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The Relationship Between Cultural Indicators and Attitudes Toward Ads
Introduction
In the modern world, advertising activities have a close connection with the cultural development of humanity. The methods and types of advertising can reflect the mentality and customs of the culture, among which an advertising campaign was created taking into account the target market. It is worth mentioning that culture is a vast indication of habits, perception, and thinking of a particular group of people. In this regard, the creators of advertising must take into account the cultural characteristics of the group of people who are the target audience for which advertising is created. Moreover, advertising is a link of a company that advertises a product or service and a person to whom the campaign is targeted, and feedback is a critical factor in the success of the creators of advertising and marketers. Undoubtedly, cultural indicators have a direct impact on people’s attitude to advertising. An essential factor in the success of an advertising campaign is the cultural analysis of the target audience, with which one can assess the likely attitude to advertising and minimize possible risks.
The Relationship Between Attitudes Toward Advertising and Brand Perception
The attitude of a person to advertising influences the attitude towards the brand and vice versa (Kaushal, S. K., and Rakesh Kumar). That is why one of the main tasks of advertising is to impress on the person that the advertised product or service is necessary for life, and also to put the brand on the best side. All this makes advertising continuously find new ways of expression since people have the habit of getting used to this type of media mass. It is also worth noting that before the creation of advertising itself, planning and careful development of an advertising campaign is necessary, which can become a crucial factor in the future success. Moreover, the impact of advertising on culture is difficult to assess, because there are no definite criteria for determining the changes that have been brought into people’s lives. It is also worth noting that advertising is a dialogue between the brand and the buyer, in which the latter is invited to purchase a particular product or service. Such actions can have a different scale, including the world scale.
Advertising as a Driver of Cultural Diversification
Paradoxically, advertising is one of the factors that influence the diversification of national cultures (Jetten and Hornsey). It is no secret that any large group of people who have unity because of geographical, historical or other signs has signs of unique cultural characteristics. Nevertheless, the socio-psychological attributes of people make many of them strive for uniqueness, distinction from other representatives of the national culture. On the other hand, it is not a fact that a person from a particular nation will not observe national customs and traditions because of the desire for uniqueness. It means that a person can simultaneously be an adherent of national cultural characteristics, but at the same time strives to achieve atypical features. The desire to differ from others makes people look for examples to follow in the media. There is a definite connection of cultural indicators with the attitude to advertising. It is worth mentioning that is meant not the relation of a particular culture, but the position of people who are part of any culture. Regardless of the peculiarities of traditions and customs, a person has to deal with advertising campaigns, as it is often part of the target audience. Fashion, which can inspire promotional elements, also has a tendency and the principle of variability.
Nevertheless, cultural aspects of advertising are reflected in all aspects of the human sphere of activity. The phenomenon of advertising is that by showing ideal conditions for the advertised product or service, a person also wants to follow such an example and strives for an ideal despite the risk of using stereotypes (Frunza, Mihaela). In turn, this concept has a close connection with a person’s desire to be unique.
Advertising as a Component of Mass Culture and its Influence
Advertising is an essential component of mass culture, which is primarily aimed at the entertainment of people. Moreover, the way and traditions of leisure activities are factors that affect cultural characteristics. One can say that advertising shows and, unfortunately, imposes standards of human behavior in society, impacts the tastes and freedom of action and choice. Primarily it is worth highlighting the relationship between the fashion industry and advertising campaigns because the two concepts are inextricably linked, so a considerable amount of money fashion brands invest in advertising (Neikova, Devora). In turn, the fashion and historical past of the nation or of all humanity influence the future of the whole culture, determining its central development tendencies. It should be noted that a person in this system is only a part of the target audience because advertising campaigns are explicitly aimed at consumers to profit or gain popularity of a particular product or service.
The goals of the company when entering the market or advertising a product or service to win a broader audience may be to create new values that people should strive for. The long-term impact on people can develop a phenomenon in which a culture changes under the influence of a particular brand or advertising campaign. For example, Apple changed the world culture in the direction of high technology in everyday life and was an innovator in this field. The company’s products, especially the iPhone, allow you to communicate with social networks, take quick snapshots and many other functions that are considered standard in modern culture, but relatively a few years ago they were unknown (Karcz, Anthony). The influence of Apple on the world culture can be an example of how advertising can manipulate the consciousness of a whole society with the goal of introducing new products and services to win a huge audience. In the minds of people, the implementation process may seem inconspicuous and natural. Nevertheless, the ideas that are presented in the advertising process reflect on the ordinary life of people. Thus, the products and services that are advertised become a public trend and the trend is the norm for a person.
