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

Understanding the nature and influences of cultural differences is central to international marketing. This article investigates cultural differences in television advertising between the United States and a select group of countries in the Arab world on the cultural dimensions of contextualization, individualism/collectivism, time orientation, and human perception of nature. The results indicate that while there are many differences between the United States and the Arab world, there are also similarities. The results indicate that there are also differences between the Arab countries, and the Arab countries should not be viewed as the same in certain situations.     

城镇化背景下中国文化产品贸易的影响因素研究

文化建设是城镇化的重要内容,城镇化进程会从供给、需求、交流等方面促进中国文化产品贸易。结合贸易双方城镇化进程、文化产业投入等因素,基于扩展引力模型分析中国文化产品贸易的影响因素,结果表明:对象国城镇化进程、人口数量、人均GDP和信息技术水平对中国文化产品贸易有显著的正向影响,双方的地理距离则对其呈现显著的负向影响,同时,中国的信息技术水平对中国文化产品贸易也具有显著的正向促进作用。     

A Comparative Analysis of Arab and U.S. Cultural Values on the Web

ABSTRACT

This study aims to explore the depiction of cultural values on global websites. There exists a research gap in terms of better understanding cross-cultural differences in web communications between the Arab and Western worlds. Thus, we conducted content analysis to examine the cultural values on websites from Arab countries and the U.S. The results suggest that local websites of Arab countries and the United States tend to differ significantly from each other on cultural contents. The proposed cultural findings can serve as a guide for creating culturally congruent international websites.     

The canada-U.S. free trade agreement

This article examines the forces that caused Canada and the United States to negotiate the free trade agreement, its principal provisions, the projected welfare gains, and estimated labor adjustments. Focusing on the latter, the impact on manufacturing employment is expected to be positive but small in the United States and negative but small in Canada; with the agriculture and resource sectors losing employment shares in both countries. The impact on services will be negligible in the United States and positive in Canada. Focusing on specific industries, nonferrous metals sector appears vulnerable in the United States, while textiles, clothing, furniture and fixtures, electrical and nonelectrical equipment and machinery, nonmetallic mineral products, and fabricated metal products appear vulnerable in Canada. However, actual job losses could be significantly circumscribed by moderate growth and employee turnover, and within vulnerable Canadian industries, there are pockets of significant strength such as in office furniture and telecommunications equipment.     

Culture,Attitudes, and Media Patterns in China,Taiwan, and the U.S.: Balancing Standardization and Localization Decisions

ABSTRACT

A study was undertaken to examine cultural orientations, attitudes toward advertising, and media use patterns across China, Taiwan, and the United States. China and Taiwan share similar cultural backgrounds, yet their economies and advertising industries have evolved quite differently due to different social and political settings. The United States was included to provide a point of comparison. Understanding media patterns, cultural orientations, and attitudes can help better ascertain the potential for using standardized strategies by international advertisers across different markets. Industry and consumer trends in evolving markets can also be monitored. Consumers in China and Taiwan were found to be more similar than different. For example, consumers in both markets were less individualistic and more collectivistic than their counterparts in the U.S. They also exhibited more favorable attitudes toward advertising than American consumers. Furthermore, Chinese and Taiwanese respondents spent significantly more time with print media than American respondents. Implications of the findings for balancing standardization and localization decisions are discussed.     

中国与日韩文化商品贸易实证分析

国际贸易中文化产品和文化服务贸易以“指数级”增长。各国文化产品在国际贸易中的竞争地位，不仅关系到本国的经济利益，而且关系到本国文化在世界文化发展中的地位。从经济学的角度对中日韩三国的文化商品贸易进行分析，为文化产业成为中国的重要战略产业提供理论依据。     

Cultural orientations and environmental sustainability in households: A comparative analysis of Hispanics and non‐Hispanic Whites in the United States

This article explores the effect of cultural orientations on the sustainable household behaviours of Hispanic immigrants and non‐Hispanic Whites in the United States. A model is tested in which the personal‐level cultural orientations of interdependence‐independence determine consumers' environmental value and concern, which in turn, affect sustainable behaviours (recycling, water, electricity and energy conservation). Results from a sample of 338 Hispanic immigrants and 249 non‐Hispanic Whites indicate that interdependence predicts environmental values among non‐Hispanic Whites. For the Hispanic sample, neither interdependence nor independence predict environmental value. In both samples, environmental value is positively associated with environmental concern, which is positively related to sustainable behaviours. The relationships between environmental concern and all four behaviours are relatively weaker among Hispanics compared to non‐Hispanic Whites, suggesting that immigrants have not yet fully embraced mainstream American pro‐environmental ideals and practices. Our study sheds light on cultural differences regarding environmental values and concerns, and implies theoretical and practical recommendations for marketers in the United States.     

