Information Source for Shopping Decisions and Advertising Content Preferences
of Malaysian Youth
Jyotika Ramaprasad
School of Journalism
Southern Illinois University
Carbondale, IL 62901
(618) 453-3277
Paper accepted by the Advertising Division of the Association for Education
in Journalism and Mass Communication for presentation at the AEJMC
National
Convention, Washington, DC, August 1995.
Information Source for Shopping Decisions and Advertising Content Preferences
of Malaysian Youth
Abstract
This study looks at 1)information source preferences for shopping decisions
and 2)television advertising content preferences of Malaysian
students. The
study is descriptive in nature and adopts the framework of
traditional
Eastern cultural and communication values for exploring these
preferences. It
finds that Malaysian students' preferences do not fall in line with
these
traditional values. While Malaysian students place family and friends
as
their most important sources of information, advertising and consumer
information sources follow closely. Similarly, their preferences in
advertising content are more Western; they want direct, factual, informative
advertising content. The strong consumer association in Penang where
the data
were collected, the influence of foreign agencies, the global
economy and the
consumer culture it spreads, as well as the youth of the sample are
offered
as explanations.
Jyotika Ramaprasad
School of Journalism
Southern Illinois University
Carbondale, IL 62901
(618) 453-3277
Information Source for Shopping Decisions and Advertising Content Preferences
of Malaysian Youth
Introduction
Preferences for sources of information for shopping decisions differ among
consumers. These differences may exist because of cultural reasons
at a macro
level or, within a society, by gender and ethnic group. Consumers'
preferences for advertising content may differ similarly. This paper
describes Malaysian students' preferences for information sources for
shopping decisions and advertising content and identifies gender and
ethnic
group differences in these. Asian countries are becoming
increasingly impor
tant economically; it is in these countries that growth is and will
continue
to take place. Many of these countries are adopting friendlier
attitudes to
free market policies. As a result, advertising is on the rise in
these
countries and foreign, particularly Western, advertising agencies are
expanding their operations into these countries. Malaysia is no exception
to
this trend. Given the vast differences in culture between Western
and these
Asian countries, information on Asian consumers and their
preferences is
vital to the success of foreign marketing and advertising firms. As
Onkvisit
and Shaw (1985) have pointed out, while American marketing firms
"will go to
great lengths to study their American customers in order to find the
most
effective way to communicate with them.... they generally have not
exhibited
the same kind of deligence and attention when they venture abroad"
(p. 5).
Asian Cultures.
Vertical structures, group orientation, conformity, interconnectedness with
family, and the preservation of relationships are well known
characteristics
of Eastern cultures. As Frith (1991) suggests, "Unlike the
individualistic,
egalitarian, democratic and liberal traditions of Western economic
and
political theory, many Asian societies value communal, autocratic,
hierarchical and conservative traditions that emphasize social harmony and
meeting one's duties and obligations to the collective" (pp. 3-4).
Asians
place a "high importance on consensus and maintaining harmony in
social
relationships" (p. 13). The modes of expression in these cultures are
therefore more formal. These are also high context cultures where
information
resides more in the context and the communicator than in the
message. As a
result, communication is more indirect, implicit, symbolic, and
understated.
Western culture stands at the other end. Horizontal structures,
individuality, and directness are values in place there with the
result that
competition, primary control and informality are prized (Weiz,
Rothbaum, and
Blackburn, 1984; Okabe; 1983, Frith, 1990). Communication is more
direct,
upfront, and explicit.
International Advertising Studies
Studies in international advertising have tried to explore the reflection of
cultural and communication values in advertising. These content
(analytic)
studies, comparing the advertising of various countries, are
sometimes
descriptive and at other times placed within the debate in international
advertising over whether advertising should be standardized or
localized.
Most, however, provide a priori or post hoc explanations for content
establishing a link between culture, content, and indirectly the consumers.
A
brief review of these studies follows.
The debate on globalization begun in the 1960s, initially focused on and
largely advocated standardized advertising (and marketing) in Europe
(Dichter, 1962; Roostal, 1963). While middle of the road opinions were
heard
in the 1960s, it was the 1970s which heralded a more cautionary
approach and
suggested taking cultural and psychological differences between
countries
into consideration (Britt, 1974; Douglas and Dubois, 1977). Results of
cross
culturally comparative studies on consumers and consumer responses
to
advertising supported this approach (Green, Cunningham, and Cunningham,
1978;
Hornik, 1980). A 1983 article by Levitt (1983) strongly endorsing
standardization brought the debate back to the forefront in the academic
literature and unleashed a wave of responses (Harris, 1984; Onkvisit
and
Shaw, 1987) and research in the '80s. Some of this research effort
focused on
the comparative content of advertising, the content being themes,
techiniques, information and such.
