Cultural Attributes In Advertising: An Indian Perspective

Abstract

Culture plays an important role in the everyday life of an individual by influencing different aspects of life. Most importantly, it influences people’s consumption decisions thereby impacting the marketing strategies of the brands. The marketing communication strategy is one of many strategies that aims at influencing consumer behaviour. It often uses cultural elements to resonate with the target audiences. The brand frequently uses cultural elements in its advertising practices to establish an emotional connection with the audience. Such integration enhances the brand's acceptability in the market. Indian consumers exhibit strong sensitivity towards their culture leading to widespread use of cultural elements in advertisements. The present study is an attempt to understand the level of integration of various cultural elements in Indian advertising practices. It is observed that language as an element of culture is featured consistently across advertisements irrespective of product categories and group bands. However, a similar result is not observed for the other cultural elements such as cultural values, customs & rituals and cultural symbols. The study further proposes the scope of future research.