透过广告创意看中西文化差异
?Chapter 1 IntroductionAs a cultural product， advertising is coming into the whole world and becomes a typical social phenomenon and cultural pattern.
Nowadays， advertising has leaved a deep impression on people through many ways， such as newspaper， TV， Internet， radio and so on. No matter if you have perceived a change that advertising has become an integral part of society. It’s generally considered that advertising is a form of persuasive communication that offers information about products， ideas and services so as to promote sales. So the central aim of advertising is to increase the probability that consumers exposed to an advertisement will behave or believe as the wishes. Because of this， the creativity is very important in advertisement which can attract consumers’ interests and try to appeal to their tastes as soon as possible. But culture different in every country， has different impact on cultural heritage for future generations of cultural development and way of thinking. Thus， advertisement wants to develop and dominate the market， should tailor to the taste of the general public， which asks that advertising creativity should be equal to the cultural background of the target market， so as to succeeds best. This paper tries to compare the cultural differences between China and Western countries by analyzing how different ways of thinking， different philosophical concept， and different sense of same word affect advertising creativity， as well as to help admen meet new challenges in the trend of integration and of nationalization and globalization in advertising creativity.Chapter 2 Cultural and Advertising Creativity
2.1 The Definition and Influence of Culture
2.1.1 The Definition of Culture
It is very hard to define the culture， owing to the concept so broadly and extensively， but there are a great many well-known scholars have provided distinct definitions.
In the book Primitive Culture， Edward Burnett Taylor defined culture as: a completed system including knowledge， faith， art， low， morality， custom， and all the abilities and habitats from which a social member would acquire (Taylor， E.B， 1958: 6). And H. Douglas Brown also defines it as a collection of beliefs， habits， living patterns which are held more or less in common by people who occupy particular geographic areas. From these two definitions of culture， we can know that culture is created and developed in the process of historical evolution by the human community where people share common language， common economic life as well as common psychology(邓杰等，2008: 85-87).2.1.2 The Influence of Culture
In the present era， as the world gets smaller， culture is becoming a more and more important
source of national cohesion and creativity and a factor of growing significance in the competition in overall strength. The Seventeenth Congress of Communist Party of China (CPC) has em
phasized for many times. In addition， Churchill also stresses，“I would rather lose an India， also not the wish to lose a Shakespeare.”We can see the influence of culture is enormous from above.2.2 The Definition and Influence of Advertising Creativity
2.2.1 The Definition of Advertising Creativity
Broadly speaking， advertising creativity is a creative thinking activity， as long as it is presented by creating new aspects，
which involve strategy， image， tactical as well as the media of choice. In a narrow sense， advertising creativity is used to create different visual and sound effects through bold new approach， to attract consumers at the most， so as to get good quality brand communication and occupy the market.2.2.2 The Influence of Advertising Creativity
As a key of modern commercial seal， creativeness has come into every field of advertising.
If an advertisement without creativeness， it does not have life and appeal. Such advertisements cannot deliver the commodity information accurately and guide the consumption decision objectively. On the country， a creative advertising not only makes the customer know the name of products， but also exerts extensive and far- reaching influence on our life， values， thoughts， beliefs， habits and behaviors. It can take deeper place in the bottom of customer’s heart. Thus， advertising creativity must have close attention to local culture， to explore potential market.2.3 The Relationship between Culture and Advertising Creativity
Culture is diversity in the content and form.
Advertisement is a kind of culture that is a necessary component part of social culture， and it’s closely linked with the change of culture. Advertisement is not fabricated but keep close connection with the social and cultural background including nation， language， and traditional culture and so on (杨鹏， 2008: 114-115). In a word， culture affects and restricts the development and expression of advertising， which makes the advertisements various in different countries， nationalities and times. Advertising as a commercial activity， the fist goal is persuading customers into purchasing good， so it’
s imperative that advertising creativity should get acceptance from the customers whose capacity is different in different cultural countries. Therefore， advertising creativity should take the public of information and habits into account. At the same time， advertising creativity also should reflect and inherit the local culture. Everyone has accustomed to the way of thinking， behavior and emotions in a certain cultural background. Only this， the advertisement can make the customers understand and accept.All in all， on the one hand， advertising creativity promote protects successfully by the means of the culture.
On the other hand， advertising creativity itself is a kind of culture， helping to perpetuate the culture. Therefore
， we must strengthen the study of culture in the process of advertising creativity， which makes the commodity adapt and explore new situation.Chapter 3 Cultural Factors in Advertising Creativity
3.1 The Different Ways of Thinking
The way of thought patterns serves as a bridge linking language with culture.
