商務(wù)英語專業(yè)畢業(yè)論文-從廣告語言及創(chuàng)意看中美文化差異

1、<p>　　鄭州大學(xué)西亞斯國際學(xué)院</p><p>　　從廣告語言及創(chuàng)意看中美文化差異</p><p>　　The Chinese-American Culture Differences in the</p><p>　　Language and Creativity of Advertisement</p><p>　　填表日期

2、： 2011 年 4 月 18 日</p><p>　　The Chinese-American Culture Differences in the Language and Creativity of Advertisement</p><p>　　從廣告語言及創(chuàng)意看中美文化差異</p><p>　　ID NO. 20071411432</p>

3、<p>　　Tan Beijia (Tara Tan)</p><p>　　Submitted as a partial fulfillment of the requirements for </p><p>　　the Degree of Bachelor of English</p><p>　　SIAS International College

4、 of Zhengzhou University</p><p>　　April 18, 2011</p><p>　　Faculty Advisor: Yao Yujie</p><p>　　Acknowledgments</p><p>　　I would like to express my sincere appreciation t

5、o my supervisor, Ms. Yao Yujie, for all her support and encouragement through the whole process of my writing and researching, and for her useful comments and advices on my thesis in all aspects. Without her great patien

6、ce and generous help, the completion of this thesis would not have been possible.</p><p>　　Also, I heartily thank all other teachers who have taught and instructed me during my B.A course.</p><p&g

7、t;　　Finally, my special gratitude goes to my family and my close friends, who have shown care, love and expectation throughout my thesis writing. They always stand by my side whenever I need them. It is my fortune to hav

8、e them all in my life.</p><p><b>　　Abstract</b></p><p>　　With the globalization of politics and economy, the economic and cultural exchanges with foreign countries are increasing. As

9、 a specific carrier of culture, advertisement has become a significant instrument in cross-cultural-communication. Besides, advertising is subordinate to culture, and influenced by culture. A sharp contrast does exist in

10、 culture differences between China and America, so do the advertisements which can be traced in the language and creativity of advertising.</p><p>　　Advertisements are products of economy. In cross-cultural-

11、communication, each countries histories, values and thinking patterns are unique, thus the cultural contrast is inevitable. When Chinese advertisements showing in the global market, there is a crash between Chinese tradi

12、tional culture and Western culture. Therefore, it has a significant meaning to research on the Chinese and American culture differences in advertising that can help Chinese enterprises break the cultural barrier in the f

13、or</p><p>　　This thesis firstly introduces culture, advertisements and the relationship between them, through the different features of Chinese and American advertisements to explain the reason why the diffe

14、rences exist in perspective of advertising language and creativity. In the end, the thesis sums up the suggestions and makes strategies for advertisers. Chinese enterprises and advertising practitioners shall meet the ch

15、allenges and catch the opportunities to successfully occupy domestic market and enter</p><p>　　Keywords: advertisements; culture; language; creativity; value</p><p><b>　　摘要</b></p

16、><p>　　隨著全球政治、經(jīng)濟(jì)一體化的發(fā)展，國內(nèi)外經(jīng)濟(jì)、文化的交流日益頻繁。廣告，作為一種特殊的文化載體，已經(jīng)成為不同國家的人們開展文化傳播與交流的重要工具。同時，廣告還是文化重要組成部分，受文化的影響，又承載并反映著文化。而語言和創(chuàng)意則是實(shí)現(xiàn)廣告的特定載體和具體表現(xiàn)形式。</p><p>　　廣告是商品經(jīng)濟(jì)的產(chǎn)物，它已深入到社會、經(jīng)濟(jì)、文化等各個領(lǐng)域。在全球化文化的傳播與交流中，由于各國的

