“I’m (Not) Offended by Whom I See!” The Role of Culture and Model Ethnicity in Shaping Consumers’ Responses toward Offensive Nudity Advertising in Asia and Western Europe

Ralf Terlutter*, Sandra Diehl, Isabell Koinig, Kara Chan, Lennon Tsang

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journalJournal articlepeer-review

11 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

Based on culture identity theory and schema theory, we investigate how model ethnicity influences the perception and effectiveness of potentially offensive nudity advertising in Asia and Western Europe. Study 1 with 5,193 ad evaluations by 1,731 subjects from two countries shows that the overall perceived offensiveness in nudity advertising was higher in Asia (China) than in Western Europe (Austria). While previous research indicates that same-ethnicity endorsers are typically favorable for advertising outcomes, our study demonstrates that same-ethnicity endorsers in nudity advertising led to a higher perceived offensiveness and more negative advertising outcomes in Asia, as compared to endorsers of other ethnicities. In Western Europe, in contrast, same-ethnicity endorsers led to a lower perceived offensiveness and more positive advertising outcomes. A follow-up experiment with 373 subjects validated the results. We suggest a model of multi-ethnic offensive nudity advertising effects that is tested with structural equation modeling. Our findings have implications for international advertising theory and international advertising practice.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)57-75
Number of pages19
JournalJournal of Advertising
Volume51
Issue number1
Early online date12 Jul 2021
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 25 Apr 2022

Scopus Subject Areas

  • Business and International Management
  • Communication
  • Marketing

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