International Advertising 4th of July 2017

Hofstefde cultural dimension

- Often used to assess an advertisment

Dimension Low High

Power Distance
The extend to which the less powerful members
of organizations accept that power is distributed
unequally
Uncertainty Avoidance
The extent to which the members of a culture
feel threatened by ambiguous or unknown
situations and have created beliefs or institutions
that try to avoid these
Indivdualism/collectivism (a continuum)
People treated as equals despite social
status
Western countries
Prefer few formal rules, they are certain
with their life without taking any
precautions
Group is more important than indivudals
People accept authority relations (calling aunt by
their title not name right away)
Eastern/Asian countries (India with their kasta)
They have behvaioral guides (tata karma)
People try to control the future
e.g. by buying insurance
Individual behvaior is more important

The tendency of people to look after themselves
and their immediate family only (belong to
groups or collective and to look after each other
in exchange for loyalty
Masculinity/feminism (a continuum)
A situation in which the dominant values in
society are success, money and things.
They tend to care for others and the quality of
life.
Long term orientation
Valued place on persistence, status, thrift
Asian countries
Cooperation; friendly atmosphere
employment security; low stress; warm
interpersonal relationships
asian
Respect for tradition, personal stability,
focused on the past
Western countries
Competition; challenge; recognition; wealth;
advancement; high stress; tight control
western
Perseverance thrift, focused on the future
 Power Uncertainty Long-term
Country Individualism* Masculinity**
Distance Avoidance Orientation***
China High Low Moderate Moderate High
France High High Moderate High Low
Germany Low High High Moderate Moderate
Hong Kong High Low High Low High
Indonesia High Low Moderate Low High
Japan Moderate Moderate High Moderate Moderate
Netherlands Low High Low Moderate Moderate
Russia High Moderate Low High Low
United States Low High High Low Low
West Africa High Low Moderate Moderate Low

* A low score is synonymous with collectivism

** A low score is synonymous with masculinity
*** A low score is synonymous with a short-term orientation