Advertising in China: product branding and beyond
Wen-Ling Liu
Introduction
The growth of international business, combined with an increase in the amount of advertising activity around the world, underscores the importance of understanding advertising effectiveness in international markets. In recent years, the Chinese economy has grown on a remarkable scale and attracted investors from around the world. This growth rate has produced a significant ``modern Chinese consumer'' who is sophisticated, careful, and fickle (Li, 1998). To serve these more sophisticated consumers, the advertising industry has grown extensively in China. In 1997, the total advertising expenditure was £3.6 billion, an increase of 20 percent over 1996. China adopted a Single-Child Policy in 1979 and today it is the rule in urban China. Those Chinese are now teenagers and young adults who are potentially the most promising consumer segment in China (Ariga et al., 1997). They have great influence on the spending of their families' income as well as a substantial amount of their own money on their own needs and wants (McNeal and Yeh, 1997). It is, therefore, essential to gain insights into the opinions and attitudes of the Chinese new-generations towards advertising. The purpose of this study is to examine the underlying beliefs that may account for the perception of advertising among the Chinese new-generations. This research benefits advertisers and marketers seeking to enhance their knowledge on the Chinese market.
The author Wen-Ling Liu is based at De Montfort University, Leicester, UK. Keywords Perception, Advertising, Consumer attitudes, China Abstract The increasing of the amount of advertising activities around the world has underscored the importance of understanding advertising effectiveness in international markets. In recent years, the growth of Chinese economy has produced a significant ``modern Chinese consumer''. This study examines the underlying beliefs that may account for perception of advertising among these new Chinese generations. Electronic access The research register for this journal is available at http://www.emeraldinsight.com/researchregisters The current issue and full text archive of this journal is available at http://www.emeraldinsight.com/1356-3289.htm
Consumer attitudes and advertising
The most frequently used definition of attitudes is written by Allport (1935), who defines ``attitudes are learned predispositions to respond to an object or class of objects in a consistently favorable or unfavorable way''. Hughes (1971) gives a similar definition of attitudes as an ``individual's favorable or unfavorable inclination toward an attribute of an object''. Because attitudes are obviously learned and built up through experience, it suggests that new ones, much advertising attempts to do this, can modify them. A person's attitudes towards advertising in general are affected by family, peer group, personality traits, previous information and experience 117
Corporate Communications: An International Journal Volume 7 . Number 2 . 2002 . pp. 117±125 # MCB UP Limited . ISSN 1356-3289 DOI 10.1108/13563280210426188
Advertising in China: product branding and beyond
Wen-Ling Liu
Corporate Communications: An International Journal Volume 7 . Number 2 . 2002 . 117±125
(Bennett and Kassarjian, 1972; Fishbein, 1975; Lutz, 1991; Assael, 1995; Wells et al., 1998). Attitudes are, therefore, important to advertisers because they can be used to predict behaviour and influence how consumers evaluate and choose advertising, products and purchase intention. In multidimensional theory of attitudes, attitudes may be defined as the cognitiveaffective-conative model, which in more modern terms, may be defined as the realms of thought, emotions and motives, or knowing, feeling and acting (Foxall and Goldsmith, 1994; Assael, 1995). As cognitive responses are formed based on consumers' prior beliefs, consumers develop thoughts that support or counter the claims made in ads or other communications when they evaluate the acceptability of the message. While cognitive responses are the way consumers think about an advertisement, affective responses reflect consumers' attitudes toward the message from positive to negative. That is the way consumers feel about the ads. Advertising is seen as the most culturebound element in the marketing management mix. Schutte and Ciarlante (1998) point out:
. . . it because advertising message consists of language and other communication instruments that are themselves very deeply rooted in a given culture of a society. Even within the same language, word connotations can vary extensively from culture to culture.
Attitudes towards advertising in general
Considerable research indicates that the attitude towards the advertisement (ad) has been provided as a significant influence on advertising effectiveness, brand attitudes, and purchase intentions (Mitchell and Olson, 1981; Shimp, 1981; Lutz et al., 1983; Lutz, 1985; MacKenzie et al., 1986; MacKenzie and Lutz, 1989). Advertising scholars showed their interest in the attitudes towards advertising in general (AG) as one of five important determinants of attitude towards the advertisement (Lutz, 1985). Lutz (1985, p. 53) defines the AG construct as ``a learned predisposition to respond in a consistently favorable or unfavorable manner to advertising in general''. Numerous studies have examined attitude towards advertising; and most of them have relied upon Bauer and Greyser's (1968) construct of a two-dimensional measure of perceived social and economic effects of attitudes towards advertising in general. Most of these studies focus on developed countries, such as those in North America and Europe (Haller, 1974; Christian, 1974; Dunn and Yorke, 1974; Lutz, 1975; Larkin, 1977; Anderson et al., 1978; Rau and Preble, 1988; Johns and Moser, 1989; Crane et al., 1989; Crane, 1991; Andrews et al., 1994; O'Donohoe, 1995; Moser and Johns, 1996; Al-Makaty et al., 1996; Shavitt et al., 1998). Few studies have related to attitude towards advertising in China. For example, studies on attitudes of Chinese business executives and managers towards advertising with various economic and social consequences of advertising have been discussed by Kwan et al. (1983), Semenik et al. (1986), and Semenik and Tao (1993). Overall, previous researches suggested that Chinese advertising professionals and managers were generally favorable towards advertising as an efficient business tool and were more realistic about its potential effects. Pollay et al. (1990) examined the consumers in three cities: Beijing, Guangzhou, and Harbin. They found those Chinese consumers aged between 20 and 40 years old were favorably disposed to advertising and quite optimistic about advertising's economic and social consequences. Chinese consumers, however, disliked some aspects of current ads from Chinese firms and perceived them to be inferior to those of foreign firms after the
Hong et al. (1987) also reveal that the influence of cultural differences on advertising is all encompassing since advertising, as a form of social communication, is particularly reflective of culture and its norms. In fact, the ability of advertising to create favorable attitudes towards a product may often depend on consumers' attitudes towards the advertisement itself (Engel et al., 1995). Today corporations have spent enormous budget every year on advertising to promote their products and persuade consumers' purchase decision. They must require an entirely new understanding of the purpose of advertising, especially as China has undergone rapid economic changes cultural changes seem inevitable. It is therefore most important to most advertisers and marketers to have an understanding how consumers perceive their advertising and the effects of advertising on consumers.
