The effectiveness of comparative advertising in Korea and the United States: A cross-cultural and individual-level analysis

Using subjects from Korea and the United States, this study reports the results of an experiment designed to discover links between national culture, self-construals, and the effectiveness of comparative advertising. First, the effect of national culture on comparative advertising effectiveness was investigated. Then, using self-construals as individual-level variables in a path model, the study investigated their mediating effects on the influence of national culture on the effectiveness of comparative advertising. Results indicated not only that national culture influences the effectiveness of comparative advertising, but also that self-construals have mediating effects on attitudes toward the advertisement (A_ad) for both indirect comparative advertising and noncomparative advertising. Thus, the study goes beyond the post hoc explanations that so many studies have used to link differences in the effectiveness of advertising to cultural variability, and thereby contributes to theory on the mediating effects of self-construals. The findings also have implications for advertising managerial practices and public policy on the regulation of advertising. But perhaps the main contribution of the study is a research design using self-construals to demonstrate how individual-level variables can mediate the influence of national culture on advertising effectiveness.