earticle

영어

In general, public service advertisements (PSA) reflect political ideologies and cultural viewpoints in a society. This study compared message appeals shown in PSAs of two countries, the United States of America as the most representative capitalism country and China as the most representative communism country. Considering the fact that both countries are forerunners in different political and cultural sphere, it is possible to assume that there will be cultural differences in PSAs of both countries. Particularly, this study noted such cultural dimensions as high- and low-context communication by Hall (1976), collectivism vs. individualism, masculinity vs. femininity, large vs. small power distance, strong vs. weak uncertainty avoidance, and long-term vs. short-term orientation by Hofstede (1991). Applying those theoretical frameworks, this study performed a content analysis for a total of 292 PSAs (125 from U. S. and 167 from China). According to the results, American PSAs used more informational appeals than its counterparts, whereas Chinese PSAs used more emotional appeals than its counterparts. It indicated that American PSAs used more low-context communication than Chinese PSAs did. Second, American PSAs were more likely to adopt individualistic appeals, whereas Chinese PSAs used more collective appeals. Both countries’ PSAs used more famine than masculine appeals, showed low acceptance of power distance, showed the tolerance of uncertainty, and used more long-term orientation appeals in common. However, both countries showed statistically significant differences in spite of the same cultural direction. That is, American PSAs showed lower acceptance of power distance and more long-term orientation appeals than its counterparts. On the other hand, Chinese PSAs were more famine and lower uncertainty avoidance than its counterparts. Based on the results, the study discussed theoretical and practical implications in depth.