“The different ways of thinking in fact are the reflection of cultural difference. People who live in different areas for along time have different cultural characteristics; therefore， their ways of thinking are different.”(邓炎昌， 1989:484) When different culture happen clash， people will reject instinctively alien culture according to their ways of thought to identify， who are enjoying and watching advertisements， but to make a display of the same culture affection. Thus， different advertising creativity also developed.3.1.1 Collectivism and Individualism
Advertising creativity can reflect and express the cultural values， which is the most obvious cultural difference between China and Western.
Influenced by the Confucianism， Chinese people pay attention to the group， family， society and country. That is to say， Chinese people are bound by the intense national consciousness， other-consciousness and feudal ethical code， giving high priority to collectivism rather than individualism. On the contrary， the westerners believe individualism superior to collectivism， which emphasis individual value， individual freedom， and individual character.Let’s look the Chinese advertising firstly.
We Chinese must know the slogan of China Unicom“情系中国结，联通四海心。and the slogan of Pepsi-Cola “把乐带回家。” It is not difficult from these successful advertising creativities to find out the collectivism has deeply rooted in the Chinese traditional culture. Chinese people are inclined to collective idea and family values， so as the cell of China’s social structure， country and family endowed a special feeling. In Chinese people eyes， home is very sacred and it is people’s heart harbor. Therefore， Chinese people are extremely keen on these advertisements as it meets consumer demands in culture life and emotional needs.On the contrary， the westerners believe individualism superior to collectivism， so these advertising creativities will not win favor in Western countries.
The westerns emphasize individual value， individual freedom， and individual character that they prone to considered when they choose goods. There is no doubt that a successful advertising creativity must highlight the individualism. For example，“Do you want to believe in yourself? Feel like a winner? Fulfill your potential? If you answered ‘Yes’ to any of these questions， you need to get an Accord V-6 Sedan”— Honda Accord. This advertising creativity focus on the evocation of people’ s self- awareness and independent consciousness， highlighting the idea of the
“ personal choose” which is the only ultimate and important goal. Undoubtedly， this advertising creativity successfully inspires the purchasing desire of the people by motivating the sense of pride of the audience.3.1.2 Image Thinking and Abstract Thinking
Advertising creativity as a thought process creates new ideas and new images.
Thus， ad man merges into the image thinking and abstract thinking in order to obtain the best advertising creativity. However， the way of thinking is different in China and Western. People in China are accustomed to analogy， which has become a trend as the result of Chinese image ways of thinking. While western ways of thinking emphasize logic and rationality， so they are skilled in using abstract concept instead of image in their thinking.In many advertisements， the two different ways of thinking are visible.
Especially， the telecom carries tend to expand its effects by different ways of thinking in each country. In order to convey the idea: “ 电信沟通，心意互通”， China telecom ads show five different fragments of life to tell consumers directly and clearly that communication is a concern， love， share， understand and respect. Thus， telecom shortens the distance and facilitates communication between the people. Communicating the message to potential consumers in a clear and compelling manner that uses of multiple life scenes and takes a long time is critical to China telecom get success. Form this advertising， it is not difficult to see that the ways of thinking is image thinking， which not only satisfies the Chinese traditional way of thinking， is also in line with the Chinese audience’ s cultural habits.That same telecom in American only adopts a fragment of life about a yawn.
The advertising unfold narrations though a man who inadvertently stifled a yawn in the street， and a woman stifled a yawn nearby， then an old man also infected， more interesting is that even the dog in his arms also give a yawn not exceptional. Just see this group of pictures， most people cannot understand exactly what the advertisement appeal， but the slogan reminds: communicating is very simple. Yawning is a normal physiological phenomenon， but through Western ad man use logic processing， a person yawns will inflect around， even the animal will not survive. Communication like a yawn so simple， as long as you want， you can communicate with others anywhere and anytime. Compared with the Chinese advertising creativity which always using redundant word and screen， the Western advertising creativity gives us an expression of directness by organizing language tightly， which in view of thinking of Westerns. However， it is very difficult to judge which the above advertising creativity is better， losing sight of the culture，
for everyone that survives in different cultural environment cater to their own culture respectively.3.1.3 Emphasizing Feelings and
Rationality
Due to the different customs of the nation and the expression of cognitive psychology， emotions can also cause a difference in advertising creativity.
