The Persuasiveness of Individualistic and Collectivistic Advertising Appeals Among Chinese Generation-X Consumers

Abstract

This project examined the persuasiveness of individualistic and collectivistic advertising appeals among Chinese Generation-X consumers, ages 18 to 35 with high income and high education. In two field experiments, they were found to be equally persuaded by individualistic and collectivistic ad appeals, whereas their older counterparts were found to be more persuaded by collectivistic than individualistic ad appeals. Moreover, these persuasion effects emerged for shared products and not personal-use products. For the latter, both Generation-X and older consumers were more persuaded by individualistic than collectivistic ad appeals. The findings were interpreted in the context of rising biculturalism in China due to globalization, where more and more young urban adults adapt to both new, individualistic and traditional, collectivistic values.