Why Foreign Students Like or Dislike American Advertising

• Published in: Journalism Quarterly 1970-10, Vol.47 (3), p.560-564
• Main Author: Pierce, Frank N
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Advertise/Advertising/Advertisement/ Advertisements; Foreign; Student/Students; United States/US
• ISSN: 1077-6990; 0196-3031; 2161-430X

641 foreign students from 82 countries, studying at US campuses, were asked to indicate their feelings pro or con about advertising as an instit in the US. Panelists were selected at random from 36 instit's of higher learning throughout the US & can be considered representative of the foreign student universe at the time of the study. R's were asked to reply to a pair of open-ended questions & to select 1 of 5 answers to a closed question. Major reasons given by R's for others feeling favorable to Amer advertising were (a) the enjoyment it provides personally, (b) the assistance it gives to business in the US, & (c) the helpfulness of specific product information it contains. On the other hand, the most salient reasons for others disliking advertising were (1) the large amount of it, (2) its obtrusiveness, (3) the high level of bias or untruth, (4) the substantial annoyance or boredom factor, (5) the interruption of entertainment, & (6) the fact that many advertising messages are insulting to intelligence. More students expressed themselves favorably than unfavorably toward advertising. These results may be of interest for res on cross-cultural perceptions of Amer instit's. 2 Tables. Modified Author's Summary.