Generally speaking， Chinese people’s judgment is influenced by feeling easier than rationality. Chinese people tend to understand the social relations from ethical values， emphasizing the inward reflection and understanding the true emotion. Therefore， Chinese advertising stress the subjectivity， by creating a beautiful atmosphere make the audience have some kind of intuition and goodwill for their products. They pay attention to touching audience’s heart by genuine emotions and focusing on perceptual knowledge. However， Western advertising stress the objectivity， by improving language accuracy and generalization to attract audience.“Let’s take the advertisements of Jumei Youpin as an example.
You only smell my perfume， but did not see my sweat;
You have your own rules， but I have my own choice;
You deny my now， but I decide my future;
You laugh at I have nothing， not qualified to love， but I have mercy on you always waiting for;
You can look down on our young， but we will prove that this era belong who;
The dream is doomed lonely journey， the road without question and ridicule， but so what;
Even if was black and blue all over， also want to live in beautiful.
I am Chen Ou， I speak for myself.”This advertisement lens picture language is so long and the pictures are so sharpness.
The protagonist in the advertising showed a progress of fight that has some spirits of fight， independence， and unyielding. Process full of passionate， reason and dream， which fully aroused resonate within the young word. Many consumers do not buy the products， but the words bring their own impact and the subsequent feeling.Western culture belongs to low power distance and low uncertainty avoidance.
People in this culture are more likely to seek factual evidence and reasoning in relation to a particular course of action (Hofstede， 1991: 484) Therefore， Western ads man advocate using inductive and rational thinking to sort the perceptual materials. For example， U.S. Queen of advertising on brand washing machines: First， in the television screen to show the function of washing machines， and then there appears a caption: The earliest and the best are all American Queen. This advertising creativity points out emphatically the good’s brand and the function， to draw the attention of the Westerns with its directness and frankness. And the next advertising also reflects the rationalism:“Be water wise. It makes centers.”“Make centers” reflects the Western people uphold materialism， which is the traditional performance of rationalism.3.2 Different Philosophy Concept
Philosophy concept is the core and soul of the traditional culture， which is also the most fundamental difference between Chines
e culture and Western culture.
Therefore， in the process of advertising， it is essential to understand the differences of the philosophy concept.3.2.1 The Attitude toward Nature
For thousands of years the Chinese people leading an agricultural life which ultimately cultivates agricultural civilization， the Chinese philosophy strongly advocates the harmony between human and nature，
putting forward the thought of unity of heaven and man(任秀芹，2001: 167-169). Deeply influenced by the agricultural culture， Chinese people form mild， implicate and harmonious character and seek harmony with nature. These are more frequently embodied in Chinese advertising language. Let’s take the NongFu Spring as an example: The water is from the high mountains， where on human being’s activates conduct. What more important is that the taste of the water is fantastic. The natural sweet taste overwhelms other ordinary bottle water， because you are enjoying the nature while drinking NongFu Spring! In this advertising creativity， particularly beautiful scenery with green mountains and rivers first comes into our view， making a lasting impression of beautiful nature on us. Though the goods are a kind of water， it grasps the selling point that the water is an important component of nature in essence. Therefore， the advertiser integrate the water to nature naturally， which gain acceptance from the Chinese people as the natural scene arouses Chinese people’ s feeling towards nature so that this advertising creativity achieves the greatest possible impact. In the western countries， however， people incline to divide Heaven and men， emphasizing on the nature is the opposition to human beings，
believing that the universe should be divided into two different parts: man and nature. We can find the emphasis of personal effort to conquer the nature is frequently employed in western advertising creativity， different from the Chinese advertising creativity which frequently employed the idea of harmony of man and nature. The next advertisings reflect the idea.Why grow did gradually?
Fight it. (Cosmetic)We trick the sun.
(Lighting)We can create a new word.
(Communication)From these advertisings， we can know the desire of Westerns want to challenge the natural law and transform the nature.
Reading between the lines， we can know the idea of men can overcome the nature， which is the specifically elaborated the Philosophy concept of the Westerns.3.2.1 The Attitude toward Authority and Equality
In history， China has experienced a long feudal society， as the mainstream culture of Confucianism has influenced the life of Chinese people.
Therefore， Chinese formed a philosophy concept advocating the authority and power， which has deeply branded in the mind of Chinese people in modern society. For example，帝王之乐，尽享尊荣。
--（KINGDOM 扬声器）皇者风范。
--（百威啤
酒）我们的新家，是不是国王住的地方？
（房地产） Contemporary advertising convey the information of the products and services with the help of King’ s image， which not
only have some authority to a certain extent also agree with the consumers’ worship of this kind of authority. Such advertising undoubtedly contribute to the consumers to buy their products and services. It is no exaggeration to say authoritative image create an important characteristic in contemporary advertising of China.In the Western country， however， they think people are entitled to the equal rights of pursuing freedom and irreplaceable happiness.
