The impact of cultural and religious values on television and newspaper advertising content and appeal: A cross-cultural study of the United States and the Arab world

Standardization versus adaptation of advertising has been a subject of great controversy that has been debated for more than 50 years. Scholars have pointed out the increasing demand for more cross-cultural research on advertising content that can contribute to the standardization versus adaptation debate. Scholars have also pointed out that although the Arab world offers great opportunities for multinational corporations, the Arab world has been severely neglected in academic research. To comply with this demand, this study investigates the similarities and differences of the manifestation of cultural and religious values in the U.S. and the Arab world (Egypt, Lebanon, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia and United Arab Emirates) newspaper and television advertisements. This study also investigates whether advertising appeals are in accord with the conceptual cultural and religious value orientation of each country. This study utilized the method of content analysis to analyze research data. A sample of television and newspaper advertisements was taken from one national television network and one national newspaper from Egypt, Lebanon, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates and the United States. This study investigated 28 cultural and religious values and 31 advertising appeals that have been identified in the literature. Research results indicated that there are some similarities and differences in the manifestation of cultural values and advertising appeals between the U.S. and the Arab world. Cultural values that were most frequently manifested in both the U.S. and the Arab countries newspaper advertisements included: utilitarian, enjoyment, and honesty. This study also reveals that product features and merits were highly used in both the U.S. and the Arab newspaper advertisements. Enjoyment, economy and beauty were the most frequently manifested cultural values in the U.S. and the Arab world TV advertisements