A Study of Comparative Advertising in Print Magazines a Cross Cultural Analysis of India and The United States

Abstract

During the past few decades, there has been a growing interest in an advertising strategy newlinecalled comparative advertising which in simple words is a form of advertising in which newlinetwo or more brands of same generic products are compared in terms of one or more newlineattributes such as price, quality, performance, etc. A recent trend of analysing newlinecomparative advertising on a cross-cultural basis has garnered a lot of attention from newlineboth researchers and marketers alike. Yet, this trend has not been carried into advertising newlinecontent research, especially in the case of studying comparative advertising messages in newlinetwo culturally different countries like India and the United States. newlineThis research assesses the nature of comparative advertising in India and the United newlineStates through a content analysis of comparative magazine advertisements with respect newlineto its frequency, type of comparison made, manner in which competitors are identified, newlineobjective of comparison, comparison frame, type of product or service being advertised, newlinelevel of informativeness of the advertisement and the type of information cues being newlineused. This study also investigates the views and opinions of advertising agency newlinepractitioners from both India and the United States regarding comparative advertising newlinepractices in their respective countries. newlineFindings reveal that comparative advertisements are experienced as a part of cultural newlinecommunication and have the potential to reveal cultural values and norms of the target newlineaudience. Cross cultural analysis of comparative advertisements therefore can highlight newlinecultural similarities and differences in advertising as well as reveal how different newlineelements of an comparative advertising campaign can be impacted by culture. The study uses Hofstede s cultural dimensions and Hall s cultural context of newlinecommunication as theoretical frameworks and also provides implications for the newlinenarrowing of the academician-practitioner gap in advertising. newline