Advertising and Culture: Variations on the Theme of Individualism in Korean and American Magazine Advertising

Social scientists regard the U.S. and the Republic of Korea as countries with opposing cultural values. Given this contrast, the advertising of each culture is expected to differ. An examination of magazine advertising indicates that American ads strongly express the individualistic culture; however, the Korean ads not only express collectivistic ideas but individualistic ones as well. Although this phenomenon is not entirely surprising given the strength of Western influence, Korean individualistic messages are different from American individualistic messages. This suggests that expressions of individualism in ads blend with the elements of each culture to produce uniquely different messages .