Becoming a Consumer Society: A Longitudinal and Cross-Cultural Content Analysis of Print Ads from Hong Kong, the People's Republic of China, and Taiwan

Abstract

Results of a longitudinal study of ads from Hong Kong, the People's Republic of China (PRC), and Taiwan depict distinctive consumer cultures. PRC ads emphasize utilitarian appeals, promise a better life, and focus on states of being as a consumption theme. Hong Kong ads stress hedonistic values, promise easier and American lifestyles, and focus on doing. Taiwan ads fall between these two extremes, but are converging toward Hong Kong ads in consumption appeals over time. PRC ads, presumably anchored by remnants of an anti-materialistic political ideology, seem to chart a different trend.