The Impact Of Cultural Differences On The Effectiveness Of Advertisements On The Internet: A Comparison Among The United States, China, And Germany

Abstract

Hall and Hall (1990) classify German culture as a low-context culture, American culture as a medium/low-context culture, and Chinese culture as a high-context culture. A low-context culture is one where the words contain most of the information needed and there is little need to rely on the context of the events/message to help interpreting the meaning of the message/events. In contrast, a high-context culture is one where the context of the message is as important as or even more important than the words. This paper focuses on selected cultural differences among Germany, United States, and China, and the impact of these differences on the various aspects of consumer behavior. Specifically, it is focusing on the impact of cultural context on the effectiveness of the different styles of advertising.