Regulation of soft issues in advertising in Confucian societies: a comparative examination

Abstract

Purpose -This paper sets out to examine the formal regulatory framework of controlling soft issues in six Confucian societies: China, Hong Kong, Taiwan, Singapore, South Korea and Japan. It aims to investigate whether these societies adopt a similar approach to soft issues. Design/methodology/approach -The approach takes the form of historical analysis and textual analysis. Findings -Japan stands out among Confucian societies in regulating soft issues. The other five societies share considerable similarities, though each society's approach ultimately reflects the entanglement and interaction between various economic, political, cultural and historical factors in the local context. Practical implications -For international advertisers, the ideological facet of advertising regulation in some Confucian societies spells unpredictable traps and troubles. Originality/value -Only a very few works have systematically examined soft issues in advertising, and few have focused on East Asia. The paper contributes to the literature by comparing how societies with similar cultural traditions regulate soft issues.

Young adults’ responses to product placement in movies and television shows

“…As discussed earlier, it was found that individuals in collectivistic and Confucian cultures, such as Korea, tend to have high standards for marketing ethics and strong moral and legal obligations to the societies to which they belong (Singh et al 2007). Such cultural values remain as an influential, persistent aspect of Korean society, and invariably foster perceptions and beliefs regarding social issues arising from advertising and marketing practices (Gao & Kim 2009). recently, as commercial messages, secular contents and materialistic images in Korean television have become more pervasive through TV content, official concern over the widespread distorted, stereotyped and misleading view of the world continues to increase (Kwak et al 2002; National Assembly of the republic of Korea 2007).…”

“…China, Taiwan and Hong Kong -all of which rely exclusively on government regulation; and Japan and Singaporewhich rely exclusively on self-regulation), Korea has maintained a more stringent approach with regard to product placement in television programmes, as it employs a combination of both government and civilian self-regulatory regulations (i.e. Korea Advertising review Board) (Gao & Kim 2009). …”

“…In Korea, the needs and goals of individuals are sacrificed for the attainment of collective interests (Kwak et al 2002;Gao & Kim 2009). Issues related to what should be considered public property (e.g.…”

The means‐end cognitions of web advertising: a cross‐cultural comparison

“…Thus, the authors, referring to Hall's cultural distinction, selected six countries that use the English and Chinese languages on the internet. Although China and Taiwan are two countries with the same culture and use Chinese as the language interface on the internet, the level of government regulation and the content of advertising design between these two countries are completely different (Gao and Kim, 2009). Consequently, the sample countries in this study were Canada, China, India, Taiwan, the UK and the USA.…”