1. Using Web-Based Foreign
Advertisements
in
International Marketing Classes
Jason Ryan
University of Redlands, Redlands,
California, USA
Commentator：馮冠銘 R76062083
長榮大學
經營管理研究所
行銷組

2. ABSTRACT
• The author examines the use of the Web-based foreign
advertisements for enhancing the international awareness of
undergraduate marketing students.
• An analysis compares the adaptation of advertisements for identical
products to the cultural perceptions and values of consumers in
different countries.
• In a sample of 110 international marketing students, 41% rated the
analysis of foreign advertisements as “useful” and 41% “highly
useful”; 71% of students observed highly significant differences
between foreign and domestic advertisements, 29% perceived
moderate differences.
Keywords: foreign advertisements, internet, marketing, teaching
• 以Web-based的外國廣告加強本科系學生對市場行銷的國際認知。
• 分析比較適應不同國家的文化觀念和消費者價值觀相同的產品廣
告。

3. INTRODUCTION
• In this article I suggest a simple and effective method for
sensitizing students to cultural differences by using the
Internet to show them foreign advertisements and then
engage them in an exploration of why approaches to
advertising that differ sharply from those used in the United
States appeal to selected foreign audiences.
• This relates to a wider challenge in American education:
enabling students to overcome the limits of their own
circumstances and situations and gain insights into the
global world.
透過互聯網向有文化差異的學生們展示外國廣告和吸引他們探索為什麼廣
告的方法不同於那些在美國的外國觀眾所選定的簡單而有效的方法。

4. • This is especially critical for marketing and business
students who, whether they stay home or go abroad, will be
competing in a global economy. Clearly, there are no quick
fixes or magical solutions to opening minds to other cultures
and societies.
• What is required—as has always been the case—is serious
study of many subjects (e.g., history, culture, foreign
languages, psychology, sociology, economic systems) and
in-depth encounters with the peoples and institutions of
other cultures.
在美國的教育，使學生克服自己的情況和情況的限制，並獲得進入全球世
界的見解。這對於市場行銷學系的學生和有業務的人，無論是他們留在家
裡或走出國門，都將會成為全球經濟競爭的關鍵。

5. • In this article I first present a brief review of the literature
examining the teaching of intercultural proficiency in business
schools and then specific Web sites that feature a large
selection of foreign advertisements.
• I then provide practical suggestions concerning the use of
specific types of advertisements and the manner in which they
can be effectively presented and discussed.
• As an illustration, three examples of advertisements are
presented and discussed from an intercultural perspective.
• I provide statistical data on the use of foreign advertisements
in the classroom and student reactions to them.
• 第一次提出了文學研究對於商業學校和特定的網站，擁有大量的外
國廣告並選擇的跨文化能力的簡要教學回顧。
• 提供並利用國外廣告的統計數據，看他們在教室和學生的反應如何。

6. WHY FOCUS ON ADVERTISEMENTS?
• It can be considered that advertisements offer a rather
limited and superficial insight into culture.
• In fact, the cryptic nature of advertisements, their use of
innuendo, their evocation of shared experiences and values,
and their easily perceived if artfully disguised goals make
them an especially useful medium for peeking into other
cultures and pondering the concerns and aspirations that
drive them.
• 可以認為廣告提供了一個進入文化但相當有限和膚淺的見解。
• 廣告的神秘性質，其使用含沙射影，他們的共同的經驗和價值觀的召
喚，是不易察覺的，如果巧妙偽裝成目標，能使他們窺視到其他的文
化和思考，並推動他們對特別有用的媒介的關切和願望。

7. • In order that they may gain cultural understanding, it is
often necessary to begin by putting learners in a state of
befuddlement.
• The goal is not to enable students to expertly interpret other
cultures—that is expecting far too much—but to make them
more conscious and reflective about the need to approach
other cultures cautiously and sensitively and to encourage
them to test their assumptions carefully before they act on
them.
• 產生這種不確定性是一種動態的基本價值。他們可能獲得文化上的瞭
解，但往往有必要先把學習放在迷惘的狀態。
• 就其性質而言，文化往往是模糊和微妙的。我們的目標不是使學生熟
練地解釋其他文化期待太多反而能使他們更加自覺的接觸其他文化的
謹慎和敏感的行為。

8. Three Selected Examples
• Three examples of advertisements taken from the
www.culturpub.fr are presented below.
• The first, for Smooth- E Babyface Cream, is intended to
suggest how advertising is affected by the aesthetic
values and cultural images prevailing in a society.
• The second and third examples show the very different
ways in which the same products are sold in different
cultures: Heinz ketchup in the first example and Apple’s
iPod in the second.
三個從www.culturpub.fr廣告的例子介紹如下。第一，Smooth-E
Babyface cream，是為了顯示廣告是如何在社會上普遍存在的審美價
值和文化形象的影響。第二個和第三個例子顯示非常不同的方式，在
相同的產品在不同文化背景的銷售下的情況，第一個例子：亨氏番茄
醬和第二例子：蘋果公司的iPod。

9. METHOD
• To assess the effectiveness of using foreign advertisements
in lectures, and to collect feedback, I circulated a
questionnaire to 110 undergraduate students in six sections
of a global marketing course taught between the spring
semester of 2008 and the spring semester of 2009 at a
university in California. Students were asked for their views
on two subjects relating to the foreign advertisements shown
in class. The first question, scored on a 10-point scale, was
whether they had found the exposure to and analysis of
foreign advertisements useful in gaining insights into
foreign cultures. All students scored the utility of the
exercise at 5 (useful) or above.
為了評估在演講中使用的外國廣告的有效性，並收集反饋意見，
分發給了110名本科學生，在一個全球性的行銷之間的問卷調查
2008年春季學期和春季學期2009年在加州大學任教的課程的六個
部分。學生們被要求對他們在課堂上的兩個科目中提出所有有關
的外國廣告的意見。

10. DISCUSSION
• To be sure, an awareness of differences does not permit an
individual to fully understand or make practical use of
different advertising idioms, but it does caution students that
their instincts and tastes are the products of their experiences
and values and that others, building on their own experiences
and values, may see the world quite differently.
• Although it would be a gross exaggeration to maintain hat an
understanding of other cultures can spring from a few
classroom exercises, they can launch and advance that process
by eroding cultural egocentrism.
• This is a limited but nonetheless important and necessary step
in preparing culturally aware students for a global economy.
可以肯定的是，分歧的意識是不容許個人充分的了解或實際使用
不同的廣告成語，但對於謹慎的學生，他們的本能和口味的產品
不同於別人的經驗和價值觀，對他們自己建設的經驗和價值觀，
可能會因此看到完全不同的世界。

11. CONCLUSIONS AND SUGGESTIONS FOR
FUTURE RESEARCH
• Research on the key issue of building intercultural
proficiency is being approached from a number of directions,
as is necessary and appropriate given the complex and
multifaceted nature of the issue. Developing the ability to
perceive and act upon realities in a culturally sensitive and
effective manner should be conceptualized as a long-term
process to which numerous experiences can contribute (e.g.,
study abroad programs).
• The Web-based resources are free; they can be fitted into
normal classroom activities and if used skillfully, they push
students outside of their normal frames of reference and
expose them to the realities of other cultures and societies.
Web-based的資源是免費的，它們可以安裝到正常的課堂活動，如果
巧妙地使用，它們將其正常參考框架以外的學生和揭露他們對於其他
文化和社會的現實了解。

12. THE END
Thank You