National Culture and Advertising Sensitivity to Business Cycles: A Reexamination

2020 ◽  
Vol 28 (4) ◽  
pp. 41-57 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jung Seek Kim

The author reexamines the cyclical sensitivity of national advertising expenditure with a longitudinal data set of 59 countries over 35 years. In contrast to prior studies, the author examines the effects of the entire set of Hofstede culture dimensions to study cross-country variation in the advertising sensitivity and investigates how the emergence and growth of online advertising has transformed the cyclical sensitivity of advertising spending. National culture substantially affects advertising’s cyclical sensitivity, but in different ways than hypothesized previously. Consistent with the literature, advertising sensitivity is lower in long-term-oriented and high-uncertainty-avoidant countries and is unrelated to individualism. However, power distance is unassociated with cyclical sensitivity, and masculinity and indulgence—the two dimensions ignored in previous research—reduce cyclical sensitivity. Moreover, there is evidence that culture operates differently for the cyclical sensitivity of online advertising. Advertising expenditure is cyclically much more sensitive than documented previously and has grown more so over time since the advent of online advertising. This study provides initial evidence that online spending is more elastic than traditional advertising and that traditional spending has become more procyclical. The author advances timely and refined empirical generalizations on the cyclical sensitivity of advertising expenditure.

2018 ◽  
Vol 25 (2) ◽  
pp. 231-256 ◽  
Author(s):  
Michael Minkov

PurposeHofstede’s model of national culture has enjoyed enormous popularity but rests partly on faith. It has never been fully replicated and its predictive properties have been challenged. The purpose of this paper is to provide a test of the model’s coherence and utility.Design/methodology/approachAnalyses of secondary data, including the World Values Survey, and a new survey across 56 countries represented by nearly 53,000 probabilistically selected respondents.FindingsImproved operationalizations of individualism-collectivism (IDV-COLL) suggest it is a robust dimension of national culture. A modern IDV-COLL index supersedes Hofstede’s 50 year-old original one. Power distance (PD) seems to be a logical facet of IDV-COLL, rather than an independent dimension. Uncertainty avoidance (UA) lacks internal reliability. Approval of restrictive societal rules and laws is a facet of COLL and is not associated with national anxiety or neuroticism. UA is not a predictor of any of its presumed main correlates: importance of job security, preference for a safe job, trust, racism and xenophobia, subjective well-being, innovation, and economic freedom. The dimension of masculinity-femininity (MAS-FEM) lacks coherence. MAS and FEM job goals and broader values are correlated positively, not negatively, and are not related to the MAS-FEM index. MAS-FEM is not a predictor of any of its presumed main correlates: achievement and competition orientation, help and compassion, preference for a workplace with likeable people, work orientation, religiousness, gender egalitarianism, foreign aid. After a radical reconceptualization and a new operationalization, the so-called “fifth dimension” (CWD or long-term orientation) becomes more coherent and useful. The new version, called flexibility-monumentalism (FLX-MON), explains the cultural differences between East Asian Confucian societies at one extreme and Latin America plus Africa at the other, and is the best predictor of national differences in educational achievement.Research limitations/implicationsDifferences between subsidiaries of a multinational company, such as IBM around 1970, are not necessarily a good source of knowledge about broad cultural differences. A model of national culture must be validated across a large number of countries from all continents and its predictions should withstand various plausible controls. Much of Hofstede’s model (UA, MAS-FEM) fails this test while the remaining part (IDV-COLL, PD, LTO) needs a serious revision.Practical implicationsConsultancies and business schools still teach Hofstede’s model uncritically. They need to be aware of its deficiencies.Originality/valueAs UA and MAS-FEM are apparently misleading artifacts of Hofstede’s IBM data set, a thorough revision of Hofstede’s model is proposed, reducing it to two dimensions: IDV-COLL and FLX-MON.


2017 ◽  
Vol 21 (01) ◽  
pp. 1730001 ◽  
Author(s):  
ALEXANDRE LUIS PRIM ◽  
LUIZ STEPHANY FILHO ◽  
GUILHERME AUGUSTO CAVALLARO ZAMUR ◽  
LUIZ CARLOS DI SERIO

The objective of this research is to analyse the relationship between cultural dimensions and the degree of innovation at the national level. For such, secondary data were collected relating to Hofstede’s cultural dimensions and the Global Innovation Index (GII). They were analysed using multiple linear technical regressions based on a sample of 72 countries. The results reveal the existence of three cultural dimensions associated with innovation outputs (technology and creativity): individualism, long-term orientation and indulgence, while a partially supported relationship was encountered for the power distance, uncertainty avoidance, and masculinity dimensions. National cultures were also classified as being competitive, planning, hierarchical or benevolent, to distinguish the most innovation-driven cultures. This evidence contributes to the innovation and competitiveness perspective, in which the intrinsic values of a national culture can favour the development of innovation and raise the competitiveness level of both nations and organisations.


2014 ◽  
Vol 12 (2) ◽  
pp. 161-176 ◽  
Author(s):  
Dessalegn Getie Mihret

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to test the association between national culture dimensions and exposure to fraud with a view to drawing implications for understanding fraud risk. Design/methodology/approach – The study is based on a sample of 66 countries. Regression analysis is conducted using Hofstede’s national culture dimensions as independent variables and fraud risk as a dependent variable. Transparency International’s corruption index was used as a proxy for fraud risk. Findings – Results suggest high fraud risk exposure in countries with high power distance and those having limited long-term orientations. Research limitations/implications – The study informs deeper understanding of fraud risk through analysis of fraud risk in a culturally relative sense. Originality/value – This is the first study (known to the author) to draw the implications of national culture for understanding fraud risk.


