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A cultural paradox in authority‐based advertising

Jae Min Jung (International Business and Marketing Department, College of Business Administration, California State Polytechnic University, Pomona, California, USA)
Kawpong Polyorat (Department of Business Administration, Faculty of Management Science, Khon Kaen University, Khon Kaen, Thailand)
James J. Kellaris (College of Business, University of Cincinnati, Cincinnati, Ohio, USA)

International Marketing Review

ISSN: 0265-1335

Article publication date: 30 October 2009

3018

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to examine an important exception to the “value congruity hypothesis,” which holds that advertising should be more effective when it is congruent with cultural values. It documents a paradoxical “reverse authority effect” among young adult consumers in traditionally high power distance (PD) countries.

Design/methodology/approach

Two experiments were conducted using data from traditionally high (South Korea in Study 1, Thailand in Study 2) and low (USA in Study 1) PD countries. Data are analyzed by variance analyses (multivariate analysis of covariance, analyses of variance) and regression.

Findings

Results show a reverse authority effect in Korea and attenuation of this effect in the USA (Study 1). Results also show a reverse authority effect in Thailand (Study 2), suggesting the generality of the effect across young consumers in traditionally high PD countries. It appears that a shift away from traditional cultural values has occurred in the course of modernization, as Western ideology gains popularity among young adult consumers in Eastern countries.

Practical implications

Findings suggest that traditional national culture alone is not a good predictor of responses to authority‐based ads. Rather, the extent to which a segment embraces or rejects traditional cultural values is more relevant.

Originality/value

This paper documents a notable exception to the value congruity hypothesis, i.e. a negative effect of authority‐based ads among young consumers in high PD cultures. It extends prior research and has implications for both theory and practice in global advertising.

Keywords

Citation

Min Jung, J., Polyorat, K. and Kellaris, J.J. (2009), "A cultural paradox in authority‐based advertising", International Marketing Review, Vol. 26 No. 6, pp. 601-632. https://doi.org/10.1108/02651330911001314

Publisher

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Emerald Group Publishing Limited

Copyright © 2009, Emerald Group Publishing Limited

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