East Meets West?: Regulatory Focus and Advertising Appeals in Korea, Canada, and the United States

To examine possible differences in persuasion between Asian and North American cultures, a content analysis of magazine ads and two experiments were conducted with respect to regulatory focus theory. The content analysis study revealed that Korean ads were more likely than North American ads to include promotion focus themes. To determine whether Koreans are likely to accept this apparent cultural shift toward Western ideas in Korean advertising, two experiments were conducted. Both Study 2 (using real ads) and Study 3 (using manipulated ads) revealed that Koreans preferred prevention focus advertising. A significant discrepancy is seemingly apparent between what advertisers are trying to communicate with consumers in Korea and what Korean consumers most value.

Citation:

Wonkyong Beth Lee, Geoffrey T. Fong, Mark P. Zanna, and Timothy Dewhirst (2008) ,"East Meets West?: Regulatory Focus and Advertising Appeals in Korea, Canada, and the United States", in LA - Latin American Advances in Consumer Research Volume 2, eds. Claudia R. Acevedo, Jose Mauro C. Hernandez, and Tina M. Lowrey, Duluth, MN : Association for Consumer Research, Pages: 152-153.