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New Cultural Revolution. These past studies on Chinese attitudes towards advertising were based on the economic and social transition before/after the Cultural Revolution and ``open door'' policy, or the political situation in Tiananmen Square Incident. However, since the British withdrew from Hong Kong a new environment has arisen in China. Have the Chinese new-generations' attitudes towards advertising changed from those before Hong Kong's return? Crellin (1998) revealed that those aged between 15 and 35 years old felt positive towards advertising in China. In particular, young and bettereducated people felt generally skeptical towards advertising in general. They also seek novelty and material progress. People under age 35 years old grew up under Deng's economic reform (1978-1997) and ``open door'' policy; they are more influenced by fashion and Western products (Lin, 1985). In spite of the growth of the Chinese newgenerations, there has been little research on those new consumers' attitudes towards advertising in general.
provisions are extremely restrictive. In Beijing, for example, TV stations suffer the most stringent censorship policies in practice. Although TV is having the most fast-reaching impact, print media are still the second most popular ad vehicles in China, accounting for 31.3 percent of all advertising expenditure. There were over 8,000 types of magazine in 1996. Print media are improving their printing quality, adding more colour pages and spaces in order to attract more consumers and advertisers. Meanwhile the advertisers are still taking advantage of other outlets, such as billboards and store displays in the major cities.
Methodology
Background of respondents The main objective of this paper is to assess the perceptions of the consumers' attitudes towards advertising in general among the Chinese new-generations. The university student population is used as a fairly homogeneous (with respect to most the Chinese new-generations) and convenient sample. Furthermore, Ramaprasad and Thurwanger (1998) have found that using a student population showed no considerable differences between students' attitudes towards advertising in general and other cross-sections of the overall population. A total of 600 respondents were approached in December 1998 and in June 1999. Of these, 597, or some 99.5 percent, completed the questionnaire. The questionnaire took approximately 15 minutes to be completed and was administered in a classroom environment. As the population of this study required age group between 18 and 24 years old, the sample therefore excluded anyone aged over 25 years old. The total number of respondents for this study was 583. Table I shows the demographic profiles of respondents between 18 and 24 years old. Over 61.1 percent (n = 356) of our samples were male, while 38.9 percent (n = 227) were female.
Table I Demographic profile of respondents between 18 and 24 year olds Xiamen Case Gender Male Female 288 173 115 Tainjin 295 183 112 Total 583 356 227 61.1 38.9 Percent
Advertising in China
Advertising was viewed as a capitalistic evil and was banned in China for decades after 1949 because of Chinese politics. Since China first introduced a ``socialist market economy'' and ``open-door'' policy in 1978, China has undergone dramatic economic development and change. Meanwhile the number of new TV, cable and satellite stations, print media, radio stations, cinema and outdoor promotion venues has grown throughout the country, and advertisers in China are gaining access to new channels through which to reach consumers. Hong Kong has kept its status as the advertising capital of Asia and has also been ranked as the most economically free city in the world (The Economist, 1996). Although advertising in China reflect the immaturity of the field as China is an economy in transition (Song and Wong, 1998), Hong Kong's return to China in 1997 has, therefore, provided the Chinese with more opportunity to contact Western culture. Some advertisements, for example, have been showing an increasing use of English words in mainland China's mass media. The new PRC Advertising Law, enacted in February 1995, lays out uniform rules on advertising through all media, and some of its
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Advertising in China: product branding and beyond
Wen-Ling Liu
Corporate Communications: An International Journal Volume 7 . Number 2 . 2002 . 117±125
Instrument construction
The questionnaire was first constructed in English. To ensure vocabulary equivalence, the Chinese version of the questionnaire was drafted with the assistance of two bilingual experts fluent in both English and Chinese. The questionnaire was first translated into Chinese and then back-translated into English to enhance translation equivalence. The questionnaire was further modified after pre-testing on a group of MA students in PRC Chinese at De Montfort University to ensure accuracy. There were no inconsistencies between the original questionnaire and the re-translated version. The questionnaire carried out by students selected from several universities in two large metropolitan areas in the PRC: Xiamen and Tainjin. Tainjin is near to Beijing and is one of four municipality cities in China. It is likely to be less free politically and although prosperous, less so than cities in special economic zones. Xiamen is located in the southeastern of China port. Xiamen is not only one of the special economic zones, but is also one of China's wealthiest port cities, which is familiar with the Westernised Hong Kong treatment of advertising and capitalistic-like freedoms in the part of China. Data were collected via a two-part questionnaire. The first part elicited demographic information and general views on Chinese advertising. The second part was modified from previous studies (Larkin, 1971; Kwan et al., 1983; Ho and Sin, 1986) regarding attitudes towards advertising in general. This concerned five attitudinal areas in advertising: (1) economic factors in advertising; (2) social factors in advertising; (3) ethics factors in advertising; (4) regulation factors in advertising; and (5) personal usefulness of advertising. These 30 statements of attitudinal information were formed into five-point Likert scales ranging from strongly agree to strongly disagree.
Chinese new-generations in advertising. Results of attitudes towards advertising in general on the second part of questionnaire were then anlaysed using means tests in an attempt to gauge the perceived relative importance of each of the 30 statements.
The general view of new Chinese generation in advertising
The initial data analysis indicated that the Chinese new-generations spent a considerable amount of time reading magazines. Over 20 percent of the respondents spent over four hours or more a week on average reading magazines; near 42 percent of the respondents spent either two to three hours or one to two hours a week on average reading magazines. The statistic suggested over 86 percent of the Chinese new-generations spent at least once a week on reading or absorbing new materials from magazines. Ranking media exposure on a weekly basis, half percent of the respondents spent daily and four to five times a week to watch TV. In fact, most of students stay in the school accommodation and share a TV in the resident hall. Obviously newspaper, magazine and radio play a major part among student lifestyle during the term time. Nearly twothirds of respondents spent at least two to three times a week to read newspaper and magazine. Surprisingly, one-thirds of respondents had never listening to radio, whilst only 18.5 per cent of respondents listened to radio everyday. Among the many commercial sources for the product information, television is valued most for information (36.7 percent) and was rated the most favoured advertisement (62.6 percent) among the respondents; ``other people/friend'' was rated as the second channel (18.4 percent) to obtain product information. People read advertisements in order to learn, but friends, colleagues, and desire-to-confirm influence buying decisions. It reveals that word of mouth still play important part in the marketing communications in traditional Chinese society. In terms of type of commercial/advertising, although TV commercials play a significant role in advertising promotion in China, it is worthy noticing that print media are the second most popular ad vehicles in China. Magazine advertisements were rated the
Findings
The data were analysed by frequency and mean tests. The first part of questionnaire used frequency to explore the general view of
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Advertising in China: product branding and beyond
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second favoured advertisement (16 per cent) among the respondents. While China's mass media has now over 2,100 television, cable, and satellite stations (Son and Wong, 1998), magazines are considered as a valuable medium for reaching many demographic groups. Nearly two-thirds of respondents felt ``too many'' or ``a few too many'' advertisements in magazines and over 20 percent of people felt the number was ``about right''. The results also revealed the living standard have improved among of Chinese new-generations. More than 50 percent of the respondents said they needed more advertising regarding watches, glasses, bikes, cars, and motorcycles. Nearly 50 percent of the respondents would prefer more fashion information. More than two-thirds of respondents wanted more advertising on computers, photocopiers and other office products, and books, magazines, schools, education, and entertainment information.
