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、鄭州大學(xué)西亞斯國(guó)際學(xué)院 從廣告語言及創(chuàng)意看中美文化差異the chinese-american culture differences in thelanguage and creativity of advertisement 姓 名學(xué) 籍 號(hào)專 業(yè)商務(wù)英語級(jí) 別2007系 別外語學(xué)院指導(dǎo)教師 填表日期： 2011 年 4 月 18 日the chinese-american culture differences in the language and creativity of advertisement從廣告語言及創(chuàng)意看中美文化差異id no. 20071411432tan beiji

2、a (tara tan) submitted as a partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of bachelor of englishsias international college of zhengzhou universityapril 18, 2011faculty advisor: yao yujieacknowledgmentsi would like to express my sincere appreciation to my supervisor, ms. yao yujie, for all h

3、er 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 patience and generous help, the completion of this thesis would not have been possible.also, i heartily thank all other teacher

4、s who have taught and instructed me during my b.a course.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 have them all in my life.abstr

5、actwith the globalization of politics and economy, the economic and cultural exchanges with foreign countries are increasing. as a specific carrier of culture, advertisement has become a significant instrument in cross-cultural-communication. besides, advertising is subordinate to culture, and influ

6、enced by culture. a sharp contrast does exist in culture differences between china and america, so do the advertisements which can be traced in the language and creativity of advertising.advertisements are products of economy. in cross-cultural-communication, each countries histories, values and thi

7、nking patterns are unique, thus the cultural contrast is inevitable. when chinese advertisements showing in the global market, there is a crash between chinese traditional culture and western culture. therefore, it has a significant meaning to research on the chinese and american culture differences

8、 in advertising that can help chinese enterprises break the cultural barrier in the foreign market and can make them more competent.this thesis firstly introduces culture, advertisements and the relationship between them, through the different features of chinese and american advertisements to expla

9、in the reason why the differences 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 challenges and catch the opportunities to successfully

10、occupy domestic market and enter international market.keywords: advertisements; culture; language; creativity; value摘要隨著全球政治、經(jīng)濟(jì)一體化的發(fā)展，國(guó)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(guó)家的人們開展文化傳播與交流的重要工具。同時(shí)，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。廣告是商品經(jīng)濟(jì)的產(chǎn)物，它已深入到社會(huì)、經(jīng)濟(jì)、文化等各個(gè)領(lǐng)域。在全球化文化的傳播與交流中，由于各國(guó)的歷史

11、積淀、價(jià)值觀和思維模式的不同，會(huì)產(chǎn)生文化的差異和矛盾，中國(guó)和美國(guó)的文化交流亦是如此。在中國(guó)廣告踏出國(guó)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(guó)內(nèi)一些大型企業(yè)的文化難以整整融入國(guó)際市場(chǎng)；被國(guó)人認(rèn)可的優(yōu)秀廣告作品，連年參加國(guó)際廣告賽事中缺少有斬獲，同時(shí)我們又不得不面對(duì)的是可口可樂、麥當(dāng)勞等一系列國(guó)外品牌大舉占領(lǐng)國(guó)內(nèi)市場(chǎng)的現(xiàn)實(shí)。因此，研究廣告?zhèn)鞑ブ械闹忻牢幕町?，?duì)于更好的打破世界市場(chǎng)經(jīng)濟(jì)中的文化壁壘，使中國(guó)企業(yè)在世界經(jīng)濟(jì)中提高競(jìng)爭(zhēng)力，有著非常重要的意義。本文首先通過對(duì)文化和廣告以及二者的關(guān)系的簡(jiǎn)介，來對(duì)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

12、些差異提出相應(yīng)的建議，制定或調(diào)整廣告策略。中國(guó)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(mèng)想，達(dá)到復(fù)興和輝煌，使中國(guó)廣告走出國(guó)門，走向世界。關(guān)鍵詞：廣告；文化；語言；創(chuàng)意；價(jià)值觀 outlineintroduction11.1the meaning of culture11.2the meaning of advertisement21.3the relationship between culture and advertisements31.4culture in advertisements41.4.1from the aspect of language41.4.2from th

