广告语言与文化差异

广告语言与文化差异作者：杨素娟来源：《青年文学家》2012年第11期摘要：随着社会经济的发展，广告已经渗入社会的每个角落。

广告能提高产品的形象和知名度，同时也能展示特定的文化。

本论文从三个角度来具体说明在广告语言上中西方文化的差异。

关键词：广告；广告语言；文化差异；中国文化；西方文化[中图分类号]：H31[文献标识码]：A[文章编号]：1002-2139(2012)-11-0143-02Ⅰ、IntroductionToday, with the development of the technology and the diversity of the mass media, advertising has influenced us pervasively in our daily life.No countries and nations are without their cultures. Since culture is what people do, or “the total life ways of a people, the social legacy the individual acquires from his group”.(O’Guinn 1998:137). The advertisement is a kind of manifestation of culture, it’s under the influence and restrict of local culture while national culture influences and restricts the development and expression of advertising language which is the core content of advertisement. The aim of the paper is to lay out three aspects to illustrate cultural difference in China and Western countries in advertisement.Ⅱ、Collectivism vs. IndividualismIt believed that advertisements that follow the value and belief of people are to be more persuasive. In Chinese ads, Collectivism is a term used to describe any moral, political, or social outlook that stresses human interdependence and the importance of a collective, rather than the importance of separate individuals. Collectivists focus on community and society, and seek to give priority to group goals over individual goals( wikipedia). The traditional Chinese culture was of an ethical nature and it can be called “morality-worshipping” culture.This concept is often reflected in advertising language. For example:走中国道路，乘一汽奥迪（一汽）喝孔府宴酒，做天下文章（孔府宴酒）咱老百姓的好药(葵花药业)情系中国结，联通四海心（中国联通）以产业报国、以民族昌盛为己任（长虹）海尔，中国造（海尔）孔府家酒，叫人想家（孔府家酒）每喝一杯农夫山泉，就为中国奥运捐出一分钱（农夫山泉）中国平安，平安中国（平安保险）From above, we can see that Chinese strive to achieve unity and compatibility. But this character is radically opposed by westerns who advocate individualism. Individualism refers to a doctrine advocating freedom from government regulation in the pursuit of a person''s economic goals (wikipedia). This doctrine holds that the interests of the individual should take precedence over the interests of the state or social group. This is due to their history different from the Chinese. So they prefer to be unique individual. This concept can also be found in these ads:Just do it.(Nike)The only thing like Coca-cola is Coca-cola itself. (Coca-cola)"Doing what we do best", and later "Something special in the air". (American Airlines)Obey your thirst．（Sprite）We lead. Others copy．（Ricoh）"I''m lovin'' it!" （McDonalds）"The Power to Be Your Best. （Apple）From the above, we can see that the westerns often regard uniqueness and difference as the best quality of products. They pay attention to diversity and changes of material, emphasis specially on the change and difference of the nature and stress personal freedom, self-development and personal enterprise. Compared with Chinese ads, they don’t focus on “society” and “authority” because it takes for granted that individuals know best and the public authority or society has he right to interfere in the person''s decision-making process only when a very compelling need to do so arises.Ⅲ、Past Orientation vs. Future OrientationThe Chinese culture has formed the richest cultural accumulation in the world. Since Chinese cultural has a long history, in the advertisements, esp. in the alcohol advertisements, the emphasis on history is important for customers to accept this product. From the following examples, we can see that :品味的历史，430年：国窖1573（泸州老窖）千古佳酿，万代留香，中华酒宗，汝阳杜康（杜康酒中华酒宗系列）往事越千年，陈酿白云边（白云边酒）回味唐朝（剑南春）传奇品质，百年张裕（张裕）The word “old” usually prefer to stress the point that their companies and their products are traditional ones, such as“百年老店”(a shop with a history of a hundred years),“老字号”(age-old brand),“老招牌”(age-old shop sign),“历史悠久”(with a long history)and“祖传秘方”(a secret recipe handed down from generation togeneration)(Shi,2007).The Western countries insisted the short term oriented culture; the main reason is that their history is shorter than China. They don’t do the business like Chinese who often use the factors of history and tradition, but use the strong and direct marketing strategy (hard sale), a product of the “immediate results” as a selli ng point.“True success,” the young people explained, “is not a matter of money or position. It’s a matter of self-fulfillment. And self-fulfillment of reaching one’s goals and achieving happiness in one’s own way without paying attention to rules, duties, or the opinions of others.” This history has cultivated the future-oriented culture, which is different from the Chinese. We can also see that from the following examples:The choice of a new generation.（Pepsi）To me, the past black and white, but the future is always color．（Hennessy）The future''s bright - the future''s orange（Orange）Instead of soap, try a whole new way to wash your face. New pond’s leaves your skin feeling soft and smooth. Try it and see. (Pond’s)Ⅳ、 Conservativeness vs. Openness in SexChinese are more traditional than Western people. Talking about sex is controversial because sex has long been a taboo subject in China. Once a report in China Daily Let’s do it, not taking revealed that the Chinese have sex much more often than the global average but are still too shy to talk about it with their partners.Sexually suggestive ads are banned in China. In daily life, Chinese people are not accustomed to express their ideas directly, but to use the euphemism, tortuous way to express. Han nationality affected by Confucian ideas is modest, introverted and conservative. This is unlike European and American national export and lively personality. In France, for example, a perfume advertisement: “The one drop is to the beauty, two drop is for the lover, three drop is enough to lead to one love affair.” (Zhu,1999:28). French people think that this expression is very romantic and attractive, but Chinese consumers think it hard to accept this extreme expression. For the following ads of condoms, most Chinese people will find hard to accept it:Better Shape, Better Sex.Good news for your sex life, bad news for beds. (Durex)There''s life after sex.(ad against AIDS)Ⅴ、ConclusionCulture has a significant influence on advertising. Successful advertisements will be produced on the basis of local culture and advertising culture. As long as we pay attention to the cultural difference between China and w estern countries, we can draw our customer’s attention, activate their interest, stimulate their desire, strengthen their memory and induce action finally.Bibliography:【1】Leech，Geofrey N. English in Advertising[M]．London：Longman, 1996．【2】李悦娥、范宏雅．话语分析[M]．上海：上海外语教育出版社，2002．【3】朱春梅，从中英文广告看东西方文化差异 [J]. 考试周刊，2007(39).【4】朱华，产品广告与民族文化[J]. 江南大学学报（人文社会科学版），1996(4).【5】【6】Vestergaard， Torben. The Language of Advertising[M]. Oxford:Blackwell， 1985.。