One of the earliest studies (Marquez, 1979) of this kind found similarities
in Philippine, Thai, and U.S. advertising. The author reflects that
this is
atypical and suggests that, before adopting standardization,
practitioners
must check indigenous cultures. Rice and Lu (1988) found that Chinese
magazine ads had high levels of information as compared with American
advertising, the comparison being based on findings from previous studies
on
American advertising. Weinberger and Spotts (1989) found less humor
in
American than British advertising. Tse et al. (1989) found that Hong
Kong,
China, and Taiwan differed in the consumptive values such as
technology ,
modernism, and hedonism that they used in their advertising.
Reid et al. (1985), using Simon's (1971) classification scheme for creative
strategy, compared Clio winning domestic and international
television
commercials. They found only limited support for cross-cultural
differences
in creative strategies, possibly because the study grouped all
international
commercials together rather than by nation.
Madden, Caballero, and Matsukubo (1986) found Japanese advertisements to be
more informative than American advertising. Another study (Hong,
Muderrisoglu, and Zinkhan, 1987) found that Japanese advertising used more
emotional and informational cues than American advertising. Mueller
(1987)
found that, while Japanese advertising used traditional appeals like
soft
sell, it also used modern and Westernized appeals. Ramaprasad and
Hasegawa
(1990) found that Japanese commercials used the emotional appeal more
than
the informational appeal.
This study's look at advertising content preferences is a distinct departure
from the above ruling content studies and therefore pioneering to
the best of
the author's knowledge. By focusing on advertising content
preferences of
consumers, this study examines the culture, content, and consumer link
directly rather than indirectly as the above studies did. This study's
look
at the relative importance of advertising, friends, family, and such
on
consumers' shopping choices, however, is within the boundaries of
traditional
consumer behavior research.
International Consumer Behavior Studies
As Mullen and Johnson (1990) report, models of consumer behavior have moved
from the undifferentiated (based on marketing "folk wisdom") through
the
unilineal (Lavidge and Steiner, 1961) to the current cybernetic ones
(Howard
and Sheth, 1969). At each stage, these models have further
differentiated
existing variables or added new variables. In an effort to
parsimoniously
integrate these models, Mullen and Johnson (1990) formulated a general
model
of consumer behavior. While this model leaves out some of the
complexity of
consumer behavior, it is a useful starting point.
The model includes internal processes within a consumer (perception,
emotion, and so on), triggered by a stimulus and resulting in behavior in
the
social context (Mullen and Johnson, 1990). The social context is
"the
totality of social stimulation that is influencing the individual" (p.
123)
such as family, friends, sales personnel, advertising and such. This
entire
process is enveloped by the (increasingly important) cultural
context which
is the "totality of customs, arts, sciences...that distinguishes one
society
from another" (p. 138).
Several studies examine the influence of the cultural context on consumer
behavior. This literature includes Thorelli et al.'s (1975) study of
German
and American "information seekers," Green and Langeard's (1975)
study of
French and US consumers, Douglas' (1976) study of French and US
housewives,
Anderson and Engledow's (1977) comparison of US and German
information
seekers, Aaker et al.'s (1982) comparison of two lifestyle studies on
Japanese and American women, Boote's (1982) study of values differences
among
German, UK, and French consumers, and Green et al.'s (1982) study of
family
purchasing roles across the United States, France, Holland,
Venezuela, and
Gabon. These studies generally found differences in consumer behavior
by
culture. Unlike the above studies, this study is not comparative. It
focuses
on one country, Malaysia.
Malaysia
Malaysia received its independence from colonial rule in 1957 (Milne and
Mauzy, 1986). Since then one of its major goals has been to create
unity
among its three major ethnic groups, the Malay (long time settlers),
the
Chinese, and the Indians (the latter two, immigrants as workers for tin
mines
and rubber plantations under British rule). These ethnic groups
differ in
appearance, language and religion as well as in areas of residence and
occupation. In fact, Milne and Mauzy (1986) suggest that ethnic divisions
are
so strong that they preempt class divisions. At the same time, these
groups
subscribe to some common Malaysian values, such as humility,
gentility,
modesty, and indirect communication (Omar, 1985) which makes Malaysian
culture stand apart from Western culture (Frith and Frith, 1989a). Also,
Eastern cultures are generally considered to be more group than
individual
oriented (Kindel, 1986; Midooka, 1990).
The government's attempts to create unity among these groups include a
language and cultural policy which accords primacy to one group, the
Malay,
but keeps a place for the others (Milne and Mauzy, 1986). The
government's
New Economic Policy (NEP) of the early 1970s seems to do likewise.
