1. Underlying Concepts: Culture, Stereotypes, and Advertising
1.6 Images and Stereotypes of Foreigners in Advertising
Following the discussion of the nature of stereotypes and images above, this chapter sets out to explore why these phenomena are useful in the world of advertising. According to O’Barr, images and stereotypes of foreigners are found in contemporary advertisements in three categories: travel advertisements, product endorsements, and international business ads. There are several advantages that explain their widespread use in advertising, but also several social side effects that have elicited many critics’ responses. Group norms are increasingly spread through commercial media, but can also be seen as merely reflecting already existing social norms.
With the possible exception of family and friends, the media are probably the most powerful transmitters of cultural stereotypes, at least in Western societies. The expression of group norms in art, literature, drama, and film both reflects and transmits the stereotypes deeply ingrained in a culture.179
Advertisements create a special, artificial environment, which results in the following implications that need to be taken into account. Firstly, communication is only one-way, the recipient can only receive information and not send it back, and thus interaction is not possible.
Secondly, the information given is created, crafted, carefully designed, developed, and devoid of all spontaneity. In actual cross-cultural contact, which is obviously more coincidental and consists of interaction, the distorted picture is created by our own culture. We see the Other according to our own reference system, our set of cultural values; our perception is ethnocentric.
Whereas both cross-cultural interactors use their value-system, the creator of an advertisement can manipulate this system and usually even shares this system. In other words and in our context, the creator is American and the viewers are Americans. The value-system of the Other,
179 Mackie et al. 61.
in our case, German, is not part of the act of communication; the problems of cross-cultural communication do not occur. There is no contradiction, no conflict, because the viewer perceives information specifically designed according to his or her cultural setting. The communication is intra-cultural, not inter-cultural. Stephan and Stephan write that “both cultural interpretations of contexts and the conditions of contact have important effects on cross-cutural relations. All cross-cultural encounters take place in specific contexts that are likely to be construed differently by people from different cultures.”180
Through the mass media, people can see representations of groups that perhaps they would otherwise never come in contact with. Television is especially suitable for this because it uses both visual and audio information, thus seemingly conveying an authentic and realistic representation of reality. Therefore an individual can form stereotypes about certain groups whose members he or she has never actually met. Even when contact with a certain group is frequent, the stereotype may be resistant to the new experiences.
Stereotypes of foreigners are learned from a very early age and are initially usually indirect. It can be assumed that, as children are more and more exposed to television and thus advertising at very early ages, ethnic and national stereotypes are increasingly internalized by children. Advertisers use more of these stereotypes, as most viewers, even the youngest, will recognize them.
In as much as ethnic and national stereotypes are associated with their relevant social groups, then they are somewhat different to most other stereotypes. Both ethnicity and nationality are relatively stable elements of an individual’s sense of identity, and come to impact one’s life from a very early age. Psychologists have demonstrated that children manifest a preference for the symbols of their own nation before their cognitive apparatus can even fully comprehend what a nation or nationality actually is. […] since both ethnic and national stereotypes are learnt early in life, and associated with potent social identities, they are likely to be quite resistant to change, and to come to form an important part of an individual’s set of beliefs.181
180 Cookie White Stephan and Walter G. Stephan, "Cognition and Affect in Cross Cultural Relations," Cross-Cultural and Intercultural Communication, ed. William B. Gudykunst (Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications, 2003) 113.
181 Cinnirella 48-49.
Us vs. Them
O’Barr sees businesses using and abusing depictions of the Other as a confrontational tool: “Advertisements that depict foreigners, I argue, depict ideologies about relationships between us and them.”182 As I have argued above, people like to be members of a group and often define themselves by contrasting one’s group to another. The more distinguishable that group is, the easier it is to see the contrast and the differences. Thus the Other is often shown in an exotic way, which means in a way both foreign and simplified yet interesting.
While the exotic can be used for both attracting and repelling the consumer, it also becomes a mask for ideological ventures such as appropriation, subjugation, and dominance. The untroubling images of foreignness both undermine and underscore the fears associated with the Other and promote stereotypes that prevent significant communication between and across cultural boundaries. The economic component of the foreign ‘inclusion’ translates into the objectification of the foreign and its reduction into a commodity useful only in its exchange value.183
An economic system that conveys cultural information only fosters simplification of the Other and exacerbates outgroup homogeneity. As consumers are more and more bombarded with these images, they become part of a culture’s set of common knowledge.
