María del Mar Rubio-Hernández

Individualism in Western advertising: A comparative study of Spanish and US newspaper advertisements

Following an extended tradition in cross-cultural research about individualism and collectivism as defining features of national cultures, this article aims to go in depth by taking into account the implications of these complex concepts. Under the premise that advertising is a product that reflects cultural values, this article focuses on a comparative content analysis of newspaper advertisements from the United States and Spain, two presumably different Western countries as far as the individualism–collectivism continuum is concerned. The conclusions obtained challenge some theoretical assumptions regarding this topic. The evolution of Spanish society as mirrored by advertising is discussed as well.

Marcas compartidas. El branding relacional como base para la movilización de los consumidores

The fact that the public has abandoned its traditional passive role concerning the media is evident in several areas, such as the focus of the present article: persuasive communication. Brands managers, who are aware of this new part played by increasing active consumers and the benefits that it implies, design communication strategies meant to encourage their participation, as well as try- ing to build long-lasting relationships, based on shared stories. The promotion actions relay on the social media and online communities as their main allies, since they function as platforms for collective collaboration and the creation of common experiences among the users of a certain product. This article briefly reviews the latest communication theories which explain the success of the participatory culture as a way of promotion, not only applied to products and services, but to other fields such as politics, tourism or television shows. Furthermore, those theories are explained through real cases that have been developed in the last years, with the aim of demonstrating their efficiency and their growing importance in brand management.