In contrast with China， they have little faith in authority. The following advertising is a good example to reflect their concept:“In your life， people always say that you can’t do this or that.
People always say that you are not good， not strong， and not intelligent:
They still believe you don’t have the right figure， the right physical conditions.
They always say you can’t.
In your life， for millions of times they will resolutely and determinedly say you can’t.
Until you prove yourself that you can.”
This is advertising of Nike which seize the needs of women eager to pursue equality and encourage women can do as well as men.
It is understood the desire of women for equality， Nike successfully persuade the female consumers on the premise that it does not sell their products.3.3 Different Phonetics
Phonetic is an important part of any language， which could be able to express yourself clearly so as to people could better understand you.
So any advertising that uses correct phonetics， or better understanding of the subtle differences， will draw the consumers’ attention and get success.3.3.1 Different Sense of Same Word
American Business Daily once quoted the words of an expert:
The speech sounds of all language are very important in determine the process of business， which out of people’s depth. This show， voices are quite important in advertising creativity. Different voices can arouse the different auditory effect form the psychology of the people， which sometimes are soft， or clear， or strong. The same voice will bring about different meaning and reaction in different cultural background. Once these voices fall into neglect or even are applied to advertising creativity， the products may fail in its promotion. Such as， one of the well- known the Chinese“芳芳” brand of lipstick first entered the overseas market，
which will make people associate that a young girl walk to people with full of aroma in her body in China. But if being translated into Chinese pinyin“ Fang Fang”， it will make English readers feel so fear， for“ fang” in English has the meaning of“ a snake- poison- tooth”， so Fangfang makes westerns associate not a young girl， but a snake- poison- tooth. In t
hat case， who is willing to buy such kind of goods? It is imaginable that the advertisement can not gain popularity in western; instead， it may cause angry response among the westerners.3.3.2 Different Rhetoric
Chinese people always use puns in advertising for it can make the language implicit humor and would help deepen cognition about the products.
Therefore， successful writing an impressive pun in advertising is very important. There always have a close link between puns and some characteristics of the products or brand names. For example，你来我网（往），一网（往）情深。
--（中国通讯163上网广告）咳（刻）不容缓。
--（某咳嗽糖浆广告词）人类失去联想，世界将会怎样？
--（联想电脑集团广告词）These advertising propagate the products and provide information of the products at the same time， also as a special treat for audience.
People are filled with love for these products unknowingly. That is to say， these advertising achieve good results.However， In Western， people always uses anaphora in advertising by repeating the word several times， which cause people to feel strong emotions.
For example，Extraordinary Cola， Extraordinary Choice.
No ordinary number.
No ordinary taste.Real women have real curves.
Ad men repeat “extraordinary”， “no ordinary” “real” and so on to point out the merits of the products， which could arouse the audience’s interests.
Whatever the rhetoric in phonetic they used， the advertising should be in keep with the aspiration of the local people.
Only this， people is likely to buy their products.Chapter 4 The Trend of Advertising Creativity
Over the long history， advertisements as a kind of social phenomenon can not be separated to human behavior， social system and historical background.
Today， as economic globalization develops in depth， China’s future and destiny are increasingly tied with the word’s future and destiny. Strongly impact the Chinese economic structures， lifestyle and production patterns even the way of thinking， economic globalization as a process and trend crossing political form and cultural form， expanding economic cooperation and even economic combination. Behind them all， is the contradiction between nationalization and globalization with regard to advertising creativity. But they are closely connected with each other as a whole. If without globalization， nationalization can not proceed smoothly. In turn， nationalization can not be promoted widely without globalization. Therefore， considering the advertising creativity， we should make our maximum contribution to achieve the combination of nationalization and globalization.On the one hand， advertisement represents the pure business;
on the other hand， it is a new pattern of culture which has been accepted by the public. Influencing the production of advertising
execution， culture as a major impact， which make all successful advertisements are in accordance with the local national culture and should be designed by means of researching and exploiting the common culture and psychology of human being， to create advertising culture. Although people around the world survive in various cultural environments， it is an inevitable fact that there exist common human nature and cultural content. For example， praising the beauty， protecting the environment， desire for sincere affection and punishing the evil and inspiring the good are all common humanities which are owned by people regardless of class and nations. Romantic love as one of the strongest drives on Earth， so some advertising creativity commonly make use of it to promote their products. For example， in the advertisement of DeBeers， it’s truly a modern classic that is“A Diamond is forever”. This slogan had looked so deeply into the human mind by repeated promote. A yearning for love is drawing humans so intensely to diamond. When people want to witness their love， express love to their lovers， they often think this classical slogan and want to symbol their love is forever with the diamond’ strong and fastness. Ms Chanel once said“The diamond condense the most value with the smallest volume” As the largest rough supplier and the retailer in the world， De beers tap into this huge and lucrative market by researching and creating the people’ s yearnings for love， which is also a bright spot of this advertising creativity.On the other hand， the development of globalization also should keep nationalization.