Although stereotypes are internal, they can be visualized. The more powerful the visual cues, the more suitable are these visualizations for advertising. Advertising agencies, which rely on a constant supply of images, especially for print advertisements, often work together with stock photography agencies and companies. This type of business can be defined as “a global industry which manufactures, promotes and distributes photographic images for use in marketing, advertising, sundry editorial purposes, and increasingly for multimedia products and website design.”184 Stock images have been known for centuries, and early advertising and trade
182 O'Barr 12.
183 Elise Salem Manganaro, “When Foreign Sells: Exotica in American TV Ads of the Eighties and Nineties,”
Advertising and Culture: Theoretical Perspectives, ed. Mary Cross (Westport: Praeger, 1996) 25.
184 Paul Frosh, The Image Factory: Consumer Culture, Photography and the Visual Content Industry (Oxford: Berg, 2003) 3.
cards already made heavy use of them. Frosh interprets stock photographs, which are widely used in advertising, “as striking visual materializations of cultural stereotypes.”185
In order for images and stereotypes to work, the target audience and its culture need to be taken into account. Most advertisements only work in the country they are produced for and would fail in other countries. Ricks states that multinational companies must have different marketing campaigns for different countries. He uses the examples of tire makers stressing durability and mileage in the U.S. in contrast to agile performance in Germany, and of Volvo, which “has emphasized economy, durability, and safety in America; […] performance in Germany; and safety in Switzerland.”186 Thus for each advertisement and its content, not only a stereotyped country but also the country in which the ad is aired needs to be taken into account.
“According to reception theory,” Berger comments, “we must not privilege the text and must take into account ‘the role of the reader’ [...] and the way different readers (or listeners and viewers, in the case of audio-visual media) interpret texts.”187
Country-of-Origin Effect
Sometimes products from certain countries are favored over similar or identical products from other countries. This higher prestige can result from a number of factors: invention of a product, practice and experience, favorable growing/production factors, local or regional culture, etc. Very often food is seen as better in some countries than others, for example French wine, cheese from Switzerland, Italian olive oil, or German beer. The list is endless and numerous examples can be found for any country. Manufactured products also fall into this category, ranging from Swiss clocks and watches to Japanese electronics.
The competitive advantage that manufacturers and producers from these countries have is called country-of-origin effect.188 It is triggered by a variety of cues, including packaging, advertising, and the company image. Stereotypes and images, as has been shown, are powerful triggers that can lead to the advantageous country-of-origin effect and thus are often used by
185 Frosh 107.
186 Ricks 56.
187 Arthur Asa Berger, Manufacturing Desire: Media, Popular Culture, and Everyday Life (New Brunswick:
Transaction Publishers, 1996) 12.
188 See: Jaffe and Nebenzahl. For summary of country-of-origin psychological processes: Murray A. Young, Paul L.
Sauer and H. Rao Unnava, “Country-of-Origin Issues,” Global Marketing: Perspectives and Cases, eds. Salah S.
Hassan and Roger D. Blackwell (Fort Worth: Hartcourt Brace, 1994) 196-210.
advertisers. The energy-saving advantages of stereotypes lend their use to delivering quick visual (a kilt, a Lederhose, etc.) and audial (an accent, folk music, etc.) triggers.
It is noteworthy that, in general, products from more developed countries appear to be favored over those from less developed countries.189 This is not surprising as more developed countries are seen as having accomplished certain goals (inventions of products or certain discoveries), which lends them credibility of excelling also in other areas. As cars were invented in Germany and many cars and innovations come from there, German engineering is still more highly esteemed in comparison to that of other countries.
While the country-of-origin effect can be advantageous to exporting countries, it may also be a “liability.” Babej reports that Germany is perceived less positively when negative perceptions and tensions are on the rise and during times of political, social, and cultural disagreements and hostilities.190 He states that companies that show their German image might be negatively affected in times of political crises:
When a rift between two countries enters public consciousness, ‘badge’ products such as cars become shiny, chrome-plated targets because they make a very public statement about their owners. Though Mercedes hasn’t been touting its nationality, everyone thinks of it as a German brand. If buying a Mercedes becomes stigmatized as funding anti-Americanism, brands without this baggage, such as Jaguar or Lexus, could look more attractive.191
Referring to the tourism industry, he asserts that “[c]ompanies whose product is Germany could be in for a hard time.”192 Babej concludes that advertising and image campaigns can counter disadvantages that are caused by the country of origin, stressing that each marketing strategy has to be evaluated on a case-by-case basis.