living (mean = 2.86) and results in better products for the public (mean = 2.87). Most of Chinese new-generations disagreed that advertising is wasteful of money (mean = 4.15) and a good product does not have to be advertised (mean = 4.01). Nevertheless, they are dissatisfied that advertising increases the costs of goods and service (mean = 2.22), which results high prices for products (mean = 3.82). Social beliefs in advertising Although Chinese new-generations had an optimistic attitude towards the social effects of advertising, they were sensitive to possible negative social consequences. As can be seen from Table III, two statements about the social concerns in advertising elicited a strong unanimity of response from the respondents. Most disagreed with the assertion that advertising insults the consumer (mean = 3.72). Chinese newgenerations, however, are improving their ability to choose the products from the mass communications in today's China. Nevertheless, the majority of respondents disagreed that advertising is silly and ridiculous (mean = 3.61). Moreover, a large proportion of the respondents felt that advertising affects children more than the adults (mean = 2.34). Three other attitude statements deal with social concerns in advertising and elicited moderate accord among the respondents. While Chinese new-generations disagreed that advertising persuades them to buy things they do not need (mean = 3.29), they believed that advertising tends to confuse their choices (mean = 2.81). The respondents also disagreed that advertising makes them materialistic (mean = 3.28). It was noticed that a majority also agreed with the assertion that advertising is making them a nation of conformists (mean = 3.70). Ethics beliefs in advertising From the Table III, one statement dealing with ethical concerns in advertising elicited an important accord from the respondents. The largest proportion of respondents agreed that much of advertising was exaggeration (mean = 2.45). Although the respondents disagreed that advertising is false and misleading (mean = 3.29), they believed advertising did not present a true picture of product (mean = 3.33). Most Chinese new-generations
Analysis of attitudes statements among the Chinese new-generations
First of all, measurement reliability of attitudinal scales was assessed by calculating Cronbach's coefficient alpha for the multipoint-scaled measures and was found to be acceptable internal consistency ( = 0.7331) (see Table II). Nunnally (1978) suggests a value of no less than 0.70 as an acceptable minimum threshold for reliability. Economic beliefs in advertising Advertising plays a vital role in promoting the economic growth. As can be seen from Table III, most Chinese new-generations had a very positive impact on the nation's economy development environment. A majority agreed that advertising is vital to the prosperity of China economy (mean = 2.08). They viewed that advertising helps raise their standard of
Table II Realiability analysis ± scale (alpha) Reliability coefficients Cases Items Alpha 563 30 0.7331
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Advertising in China: product branding and beyond
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Corporate Communications: An International Journal Volume 7 . Number 2 . 2002 . 117±125
Table III Mean and frequency analysis ± attitudes towards advertising in general Attitudes statements Mean 2.08 2.86 2.87 3.82 2.22 3.37 4.15 4.01 3.29 2.81 3.72 2.79 3.61 2.34 3.70 3.28 2.64 3.33 3.29 2.45 2.02 2.11 2.17 2.25 1.88 1/2 74.4 42.6 42.9 13.6 65.7 23.2 12.4 14.2 30.7 45.4 16.2 42.0 19.2 61.9 15.1 26.3 52.0 25.4 26.1 59.2 70.0 66.9 62.9 62.1 73.5 3 12.9 25.2 22.8 17.3 14.8 27.1 11.8 8.6 20.2 22.1 18.9 29.8 18.7 14.9 23.2 26.1 20.6 21.1 22.5 19.2 13.6 17.5 16.1 17.3 12.2 4/5a 11.1 30.0 32.2 67.4 17.5 47.7 77.8 75.1 46.5 30.1 62.7 26.0 59.7 20.7 59.5 45.5 25.0 51.2 49.2 19.1 14.3 13.2 18.7 18.5 12.2
Economic beliefs in advertising 1. Advertising is essential to the prosperity of our economy 2. Advertising helps raise our standard of living 3. Advertising results in better products for the public 4. In general advertising results in lower prices 5. Advertising increases the costs of goods and services 6. Advertising fosters monopolies 7. Advertising is wasteful of money 8. If a product is good, you do not have to advertise it Social beliefs in advertising 9. Advertising persuades people to buy things they really do not need 10. Advertising just tends to confuse people with bewildering choices 11. Most advertising insults the intelligence of the consumer 12. Advertising employs famous personalities 13. Most advertising is silly and ridiculous 14. Advertising affects children more than adults 15. Advertising is making us a nation of conformists 16. Advertising makes people materialistic Ethics beliefs in advertising 17. Advertising has bad influence on children 18. In general, advertisements present a true pictures of product advertising 19. Too much of today's advertising is false and misleading 20. There is too much exaggeration in advertising today Regulation beliefs in advertising 21. Repeated advertising is disturbing 22. There is too much advertising today 23. Harmful/dangerous products should not be advertised 24. Advertising toward children should be controlled 25. There should be more government regulation of advertising Personal usefulness of advertising 26. Advertising has made me buy things I do not want 27. I am frequently misled by advertising 28. Advertising provides information for me to make buying decisions 29. Advertising is most useful when I am making an important purchase 30. Advertised products are related to my daily life
3.57 3.40 2.65 2.63 2.39
19.7 26.6 50.6 49.5 59.9
21.3 20.1 24.4 23.3 23.7
56.1 51.0 22.8 24.9 14.2
Notes: Mean scores reported above are based on responses to five-point Likert scales a 1 = strongly agree; 2 = slightly agree; 3 = neutral; 4 = slightly disagree; 5 = strongly disagree
concurred with the attitudinal statements that advertising had bad influence on children and affects children easily (mean = 2.64). Regulation beliefs in advertising Generally, in the Table III, most of the respondents had a positive attitude towards the regulation factors. One statement about
regulation concerns in advertising elicited a significant accord from the respondents. Most of the respondents concurred with the statement that there should be more government regulation on advertising (mean = 1.88). Most of the respondents in the study sample agreed that advertising aimed at children should be controlled (mean = 2.25),
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and harmful/dangerous products should not be advertised (mean = 2.17). Yet the advertising industry in China is still less developed then Western countries. However, the rapid growth of advertising activities around the major Chinese cities has significantly impacted on its advertising industry. The Chinese new-generations felt that there was too much advertising today (mean = 2.11) and were also disturbed about repeated advertising (mean = 2.02). Personal usefulness of advertising Overall, in the Table III, a clear majority (more than 50 percent) of the respondents viewed that advertising as a useful information tool. They seemed to feel confident about making their purchasing decision without being misled by advertising. For example, the majority of respondents disagreed that advertising has made them buy unwanted things (mean = 3.57) and also disagreed with misleading by advertising (mean = 3.40). It appeared that Chinese new-generations felt advertising provided not only useful information (mean = 2.65) but helped them to make an important purchasing decision (mean = 2.63). The most important thing was they agreed that advertised products are related to their daily life (mean = 2.39).