17、歷史積淀、價值觀和思維模式的不同，會產(chǎn)生文化的差異和矛盾，中國和美國的文化交流亦是如此。在中國廣告踏出國門的過程中，我們的傳統(tǒng)文化與西方文化產(chǎn)生了強(qiáng)烈的碰撞。國內(nèi)一些大型企業(yè)的文化難以整整融入國際市場；被國人認(rèn)可的優(yōu)秀廣告作品，連年參加國際廣告賽事中缺少有斬獲，同時我們又不得不面對的是可口可樂、麥當(dāng)勞等一系列國外品牌大舉占領(lǐng)國內(nèi)市場的現(xiàn)實(shí)。因此，研究廣告?zhèn)鞑ブ械闹忻牢幕町?，對于更好的打破世界市場?jīng)濟(jì)中的文化壁壘，使中國企業(yè)在世界經(jīng)濟(jì)中

18、提高競爭力，有著非常重要的意義。</p><p>　　本文首先通過對文化和廣告以及二者的關(guān)系的簡介，來對比中美廣告所呈現(xiàn)的不同特點(diǎn)，進(jìn)而從廣告語言和創(chuàng)意分析造成這些不同的原因，最后根據(jù)這些差異提出相應(yīng)的建議，制定或調(diào)整廣告策略。中國廣告要勇敢的迎接挑戰(zhàn)，敏銳的抓住機(jī)遇，實(shí)現(xiàn)超越與夢想，達(dá)到復(fù)興和輝煌，使中國廣告走出國門，走向世界。</p><p>　　關(guān)鍵詞：廣告；文化；語言；創(chuàng)意；價值觀

19、</p><p><b>　　Outline</b></p><p>　?、馡ntroduction1</p><p>　　1.1The meaning of culture1</p><p>　　1.2The meaning of advertisement2</p><p>　　1.3T

20、he relationship between culture and advertisements3</p><p>　　1.4Culture in advertisements4</p><p>　　1.4.1From the aspect of language4</p><p>　　1.4.2From the aspect of creativity

21、5</p><p>　?、騀eatures of Chinese advertisements and American advertisements6</p><p>　　2.1 Features of Chinese advertisements6</p><p>　　2.1.1 The emphasis of family6</p><

22、;p>　　2.1.2 The emphasis of caption6</p><p>　　2.2 Features of American advertisements7</p><p>　　2.2.1 The emphasis of individuality7</p><p>　　2.2.2 The emphasis of humor8</

23、p><p>　?、?Comparison between Chinese culture and American culture in the language and creativity9</p><p>　　3.1 Different histories and culture backgrounds9</p><p>　　3.2 Different val

24、ue essences10</p><p>　　3.2.1 Collectivism VS Individualism10</p><p>　　3.2.2 Femininity VS Masculinity13</p><p>　　3.2.3 High-uncertainty-avoidance VS Low-uncertainty-avoidance14&

25、lt;/p><p>　　3.3 Different modes of thinking16</p><p>　　3.3.1 Circular VS Linear16</p><p>　　3.3.2 Concrete VS Abstract17</p><p>　　3.4 Different social customs18</p&g

26、t;<p>　　Ⅳ Conclusion and suggestions19</p><p>　　4.1Findings of the research19</p><p>　　4.2Suggestions20</p><p>　　Bibliography.............................................

27、.............................................23</p><p>　　The Chinese-American Culture Differences in the Language and Creativity of Advertisement</p><p>　?、馡ntroduction</p><p>　　1.1

28、The meaning of culture</p><p>　　Culture is a complicated concept. Definitions of culture range from broader ones to narrower ones since culture is ubiquitous, multidimensional, complex, and all-pervasive and

29、 many definitions have been suggested from different angles.</p><p>　　Over a century ago, E.B. Taylor defines cultures as “a complex whole which includes knowledge, beliefs, art, morals, law, and any other c

30、apabilities and habits acquired by individuals as members of a society”(1). Culture is also defined from the following four aspects by Zhang Dainian and Fang Keli: First, culture is defined as instruments. These instrume

31、nts, or the materialized knowledge forces, are proposed by human beings through natural materials; second, culture is defined as systems. These</p><p>　　As a result, combining with culture, the advertisement

32、s of each country reflect that country’s national cultural characteristics. Generally speaking, advertisements that contain rich national cultural values would easily be accepted by the people of the nation, and has more

33、 influence on the target consumers. Therefore, having a good understanding of the basic cultural characteristics of a nation is of significance to code and decode advertising messages.</p><p>　　1.2The meanin

