education Religion Social Organization Politics & Law Values & Attitudes Ethics & Etiquettes Aspects of Consumer Behaviour: Words, Symbols & Perception Motivation Age Self-concept Group Influence Social Class Sex Roles Attitudes to Change Purchase Decision Making Post-Purchase Aspects of Marketing Communications: Message decisions (appeal, central message) Creative approaches (execution: casting & activities of people, the settings, interrelationship) Advertising styles Media planning approaches

Asian Values Asian values - are said to place more emphasis on hard work, saving and thriftiness, morality and family cohesion (Sopiee, 1995). Indian Values – preference for extended family, freedom in feeling, thinking, and cultivation of one’s inner life. Competition is severely frowned upon in Indian society because it can disrupt relationships by hurting others’ feelings. Japanese Values – value harmony, co-existence and cooperation rather than confrontation and competition, prefer high level of skill and craftsmanship, perfectionism, and a strong drive for task accomplishment. Singaporean Values – 5 shared values incorporating: nation before community and society before self; family as the basic unit of society; community support and respect for individual; consensus, not conflict; and racial and religious harmony.

The Marketing Communications Challenge To identify the cultural factors that are likely to shape some aspects of marketing communications.

My Own Research Program seeks to study the linkage of cultural orientation with: • advertisers’ choice of promotion tools • what kind of advertising might work best in each culture? • what type of product advertising should be avoided? • when is a goodbye a good buy? , and • others (agency-client relationships, IMC, managing effective promotion campaigns, etc)

Advertisers’ choice of Promotion Tools 1. Collectivism and Personal Selling (see Fam & Merrilees: Cultural values and personal selling: a comparison of Australian and Hong Kong retailers' promotion preferences - International Marketing Review, 1998) 2. Masculinity and Price-Markdowns (see Fam & Merrilees, Influences of strategic approach and cultural disposition on retailers’ perceptions of price markdowns’, Journal of Enterprising Culture, 1997) (see Fam & Brito, ‘Gender and Choice of Promotional Tools – Evidence from Portuguese Retailers’, City University of Hong Kong Working Paper, 2001). 3. Cultural values and choice of promotion Tools (see Fam: Promotion practices in East and West: A Cultural Explanation’, Journal of International Marketing and Exporting, 2001).

What kind of advertising might work best in each Culture? 1. Given the differences in cultural dimensions between the five countries/cities (Hong Kong, Shanghai, Jakarta, Bangkok and Mumbai), what constitutes a likeable (or dislikeable) television commercial attribute and which attribute is more dominant between the five cities? Project value : US$50, 000 Research commissioned by Lowe Advertising (HK) Ltd. Paper submitted to Journal of Advertising Research, June 2003)

What kind of advertising might work best in each Culture? To examine the relationship between cultural values and international (Malaysia, Singapore and Hong Kong) students' choice of promotional messages. Project value = NZ$18, 000; Funded by Otago Research Grant, 1998 -1999. Three research reports were published and a journal article appeared in the Journal of Product & Brand Management (see Gray, Fam & Llanes – Branding universities in Asian markets, 2003).

What type of product advertising should be avoided in each local market? 1. To examine the relationship between religion and advertising of controversial products across 6 countries (see Fam, Waller & Erdogan The Influence of Religion on the Attitudes towards the Advertising of Controversial Products, European Journal of Marketing, 2004) 2. To examine the relationship between gender and advertising of controversial products (see Waller & Fam - Offence to the Advertising of Controversial Products: A study of gender attitudes in China and Malaysia, Journal of Asia Pacific Marketing, 2002)

What type of product advertising should be avoided in each local market? 3. To examine the level of offence on the advertising of controversial products (see Waller & Fam - Offensive Advertising: A challenge for Marketing in China, Asian Journal of Marketing, 2002) 4. To examine the level of ad restrictions in Malaysia – a view from the people in the ad industry (see Waller & Fam – Cultural values and advertising of controversial products in Malaysia’, Asia Pacific Journal of Marketing and Logistics, 2000)

Work in Progress 1. When is a goodbye a good buy? – A study of Chinese consumers’ attitudes towards Sales Promotion and its effects on purchase satisfaction. Amount applied: HK$149, 500 (Approved on June 6, 2003). 2. Advertising in the 21 st Century Asia – A study of generational shifts in consumers’ views towards the advertising of controversial products. Amount approved: HK$98, 000 (2003). 3. Building A Strong Client-Agency Relationship – An Empirical Study of the Contributing Factors. Amount applied: HK$60, 000 (Approved on May 2002).