Cultural Values Reflected in Chinese and U.S. Television Commercials

Abstract

In this article, we have content analyzed 1,105 PRC and U.S. television commercials and identified eight cultural values that dominate either Chinese or U.S. television advertising. While U.S. commercials tend to use both symbolic and utilitarian values, Chinese commercials resort more often to symbolic ones.Our findings indicate that the current Chinese advertising is a “melting pot” of Eastern and Western cultural values and a “doubledistorted mirror” that reflects advertising’s commercial nature with a strong tendency to fit into the “idiosyncratic” social reality in China. The openness of the “melting pot” and the closing tendency in the “double-distorted mirror” have significant implications for advertising professionals as well as researchers.We also found that cultural values depicted in Chinese television commercials have much to do with product categories and product origins. Commercials for imported products are currently the pacesetter for Western cultural values conveyed in Chinese television advertising, followed by commercials for joint-venture products.