Economically, Malaysia has grown more than most developing countries, but
this growth has been imbalanced across ethnic groups. The NEP of the
early
1970s attempts to create a Malay (formerly primarily peasants)
commercial and
industrial community at all levels. Advertising must reflect this
NEP: "No
particular race should be identified with a particular occupation or
activity" (as cited in Burton, 1984, p. 27).
The policies which are most relevant to advertising, however, are the
national Rukunegara ideology of the early 1970s (includes good behavior
and
morality) and the "Look East" (to Japan and South Korea) policy of
1982 to
counter Western influence and promote values such as loyalty,
selflessness,
efficiency, thrift, trustworthiness, cleanliness, and discipline
(Milne and
Mauzy, 1986).
Malaysian advertising has had a history of dominance by western
transnational agencies (Anderson, 1984). More recently though, the Malaysian
government has required some restructuring of ownership (Burton,
1984) and
has imposed control on advertising content because of its
inconsistency with
the Rukunegara ideology; "its mindless aping of bourgeois values and
styles
of the West" (Anderson, 1984, p. 219). The Radio Television Malaysia
Code of
Advertising (first issued on December 27, 1972) specifies that
advertising
should reflect Malaysian culture and values and have a Malaysian
identity
(Consumers' Association of Penang, 1986). It should also have a
secondary
message relating to discipline, cleanliness, etc. (Frith, 1989b; U.S.
Department of Commerce, 1990). Such regulations, while irksome and
constraining to practitioners (foreign agencies in particular), are
inadequate according to the Consumer Association of Penang, a major critic
of
advertising as a promoter of (Westernized) consumer culture,
egotism, i
ndividualism, and competition (Consumers' Association of Penang, 1986).
Malaysian cultural values along with the presence of a strong consumer
association in Penang (where the data were collected) and government
efforts
to preserve Malaysian culture and deemphasize advertising may create
an
aversion to advertising as a source of information particularly as
compared
with family and friends. On the other hand, the western influence on
advertising through the dominance of western advertising agencies in
Southeast Asia (Frith, 1990) combined with the youth of the sample may
create
a more positive response to advertising as an information source.
Also,
despite the presence of shared values, the ethnic groups may differ in
their
responses to advertising. Males and females may differ similarly.
Similarly,
Malaysian culture, the consumer association, government imperatives,
the
western influence, the youth of the sample, may all also be factors
which
affect respondents' preferences regarding the content of television
advertising. Hence the descriptive research questions for this study were:
1. What is the relative perceived influence of different factors in the
Malaysian students' social environment (family, friends, advertising,
etc.)
on their shopping behavior? Do these preferences differ by age and
ethnic
group?
2. What are the preferences of Malaysian students with regard to television
advertising content? Do these preferences differ by age and ethnic
group?
Sheth (1979) pointed out that the inductive approach dominates a discipline
in its infancy and growth stages. In view of the newness of cross
cultural
research in consumer behavior, this study is descriptive in nature.
Method
The method of study was survey; the design was cross-sectional. The data
collection instrument was a questionnaire which was administered (in
the
tradition of many advertising and marketing studies) to a sample of
students,
this time at a Malaysian university in Penang. The youth market was
of
interest to this study because it has been "recognized as a specialized
segment of the market for a variety of products and services and [these
consumers' behavior] has received increasing attention among marketers"
(Moschis and Moore, 1979). Students were used as an access population to
study the youth in the present project. At the same time, it is
recognized
that this limits the generalizability of results.
The questionnaire, developed in English in the United States, was finalized
after several iterations based on pretests. In Malaysia, it was
translated
into Bahasa Malay (the official national language) and back
translated (by a
different person) into English. After several other checks for
adequacy of
translation and cultural appropriateness, it was administered in
March 1993
(in Bahasa Malay).
The questionnaire first measured demographic variables such as age, gender,
ethnic group, year in college, place of residence, employment
status, and
income, using direct questions. Similar questions measured media use.
On a five point scale, the next question measured how influential five
different sources of information--family and relatives, friends and
roommates, colleagues and boss, advertising, and consumer information
sources--were in the respondents' shopping behavior. Finally, a semantic
differential, with a nine point scale, was used to measure television
advertising content preferences. The pairs of bipolar adjectives were
derived
from a list of Eastern and Western communication values, some
particularly as
they relate to advertising, culled from the literature.
While changes are taking place in Asian cultures due to the global economy
and the consumer culture it brings with it, this study adopts the
framework
of traditional relationships and communication values for Malaysia.
Description of Respondents
A total of 389 useable questionnaires was available. The mean age of the
respondents was 25 years, the mode was 23. About 22% of the
respondents did
not indicate their gender (the question was positioned somewhat
obscurely),
212 (55%) were female (probably an overrepresentation) and 92 (24%)
were
male. Altogether, 199 (51%) of the respondents were Malay, 131 (34%)
were
Chinese, 29 (8%) were Indian, and 9 (2%) belonged to other ethnic
groups. The
1990 (latest available) Malaysian population breakdown was 48%
Malay, 30%
Chinese, 22% Indian, and .5% other (Department of Statistics, 1993).
