Michael Callow

Sociocultural meanings in visually standardized print ads

The purpose of this paper is to explore the effectiveness of using standardized visual images in global print advertising campaigns. In particular, it examines how visual images depicting social (in)activity are interpreted among students from the USA, Spain, and the Philippines. Halls contextual typology and Brewers social identity theory are used to conceptually explain variations in consumers’ implicature development. The results of the quasi‐experimental study suggest that high‐context audiences are more inclined than low‐context audiences to over‐read into the meaning of the visual, and that the types of weak implicatures created are positively related to the audiences perceived social identity.

Implicit meaning in visual print advertisements: a cross-cultural examination of the contextual communication effect

Although there is an abundance of literature on cross-cultural comparisons of advertising appeals, very little is known about how consumers from different cultures process visual images in print advertisements. This article addresses the issue by examining how contextual communication styles influence the audiences ability to interpret meaning from pictorial advertisements. The results of a quasi-experimental study conducted using subjects from the Philippines and the United States support the proposition that consumers from high-context communication systems are more apt than those from low-context communication systems to derive implicit meaning from visual images in print ads. We discuss the implications of our findings for global advertising strategies.

Content analysis in cross-cultural advertising research: insightful or superficial?

Historically, cross-cultural researchers have used content analysis as their primary method for comparing ads. Recently, however, content analysis has been criticised for being a purely descriptive method that provides the researcher with little if any insight regarding advertising effectiveness. To address this methodological limitation, we argue that researchers should incorporate consumer interpretation into their cross-cultural advertising studies. More specifically, we explicate a variation of content analysis that is predicated on consumer interpretation of the advertising under study and test it against the traditional content analytic approach. The results of our study and the implications for future cross-cultural advertising research are discussed.

Consumer evaluations of price discounts in foreign currencies

Today’s consumers are becoming increasingly exposed to foreign markets through travel or via the Internet. They are facing new challenges in these less familiar shopping environments. One such challenge is the comparison of prices in a foreign currency. This issue is addressed by examining how consumers from different countries evaluate such price discounts. Hypotheses are developed regarding the impact of currency denomination familiarity on consumers’ attitudinal response to changes in prices. The results of an experimental study conducted in Italy and the USA support the proposition that consumers who are more familiar with the foreign currency’s denomination will be more influenced by price differentials than those consumers who are less familiar with the foreign currency’s denomination. The implications of the findings for pricing strategies in regional trade zones, international tourism, and global e‐marketing are discussed.

The ‘Spanglification’ of Advertising Campaigns in Hispanic Media? A Comparison of Approaches in Spanish‐only and Dual Language Magazines

The Hispanic market in the USA is a rapidly growing demographic segment that receives considerable attention from marketers. In addition, there is a considerable amount of literature on the Hispanic consumers attitude towards advertising. Prior research has focused on the Hispanic audiences preference for English language versus Spanish language advertisements and provided normative guidelines for advertisers. This paper analyses the content from advertisements in a Spanish language magazine and dual language (English–Spanish) magazine in order to determine whether they adhere to these normative guidelines. The findings suggest that media vehicle selection does play a part in determining the language content of an advertisement as well as the amount of copy used in English language and Spanish language advertisements. The results also suggest that the amount of advertisements that use a bilingual approach remains small, with advertisers preferring an either/or approach to language selection.