189 Mary Ellen Ryder, et al, “Multilingual Advertising: Does It Have the Intended Effect?” Global Marketing:
Perspectives and Cases, eds. Salah S. Hassan and Roger D. Blackwell (Fort Worth: Hartcourt Brace, 1994) 313-314.
190 Common reactions are boycott movements, for example the one organized by Jewish Americans against Nazi Germany (Dana Frank, Buy American: The Untold Story of American Economic Nationalism (Boston: Beacon, 2000) 101.) or a lighter version during the 2nd war with Iraq in 2003 during which French and, to a lesser extent, German products were shunned. Of course there are other reasons other than times of diplomatic and political differences. During times of higher unemployment and economic hardship, such as the Great Depression, “Buy American”-campaigns resurface. (Frank 56-78.)
191 Marc E. Babej, “When ‘made in Germany’ is a liability,” Brandweek 24 February 2003: 20.
192Babej 20. See also: Rietig.
Harmless Fun or Humiliating Jokes?
It has been shown that stereotypes can be provocative or even hurtful and demeaning.
They are often found in jokes, which can reveal many group attitudes and, according to Dundes, must not be underestimated: “A proverb or a joke told by members of one national group about another may be more responsible for the first group’s attitude’s about the second than any other single factor.”193
Many times a certain degree of controversy is planned and wanted by advertisers, as it increases the viewers’ and the media’s attention. As most ads are never seen in other countries, these images and stereotypes might even be hurtful and yet not have a negative impact on a company’s image. But there is a certain line that must not be crossed and advertising agencies go to great lengths to make sure that the advertisement does not cause a decrease in sales and the company’s image. Especially ethnic humor can, if not carefully used, lead to opposite results and is thus increasingly avoided by many advertisers.
Whether jokes are merely funny or humiliate and hurt certain groups inside or outside a country is generally decided by audiences on a case-by-case basis. The question if it is ethical to use jokes that depict certain groups or minorities is certainly debatable and cannot be answered generally; evidence does not support one position or the other. La Fave and Mannell conclude:
“Although many ethnic ‘jokes’ exist at the expense of the group, a surprising number of arguments exist for humanitarian functions of ethnic humor.”194 A certain amount of ‘teasing’ or
‘poking fun’ can be healthy in relationships between individuals as well as groups and may spur, for example, positive feelings or productive competition.
Mediated images and stereotypes of various groups, not only those of foreigners, but also those concerning gender, age, physical features, sexual orientation, profession, and social status can injure and thus need to be constantly evaluated.195
193 Alan Dundes, Cracking Jokes: Studies in Sick Humor Cycles and Stereotypes (Berkeley, CA: Ten Speed Press, 1987) 96.
194 Lawrence La Fave and Roger Mannell, "Does Ethnic Humour Serve Prejudice?" Journal of Communication 26/3 (1976): 122.
195 See: Lester and Ross. On humor see also: Berger, An Anatomy of Humor; Dundes.
Why not to use stereotypes
Ricks shows in his book Blunders in International Business that advertising mistakes can lead to cultural misunderstandings, wrong conclusions, negative images, and insult. He presents examples ranging from packaging and layout to different cultural receptions of color, gestures, and symbols, from badly chosen names of products to wrong translations, and from pricing to marketing strategies. The often-amusing examples show that even thorough research can produce unexpected, uncommon, and often undesirable outcomes. Thus marketers and advertisers need to be careful in their marketing of products. A local advertising agency may filter out or not even make mistakes in the first place. Therefore many American advertisements for German companies are developed by American advertising agencies. However, many decisions of the marketing of a product lie with the company and its strategy, therefore cultural influence is often not completely eliminated and traces can still be found in many advertisements.
Furthermore the use of stereotypes in contrast to that of images is limited as advertisers strive to maintain an ever new, up-to-date, and fresh image. Therefore it is seen more frequently that existing stereotypes are challenged or played with, which prevents viewer-anticipated patterns and draws attention. Several advertisements, for example, play with the stereotype of the Germans as being overly traditional. They clearly challenge an older view and show that Germany has undergone massive changes, which is elaborated on below in the chapter called
“The New Germans.”