Indians
were somewhat underrepresented in the sample.
A majority of the respondents (57%) were juniors; 21% were seniors, 11% were
freshmen, and about 10% were sophomores. Most of the students either
lived in
dorms (55%) or in rented accomodations (39%); very few lived with
parents
(6%). Very few Malaysian students worked: 3% each worked full time and
part
time and 13% worked only in summer. The mean income of students who
worked
was US $905 per year; their mean disposable income from this source
was $497
per year. The sample's mean disposable income from other sources was
$467 per
year.
The respondents' media use included a per day average of 1.8 hours for
television, 3.9 hours for radio, 1.3 hours for newspapers, and .7 hours
for
magazines. Mean media use was 7 hours per day.
Demographic and Media Use Differences by Ethnic Group and Gender
The distribution of respondents for demographic and media variables, by
gender and ethnic group, is given in Tables 1a and 1b. Since gender had
many
missing values, for variables other than year in college and age
which are
presented for descriptive reasons (Table 1a), separate statistical
analyses
were done for ethnic group and gender (Table 1b). For each variable,
while
the distribution of students by ethnic group and gender is presented
side by
side in the tables, the numbers for ethnic group and gender should
be read
independently of each other.
Malay and Indian students mostly lived in dorms, while Chinese students
mostly rented accomodations (Table 1b). Female students rented more
than did
male students who stayed more in dorms. Since so few students
worked,
analysis of employment status by ethnic group was impossible. A larger
proportion of males than females worked.
There was a significant difference in income (between Malays and Chinese,
with the Malays having a higher income) but not in disposable income
from
work and other sources by ethnic group. There was no difference in all
three
incomes by gender.
Differences were not found for newspaper use by ethnic group. The groups,
however, did differ in television, radio, magazine and total media
use.
Malays used more TV and magazines than did the Chinese and more radio
than
did both the Chinese and Indians. Altogether, Malays used more
(total) media
than the Chinese. Malays were therefore the largest and the Chinese
the
smallest users of media. Radio use differed by gender, with females
listening
more than males.
Sources of Information
For the sample as a whole, family and relatives were the most important
information source, followed by friends and roommates (Table 2a).
Advertising
and consumer information sources came next in order, with colleagues
being
the least influential sources. Also, colleagues were the only source
of
information rated below the mean of 3; the other four sources were all
considered to have more than average influence. The importance of family
and
friends in a group oriented, hierarchical society such as Malaysia's
is not
surprising. Also, the fact that advertising and consumer information
sources
ranked almost identically points to the consciousness among
Malaysian
consumers of assessing products independently of advertising claims. Hence
advertising appears to play a relatively influential role in the
respondents'
shopping decisions but it is balanced with other information and
superceded
by the interpersonal sources of family and friends.
Interestingly however for the influence of family/relatives and of
friends/roommates, there were differences by gender (Table 2a). Females
scored these sources of information significantly higher than did males.
By
ethnic group, the only difference was between the Malay and Chinese
students
for the information source family/relatives, with the Chinese
students rating
them higher (Table 2b).
Advertising Content Preferences
Of the 16 communication values used as bipolar adjectives in the semantic
differential, only three received a preference score of less than the
average
(5 on a 9-point scale); the other 13 were all above 5 indicating a
preference
for more Western style advertising (Table 3a). The highest score
(7.02) was
for the specific/vague pair, followed by the give information/create
emotion
(6.85), the give/not give product features (6.85), and the
explicit/implicit
pairs (6.67). Respondents wanted advertising to provide very
specific
information about the products. The pairs which followed in terms of the
scores they received also indicate the same. Give brand name upfront
versus
at end (6.35), direct versus indirect (6.3), rational versus
emotional
(6.29), and objective versus subjective (6.11) came next in order, all
scoring above 6 and indicating a preference for very direct, upfront,
objective advertising that appealed to reason.
Still above the midpoint of 5, but below the score of 6, were the pairs
factual/symbolic (5.84), informal/formal (5.43), loud/quiet (5.24),
overstated/understated (5.19), and verbally appealing/visually appealing
(5.16). While the scores on these pairs are still on the side of
Western
values, they form a group different from the one above, in that they
all deal
more with the tone rather than the content. Hence preferences in
terms of
content were more Western than preferences in terms of tone.
Pairs which scored below 5 were repeat brand name a lot/few times (4.91),
use individual/group appeals (4.68), and use imperative/polite
language
(2.88). These were the only communication values for which the Malaysian
students' preferences leaned towards Eastern rather than Western
values. The
strongest leaning was in the case of use of language: polite
language rather
than imperatives in advertising was very important to these
students.