34、g of advertisement</p><p>　　Nowadays, advertisements have become a part of people’s daily life. A modern world without advertisements is unimaginable. The word of “advertising” comes from the Latin word “adv

35、ertere”, it means a way to attract attention or interest consumers and to influence their feelings toward the product, service or cause. Now, advertisement can be defined as the non-personal communication of information

36、usually paid for and usually persuasive in nature about products, services or ideas by identified spo</p><p>　　Vestergaard and Schronder point out the three functions of advertisements, namely the informativ

37、e function, the persuasive function and the reflective function (7). No one will buy a product without getting any information about it nor make sure that it will be much value to him or her. Therefore, the informative f

38、unction is absolutely essential in advertisements. Besides, to judge an advertisement is successful or not relies on whether it can promote sales or not. Accordingly, persuading the au</p><p>　　1.3The relati

39、onship between culture and advertisements</p><p>　　Advertisements have a close relationship with culture. In fact, an advertisement serves as a mirror reflecting every aspect of culture. As a specific carrie

40、r of culture, advertisements have become a significant instrument in cross-cultural-communication. Besides, advertising is subordinate to culture, and influenced by culture. The essence of advertisements is commercially

41、promoting a product or service, but the performance of advertisements is cultural. Since both advertising practitioners and </p><p>　　Advertisements interact with culture. As a significant propagating means

42、facing the public, advertising is in itself a piece of culture, not only conforming to the social cultural habits and catering to the aesthetic psychology of the public, but also playing a great role in influencing and f

43、orming them. Therefore, advertisements change the traditional culture to a degree and create and push the culture forward. They can change people’s values and ideological trend and guiding consumers’ behavio</p>&

44、lt;p>　　Meanwhile, culture has a noticeable impact on advertisements. For example, the Coca-Cola slogan “can’t beat the feeling” is changed into “I feel Cola” in Japan, into “Unique sensation” in Italy and into “The fe

45、eling of life” in China, which demonstrates that different adverting schemas have to be exploited in the different social cultural environments in order to succeed in promoting the product or service.</p><p>

46、;　　1.4Culture in advertisements</p><p>　　1.4.1From the aspect of language</p><p>　　It has long been recognized that language is an essential and important part of a given culture and that the im

47、pact of culture upon a given language is something intrinsic and indispensable. Accordingly, there exists a close relationship between language and culture. Language and its culture influence are exemplified in the theor

48、etical formulations of the Sapir-Whorf hypothesis, which in essence states that language is a guide to “social reality”. This hypothesis implies that language is not sim</p><p>　　The advertising language is

49、a special kind of language. It is also the reflection of culture. Concretely, it is the reflection of literature, psychology and aesthetics of the cultural community. It carries marks of influence of that cultural commun

50、ity’s tradition in its worldviews, social values, religion and the like. For instance, the family unification, friendship, kinship and harmony in Chinese culture are deeply reflected in Chinese advertising language. To a

51、 large extent, it can be stated </p><p>　　Generally speaking, to make a good advertisement and to influence the behavior of potential customers toward a predetermined direction, advertisers try to produce me

52、morable and attracting works with the help of the culture.</p><p>　　1.4.2From the aspect of creativity</p><p>　　Great advertisement is inspired by insights about brands, consumers, and how the t

53、wo interact. It starts with a problem from the client and ends with a solution for consumers. Therefore, before advertisers write a single line of copy, doodle a sketch for a layout, or even begin to brainstorm, they nee

54、d to understand how the brand fits into the lives of its target consumer, which is creativity.</p><p>　　If advertisers want to attract consumers to buy your products, they need a special idea. The “idea” her

55、e refers to creativity. People assume advertising creativity as the fresh thinking activity which produced by advertisers, through imagination, combination, and production, to make the new cultural conception and idea by

56、 analyze the theme, content and manifestation so that public can feel the concrete image of the product beyond the potential characteristics of it.</p><p>　　The creativity of advertisements also reflects dif