Conclusion
The study results indicate that Chinese newgenerations are generally mixed in their attitudes towards advertising. There is no clear unanimity of responses among Chinese new-generations for 9 of the 30 attitude statements used in the study. While more than 50 percent of Chinese new-generations showed accord with their responses to the 21 attitude statements, only 11 of these statements indicated favorable attitudes toward advertising (see Table IV). Chinese new-generations are dissatisfied with repeated and massive advertising. There are only 43 percent of the respondents like advertising, however, a large proportion of the respondents remain their neutral attitudes neither like or dislike advertising (41.5 percent). It appears that Chinese new-generations strongly concur on the need for advertising to provide information as an effective guide for
them in decision-making. They majority disagreed that advertising insults them and is silly and ridiculous, however, they tend to be confused with bewildering choices. Apparently, better-educated Chinese consumers strongly believe that advertising is not misleading them into buying unwanted products. Perhaps experience with various mass communications provided a more realistic view of the advertising. Previous studies (Pollay et al., 1990; Semenik et al., 1986), found that both customers and managers disagreed with the idea that advertising would lead them to buy unwanted things. This is in contrast to previous findings that Chinese managers perceived the advertising would make consumers buy things they do not need (Semenik et al. 1986). The changes of economic reforms and political philosophy have provided more practical concerns in advertising. All the studies have shown that advertising promotes economic development. In this study, most of the economic concerns in advertising received strong endorsement. Chinese newgenerations agreed that advertising helps the nation's economic prosperity; they also expressed some concern at the cost of advertising. Given all the positive attitudes towards regulation concerns in advertising, surprisingly, Chinese new-generations have strongly endorsed regulating advertising aimed at children. They believe that numerous and repeated advertising has bad influence on children and government should control advertising, especially concerning children. It reveals that parents should control the exposure of children to advertising and advertising agencies also should pay attention on creating such advertising. Moreover, Chinese new-generations are disturbed with the deceptive and fraudulent advertising. They need more government regulation of advertising. As China's economic reform continues, foreign trade with China has expanded rapidly in the past several years, these economic and social changes, in concern with a growing population, are expected to lead to significant regional and global environmental changes, especially as China is planning to join WTO in the near future. It suggests that advertising agencies and marketers should exercise social responsibility and undertake research to establish evidence of
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Advertising in China: product branding and beyond
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Table IV Attitudes statements rank ordered by consensus of response Attitude statements 7. 8. 1. 25. 21. 4. 22. 5. 23. 11. 24. 14. 30. 13. 15. 20. 26. 17. 18. 27. 28. 29. 19. 6. 9. 16. 10. 3. 2. 12. Advertising is wasteful of money If a product is good, you do not have to advertise it Advertising is essential to the prosperity of our economy There should be more government regulation of advertising Repeated advertising is disturbing In general advertising results in lower prices There is too much advertising today Advertising increases the costs of goods and services Harmful/dangerous products should not be advertised Most advertising insults the intelligence of the consumer Advertising toward children should be controlled Advertising affects children more than adults Advertised products are related to my daily life Most advertising is silly and ridiculous Advertising is making us a nation of conformists There is too much exaggeration in advertising today Advertising has made me buy things I do not want Advertising has bad influence on children In general, advertisements present a true pictures of product advertising I am frequently misled by advertising Advertising provides information for me to make buying decision Advertising is most useful when I am making an important purchase Too much of today's advertising is false and misleading Advertising fosters monopolies Advertising persuades people to buy things they really don't need Advertising makes people materialistic Advertising just tends to confuse people with bewildering choices Advertising results in better products for the public Advertising helps raise our standard of living Advertising employs famous personalities Agree 12.4 14.2 74.4 73.5 70.0 13.6 66.9 65.7 62.9 16.2 62.1 61.9 59.9 19.2 15.1 59.2 19.7 52.0 25.4 26.6 50.6 49.5 26.1 23.2 30.7 26.3 45.4 42.9 42.6 42.0 Neutral 11.8 8.6 12.9 12.2 13.6 17.3 17.5 14.8 16.1 18.9 17.3 14.9 23.7 18.7 23.2 19.2 21.3 20.6 21.1 20.1 24.4 23.3 22.5 27.1 20.2 26.1 22.1 22.8 25.2 29.8 Disagree 77.8 75.1 11.1 12.2 14.3 67.4 13.2 17.5 18.7 62.7 18.5 20.7 14.2 59.7 59.5 19.1 56.1 25.0 51.2 51.0 22.8 24.9 49.2 47.7 46.5 45.5 30.1 32.2 30.0 26.0
communication effectiveness, especially when assessing the validity or otherwise, of links between product branding and product branding through advertising campaigns.