Gender differences were found for the values objective/subjective and
specific/vague, with females preferring more subjective but more specific
content than males (Table 3a). Differences by ethnicity were found for
give
product features/not give product features, and use verbal/visual
appeals,
with the Chinese wanting more product features than the Malays, and
the
Malays wanting more verbal appeals than Indians (Table 3b).
Conclusions
The findings were quite contrary to the perspective of traditional
relationship and communication values for Malaysian students adopted by this
study. While the students considered family and friends important
sources of
information for shopping choices, advertising and consumer
information
sources were also important. The students appear to strike some kind of
balance in using many possible sources of information, most interesting
of
which is the balance between advertising and consumer information
sources.
This could be due to the presence of a very strong consumer
association in
Penang where the data were collected; this Consumers' Association of
Penang
is very active in its attempts to educate Malaysians about
advertising's
deceptions and manipulations. Still the only small difference in scores
for
family/friends and advertising/consumer information sources and
particularly
between advertising and consumer information sources is important in
that it
might be indicative of a greater acceptance of advertising than
anticipated
given the cultural, governmental, religious and social norms of
Malaysia.
The truly surprising findings however were the ones related to advertising
content preferences. Generally, Malaysian students' preferences were
more in
line with Western communication values than Asian ones. They wanted
advertising to be direct and specific, have information on product and brand
name, be objective and use a rational appeal. In tone they wanted
advertising
to be factual and somewhat loud and overstated. These are
characteristics of
advertising found in the West, mostly in the United States. It is
possible
that the activities of the consumer association, which try to develop
a
critical ability in consumers with regard to advertising, have also led
consumers to believe that it is direct, factual advertising which is
less
likely to be deceptive, and this in turn has created in them a
preference for
such advertising. There is another explanation too.
Since Western and particularly American advertising agencies are the ones
with a foothold in many Asian countries, their brand of advertising
might be
becoming more and more acceptable. Foreign influence therefore
cannot be
ruled out as a possible explanation for the findings of this study. As
Frith
(1990) says "Advertisements need not be imported from the West to
express
Western cultural values. The staffs of multinational agencies tend to
be
foreign-trained and expatriate-managed: thus the generative cultural
values
in multinational advertising are uniformly Western. Indigenous
culture tends
to be a largely unknown quantity to the expatriate, and tends to be
abandoned
as old-fashioned by the local recruit bent on adopting the values of
Western
management" (p. 3).
The youth of the market is a critical factor here. The advent of consumerism
in many Asian cultures with the globalization of economies meets
with far
less resistance (in fact, may be even with acceptance) from the young.
Hence
the results are not generalizable to other population groups.
As far as the tone of the ads was concerned, the Malaysian youth were not as
Western in their preferences as they were for the content. Where
they were
strikingly on the side of preferring Malaysian communication values
was with
regard to the use of language; they believed advertising should be
polite not
commanding or urge to action oriented as much of Western advertising
is. They
also preferred the use of group appeals to individual appeals.
Malaysian youth appear to be undergoing a transition, adopting more Western
style communication values at least for advertising and granting a
larger
role for advertising and other non family and friends related
information
sources. In the international advertising debate, the need to
recognize
indigenous relationship and communication values has been pointed out.
While
this is still very important, the need to recognize that the youth
in many
countries are becoming more Western in their orientation is equally
important. Western advertising strategies and tactics which do not work with
older consumers are more likely to be successful with the younger
ones.
Agencies need to be cognizant of these changes as they continue to
pursue
business in the newly strong economies of the East.
Table 1a
Distribution of Respondents by Year in College and Mean Age,
by Ethnic Group and Gender
Malay Chinese Indian
Yr in College Male Female Male Female Male Female
Freshman 9(17)a 7(6) 1(5) 8(10) 0 1(8)
Sophomore 6(11) 6(5) 5(26) 6(8) 0 3(21)
Junior 33(61) 86(78) 6(32) 41(53) 5(63) 7(50)
Senior 6(11) 12(11) 7(37) 22(29) 3(38) 3(21)
Total 54(19) 111(39) 19(7) 77(27) 8(3) 14(5)
a%.
Mean Age 27 23 27 24 27 24
(n=55) (n=112) (n=19) (n=75) (n=8) (n=14) Table 1b
Distribution of Respondents by Residence, Employment, Mean Income,
and Mean Media Use, by Ethnic Group and Gender Separately
Ethnic Group Gender
Residencea Malay Chinese Indian Male Female
Dorm 126 50 15 62 103
(64)b (38) (54) (68) (49)
W/ Parents 5 13 4 9 8
(3) (10) (14) (10) (4)
Rent 67 68 9 20 101
(34) (52) (32) (22) (48)
Total 198 131 26 91 212 (56) (37) (7) (30) (70)
aOther=1. b%. x2=26.7, p.=.00 by ethnic group; x2=19.21, p.=.00 by gender.