13、e aspect of creativity5features of chinese advertisements and american advertisements62.1 features of chinese advertisements62.1.1 the emphasis of family62.1.2 the emphasis of caption62.2 features of american advertisements72.2.1 the emphasis of individuality72.2.2 the emphasis of humor8 comparison

14、between chinese culture and american culture in the language and creativity93.1 different histories and culture backgrounds93.2 different value essences103.2.1 collectivism vs individualism103.2.2 femininity vs masculinity133.2.3 high-uncertainty-avoidance vs low-uncertainty-avoidance143.3 different

15、 modes of thinking163.3.1 circular vs linear163.3.2 concrete vs abstract173.4 different social customs18 conclusion and suggestions194.1findings of the research194.2suggestions20bibliography.23the chinese-american culture differences in the language and creativity of advertisementintroduction1.1the

16、meaning of cultureculture is a complicated concept. definitions of culture range from broader ones to narrower ones since culture is ubiquitous, multidimensional, complex, and all-pervasive and many definitions have been suggested from different angles.over a century ago, e.b. taylor defines culture

17、s as “a complex whole which includes knowledge, beliefs, art, morals, law, and any other capabilities 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. thes

18、e instruments, or the materialized knowledge forces, are proposed by human beings through natural materials; second, culture is defined as systems. these systems are built up during mans social practice; third, culture is defined as human behavior. the behavior, usually in the form of customs, is se

19、t up in social activities, especially in interpersonal communications; fourth, culture is defined as ideology, including values, thought style, and aesthetic standards, etc (5). as a result, combining with culture, the advertisements of each country reflect that countrys national cultural characteri

20、stics. generally speaking, advertisements that contain rich national cultural values would easily be accepted by the people of the nation, and has more influence on the target consumers. therefore, having a good understanding of the basic cultural characteristics of a nation is of significance to co

21、de and decode advertising messages.1.2the meaning of advertisementnowadays, advertisements have become a part of peoples daily life. a modern world without advertisements is unimaginable. the word of “advertising” comes from the latin word “advertere”, it means a way to attract attention or interest

22、 consumers and to influence their feelings toward the product, service or cause. now, advertisement can be defined as the non-personal communication of information usually paid for and usually persuasive in nature about products, services or ideas by identified sponsors through the various media. th

23、e meaning of advertisements can be classified into two types. one is from narrow sense, which refers to the commercial advertisements that persuading customers to buy products and make profit through advertising. another is from the broad sense, which refers to all kinds of advertisements, including

24、 commercial and non-commercial advertisements. vestergaard and schronder point out the three functions of advertisements, namely the informative 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

25、 will be much value to him or her. therefore, the informative function 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 audience to take purchasing action composes another imp

26、ortant step in advertising. as for the third function, advertisements are not only marketing tools but also social actors and cultural artifacts; they can tell people something about the culture just like mirrors which reflect certain aspects of the societys value and structure, etc. 1.3the relation

27、ship between culture and advertisementsadvertisements have a close relationship with culture. in fact, an advertisement serves as a mirror reflecting every aspect of culture. as a specific carrier of culture, advertisements have become a significant instrument in cross-cultural-communication. beside

28、s, advertising is subordinate to culture, and influenced by culture. the essence of advertisements is commercially promoting a product or service, but the performance of advertisements is cultural. since both advertising practitioners and the advertising target consumers live with certain social cul

29、tural customs, all aspects of culture inevitably have impact on advertisements, such as value essence, mode of thinking, ethical and moral concept, customs and etiquettes, etc, which result in the use of language and creativity in various nations or countries.advertisements interact with culture. as

30、 a significant propagating means 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 forming them. therefore, advertisements change t

31、he traditional culture to a degree and create and push the culture forward. they can change peoples values and ideological trend and guiding consumers behavior and life-style.meanwhile, culture has a noticeable impact on advertisements. for example, the coca-cola slogan “cant beat the feeling” is ch

32、anged into “i feel cola” in japan, into “unique sensation” in italy and into “the feeling 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.1.4culture in ad