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Lutz, R., MacKenzie, S. and Belch, G. (1983), ``Attitude toward the Ad as a mediator of advertising effectiveness: determinants and consequences'', in Bagozzi, R. and Tybout, A. (Eds), Advances in Consumer Research, Vol. 10, Association for Consumer Research, Ann Arbor, MI, pp. 532-9. MacKenzie, S. and Lutz, R. (1989), ``An empirical examination of the structural antecedents of attitudetoward-the-Ad in an advertising pretesting context'', Journal of Marketing, Vol. 53, April, pp. 48-65. MacKenzie, S., Lutz, R. and Belch, G. (1986), ``The role of attitude toward the ad as a mediator of advertising effectiveness: a test of competing explanations'', Journal of Marketing Research, Vol. 23, May, pp. 130-43. McNeal, J. and Yeh, C. (1997), ``Development of consumer behaviour patterns among Chinese children'', Journal of Consumer Marketing, Vol. 14 No. 1, pp. 45-57. Mitchell, A. and Olson, J. (1981), ``Are product attribute beliefs the only mediator of advertising effects on brand attitude?'', Journal of Marketing Research, Vol. 18, August, pp. 318-32. Moser, H.R. and Johns, H.E. (1996), ``An empirical analysis of consumers' attitudes toward attorney advertising'', Journal of Professional Services Marketing, Vol. 15 No. 1, pp. 85-104. Nunnally, J.C. (1978), Psychometric Theory, 2nd ed., McGraw-Hill, New York, NY. O'Donohoe, S. (1995), ``Attitudes to advertising: a review of British and American research'', International Journal of Advertising, Vol. 14 No. 3, pp. 245-61. Pollay, R.W., Tse, D.K. and Wang, Z.Y. (1990), ``Advertising, propaganda, and value change in economic development'', Journal of Business Research, Vol. 20, pp. 83-95. Ramaprasad, J. and Thurwanger, M.L. (1998), ``South Asian students attitudes toward and beliefs about advertising: measuring across cultures'', International Communication Division, 1998 AEJMC Annual Conference, Baltimore, MD. Rau, P.A. and Preble, J.F. (1988), ``Corporate public issue advertising: analysis of the attitudes of chief executives'', International Journal of Advertising, Vol. 7 No. 4, pp. 293-306. Schutte, H. and Ciarlante D. (1998), Consumer Behviour in Asia, Macmillan Press Ltd, London. Semenik, R.J. and Tao, D. (1993), ``Chinese managers' attitudes towards advertising: before and after the Tiananmen Square incident'', International Journal of Advertising, Vol. 13, pp. 243-55. Semenik, R.J., Zhou, N. and Moor, W.L. (1986), ``Chinese managers' attitudes toward advertising in general'', Journal of Advertising, Vol. 15 No. 4, pp. 56-62. Shavitt, S., Lowtry, P. and Haefner, J. (1998), ``Public attitudes toward advertising: more favorable than you might think'', Journal of Advertising Research, Vol. 38 No. 4, pp. 7-22. Shimp, T.A. (1981), ``Attitude toward the ad as a mediator of consumer brand choice'', Journal of Advertising, Vol. 10 No. 2, pp. 9-15. Song, T.B. and Wong, L. (1998), ``Getting the word out'', The China Business Review, September/October, Washington. Wells, W., Burneet, J. and Moriarty, S. (1998), Advertising: Principles & Practice, 4th ed., Prentice-Hall, Englewood Cliffs, NJ.
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doc_347704385.pdf
Wen-Ling Liu
Introduction
The growth of international business, combined with an increase in the amount of advertising activity around the world, underscores the importance of understanding advertising effectiveness in international markets. In recent years, the Chinese economy has grown on a remarkable scale and attracted investors from around the world. This growth rate has produced a significant ``modern Chinese consumer'' who is sophisticated, careful, and fickle (Li, 1998). To serve these more sophisticated consumers, the advertising industry has grown extensively in China. In 1997, the total advertising expenditure was £3.6 billion, an increase of 20 percent over 1996. China adopted a Single-Child Policy in 1979 and today it is the rule in urban China. Those Chinese are now teenagers and young adults who are potentially the most promising consumer segment in China (Ariga et al., 1997). They have great influence on the spending of their families' income as well as a substantial amount of their own money on their own needs and wants (McNeal and Yeh, 1997). It is, therefore, essential to gain insights into the opinions and attitudes of the Chinese new-generations towards advertising. The purpose of this study is to examine the underlying beliefs that may account for the perception of advertising among the Chinese new-generations. This research benefits advertisers and marketers seeking to enhance their knowledge on the Chinese market.
The author Wen-Ling Liu is based at De Montfort University, Leicester, UK. Keywords Perception, Advertising, Consumer attitudes, China Abstract The increasing of the amount of advertising activities around the world has underscored the importance of understanding advertising effectiveness in international markets. In recent years, the growth of Chinese economy has produced a significant ``modern Chinese consumer''. This study examines the underlying beliefs that may account for perception of advertising among these new Chinese generations. Electronic access The research register for this journal is available at http://www.emeraldinsight.com/researchregisters The current issue and full text archive of this journal is available at http://www.emeraldinsight.com/1356-3289.htm
Consumer attitudes and advertising
The most frequently used definition of attitudes is written by Allport (1935), who defines ``attitudes are learned predispositions to respond to an object or class of objects in a consistently favorable or unfavorable way''. Hughes (1971) gives a similar definition of attitudes as an ``individual's favorable or unfavorable inclination toward an attribute of an object''. Because attitudes are obviously learned and built up through experience, it suggests that new ones, much advertising attempts to do this, can modify them. A person's attitudes towards advertising in general are affected by family, peer group, personality traits, previous information and experience 117
Corporate Communications: An International Journal Volume 7 . Number 2 . 2002 . pp. 117±125 # MCB UP Limited . ISSN 1356-3289 DOI 10.1108/13563280210426188
Advertising in China: product branding and beyond
Wen-Ling Liu
Corporate Communications: An International Journal Volume 7 . Number 2 . 2002 . 117±125
(Bennett and Kassarjian, 1972; Fishbein, 1975; Lutz, 1991; Assael, 1995; Wells et al., 1998). Attitudes are, therefore, important to advertisers because they can be used to predict behaviour and influence how consumers evaluate and choose advertising, products and purchase intention. In multidimensional theory of attitudes, attitudes may be defined as the cognitiveaffective-conative model, which in more modern terms, may be defined as the realms of thought, emotions and motives, or knowing, feeling and acting (Foxall and Goldsmith, 1994; Assael, 1995). As cognitive responses are formed based on consumers' prior beliefs, consumers develop thoughts that support or counter the claims made in ads or other communications when they evaluate the acceptability of the message. While cognitive responses are the way consumers think about an advertisement, affective responses reflect consumers' attitudes toward the message from positive to negative. That is the way consumers feel about the ads. Advertising is seen as the most culturebound element in the marketing management mix. Schutte and Ciarlante (1998) point out:
. . . it because advertising message consists of language and other communication instruments that are themselves very deeply rooted in a given culture of a society. Even within the same language, word connotations can vary extensively from culture to culture.
