Cultural Differences Impact on the Advertising Industry - Essay Example

With globalization, societies across the world are experiencing increasing cultural diversity. Undoubtedly, globalization has affected every aspect of human life – cultural, social, or corporate. However, while this has brought about the generalization of the customs and values of a global society, it has also opened the doors for great concerns. The field of advertising is one such example that has been influenced both positively and negatively. International marketers and advertisers have to carefully target their strategies towards certain ethnic communities, which can involve deep emotions and controversies at times.

According to Hofstede (2010), “Culture is defined as the collective mental programming of the human mind which distinguishes one group of people from another.” Hofstede further stated that cultural differences between nations are observed at the deepest level, i.e. the level of values. Advertisers, as organizations, are classified at the level of their practices; these practices, according to Hofstede (ibid), are more tangible than values.The Cultural Dimension Theory by Hofstede is basically an outline for cross-cultural communication.

It effectively shows the relationship of the culture of a particular community/society to its members (Hofstede, 1980). The behavior of the members of a society is directly associated with its culture. Therefore, according to the theory, it is also illustrated that when there is a change or alteration in the culture of any society, the behavior of the society members also changes. This theory has been a great help to advertisers and marketers in their communication with cross-border audiences.

International advertisers use the theory to research and study cross-cultural psychology in order to communicate with audiences from different cultures (ibid). Furthermore, according to Hofstede’s Cultural Model, “cultural studies are not a unified theory but a diverse field of study encompassing approaches, methods and academic perspectives”.