A Content Analysis of Magazine Advertisements from the United States and the Arab World.(Industry Overview)

Journal of Advertising

| September 22, 2000 | Al-Olayan, Fahad S.; Karande, Kiran | This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan.  All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)Copyright

In recent years, a wealth of literature has increased our understanding of cross-cultural differences in advertising content. Abernethy and Franke (1996) point out a gap in literature stating that "no study has examined the advertising information in any African nation, any part of the Middle East other than Saudi Arabia, or any of the economies in transition associated with the former USSR." The current study, therefore, investigates differences in content of magazine advertisements from the United States and the Arab world comprising twelve Middle Eastern countries and ten African countries. Differences in the depiction of men and women, the extent of comparative advertising, the extent of information content, and the extent of price information are hypothesized, based on the role of religion in forming values (Luqmani, Yavas and Quraeshi 1987), the level of individualism (Hofstede 1980), and whether the culture is high-context or low-context (Hall 1976), as well as economic differences. One thousand sixty- four ads from Egyptian, Lebanese and United Arab Emirates, as well as pan-Arabic general interest, family, and women's magazines, together with 540 ads from three U.S. general interest, family and women's magazines, were content analyzed. It was found that people are depicted less frequently in Arabic magazine ads. However, in ads in which people are shown, there are no differences in the extent to which women are depicted. In ads in which women are shown, they are depicted wearing long dresses, and tend to be pictured in ads when their presence relates to the advertised product. Also, in ads showing people, there are no differences in the extent to which male models are depicted. U.S. ads have more information content, provide more price information, and use more comparative advertising than Arabic ads. Implications for international marketers wanting to advertise in Arab magazines are offered. Limitations and extensions are also discussed.

In recent years, a wealth of literature has increased our understanding of cross-cultural differences in advertising content (Abernethy and Franke 1996). Many studies have compared ad content across dissimilar cultures such as the United States and Japan (e.g., Hong, Muderrisoglu and Zinkhan 1987; Javalgi, Cutler and Malhotra 1995; Mueller 1987, 1992). Other studies have focused on the similarities and differences in advertising expressions between the United States and other culturally similar countries such as Great Britain and Australia (Dowling 1980; Weinberger and Spotts 1989a, 1989b), the European Community (Cutler and Javalgi 1992), Sweden (Wiles, Wiles and TjernlUnd 1996) and France (Biswas, Olsen and Carlet 1992). In a meta-analysis of advertising content studies, Abernethy and Franke (1996) found that those involving the United States dominate the literature, with 40 out of 59 studies analyzed dealing with United States media. In reviewing the literature, they noted that "much less is known about a dvertising information in other countries. For example, no study has examined the advertising information in any African nation, any part of the Middle East other than Saudi Arabia, or any of the 'economies in transition' associated with the former USSR" (p. 15).

This paper extends the research in cross-cultural advertising by analyzing the content of magazine advertisements from the U.S. and the Arab world, which is composed of twelve Middle Eastern countries (Bahrain, Iraq, Jordan, Kuwait, Lebanon, Oman, Palestine [the Gaza strip and West Bank], Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Syria, U.A.E. and Yemen) and ten African countries (Algeria, Egypt, Eritrea, Djibouti, Libya, Mauritania, Morocco, Somalia, Sudan and Tunisia). This study is not only a response to Abernethy and Franke's call, but is also significant for several other reasons. First, many Arab countries, such as Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, Bahrain and United Arab Emirates, are considered good markets, particularly for luxury goods and services, because of the high level of national income in these countries. The Arab world consists of approximately 275 million people, with total imports of over $150 billion. Second, due to global competition, their economies have undergone tremendous transformation within the last decade. Mos t Arab countries have pursued privatization and liberalization, which has led to more competition, entailing intensive advertising. Third, by contrasting magazine ad content in the United States and the Arab world, this study will facilitate a better understanding as to how Western-oriented advertising practices need to be modified to accommodate the religious beliefs, traditions and lifestyles of the Arab world.

While media in the Arab world are not as developed as in the United States, they are in the process of evolving into a more progressive state. Traditionally, print media have had the dominant share of advertising dollars (Martin 1998a). Newspapers have been the backbone of the Arabic media, but magazines are becoming more popular as advertising vehicles because of improved quality (Martin 1998a). Titles such as Hia compete with Western glossies, and publications of all sorts are improving the quality of editorial work, photography and paper (Martin 1998a). Arab publications can be classified broadly as "local" (for one country), "regional" (for one country with some spillover), or "pan-Arab" (for the whole of the Middle East and North Africa)(Martin 1998a). In this study, we analyze ads from pan-Arabic as well as local general interest, family, and women's magazines from Egypt, Lebanon and the United Arab Emirates. These countries are chosen because they are from the larger North African, Middle Eastern and Gulf regions. Therefore, the results can be generalized to an Arab population of approximately 275 million.

Background

It is generally accepted that consumers respond favorably to advertising messages that are congruent with their culture and reward advertisers who understand their culture and tailor their ads to reflect its values (Zhang and Gelb 1996). Therefore, understanding cultural differences is often considered a necessity for successful international advertising (Keegan 1996). The task of the advertiser is simplified greatly if advertising differences across cultures can be predicted (Albers-Miller and Gelb 1996). Thus, in addition to the existence of differences in ad content, the reasons for those differences are important to the international advertiser.

Differences in advertising content have been explained using different perspectives such as Hofstede's cultural dimensions (Albers-Miller and Gelb 1996), Hall's (1976) high and low context typology (Biswas, Olsen and Carlet 1992; Mueller 1992), and other country-specific variables, such as political philosophy and level of involvement (Rice and Lu 1988), and emotional versus rational style of decision-making (Javalgi, Cutler and Malhotra 1995). Ad content differences are complex and depend upon many factors, including those identified by past studies. To our knowledge, however, no study has explained advertising content based on religious beliefs, although religious beliefs form an important component of culture.

In this study, differences in ad content between U.S. and Arabic magazine ads are explained using cultural and economic reasons. The cultural reasons are based on the notion that Arab cultural values and norms are formed based on Islamic religious beliefs as well as other cultural factors such as the more collectivistic (Hofstede 1980) and high-context (Hall 1976) nature of Arabic culture. The American value system, on the other hand, is based predominantly on Christian beliefs (Protestant and Catholic), and is more individualistic (Hofstede 1980) and low-context (Hall 1976). This study is based on a contention that advertisers, in general, attempt to make advertisements consistent with the value system of the concerned culture. Economic reasons for differences in ad content are based on the United States being an economically more advanced market compared to Arab countries.

Over the past decade, a number of studies have made contributions to our understanding of differences between cultures in terms of the informational and emotional content of advertisements as well as humor, comparative ads and sex role portrayal (Abernethy and Franke 1996). This study investigates the differences in ad content of magazines from the United States and the Arab world in terms of their depiction of men and women, use of comparative ads, extent of information contained in the ad, and use of price appeals. The dimensions studied focus on ad execution and are driven mainly by theoretical explanations of the differences. While much is known about advertising in the United States, not much is known about advertising in the Arab world. Fundamentally, four issues that are important to international advertisers wanting to advertise in Arabic magazines are addressed in this study:

* To what extent are men and women shown in advertisements? Specifically, to what extent are women shown in advertisements and how are they depicted?

* To what extent are comparative ads used?

* To what extent do ads provide information?

* To what extent are price appeals used?

This study is also relevant to the standardization versus adaptation debate. Many scholars believe that it is difficult to standardize advertising and promotion in different markets (Geier 1986; Hornik 1980; …

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