Advertising creativity as an information carrier， only spread with different culture can be a brand holds a global market. For example， when the Marlboro is first advertised in Hong Kong with the rough image of a cowboy， the advertisement can not get successes in there for where the city people don’ t agree with this kind of the hard riding in the suburb. Philip Morris spared no effort to make it acceptable to Hong Kong changing the advertising which shows a richly dressed young man driving the car. In short， advertising creativity must keep consistent in the local culture so as to meet people’s national psychology. Otherwise， it may get into trouble rather than success.Chapter 5 How to Grasp the Cultural Differences in Advertising
For promoting the cross-cultural communication and realizing the integration of nationalization and globalization， ad men should grasp the cultural differences in advertising.
Firstly， ad men should strengthen the cultural self conscious.
Only having a clear understanding of national culture， identifying the cultural factors whether or not belong in our nation’ s value system， ad men can make rational use of these traditional factors. For example，借问酒家何处有，牧童遥指杏花村。
--（汾酒广告词）The poem plays an important
part in the advertising which brings to mind some of their slogan.
It is thus clear that the effect of cultural factors cannot be ignored.Secondly， ad men should be free from prejudice to other culture.
The prejudices include subjective judge for statements and actions， finalize the concept and the idea that first impressions are lasting. These prejudices hold up sharing the information of different culture. So advertising should without prejudice to other culture. The advertising of Toyota Prado is a good example. It unfolds a picture by two lions and a Prado. One lion gives a salute at attention and another bow his head for Prado when he stops before them. And the slogan is “ 霸道，你不得不尊敬。” The advertising meets with opposition when it fist appear in China， because the lion embody the spirit of the Chinese people. So this advertising comes to nothing for it no considering other cultural https://www.wendangku.net/doc/bc1609550.html,st but not least， ad men should not have the sense of superiority for self nation.
If cross-cultural advertising want to get success， it must remove the sense of superiority. For example， the next advertising also neglects the factor. The slogan is“ 法租界风姿，老卢湾底蕴，五行龙脉之上，上海城央铂金地” It is obvious that the settlement of France advantage other countries， which make Chinese people feel gross insult. Besides this， the settlement of France is easy to make Chinese people associate a history that Chinese people suffer invades from other country. There is no doubt that the advertising is made unwarranted charges. So the ad men design the advertising must consider the matter well before deciding especially avoid the ethnocentric.Chapter 6 Conclusion
Since advertising creativity is a kind of special culture influenced by the nation culture quality， as an indispensable part in our life， also expresses and embodies culture，
admen should respect the local culture and conform to the local custom so that they can widespread their products. Advertising creativity not only sells the products or service， but also communicates the culture. So it is very important to study the difference of culture for the creativity of advertisements. People hold different values surviving in different social culture， which exert great influence on the people’s behavior and psychology. In this paper， culture factors which lead to different advertising creativity in both China and Western countries have been discussed from some aspects: different cultural values， different ways of thinking， different voices and different philosophy concept. From the Chinese advertising creativity， we can see that the Chinese people inclined to collectivism， develop a concrete way of thinking， form a special voice and advocate the harmony between human and nature. While the western advertising creativity differs from the Chinese， it indicates that the westerners tend to be i
ndividualism， develop an abstract way of thinking and advocate the conquest of natural condition. For a clear realization of the cultural difference in our mind， we can get a better understanding of those different expressions and different styles in advertising creativity at home and abroad so as to better understand other culture. However， with deeply development of economical globalization in recent years， advertising creativity， as an important component of economic globalization， has also show some common features. Therefore， advertising creativity should be not only deeply rooted in national culture， but also has a horizon of globalization. Only in this way we can make the advertisement achieve its maximum effect of propagation. In the future， Chinese advertisement will face more and more opportunities and challenges though it has developed fast. But if Chinese advertisement want to enter upon a new phrase， we must based on our own national characteristic foundation， absorbs the advanced experience of western advertisement creativity， only in this， we can keep up with the world.