57、ferent cultures. For example, Chinese public welfare advertisements are simple and direct, “節(jié)約用水”just four words can express the endeavor to protect water. In contrast, the same advertisements in American will bring more

58、 plots and emphasize the visual sense. The reason is the different Chinese and American culture.</p><p>　　ⅡFeatures of Chinese advertisements and American advertisements</p><p>　　2.1 Features of

59、 Chinese advertisements</p><p>　　2.1.1 The emphasis of family</p><p>　　Family orientation is undoubtedly the most typical example of Chinese nature which is largely the product of thousands of y

60、ears of living and working together on the land. In Chinese culture, it is the development of family or clan that makes the society. Meanwhile, Chinese people instinctively think highly of the affection between family me

61、mbers. Therefore, Chinese advertisers like to use people’s feeling towards their family as their advertisements appeal. Accordingly, we can see that many Chi</p><p>　　2.1.2 The Emphasis of caption</p>

62、<p>　　Chinese advertisements usually have long caption, emphasize on the explanations and commentaries so that they can describe the situation or main characteristics of the product. This kind of TV advertisements

63、try to attract and touch the viewers by create a warm atmosphere. For example, the family members sit together around table to drink milk happily which shows Yili milk is the customers’ best choice. Here is anther exampl

64、e from the advertisement for Coca-Cola: the elder brother came home with</p><p>　　2.2 Features of American advertisements</p><p>　　2.2.1 The emphasis of individuality</p><p>　　Diffe

65、rent from Chinese, who value the family or group, American people emphasize individuality. The belief in the freedom of the individual is probably the most basic of all. By “self freedom”, Americans refer to the desire a

66、nd the ability of all individuals to control their own life and destiny. An individual can do as well as his much bigger competitors, as long as he works hard. The individual creativity can be found in the winner of the

67、40th CLO AWARDS. The following advertisement is for Pep</p><p>　　It is in a bar which a lot of old soldiers often visit. An old officer and his granddaughter come in.</p><p>　　Grandpa: (to waite

68、r) Jack, how are you?</p><p>　　Waiter: Fine, thanks!</p><p>　　Grandpa: Dear, what do you want?</p><p>　　Granddaughter: Pepsi Cola, please.</p><p>　　Waiter: We only have

69、 Coca-Cola.</p><p>　　Granddaughter: Officer, you once fought for freedom; then, what is freedom? Freedom is to have the right to choose. Every body, no matter man, woman, adult and child, should live in the

70、life he/ she wants and chooses things he/ she likes. No, Pepsi Cola!</p><p>　　With the martial music, all people followed the girl to leave the bar. The “Pepsi” mark appears on the sense.</p><p>

71、;　　This advertisement deeply reflects the individuality and self freedom of American people.</p><p>　　2.2.2 The Emphasis of humor</p><p>　　Consider this TV commercial: An amateur stage productio

72、n shows two children lost in the forest. The good fairy appears from the overhead and starts floating toward them. “Not to fear, little children. I will helpppp…” THUD! She plummets to the stage. Tag line: “Should have u

73、sed Stren. Stren. The most dependable fishing line in the world.” The humor takes us by surprise and shows a situation that we can empathize with. It communicates a relevant, unexpected and memorable message about the pr

74、oduct</p><p>　　Humor is the condiment of life as well as the lubricant of society; it is a kind of wisdom, strength, civilization and art. It can pass the honor to people in a pleasant way. In fact, humor is

75、 the nature of America which could be found in all aspect of human life.</p><p>　　Humor in advertisements can increase more sense of funny so that you can decrease the boring or doubt about the product and l

76、et customer notice and memorize and finally be persuaded by it in a happy mood. According to the research, there is about 31% American broadcast advertisements is humorous style, about 25% TV advertisements and 15% magaz

77、ine advertisements are both humorous. How do Americans show their sense of humor in advertisements? We can see as follows.</p><p>　　Cutter pesticide advertisement: You can not bite back, but you can fight ba

78、ck. This advertisement makes us could not help laughing because of the humorous creativity. It tells us in a funny way that even though people can not bite the injurious insects back, we can fight and exterminate them by

