Cultural and Informational Differences in Television Commercials in the Arab World and the United States

Standardization versus adaptation of advertising has been a subject of great controversy (Agrawal 1995; Hill & Shao 1994) that has been debated for decades. The review of the literature indicates that the pros and cons of international advertising and adaptation versus standardization in particular continue to be debated. This paper investigates cultural differences between the United States and the Arab world in regard to individualism/collectivism, contextualization, time orientation, and human relationship with nature. Results show that there are significant differences between the United States and the Arab world