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.     

Market Price of Risk: A Comparison among the United States,United Kingdom,Australia and Japan*

This study examines and compares the market price of risk of the S&P 500, FTSE 100, All Ordinaries, and Nikkei 225 markets from 1984 to 2009 in the framework of Intertemporal Capital Asset Pricing Model (ICAPM). We follow the Vector Autoregressive instrumental variable approach in identifying the risk and hedge components of market returns and argue that in the context of market integration, covariance with a world market portfolio is a better measure of market risk than conditional market variance. Evidence is documented in support of using covariance as a risk measure in explaining market risk premiums in the Australian and Japanese markets. CAY, the consumption wealth ratio from the US market is found to be a robust state variable that helps to explain both conditional variance and covariance processes in the four markets. The market prices of risk, after controlling for the hedging demands, are positive and significant with the United States having the highest price of risk. The results are confirmed using a series of robustness tests that include varying the sampling interval.     

Consumer Decision-Making Styles: Comparison Between United States and Korean Young Consumers

The purpose is to identify decision-making styles of young consumers in Korea and to find if these styles are similar to those of U.S. young consumers. An instrument, based on previous research in the United States, was administered to 310 college students in Korea. Data are factor analyzed and alpha coefficients are computed for scale reliability. Findings indicate the generality of some consumer decision-making styles. Similarities and differences between cultures are discussed, and implications are provided.     

The Impact of Program Environment on Recall of Humorous Television Commercials

This study investigated the possible effect of television program types on the recall performance of humorous television commercials. An experimental design was developed to test the relative performance of the same humorous and non-humorous ads in three different contextual environments—situation comedy, action/adventure, and documentary. The findings indicate that the recall performance of commercials and of the product or service promoted are both affected by the program environment within which the ads appear.     

A Content Analysis of the Portrayal of Mature Individuals in Television Commercials

This inquiry analyzed the extent to which television commercials used mature models, relative to younger models. It also analyzed the extent to which commercials portrayed the elderly in a favorable or an unfavorable manner. The study used content analysis to test twelve hypotheses. The authors arrived at conclusions relating to the depiction of mature individuals in television commercials and set forth various recommendations to advertisers, based on the analysis.     

A Content Analysis of Animation and Animated Spokes-Characters in Television Commercials

Abstract

This study employed content analysis to examine animation and animated spokes-characters in television advertising. The majority of spokes-characters observed in this study were humans, animal personifications, or product personifications. Characters were more likely to speak for the product than provide visual demonstration although they did both in more than half the cases. There were far more non-celebrity than celebrity spokes-characters, and a large majority of them were male. Significant differences were found in the use of animation across dayparts, program types, product classes and product categories. Although no increase was evident in the use of animation since the last study was completed, there was evidence to suggest that the role of animation has been changing in the past decade. Findings indicate that animated spokes-characters are being used more often to present high involvement products to adult audiences.     

美国、日本、韩国科技预算管理模式比较

国家科技预算管理从预算各个环节对国家科技活动进行布局和调控,直接影响本国(地区)科技发展方向以及科技对本国(地区)经济社会发展的作用.如何按照科技活动规律,建立一套既符合本国政治体制和财政体系,又能更大程度促进国家(地区)科技和经济发展战略实现的科技预算管理模式,是世界各国高度重视的问题.伴随各国经济社会发展对科技进步的需求日益增大,国家科技预算管理模式得到越来越多的关注.本研究对美国、日本和韩国现行科技预算管理模式的形成、发展趋势及其核心特征进行比较和分析,以期为进一步完善我国科技预算管理模式提供借鉴.     

The Depiction of African American Children's Activities in Television Commercials: An Assessment

This study involved a content analysis of the degree of portrayal and the favoribility of portrayal of African American children, as they were cast in various roles. It was hypothesized that these children would be less frequently and less positively portrayed in scholarly than in other roles and that scholarly depiction would vary among product classes. The research results did not support the first two but did support the third hypothesis. Various implications of the findings were drawn.     

Linking JIT strategies and control systems: A comparison of the United States and Japan

Potential blows to US competitiveness by Japanese manufacturers have been instrumental in stimulating interest in the development of manufacturing strategy theory and its importance at the level of competitive strategy. Unfortunately, little substantial empirical research effort has attempted to measure manufacturing strategy and to explore its potential linkages with management control systems in the United States and Japan. This study expands the empirical data base available on this topic by exploring the adoption of just-in-time strategies, and the use of management control systems associated with the implementation of inventory reduction and flexibility initiatives in the United States and Japan.     

Portrayals of Minorities and Women in Super Bowl Advertising

Portrayals of women and minorities advertising have long been of interest to advertising scholars. While research has found that the overall representation of these groups has increased, some stereotypes persist, and so do questions about the quality and prominence of portrayals. This study examines portrayals of minorities and women in Super Bowl advertising, the main “pop culture” showcase for US advertising. A content analysis of 10 years of Super Bowl ads is conducted and a multinomial logit regression model is employed to delve deeper into the content analysis results. Findings show that while the overall representation of women and various minority groups is strong, a deeper analysis shows that these groups are seldom depicted as primary characters by themselves and that some subtle stereotypes persist. We also find that ads featuring female principal characters are more likely to feature home settings, sexual appeals, emotional messages, and music as a major element and that it is less likely for female (vs. male) celebrities to be used. Minority principal characters are more likely to be celebrities and be included in ads with music or for technical products but are less likely to be included in ads featuring corporate social responsibility messages.     