33、vertisements1.4.1from the aspect of languageit has long been recognized that language is an essential and important part of a given culture and that the impact of culture upon a given language is something intrinsic and indispensable. accordingly, there exists a close relationship between language a

34、nd culture. language and its culture influence are exemplified in the theoretical 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 simply a means of reporting experience but, more important,

35、 it is a way of defining experience.the advertising language is 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 communitys tradition i

36、n 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 large extent, it can be stated that the advertising language inevitably mirrors its culture expl

37、icitly. there are two main reasons. in the first place, employing cultural content is one of the important strategies for advertisers to carry out a successful campaign. in the second place, the advertisers work in a given cultural environment. what they think or do is unavoidably influenced by the

38、culture to which they belong.generally speaking, to make a good advertisement and to influence the behavior of potential customers toward a predetermined direction, advertisers try to produce memorable and attracting works with the help of the culture.1.4.2from the aspect of creativitygreat advertis

39、ement is inspired by insights about brands, consumers, and how the two 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 need to underst

40、and how the brand fits into the lives of its target consumer, which is creativity.if advertisers want to attract consumers to buy your products, they need a special idea. the “idea” here refers to creativity. people assume advertising creativity as the fresh thinking activity which produced by adver

41、tisers, through imagination, combination, and production, to make the new cultural conception and idea by analyze the theme, content and manifestation so that public can feel the concrete image of the product beyond the potential characteristics of it.the creativity of advertisements also reflects d

42、ifferent 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 plots and emphasize the visual sense. the reason is the different chinese and

43、 american culture.features of chinese advertisements and american advertisements2.1 features of chinese advertisements2.1.1 the emphasis of familyfamily orientation is undoubtedly the most typical example of chinese nature which is largely the product of thousands of years of living and working toge

44、ther 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 members. therefore, chinese advertisers like to use peoples feeling towards their family as their advertisements

45、appeal. accordingly, we can see that many chinese advertisements take the pictures showing affection among family members as the background, to which one or two congratulating sentences attached. for instance, “媽媽，我會(huì)幫您干活了”. nanda group proposed a series of advertisements on fathers day, “那是一只有力的手” t

46、o show the deeply love towards father. 2.1.2 the emphasis of captionchinese 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 try to attract and touch

47、 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 example from the advertisement for coca-cola: the elder brother came home with a young lady, and then the famil

48、y members began to guess the relationship between them: is she the girlfriend, or the classmate or just close friend? thanks to the courage of cola, the shy brother finally introduced the young lady as his girlfriend to his family.2.2 features of american advertisements2.2.1 the emphasis of individu

49、alitydifferent 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 and the ability of all individuals to control their own life and destin

50、y. 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 40th clo awards. the following advertisement is for pepsi cola.it is in a bar which a lot of old soldiers often visit. an old officer and his granddau

51、ghter come in.grandpa: (to waiter) jack, how are you?waiter: fine, thanks!grandpa: dear, what do you want?granddaughter: pepsi cola, please.waiter: we only have coca-cola.granddaughter: officer, you once fought for freedom; then, what is freedom? freedom is to have the right to choose. every body, n

52、o matter man, woman, adult and child, should live in the life he/ she wants and chooses things he/ she likes. no, pepsi cola!with the martial music, all people followed the girl to leave the bar. the “pepsi” mark appears on the sense.this advertisement deeply reflects the individuality and self free

53、dom of american people.2.2.2 the emphasis of humorconsider this tv commercial: an amateur stage production 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.

54、tag line: “should have used 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 product. it gives us a reason to buy. it works. humor is t

55、he 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 the nature of america which could be found in all aspect of human life.humor in advertisements can increase more sens

56、e of funny so that you can decrease the boring or doubt about the product and let 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% magazi

57、ne advertisements are both humorous. how do americans show their sense of humor in advertisements? we can see as follows.cutter pesticide advertisement: you can not bite back, but you can fight back. this advertisement makes us could not help laughing because of the humorous creativity. it tells us

58、in a funny way that even though people can not bite the injurious insects back, we can fight and exterminate them by 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.comparison between chinese culture and american culture in the language and creativity3.1 dif