Author(s):  
I Nyoman Kusuma Adnyana Mahaputra ◽  
Ni Wayan Rustiarini ◽  
Ni Putu Nita Anggraini ◽  
I Made Sudiartana

This study aims to investigate the relationship of national cculture and taxpayer's ethical perception of tax evasion. National culture dimensions include powner dinstance, uncertainty avoidance, individualism/ccollectivism, masculinity/femininity, lOng/shurt tarm orientation, and indulgence/rrestraint. This study employes survey method, using online questionnaires for taxpayers who haveself employment in Bali Province.Three hundred and seventy seven taxpayers fillend out online questionnaires. This model is processed using multiple linear regression analysis method. The results indicate that power distance, uncertainty avoidance, individualism/collectivism, and femininity/masculinity are associated with perceived ethics of tax evasion, but do not associated between short term/long term orientation and indulgence/restrain with perceived ethics of tax evasion. This study is expected to improve knowledge about tax evasion especially related to national culture. Practically, the results are expected to provide input for tax regulators to consider the role of national culture in identifying the causes of tax evasion.


2010 ◽  
Vol 44-47 ◽  
pp. 506-511 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mostafa Ahmed Shokshok ◽  
Mohd Nizam A. Rahman ◽  
Abd Wahab Dzuraidah ◽  
Ahmad Rasdan Ismail

This paper is to investigate the current status of national culture variables in Libyan manufacturing companies to furnish a base for TQM framework design. In order to achieve the objectives, an extensive literature review had been carried out, this was followed by a survey questionnaire conducted in major manufacturing industries in Libya (Oil & Gas Sector and Industrial Sector). SPSS software was used for performing the analysis, we found that Libyan manufacturing culture comprises of high power distance, slightly high uncertainty avoidance, long-term orientation and masculine society. We also found that the society is on average of individualistic collectivistic dimension. The findings compared with other studies and suggested for future improvement of the Libyan companies.


2014 ◽  
Vol 23 (2) ◽  
pp. 131-138
Author(s):  
K. Sivakumar

Purpose – This research aims to examine the role of national culture dimensions in the nature of tier competition between high-tier brands and low-tier brands. Design/methodology/approach – It starts with a conceptual framework based on prospect theory to explain the asymmetric inter-tier competition. It then describes how the national culture dimensions influence the implications of prospect theory and as a result, the nature of inter-tier competition. The paper uses Hofstede's framework to operationalize national culture and derives a number of research propositions that explicate the role of national culture in inter-tier price competition. Findings – The study finds that the extent of asymmetry favouring high-tier brands over low-tier brands depends on the national culture dimensions. Whereas high levels of individualism, power distance, uncertainty avoidance, and masculinity increase the asymmetry favouring high-tier brands, higher long-term orientation decreases asymmetric price competition favouring high-tier brands. Practical implications – The findings offer important guidelines for understanding the nature of inter-tier price competition as a function of national culture. Originality/value – This is the first study to extend inter-tier price competition in the global setting and also the first study that links national culture with prospect theory to examine the boundary conditions of inter-tier price competition.


2013 ◽  
pp. 38-53
Author(s):  
Nam Vu Hoang ◽  
Anh Truong Tuan ◽  
Nghia Nguyen Ke

This paper uncovers dimensions of family influence on private small business in Vietnam. Although the F-PEC scale, which comprises three subscales for power, experience and culture dimensions of family influence, has been validated in the literature, application of the scale in an Asian context, like Vietnam, may face challenges due to context differences. The study modified the original scale based on qualitative findings from five interviews with entrepreneurs and comments on the scale from business scholars. Data from a survey of 143 entrepreneurs were used for EFA, resulting in four factors. And CFA proves fitness of the measurement model of the four-factor structure to the data, in which two dimensions regarding the cultural aspect were confirmed.


2021 ◽  
pp. 108602662110316
Author(s):  
Tiziana Russo-Spena ◽  
Nadia Di Paola ◽  
Aidan O’Driscoll

An effective climate change action involves the critical role that companies must play in assuring the long-term human and social well-being of future generations. In our study, we offer a more holistic, inclusive, both–and approach to the challenge of environmental innovation (EI) that uses a novel methodology to identify relevant configurations for firms engaging in a superior EI strategy. A conceptual framework is proposed that identifies six sets of driving characteristics of EI and two sets of beneficial outcomes, all inherently tensional. Our analysis utilizes a complementary rather than an oppositional point of view. A data set of 65 companies in the ICT value chain is analyzed via fuzzy-set comparative analysis (fsQCA) and a post-QCA procedure. The results reveal that achieving a superior EI strategy is possible in several scenarios. Specifically, after close examination, two main configuration groups emerge, referred to as technological environmental innovators and organizational environmental innovators.


2021 ◽  
pp. 002224372110092
Author(s):  
Zhenling Jiang ◽  
Dennis J. Zhang ◽  
Tat Chan

This paper studies how receiving a bonus changes the consumers’ demand for auto loans and the risk of future delinquency. Unlike traditional consumer products, auto loans have a long-term impact on consumers’ financial state because of the monthly payment obligation. Using a large consumer panel data set of credit and employment information, the authors find that receiving a bonus increases auto loan demand by 21 percent. These loans, however, are associated with higher risk, as the delinquency rate increases by 18.5 −31.4 percent depending on different measures. In contrast, an increase in consumers’ base salary will increase the demand for auto loans but not the delinquency. By comparing consumers with bonuses with those without bonuses, the authors find that bonus payments lead to both demand expansion and demand shifting on auto loans. The empirical findings help shed light on how consumers make financial decisions and have important implications for financial institutions on when demand for auto loans and the associated risk arise.


Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document