The Impact of Cultural Characteristics and Message Appeals on Attitudes toward Anti-Secondhand Smoke PSAs : Cross-Cultural Comparison

Abstract

This online evaluation study of anti-secondhand smoke messages investigated two related questions. First, to what extent do different message appeals ― norm versus threat ― have differential impacts on people from a predominantly individualistic culture compared to people from a predominantly collectivistic culture? Second, how do country-level and individual-level cultural orientations interact to affect attitudinal outcomes? Using a 2 (Culture: Individualism vs. Collectivism) × 3 (Message Appeals: Descriptive Norm vs. Injunctive Norm vs. Threat) between-subjects design, the study was conducted online among nonsmoking college students in the U.S. and South Korea. Message appeals were tested in ads that oppose secondhand smoke, a prominent health issue in both countries. There are two major findings. First, regardless of culture, norm appeals ― particularly injunctive but not descriptive norm appeals ― are more effective than threat appeals on behavioral intention. Second, people in an individualistic culture responded more favorably to threat appeals than those in a collectivistic culture, while no clear evidence was found on preference for norm appeals among people in a collectivistic culture. Regression analysis produced no evidence that individual-level cultural orientations of individualism or collectivism would affect the interactive relationship between country-level culture and message appeals for attitude toward ad or behavioral intention.