Employment
Full Time 6 0 2 6 2
(3) (0) (7) (7) (1)
Part T/Sum 15 35 3 18 20
(8) (28) (11) (21) (10)
No 163 92 22 61 180
(89) (72) (82) (72) (89)
Total 184 127 27 85 201
(55) (38) (8) (30) (70)
x2=15.82, p.=.00 by gender.
Incomec 1775 340 702 797 268
(n=17) (n=27) (n=4) (n=20) (n=11)
F=4.327, p.=.02 for ethnic group.
Disp Incc 946 157 478 273 128
(n=17) (n=27) (n=4) (n=20) (n=11)
Disp Incc/d 421 518 455 507 458
(n=142) (n=100) (n=25) (n=70) (n=156)
cMean US$/yr.
dOther sources.
Table 1b: Continued
Ethnic Group Gender
Malay Chinese Indian Male Female
Media Usee
Television 1.9 1.5 1.5 1.9 1.7
(n=197) (n=131) (n=29) (n=92) (n=209)
F=3.7; p.=.02 for ethnic group.
Radio 5.2 2.3 3.2 3.2 4.3
(n=179) (n=131) (n=28) (n=90) (n=193)
F=28.53; p.=.00 for ethnic group; F=6.6, p.=.01 for gender.
Newspaper 1.3 1.3 1.5 1.4 1.2
(n=193) (n=128) (n=28) (n=91) (n=206)
Magazines .8 .5 .7 .7 .7
(n=194) (n=131) (n=28) (n=92) (n=206)
F=4.0, p.=.02 for ethnic group.
Tot Med Use 8.1 5.1 6.5 6.8 6.9
(n=159) (n=126) (n=27) (n=87) (n=174)
F=25.69, p.=.00 for ethnic group.
eMean hrs/day.
Table 2a
Mean Influence of Information Sources on Malaysian Students' Shopping
Decisions by Gender*
Information Source Female Male Total
Family/Relatives
F = 5.62; p. = .02.
3.51
3.21
3.42
Friends/Roommates
F = 7.19; p. = .01.
3.43
3.11
3.33
Advertising
3.13
3.28
3.17
Consumer Information Sources
3.13
3.16
3.14
Colleagues/Boss
2.61
2.86
2.70
*Higher scores indicate more influence.
Table 2b
Mean Influence of Information Sources on Malaysia Students' Shopping
Decisions by Ethnic Group*
Information Source Malay Chinese
Indian Total
Family/Relatives
F = 3.55; p. = .03. Significant difference between Malay and Chinese
students.
3.31
3.60
3.29
3.41
Friends/Roommates
3.36
3.34
3.10
3.33
Advertising
3.23
3.17
3.21
3.20
Consumer Information Sources
3.21
3.13
3.17
3.18
Colleagues/Boss 2.66 2.71 2.69 2.68
NOTE: Numbers differ between Tables 2a and 2b because of different
missing values for gender and ethnic group. Ranks of the information
sources however do not change.
Table 3a: Mean Content Preferences for Television Advertising Among
Malaysian Students by Gender*
Content Female Male Total
Use imperative language/Use polite language**
2.82
3.03
2.88
Use individualistic appeals/Use group appeals
4.60
4.87
4.68
Repeat brand name at lot/Only a few times
4.75
5.30
4.91
Verbally appealing/Visually appealing
5.17
5.15
5.16
Overstated/Understated
5.07
5.47
5.19
Loud/Quiet
5.22
5.30
5.24
Informal/Formal
5.48
5.31
5.43
Factual/Symbolic
5.81
5.89
5.84
Objective/Subjective
F = 8.37; p. = .00.
5.85
6.75
6.11
Rational/Emotional
6.35
6.16
6.29
Direct/Indirect
6.44
5.96
6.30
Give brand name upfront/Give brand at end
6.35
6.37
6.35
Explicit/Implicit
6.64
6.73
6.67
Give product features/Not give features
6.97
6.55
6.85
Give information/Create emotion
6.89
6.77
6.85
Specific/Vague
F = 5.03; p. = .03.
7.20
6.58
7.02
*Higher scores indicate a preference for Western style advertising.
**The first adjective indicates more Western style advertising content.
Table 3b
Mean Content Preferences for Television Advertising Among Malaysian
Students by Ethnic Group*
Content Malay Chinese Indian Total
Use imperative language/Use polite language
3.12
2.66
2.93
2.93
Use individualistic appeals/Use group appeals
4.75
4.70
4.64
4.72
Repeat brand name a lot/Only a few times
5.14
4.70
4.83
4.95
Verbally appealing/Visually appealing
F = 5.05; p. = .01. Significant difference between Malay & Indian, and
Chinese & Indian students.