Attitudes towards advertising in general
Considerable research indicates that the attitude towards the advertisement (ad) has been provided as a significant influence on advertising effectiveness, brand attitudes, and purchase intentions (Mitchell and Olson, 1981; Shimp, 1981; Lutz et al., 1983; Lutz, 1985; MacKenzie et al., 1986; MacKenzie and Lutz, 1989). Advertising scholars showed their interest in the attitudes towards advertising in general (AG) as one of five important determinants of attitude towards the advertisement (Lutz, 1985). Lutz (1985, p. 53) defines the AG construct as ``a learned predisposition to respond in a consistently favorable or unfavorable manner to advertising in general''. Numerous studies have examined attitude towards advertising; and most of them have relied upon Bauer and Greyser's (1968) construct of a two-dimensional measure of perceived social and economic effects of attitudes towards advertising in general. Most of these studies focus on developed countries, such as those in North America and Europe (Haller, 1974; Christian, 1974; Dunn and Yorke, 1974; Lutz, 1975; Larkin, 1977; Anderson et al., 1978; Rau and Preble, 1988; Johns and Moser, 1989; Crane et al., 1989; Crane, 1991; Andrews et al., 1994; O'Donohoe, 1995; Moser and Johns, 1996; Al-Makaty et al., 1996; Shavitt et al., 1998). Few studies have related to attitude towards advertising in China. For example, studies on attitudes of Chinese business executives and managers towards advertising with various economic and social consequences of advertising have been discussed by Kwan et al. (1983), Semenik et al. (1986), and Semenik and Tao (1993). Overall, previous researches suggested that Chinese advertising professionals and managers were generally favorable towards advertising as an efficient business tool and were more realistic about its potential effects. Pollay et al. (1990) examined the consumers in three cities: Beijing, Guangzhou, and Harbin. They found those Chinese consumers aged between 20 and 40 years old were favorably disposed to advertising and quite optimistic about advertising's economic and social consequences. Chinese consumers, however, disliked some aspects of current ads from Chinese firms and perceived them to be inferior to those of foreign firms after the
Hong et al. (1987) also reveal that the influence of cultural differences on advertising is all encompassing since advertising, as a form of social communication, is particularly reflective of culture and its norms. In fact, the ability of advertising to create favorable attitudes towards a product may often depend on consumers' attitudes towards the advertisement itself (Engel et al., 1995). Today corporations have spent enormous budget every year on advertising to promote their products and persuade consumers' purchase decision. They must require an entirely new understanding of the purpose of advertising, especially as China has undergone rapid economic changes cultural changes seem inevitable. It is therefore most important to most advertisers and marketers to have an understanding how consumers perceive their advertising and the effects of advertising on consumers.
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New Cultural Revolution. These past studies on Chinese attitudes towards advertising were based on the economic and social transition before/after the Cultural Revolution and ``open door'' policy, or the political situation in Tiananmen Square Incident. However, since the British withdrew from Hong Kong a new environment has arisen in China. Have the Chinese new-generations' attitudes towards advertising changed from those before Hong Kong's return? Crellin (1998) revealed that those aged between 15 and 35 years old felt positive towards advertising in China. In particular, young and bettereducated people felt generally skeptical towards advertising in general. They also seek novelty and material progress. People under age 35 years old grew up under Deng's economic reform (1978-1997) and ``open door'' policy; they are more influenced by fashion and Western products (Lin, 1985). In spite of the growth of the Chinese newgenerations, there has been little research on those new consumers' attitudes towards advertising in general.
provisions are extremely restrictive. In Beijing, for example, TV stations suffer the most stringent censorship policies in practice. Although TV is having the most fast-reaching impact, print media are still the second most popular ad vehicles in China, accounting for 31.3 percent of all advertising expenditure. There were over 8,000 types of magazine in 1996. Print media are improving their printing quality, adding more colour pages and spaces in order to attract more consumers and advertisers. Meanwhile the advertisers are still taking advantage of other outlets, such as billboards and store displays in the major cities.
Methodology
Background of respondents The main objective of this paper is to assess the perceptions of the consumers' attitudes towards advertising in general among the Chinese new-generations. The university student population is used as a fairly homogeneous (with respect to most the Chinese new-generations) and convenient sample. Furthermore, Ramaprasad and Thurwanger (1998) have found that using a student population showed no considerable differences between students' attitudes towards advertising in general and other cross-sections of the overall population. A total of 600 respondents were approached in December 1998 and in June 1999. Of these, 597, or some 99.5 percent, completed the questionnaire. The questionnaire took approximately 15 minutes to be completed and was administered in a classroom environment. As the population of this study required age group between 18 and 24 years old, the sample therefore excluded anyone aged over 25 years old. The total number of respondents for this study was 583. Table I shows the demographic profiles of respondents between 18 and 24 years old. Over 61.1 percent (n = 356) of our samples were male, while 38.9 percent (n = 227) were female.
Table I Demographic profile of respondents between 18 and 24 year olds Xiamen Case Gender Male Female 288 173 115 Tainjin 295 183 112 Total 583 356 227 61.1 38.9 Percent
Advertising in China
Advertising was viewed as a capitalistic evil and was banned in China for decades after 1949 because of Chinese politics. Since China first introduced a ``socialist market economy'' and ``open-door'' policy in 1978, China has undergone dramatic economic development and change. Meanwhile the number of new TV, cable and satellite stations, print media, radio stations, cinema and outdoor promotion venues has grown throughout the country, and advertisers in China are gaining access to new channels through which to reach consumers. Hong Kong has kept its status as the advertising capital of Asia and has also been ranked as the most economically free city in the world (The Economist, 1996). Although advertising in China reflect the immaturity of the field as China is an economy in transition (Song and Wong, 1998), Hong Kong's return to China in 1997 has, therefore, provided the Chinese with more opportunity to contact Western culture. Some advertisements, for example, have been showing an increasing use of English words in mainland China's mass media. The new PRC Advertising Law, enacted in February 1995, lays out uniform rules on advertising through all media, and some of its
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Instrument construction
The questionnaire was first constructed in English. To ensure vocabulary equivalence, the Chinese version of the questionnaire was drafted with the assistance of two bilingual experts fluent in both English and Chinese. The questionnaire was first translated into Chinese and then back-translated into English to enhance translation equivalence. The questionnaire was further modified after pre-testing on a group of MA students in PRC Chinese at De Montfort University to ensure accuracy. There were no inconsistencies between the original questionnaire and the re-translated version. The questionnaire carried out by students selected from several universities in two large metropolitan areas in the PRC: Xiamen and Tainjin. Tainjin is near to Beijing and is one of four municipality cities in China. It is likely to be less free politically and although prosperous, less so than cities in special economic zones. Xiamen is located in the southeastern of China port. Xiamen is not only one of the special economic zones, but is also one of China's wealthiest port cities, which is familiar with the Westernised Hong Kong treatment of advertising and capitalistic-like freedoms in the part of China. Data were collected via a two-part questionnaire. The first part elicited demographic information and general views on Chinese advertising. The second part was modified from previous studies (Larkin, 1971; Kwan et al., 1983; Ho and Sin, 1986) regarding attitudes towards advertising in general. This concerned five attitudinal areas in advertising: (1) economic factors in advertising; (2) social factors in advertising; (3) ethics factors in advertising; (4) regulation factors in advertising; and (5) personal usefulness of advertising. These 30 statements of attitudinal information were formed into five-point Likert scales ranging from strongly agree to strongly disagree.
Chinese new-generations in advertising. Results of attitudes towards advertising in general on the second part of questionnaire were then anlaysed using means tests in an attempt to gauge the perceived relative importance of each of the 30 statements.