79、 using Cutter pesticide. Rolex advertisement: Unlike me, my Rolex never needs a rest. In contrast with the watch owner, the advertisement humorously shows the excellent quality of Rolex.</p><p>　?、驝omparison

80、 between Chinese culture and American culture in the language and creativity</p><p>　　3.1 Different histories and culture backgrounds</p><p>　　Chinese advertisements are born and developed with

81、the growth of culture, from the early period advertisements which full of classical charm of culture to the modern ones that takes family and love as the subject, all kinds of advertisement are branded with the image of

82、culture. Individualistic heroism and the worship of freedom can be traced back to the Greek and Christianity culture. Under these atmospheres, American advertisements are differ from the nature of Chinese advertisements

83、which und</p><p>　　Furthermore, because of the impact of the Chinese traditional culture, collectivism is deeply rooted in the mind of Chinese people. For example, “修身、齊家、治國、平天下”、“窮則獨(dú)善其身，達(dá)則兼濟(jì)天下”、 “先天下之憂而憂，后天

84、下之樂而樂” and so on, and such kind of idea can be reflected in the advertisements. For example, one of the most successful advertisements for wine is the Guojiao Wine advertisement---“品位的歷史，430年---國窖1573”。 The advertisement

85、 of Bai Yun Bian Wine also takes the tactic ---“往事越千年, 陳釀白云邊?！?This advertisement does not o</p><p>　　3.2 Different value essences</p><p>　　Chances of success in a foreign market can be maximize

86、d if advertisers can examine cultural values. “Values may indeed be one of the most powerful explanations of, and influences on, consumers’ behavior” (Rokeach 15). Because people from different cultures are generally per

87、ceived as holding a set of values different from ours, it is essential to explore their impacts on the elements of the advertisements.</p><p>　　3.2.1 Collectivism VS Individualism</p><p>　　The m

88、ost essential difference between Chinese and American cultural values lies in the Chinese collectivism and American individualism. Individualism has been known to be a dominant American value which refers to the doctrine

89、, spelled out in detail by seventeenth century English philosopher John Clocke, that each individual is unique, special, completely different from all other individuals, and the basic unit of nature, while Chinese people

90、 tend to have a strong group orientation---collectivism</p><p>　　Comparatively speaking, collectivism is more conspicuous in China which is characterized by a rigid social framework that distinguishes betwee

91、n in groups and out groups. People count on their in-group (relatives, clans, organizations) to look after them, and in exchange for that they believe they own absolute loyalty to the group. In reality, to the Chinese, t

92、he “we” consciousness prevails: identity is based on the social system; the individual is emotionally dependant on organizations and insti</p><p>　　父母的愛心，千百年來永不變（臺灣三洋媽媽樂洗衣機(jī)廣告）。</p><p>　　孝敬爸媽，腦白金

93、?。X白金廣告）</p><p>　　However nowadays, more and more Chinese young people begin to chase personality and personal life. They advocate “personal space”, “privacy”, “freedom” and so on. We can not deny it is an a

94、dvancement of Chinese culture. Besides, this change is relevant to the influence of the Western culture on Chinese one. For instance, “男人應(yīng)有自己的聲音” -Alcatel mobile phone; “我選擇，我喜歡” (I choose it, I like it)-Anta sports shoe

95、s.</p><p>　　Generally speaking, in American culture, individualism advocates self-centeredness and self-awareness, in which people show more concern for individual initiative or achievement, pay attention to

96、 individual dignity or character and encourage and appreciate competition rather than cooperation. As a cultural value, individualism also insists that every individual be equal morally and have the right to his or her p

97、rivate property, thoughts and opinions. Therefore, Americans usually emphasize the em</p><p>　　The difference between individualism and collectivism is also signified in the following enrolment advertisement

98、 advertisements for army.</p><p>　　3.2.2 Femininity VS Masculinity</p><p>　　Hofstede (Samovar, Porter & Stefani 71) uses the words femininity and masculinity to refer to the degree to which

99、feminine or masculine traits prevail. Cultures that value femininity shows caring and nurturing behaviors, while masculinity is the extent to which the dominant values in a society are male oriented. Masculinity is gener