5.17
4.95
3.96
4.99
Overstated/Understated
5.3
4.85
5.00
5.13
Loud/Quiet
5.4
4.98
5.2
5.24
Informal/Formal
5.06
5.61
5.28
5.28
Factual/Symbolic
5.9
5.69
5.59
5.8
Objective/Subjective
6.02
6.18
6.5
6.12
Direct/Indirect
6.29
6.46
5.04
6.33
Give brandname upfront/Give brand at end
6.34
6.34
6.52
6.36
Rational/Emotional
6.25
6.38
7.17
6.37
Explicit/Implicit
6.42
6.82
6.43
6.57
Give information/Create emotion
6.67
7.09
6.17
6.78
Give product features/Not give features
F = 4.71; p. = .01. Significant difference between Malay and Chinese
students.
6.45
7.29
6.86
6.79
Specific/Vague
6.74
7.3
6.76
6.95
*Higher scores indicate a preference for Western style advertising.
**The first adjective indicates more Western style advertising content.
NOTE: Numbers differ between Tables 3a and 3b because of different
missing values for gender and ethnic group. Ranks of the pairs change
only very slightly.
Aaker, David A., Yasuyoshi Fuse, and Fred D. Reynolds (1982), "Is Lifestyle
Research Limited in its Usefulness to Japanese Advertisers?" Journal
of
Advertising 11, 31-6, 48.
Anderson, Michael H. (1984), Madison Avenue in Asia: Politics and
Transnational Advertising, London: Associated University Presses, Inc.
Anderson, Ronald and Jack Engledow (1977), "A Factor Analytic Comparison of
U.S. and German Information Seekers," Journal of Consumer Research 3
(March),
185-196.
Boote, Alfred (1982), "Psychographic Segmentation in Europe," Journal of
Advertising Research 22, 19-25.
Britt, Steuart H. (1974), "Standardizing Marketing for the International
Market," Columbia Journal of World Business 9 (4), 39-45.
Burton, Jack (1984), "Malaysia Clamps Down on TV Advertising," Advertising
Age 55 (September 6), 26-27.
Consumers' Association of Penang (1986), Selling Dreams: How Advertising
Misleads Us, Penang, Malaysia: Consumers' Association of Penang.
Department of Statistics (1993), The Europa World Year Book, II, London:
Europa Publications, 1851.
Dichter, Ernest (1962), "The World Class Customer," Harvard Business Review
40 (4), 113-22.
Douglas, Susan P. (1976), "Cross National Comparisons and Consumer
Stereotypes: A Case Study of Working and Non-Working Wives in the US and
France," Journal of Communication Research 3, 12-20.
Douglas, Susan and Bernard Dubois (1977), "Looking at the Cultural
Environment for International Marketing Opportunities," Columbia Journal of
World Business 12 (4), 102-109.
Frith, Katherine T. and Michael Frith (1989a), "Western Advertising and
Eastern Culture: The Confrontation in Southeast Asia," Current Issues &
Research in Advertising 12 (1, 2), 63-73.
Frith, Katherine T. and Michael Frith (1989b), "Advertising as Cultural
Invasion," Media Asia 16 (4), 179-184, 214.
Frith, Katherine T. (August 1990), "Eastern and Western Cultural Values in
Advertising." Paper presented to the International Association for
Mass
Communication Research, Bled, Yugoslavia.
Frith, Katherine T. (April 1991), "Analyzing Cultural Values in Advertising:
An East/West Typology." Paper presented to the American Academy of
Advertising, Reno, NE.
Green, Robert T., William H. Cunningham, and Isabella C. M. Cunningham
(1978), "The Effectiveness of Standardized Global Advertising," Journal
of
Advertising 4 (3), 25-30.
Green, Robert T. and Eric Langeard (1975), "A Cross-National Comparison of
Consumer Habits and Innovator Characteristics," Journal of Marketing,
39,
34-41.
Green, Robert T., Jean-Paul Leonardi, Jean-Louis Chandon, Isabella C. M.
Cunningham, Bronis Verhage, and Alain Strazzieri (1982), "Societal
Development and Family Purchasing Roles: A Cross-National Study," Journal of
Consumer Research, 9, 436-42.
Harris, Greg (1984), "The Globalization of Advertising," International
Journal of Advertising 3, 223-234.
Hong, Jae W., Aydin Muderrisoglu, and George M. Zinkhan(1987), "Cultural
Differences and Advertising Expression: A Comparative Content
Analysis
of Japanese and U.S. Magazine Advertising," Journal of Advertising
16
(1), 55-62, 68.
Hornik, Jacob (1980), "Comparative Evaluation of International vs.