Cultural Indicators and the Impact on Advertising
Advertising is a universal indicator of culture. To make the advertising campaign successful, it is necessary to take into account specific aspects of culture, not forgetting about the mentality and traditions of the country. Many world brands, which allocate a massive amount of attention and money for advertising, express an individual approach to the market of any country when developing marketing and advertising strategies. It is during their planning that the potential attitude to advertising campaigns from representatives of the target audience is also taken into account. It is worth because advertising is one of the tools of a market economy and the main engine of sales of a product or service. Nevertheless, in every country and culture advertising has its limits and norms. For example, in the US advertising has the principle of national wealth and many forms of expression (Gandy, Oscar H.). People respond to short and catchy words, pay attention to the original advertising, which is a critical factor for the success of the entire campaign.
Advertising, Culture, and the Creation of New Values
The attitude of society to advertising has many factors of occurrence. Undoubtedly, the perception of advertising depends on the emotions, feelings, thinking, and knowledge of a particular person. However, other determinants may influence the feedback from a person, such as socio-economic development, geographic location, age, gender, and others (Usman, Muhammad, et al.).
- Education affects the overall impression of advertising. Studies have not shown a clear relationship between the level of knowledge and the attitude to advertising. Nevertheless, it can be said that a person with a quality education will be more rational in evaluating the advertised products and services.
- The geographical factor has a close connection with cultural indicators in the context of advertising perception. Different ways and approaches to the construction of advertising campaigns can be even within the same country. Undoubtedly, the principle of consumption of goods and services, as well as the level of prices can be very different from the place of advertising (a big city or a quiet village). It can be concluded that people from various types of settlements have different attitudes to promotion because of different views on consumption of goods and services, as well as different needs. Accordingly, the position of advertising various groups of the population is also different.
- Age plays a role in attitude toward advertising. Studies show that the younger a person, the more loyal to the elements of advertising (Usman, Muhammad, et al.). It is worth noting that there are advertising campaigns for children, with the help of which it is possible to achieve the positive feedback from the adult population.
- There is no definite conclusion about which gender shows the best perception of advertising. Nevertheless, some of the advertising campaigns in the development stage choose the target audience precisely a particular sex based on the advertised goods and services.
Conclusion
Cultural indicators are the primary factor that should include the creators of advertising in the process of creating an advertising campaign since even within one country different groups of the population can perceive the same advertisement both positively and negatively. Cultural traditions and customs impose an imprint on the creation of advertising, as they have specific aspects and norms. It is worth noting that advertising often refers to a potential buyer of a product or service, and sometimes it can bring changes to the whole culture. Such influence can have historical significance since later this change will be perceived as a normal process. Moreover, a person within a particular culture can strive for uniqueness. In consequence, a representative of one culture has a chance to appeal to mass culture, thus encouraging advertising campaigns and follow them. It is no secret that there is a vast number of cultures in the world and in addition to their characteristics it is worth paying attention to education, socio-economic level, age and gender of people in the context of attitude to advertising.
Works Cited
Frunza, Mihaela. “Advertising, Gender Stereotypes And Religion. A Perspective From The Philosophy Of Communication.” Journal For The Study Of Religions And Ideologies, Vol. 14, no. No. 40, 2015.
Gandy, Oscar H. “Advertising, Society, And Consumer Culture.” Journalism And Mass Communication Quarterly, Vol. 89, no. No. 2, 2012.
Jetten, Jolanda, and Matthew J Hornsey. Rebels In Groups: Dissent, Deviance, Difference And Defiance. Chichester, West Sussex, U.K., Wiley-Blackwell, 2011.
Karcz, Anthony. “Forbes Welcome.” Forbes.Com, 2017, https://www.forbes.com/sites/anthonykarcz/2017/01/09/apple-iphone-10-year-anniversary/#78764e2e77d0.
Kaushal, S. K., and Rakesh Kumar. “Influence Of Attitude Towards Advertisement On Purchase Intention: Exploring The Mediating Role Of Attitude Towards Brand Using SEM Approach.” IUP Journal Of Marketing Management, Vol. 15, no. No. 4, 2016.
Neikova, Devora. “The Fashion Advertising Campaign: Big Business & Brand Identity.” Notjustalabel.Com, 2014, https://www.notjustalabel.com/editorial/fashion-advertising-campaign-big-business-brand-identity.
Usman, Muhammad et al. “General Attitude Towards Advertising: Cultural Influence In Pakistan.” International Journal Of Marketing Studies, vol 2, no. 2, 2010.