The general view of new Chinese generation in advertising
The initial data analysis indicated that the Chinese new-generations spent a considerable amount of time reading magazines. Over 20 percent of the respondents spent over four hours or more a week on average reading magazines; near 42 percent of the respondents spent either two to three hours or one to two hours a week on average reading magazines. The statistic suggested over 86 percent of the Chinese new-generations spent at least once a week on reading or absorbing new materials from magazines. Ranking media exposure on a weekly basis, half percent of the respondents spent daily and four to five times a week to watch TV. In fact, most of students stay in the school accommodation and share a TV in the resident hall. Obviously newspaper, magazine and radio play a major part among student lifestyle during the term time. Nearly twothirds of respondents spent at least two to three times a week to read newspaper and magazine. Surprisingly, one-thirds of respondents had never listening to radio, whilst only 18.5 per cent of respondents listened to radio everyday. Among the many commercial sources for the product information, television is valued most for information (36.7 percent) and was rated the most favoured advertisement (62.6 percent) among the respondents; ``other people/friend'' was rated as the second channel (18.4 percent) to obtain product information. People read advertisements in order to learn, but friends, colleagues, and desire-to-confirm influence buying decisions. It reveals that word of mouth still play important part in the marketing communications in traditional Chinese society. In terms of type of commercial/advertising, although TV commercials play a significant role in advertising promotion in China, it is worthy noticing that print media are the second most popular ad vehicles in China. Magazine advertisements were rated the
Findings
The data were analysed by frequency and mean tests. The first part of questionnaire used frequency to explore the general view of
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second favoured advertisement (16 per cent) among the respondents. While China's mass media has now over 2,100 television, cable, and satellite stations (Son and Wong, 1998), magazines are considered as a valuable medium for reaching many demographic groups. Nearly two-thirds of respondents felt ``too many'' or ``a few too many'' advertisements in magazines and over 20 percent of people felt the number was ``about right''. The results also revealed the living standard have improved among of Chinese new-generations. More than 50 percent of the respondents said they needed more advertising regarding watches, glasses, bikes, cars, and motorcycles. Nearly 50 percent of the respondents would prefer more fashion information. More than two-thirds of respondents wanted more advertising on computers, photocopiers and other office products, and books, magazines, schools, education, and entertainment information.
living (mean = 2.86) and results in better products for the public (mean = 2.87). Most of Chinese new-generations disagreed that advertising is wasteful of money (mean = 4.15) and a good product does not have to be advertised (mean = 4.01). Nevertheless, they are dissatisfied that advertising increases the costs of goods and service (mean = 2.22), which results high prices for products (mean = 3.82). Social beliefs in advertising Although Chinese new-generations had an optimistic attitude towards the social effects of advertising, they were sensitive to possible negative social consequences. As can be seen from Table III, two statements about the social concerns in advertising elicited a strong unanimity of response from the respondents. Most disagreed with the assertion that advertising insults the consumer (mean = 3.72). Chinese newgenerations, however, are improving their ability to choose the products from the mass communications in today's China. Nevertheless, the majority of respondents disagreed that advertising is silly and ridiculous (mean = 3.61). Moreover, a large proportion of the respondents felt that advertising affects children more than the adults (mean = 2.34). Three other attitude statements deal with social concerns in advertising and elicited moderate accord among the respondents. While Chinese new-generations disagreed that advertising persuades them to buy things they do not need (mean = 3.29), they believed that advertising tends to confuse their choices (mean = 2.81). The respondents also disagreed that advertising makes them materialistic (mean = 3.28). It was noticed that a majority also agreed with the assertion that advertising is making them a nation of conformists (mean = 3.70). Ethics beliefs in advertising From the Table III, one statement dealing with ethical concerns in advertising elicited an important accord from the respondents. The largest proportion of respondents agreed that much of advertising was exaggeration (mean = 2.45). Although the respondents disagreed that advertising is false and misleading (mean = 3.29), they believed advertising did not present a true picture of product (mean = 3.33). Most Chinese new-generations
Analysis of attitudes statements among the Chinese new-generations
First of all, measurement reliability of attitudinal scales was assessed by calculating Cronbach's coefficient alpha for the multipoint-scaled measures and was found to be acceptable internal consistency ( = 0.7331) (see Table II). Nunnally (1978) suggests a value of no less than 0.70 as an acceptable minimum threshold for reliability. Economic beliefs in advertising Advertising plays a vital role in promoting the economic growth. As can be seen from Table III, most Chinese new-generations had a very positive impact on the nation's economy development environment. A majority agreed that advertising is vital to the prosperity of China economy (mean = 2.08). They viewed that advertising helps raise their standard of
Table II Realiability analysis ± scale (alpha) Reliability coefficients Cases Items Alpha 563 30 0.7331
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Table III Mean and frequency analysis ± attitudes towards advertising in general Attitudes statements Mean 2.08 2.86 2.87 3.82 2.22 3.37 4.15 4.01 3.29 2.81 3.72 2.79 3.61 2.34 3.70 3.28 2.64 3.33 3.29 2.45 2.02 2.11 2.17 2.25 1.88 1/2 74.4 42.6 42.9 13.6 65.7 23.2 12.4 14.2 30.7 45.4 16.2 42.0 19.2 61.9 15.1 26.3 52.0 25.4 26.1 59.2 70.0 66.9 62.9 62.1 73.5 3 12.9 25.2 22.8 17.3 14.8 27.1 11.8 8.6 20.2 22.1 18.9 29.8 18.7 14.9 23.2 26.1 20.6 21.1 22.5 19.2 13.6 17.5 16.1 17.3 12.2 4/5a 11.1 30.0 32.2 67.4 17.5 47.7 77.8 75.1 46.5 30.1 62.7 26.0 59.7 20.7 59.5 45.5 25.0 51.2 49.2 19.1 14.3 13.2 18.7 18.5 12.2
Economic beliefs in advertising 1. Advertising is essential to the prosperity of our economy 2. Advertising helps raise our standard of living 3. Advertising results in better products for the public 4. In general advertising results in lower prices 5. Advertising increases the costs of goods and services 6. Advertising fosters monopolies 7. Advertising is wasteful of money 8. If a product is good, you do not have to advertise it Social beliefs in advertising 9. Advertising persuades people to buy things they really do not need 10. Advertising just tends to confuse people with bewildering choices 11. Most advertising insults the intelligence of the consumer 12. Advertising employs famous personalities 13. Most advertising is silly and ridiculous 14. Advertising affects children more than adults 15. Advertising is making us a nation of conformists 16. Advertising makes people materialistic Ethics beliefs in advertising 17. Advertising has bad influence on children 18. In general, advertisements present a true pictures of product advertising 19. Too much of today's advertising is false and misleading 20. There is too much exaggeration in advertising today Regulation beliefs in advertising 21. Repeated advertising is disturbing 22. There is too much advertising today 23. Harmful/dangerous products should not be advertised 24. Advertising toward children should be controlled 25. There should be more government regulation of advertising Personal usefulness of advertising 26. Advertising has made me buy things I do not want 27. I am frequently misled by advertising 28. Advertising provides information for me to make buying decisions 29. Advertising is most useful when I am making an important purchase 30. Advertised products are related to my daily life