A Comparison of Print Advertisements from the United States and France

Abstract

This study extends the research on cross-cultural advertising by comparing print advertisements from the United States and France in terms of emotional appeals, information content, and use of humor and sex. A content analysis of advertisements from two types of magazines from the United States and France revealed that French advertisements make greater use of emotional appeals, humor, and sex appeals. Advertisements from the United States were found to contain more information cues.     

Transition Ethics: A Comparison of Ukrainian and United States Business Professionals

This article compares the ethical attitudes of Ukrainian business professionals with those of United States business professionals. A widely used survey instrument consisting of 16 hypothetical situations involving ethical dilemmas was employed to gather information on ethical attitudes in the two countries. On 13 of 16 vignettes, Ukrainian respondents demonstrated less stringent ethical attitudes than did their United States counterparts. Possible reasons for these differences are discussed, with primary emphasis on the transition from one economic system to another that is underway in Ukraine. Comments from Ukrainian respondents are presented so as to give an indication of the thought processes behind the questionnaire responses. Olena Vynoslavska is Head of Psychology and Pedagogics Chair at the National Technical University of Ukraine, Kyiv. She has been a research scholar under the sponsorship of the International Research and Educational Exchange program of the United States Department of State at Baylor University. Her research has included international comparative studies of entrepreneurship and management techniques. Joseph A. McKinney is Ben H. Williams Professor of International Economics at Baylor University. He was previously on the faculty of the University of Virginia, and has served as visiting professor or research scholar to universities in Japan, France, the United Kingdom and Canada. His research interests include business ethics, international trade policy, and regional economic integration. Carlos W. Moore is the Edwin W. Streetman Professor of Marketing at Baylor University, where he has been on the faculty for more than 30 years. His research interests include business ethics, marketing and advertising evaluation, and small business strategies. He has done consulting on bank marketing and new product development. Justin G. Longenecker is Emeritus Professor of Management at Baylor University. His research interests include business ethics, entrepreneurship, and family business. He is co-author of the leading text on small business management, and is the author of scholarly articles on various aspects of business management.     

美国贸易逆差对世界流动性的影响

随着次贷危机的发展,世界流动性过剩转变为流动性紧缩.本文运用美国主要贸易伙伴国的面板数据进行分析,发现美国贸易逆差是其向全球输出流动性的一个主要渠道,是前一阶段全球货币流动性过剩形成的主要原因之一,并带来了全球资产价格上涨.而美国消费下降、贸易逆差减小,则进一步恶化了世界流动性紧缩程度.世界主要经济体必须从优化贸易结构、调整汇率制度、加强全球宏观政策协调等多方面入手,解决流动性过剩或紧缩问题产生的根源.     

美、日中小企业技术创新战略的比较分析及对中国的启示

随着经济的全球化,企业之间的竞争越来越激烈,而竞争主要依赖于科学技术,强化技术创新已经成为世界企业管理的一股潮流。中小企业在各国经济发展中占据主要的地位和发挥了独特的作用。因此加强中小企业技术创新建设,促使其健康发展,对中小企业的成长乃至国家经济发展都具有积极的推动作用。通过对美、日中小企业技术创新战略的比较分析,提出中国中小企业的技术创新战略选择。     

中美消费者消费行为比较研究：以肯德基（KFC）为例

通过对中美两国大学生(n=795)的调查,测量和比较了两国年轻消费者对肯德基(KFC)的消费行为、品牌印象和重购意愿。相对美国被访者而言,中国被访者更愿意呆在肯德基餐厅里就餐,时间也更长;中国被访者对肯德基的正面印象更多;美国被访者对肯德基未来光顾的可能和满意之间的相关度高于中国被访者。     

Consumer Bankruptcy in the United States: A Study of Alleged Abuse and of Local Legal Culture

This paper describes certain central aspects of the operation of the consumer bankruptcy system in the United States. It combines government data with the investigators' empirical data from two large studies done over a decade to explore two types of questions. The first area of investigation relates specifically to bankruptcy policy. The object is to identify the categories of persons principally served by the consumer bankruptcy system and to determine if suggestions of widespread abuse of that system by debtors are well-founded. The paper reports that the system is used primarily by the middle-class. It also reports that there is no evidence of widespread abuse. The second area of investigation is explanation of differences in the operation of the system in different regions of the country, differences that have persisted over twenty years despite major changes in legal rules and economic conditions. The paper argues that these differences are not explicable in terms of formal legal rules or a simple economic model and that a better explanation of the data is that the differences are the product of a "local legal culture" in each region.     

Functional equivalence in cross-cultural consumer behavior: Gift giving in Japan and the United States

The functional equivalence of products and consumer activities across cultures is a largely unexplored area. Yet, the lack of functional equivalence that exists may suggest the need for modification of some concepts and theories of consumer behavior. The study reported in this paper explores the functional equivalence that exists between U.S. and Japanese consumers in an important consumer activity—gift giving. The results suggest a lack of functional equivalence of this activity and illustrate how researchers should give explicit consideration to this issue in the development and testing of consumer concepts and models.