长沙市文化产业发展模式研究

文化是城市的重要标识,而文化产业也正日益成为现代化城市经济发展的支柱产业之一。作为历史文化名城的长沙市,其文化产业发展有起步早、影响大、发展快和活力强等优势,但在新形势下也存在制约快速发展的瓶颈问题。根据国内外文化产业发展模式,并结合长沙实际,可通过构建资源型文化产业发展模式、传媒型文化产业发展模式和制造型文化产业发展模式等三种文化发展模式,并根据不同模式特,最采取不同的实施策略。以此推动长沙市文化产业的跨越式发展。     

The Development of Large Scale Enterprise in Australia, 1910–64

This essay explores the development of large scale enterprise in Australia, an economy in which resource industries were unusually important and with a very small domestic market. Using asset size as a yardstick, the authors construct a series of the 100 largest firms operating in the years 1910, 1930, 1952 and 1964. These lists allow the identification of firms by industry and whether they were foreign-owned. Cross-country comparisons are also made. Further, the authors discuss the more qualitative aspects of Australian large scale enterprise in the context of whether these firms approximated the competitive capitalism of the United States or the family capitalism of Britain. They concluded that Australian firms displayed little of the dynamism of the leading firms in the United States. Protectionist government policies explain part of this behavioural trait.     

The Role of the Advertising Agency in the Cultural Message Content of Advertisements: A Comparison of the Middle East and the United States

ABSTRACT

This study compared responses of advertising agencies located in the Middle East and the United States to an email survey examining their approach in designing advertisements. The survey examined whether the advertising agency incorporated area-specific cultural values and advertising appeals in the execution of their advertisements. Results indicate that indeed advertising agencies do use, or at least report to use, different cultural values and advertising appeals. Advertising agencies in the Middle East tend to focus more on filial obedience, customs and traditions, loyalty to one's group, honor, and patience. In addition, agencies in the Middle East reported that they tended to portray women in a more modest fashion than their counterparts in the United States.     

中国文化产品贸易现状、问题及对策

作为世界贸易大国,我国在文化产品贸易方面却属于贸易弱国,存在着贸易逆差严重、产品结构不合理等问题,其主要原因在于我国文化产业发展落后、文化企业缺少国际竞争力、文化产品在传播过程中的折扣度高等。为使我国文化产品能够"走出去",政府应加大对文化产业的扶持力度,加强专业人才培养,研究国外市场,有选择、有重点地出口我国文化产品。     

文化产业对相关产业的带动效应研究

文化产业之所以能够成为国民经济支柱性产业,除它对经济增长有显著的贡献以外,还取决于它对相关产业有较强的带动作用。文化产业作为一个独立的经济门类,是整个国民经济产业体系中较大一个子系统,所跨行业幅度大,产业链延伸长,导致它的带动作用明显。文章首先分析文化产业与相关产业的关联特征和作用机理,然后根据我国投入产出表,借助投入产出模型实证分析我国文化产业的产业关联度系数、影响力系数和感应度系数等,以找出目前我国文化产业关联性方面存在的问题和不足。最后,文章提出了提升我国文化产业关联度的若干对策。     

Consumer Response to Advertising Endorsers' Sexual Information: Western Individualism vs. Eastern Confucian Conservatism

Focusing on the cultural differences between the United States and South Korea, this study examines the moderating effects of advertising endorsers' gender (male vs. female) and intimate sexual information (i.e., premarital sexual behavior) on consumer responses to advertising. The results demonstrate that intimate sexual information of advertising endorsers was negatively perceived among Korean consumers but not among U.S. consumers. In addition, Korean consumers evaluated intimate sexual information of female endorsers more negatively than that of male endorsers, suggesting gender-biased processing. These findings provide several theoretical and practical implications.     