3.57 3.40 2.65 2.63 2.39
19.7 26.6 50.6 49.5 59.9
21.3 20.1 24.4 23.3 23.7
56.1 51.0 22.8 24.9 14.2
Notes: Mean scores reported above are based on responses to five-point Likert scales a 1 = strongly agree; 2 = slightly agree; 3 = neutral; 4 = slightly disagree; 5 = strongly disagree
concurred with the attitudinal statements that advertising had bad influence on children and affects children easily (mean = 2.64). Regulation beliefs in advertising Generally, in the Table III, most of the respondents had a positive attitude towards the regulation factors. One statement about
regulation concerns in advertising elicited a significant accord from the respondents. Most of the respondents concurred with the statement that there should be more government regulation on advertising (mean = 1.88). Most of the respondents in the study sample agreed that advertising aimed at children should be controlled (mean = 2.25),
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and harmful/dangerous products should not be advertised (mean = 2.17). Yet the advertising industry in China is still less developed then Western countries. However, the rapid growth of advertising activities around the major Chinese cities has significantly impacted on its advertising industry. The Chinese new-generations felt that there was too much advertising today (mean = 2.11) and were also disturbed about repeated advertising (mean = 2.02). Personal usefulness of advertising Overall, in the Table III, a clear majority (more than 50 percent) of the respondents viewed that advertising as a useful information tool. They seemed to feel confident about making their purchasing decision without being misled by advertising. For example, the majority of respondents disagreed that advertising has made them buy unwanted things (mean = 3.57) and also disagreed with misleading by advertising (mean = 3.40). It appeared that Chinese new-generations felt advertising provided not only useful information (mean = 2.65) but helped them to make an important purchasing decision (mean = 2.63). The most important thing was they agreed that advertised products are related to their daily life (mean = 2.39).
Conclusion
The study results indicate that Chinese newgenerations are generally mixed in their attitudes towards advertising. There is no clear unanimity of responses among Chinese new-generations for 9 of the 30 attitude statements used in the study. While more than 50 percent of Chinese new-generations showed accord with their responses to the 21 attitude statements, only 11 of these statements indicated favorable attitudes toward advertising (see Table IV). Chinese new-generations are dissatisfied with repeated and massive advertising. There are only 43 percent of the respondents like advertising, however, a large proportion of the respondents remain their neutral attitudes neither like or dislike advertising (41.5 percent). It appears that Chinese new-generations strongly concur on the need for advertising to provide information as an effective guide for
them in decision-making. They majority disagreed that advertising insults them and is silly and ridiculous, however, they tend to be confused with bewildering choices. Apparently, better-educated Chinese consumers strongly believe that advertising is not misleading them into buying unwanted products. Perhaps experience with various mass communications provided a more realistic view of the advertising. Previous studies (Pollay et al., 1990; Semenik et al., 1986), found that both customers and managers disagreed with the idea that advertising would lead them to buy unwanted things. This is in contrast to previous findings that Chinese managers perceived the advertising would make consumers buy things they do not need (Semenik et al. 1986). The changes of economic reforms and political philosophy have provided more practical concerns in advertising. All the studies have shown that advertising promotes economic development. In this study, most of the economic concerns in advertising received strong endorsement. Chinese newgenerations agreed that advertising helps the nation's economic prosperity; they also expressed some concern at the cost of advertising. Given all the positive attitudes towards regulation concerns in advertising, surprisingly, Chinese new-generations have strongly endorsed regulating advertising aimed at children. They believe that numerous and repeated advertising has bad influence on children and government should control advertising, especially concerning children. It reveals that parents should control the exposure of children to advertising and advertising agencies also should pay attention on creating such advertising. Moreover, Chinese new-generations are disturbed with the deceptive and fraudulent advertising. They need more government regulation of advertising. As China's economic reform continues, foreign trade with China has expanded rapidly in the past several years, these economic and social changes, in concern with a growing population, are expected to lead to significant regional and global environmental changes, especially as China is planning to join WTO in the near future. It suggests that advertising agencies and marketers should exercise social responsibility and undertake research to establish evidence of
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Table IV Attitudes statements rank ordered by consensus of response Attitude statements 7. 8. 1. 25. 21. 4. 22. 5. 23. 11. 24. 14. 30. 13. 15. 20. 26. 17. 18. 27. 28. 29. 19. 6. 9. 16. 10. 3. 2. 12. Advertising is wasteful of money If a product is good, you do not have to advertise it Advertising is essential to the prosperity of our economy There should be more government regulation of advertising Repeated advertising is disturbing In general advertising results in lower prices There is too much advertising today Advertising increases the costs of goods and services Harmful/dangerous products should not be advertised Most advertising insults the intelligence of the consumer Advertising toward children should be controlled Advertising affects children more than adults Advertised products are related to my daily life Most advertising is silly and ridiculous Advertising is making us a nation of conformists There is too much exaggeration in advertising today Advertising has made me buy things I do not want Advertising has bad influence on children In general, advertisements present a true pictures of product advertising I am frequently misled by advertising Advertising provides information for me to make buying decision Advertising is most useful when I am making an important purchase Too much of today's advertising is false and misleading Advertising fosters monopolies Advertising persuades people to buy things they really don't need Advertising makes people materialistic Advertising just tends to confuse people with bewildering choices Advertising results in better products for the public Advertising helps raise our standard of living Advertising employs famous personalities Agree 12.4 14.2 74.4 73.5 70.0 13.6 66.9 65.7 62.9 16.2 62.1 61.9 59.9 19.2 15.1 59.2 19.7 52.0 25.4 26.6 50.6 49.5 26.1 23.2 30.7 26.3 45.4 42.9 42.6 42.0 Neutral 11.8 8.6 12.9 12.2 13.6 17.3 17.5 14.8 16.1 18.9 17.3 14.9 23.7 18.7 23.2 19.2 21.3 20.6 21.1 20.1 24.4 23.3 22.5 27.1 20.2 26.1 22.1 22.8 25.2 29.8 Disagree 77.8 75.1 11.1 12.2 14.3 67.4 13.2 17.5 18.7 62.7 18.5 20.7 14.2 59.7 59.5 19.1 56.1 25.0 51.2 51.0 22.8 24.9 49.2 47.7 46.5 45.5 30.1 32.2 30.0 26.0
communication effectiveness, especially when assessing the validity or otherwise, of links between product branding and product branding through advertising campaigns.
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