National Advertising Strategies," Columbia Journal of World Business 15
(1), 36-45.
Howard, John A. and Jagdish N. Sheth (1969), The Theory of Buyer Behavior,
New York: Wiley.
Kindel, Thomas I. (1986), "Chinese Consumer Behavior: Historical Perspective
Plus an Update on Communication Hypotheses," in Jagdish Sheth and
Chin Tiong
Tan, eds., Historical Perspective in Consumer Research: National and
International Perspectives, Singapore: Association for Consumer Research,
186-190.
Lavidge, Robert J. and Gary A. Steiner (1961), "A Model for Predictive
Measurements of Advertising Effectiveness," Journal of Marketing 25 (6),
59-62.
Levitt, Theodore (1983), "The Globalization of Markets," Harvard Business
Review 61 (3), 92-102.
Madden, Charles S., Marjorie J. Caballero, and Shinya Matsukubo (1986),
"Analysis of Information Content in U.S. and Japanese Magazine
Advertising," Journal of Advertising 15 (3), 38-45.
Marquez, F. T. (1979), "Cross Cultural Research: A Decision Factor in
Standardized Versus Non-Standardized Global Advertising," Gazette 25
(3), 150-62.
Midooka, Kiyoshi (1990), "Characteristics of Japanese-style Communication,"
Media, Culture and Society 12 (4), 477-489.
Milne, R. S. and Diane K. Mauzy (1986), Malaysia: Tradition, Modernity, and
Islam, Boulder, CO: Westview Press.
Moschis, George P. and Roy L. Moore (1979), "Decision Making Among the Young:
A Socialization Perspective," Journal of Consumer Research, 6,
101-12.
Mueller, Barbara (1987), "Reflections of Culture: An Analysis of
Japanese and American Advertising Appeals," Journal of Advertising
Research 27 (3), 51-59.
Mullen, Brian and Craig Johnson (1990), The Psychology of Consumer
Behavior Hillsdale, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, Publishers.
Okabe, Roichi (1983), "Cultural Assumptions of East and West: Japan and the
United States," in William B. Gudykunst , ed., Intercultural
Communication
Theory: Current Perspectives, Beverly Hills, CA: Sage, 21-44.
Omar, Asmah Haji (1985), "Mass Communication and its Effect on Education and
Traditional Culture in Malaysia," Media Asia 12 (1), 11-20.
Onkvisit, Sak and John J. Shaw (1985), "A View of Marketing and Advertising
Practices in Asia and its Meaning for Marketing Managers," Journal
of
Consumer Marketing 2 (2), 5-17.
Onkvisit, Sak and John J. Shaw (1987), "Standardized International
Advertising: A Review and Critical Evaluation of the Theoretical and
Empirical Evidence," Columbia Journal of World Business 22 (3), 43-55.
Ramaprasad, Jyotika, and Kazumi Hasegawa (1990), "An Analysis of
Japanese Television Commercials," Journalism Quarterly 67 (4),
1025-1033.
Reid, Leonard N., et al. (1985), "Creative Strategies in Highly Creative
Domestic and International Television Advertising," International
Journal of Advertising 4 (1), 11-18.
Rice, Marshall D. and Zaiming Lu (1988), "A Content Analysis of Chinese
Magazine Advertisements" Journal of Advertising 17 (4), 43-48.
Roostal, Ilmar (1963), "Standardization of Advertising for Western Europe,"
Journal of Marketing 27 (4), 15-20.
Sheth, Jagdish N. (1979). "The Surpluses and Shortages in Consumer Behavior
Theory and Research," Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science 7,
414-27.
Simon, Julian L (1971). The Management of Advertising, Englewood Cliffs,
NJ: Prentice-Hall, Inc.
Thorelli, Hans B., Helmut Becker, and Jack Engledow (1975), The Information
Seekers: An International Study of Consumer Information and
Advertising Image
, Cambridge, MA: Ballinger Publishing Co.
Tse, David K., Russell W. Belk and Nan Zhou (1989), "Becoming a Consumer
Society: A Longitudinal and Cross-Cultural Content Analysis of Print
Ads from
Hong Kong, the People's Republic of China, and Taiwan," Journal of
Consumer
Research, 15 (March), 457-472.
U.S. Department of Commerce (October 1990), Marketing in Malaysia,
Washington, D.C.: U.S. Government Printing Office.
Weinberger, Marc G. and Harlan E. Spotts (1989), "Humor in U.S. Versus
U.K. TV Commercials: A Comparison," Journal of Advertising 18 (2),
39-44.
Weisz, John R., Fred M. Rothbaum, and Thomas C. Blackburn (1984), "Standing
Out and Standing In: The Psychology of Control in America and
Japan,"
American Psychologist, 39, 955-69.
|