解析美国巨额贸易逆差形成的原因

随着近年来经济全球化进程的加快,美国出现了全球所独有的巨额贸易逆差,并呈现出不断扩大的趋势,分析其贸易逆差形成的原因具有十分重要的现实意义。本文结合当今全球贸易的新特点,重点分析了美国制造业商品贸易的变化,指出美国信息产业等诸多产业已经转移到新兴工业化国家,尤其是亚洲国家。这种全球性的产业转移和技术扩散引致美国制造业国际竞争力下降是其巨额贸易逆差形成和扩大的主要原因。     

United States concessions in the Kennedy Round and short-run labor adjustment costs

This paper reports on an econometric analysis of the exemptions awarded to United States industries from the across-the-board 50 percent tariff cut imposed in the Kennedy Round. It is shown that as much as 50 percent of the inter-industry variation in reductions in nominal tariff and non-tariff rates may be accounted for by variables that proxy labor adjustment costs. In particular, certain industrial characteristics are significantly related to the Kennedy Round reductions: declining industries, and industries with a high proportion of unskilled or old workers, are associated with low reductions.     

Antecedents of Belief in Global Citizenship: A Two-Country Empirical Investigation

ABSTRACT

This research contributes to the existing literature by investigating the antecedents of belief in global citizenship. Previous literature in global brand management has provided strong evidence of the importance of perceived quality and social prestige of global brands in influencing consumers’ evaluations of global brands. Accordingly, the authors’ model focuses on the perceived quality and social prestige of global brands as antecedents of consumers’ belief in global citizenship. In addition, they examine the direct and indirect effects of consumer ethnocentricity and cultural openness on consumers’ belief in global citizenship. They empirically examine this framework within a rich cross-cultural context using samples from the United States and India (developed and developing countries). The proposed model suggests that perceived quality and social prestige of global brands are mediators of the relationship between ethnocentricity and cultural openness and consumers’ belief in global citizenship. They followed Gerbing and Anderson's two-step approach to develop a measurement model with an acceptable fit to the data and then conducted a structural model to test the hypothesized relationships. The authors conducted χ² difference tests to examine the structure of their hypothesized relationships across the United States and India. The results support partial mediation for perceived quality and social prestige of global brands on the relationship between ethnocentricity and cultural openness and consumers’ belief in global citizenship. Furthermore, they demonstrate some interesting differences in the relationships in the model across the two samples.     

The federal role in international business education

Rapid global change, driven especially by the telecommunications, computing, and biotechnology industries, are rapidly transforming the international economic, social, and cultural landscape. Affected are both urban and rural businesses that face intense competition at home and abroad. If the United States is to continue to main‐tain a competitive advantage in the global marketplace, educational institutions must prepare the next generation of leaders for a pluralistic world in which multi‐culturalism dominates and international business education is multidimensional. This article addresses the role that the U.S. federal government has played in prepar‐ing international business graduates. It examines the contributions of two federal grant programs: the Business and International Education program and the Centers for International Business program, both authorized under the Higher Education Act of 1965 as amended. ? 2001 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.     

Dominant Cultural Values

SUMMARY

This study expands on previous work in exploring dominant cultural values portrayed in print magazine advertisements in the United States of America (U.S.) and India across and within product categories. A modified version of Cheng and Schweitzer's (1996) coding framework is used for the study. The differences and similarities in the observed frequencies of the dominant cultural values portrayed in the print magazine advertisements are discussed. The analysis shows a commonality of the dominant values frequently portrayed in the magazine advertisements of both countries although statistically significant differences in their frequency of occurrence are also present for several of the observed values both across and within product categories. The results are consistent with those of researchers advocating a middle-of-the-road approach in the standardization versus adaptation debate of advertising messages. Advertising campaigns in each country should be assessed carefully in terms of target market, cultural and environmental factors, and also upon the nature of the product.     

Dos and don'ts for Chinese companies investing in the United States: Lessons from Huawei and Haier

The implementation of the Chinese government's “Go Global” policy in 2000 has led to an unprecedented surge in Chinese outward foreign direct investment (OFDI). While Asia remains a favorite destination, the 2008–09 global financial crisis has presented opportunities for Chinese companies interested in cross‐border mergers and acquisitions in the United States. Chinese companies are keen on the United States because of access to the world's largest market and technology. However, Chinese companies have had to deal with difficulties ranging from regulatory hurdles and cultural differences. Given that the majority of OFDI is still carried out by state‐owned enterprises (SOEs), the primary obstacle for Chinese investors at the federal level is the Committee of Foreign Investment to the United States. This has proven to be an insurmountable obstacle so far for Chinese telecom company Huawei. However, the US investment environment is not all gloom and doom for Chinese companies. There are success stories too like Haier, which has managed to overcome cultural differences. This article aims to do a comparative study of Huawei and Haier and highlight the lessons the companies offer for Chinese companies interested in investing in the United States. © 2011 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.