Research Interests
Research focuses on the cross-cultural factors affecting consumer persuasion, attitudinal and value judgments, and survey responding. Related research examines the impact of motivational and contextual factors on evaluative processes, and the determinants of public attitudes toward advertising.
Sample Cross-Cultural Research Projects:
Cultural Differences in Self-Presentation and Survey Responding
Press coverage: Click
here for Business Perspectives article
on culture and survey responding
Examines
the role of cultural values in prompting socially desirable responding (SDR;
i.e., responding to questions in a manner designed to make the respondent look
good). Survey research conducted
with different populations assesses how collectivist and individualist cultural
orientations affect such responding. We propose that people with both types of cultural orientations
engage in desirable responding, albeit in distinct ways. Across several studies,
people with an individualistic cultural orientation appear more likely to engage
in self-deceptive enhancement, the tendency to see oneself in a positive light
and to give inflated assessments of one's skills and abilities. Collectivists
are more likely to engage in impression management by misrepresenting their
self-reported actions to appear more normatively appropriate. This program of research contributes to survey methodology by, 1)
examining distinctions between types of SDR and, 2) demonstrating that
respondents with different cultural orientations use distinct strategies for
self-presentation. Results also have implications for improving the quality of data
obtained from samples with different cultural
orientations, especially when survey questions ask for sensitive information.
Cultural
Differences in Advertising Effectiveness
Examines
the types of advertising messages that are persuasive to consumers, as a
function of their cultural values and their ethnicity.
Analyses focus on the role of vertical versus horizontal cultural
orientations in the effectiveness of status-relevant appeals.
Results have implications for understanding the way opinions and
judgments are formed in different societies and cultural groups.
Cultural Differences in Advertising Content
Examines
the types of advertising messages that tend to appear in different societies,
especially China and the U.S. Related
research examines the effects of those advertising messages on cultural values
and self-construals among Chinese and U.S. consumers. Focus is on individualism and modernity values in ads,
compared to collectivism and tradition values.