Cultural Differences Between China and America——Based on Advertisement英语专业毕业论文.doc

Cultural Differences Between China and AmericaBased on AdvertisementAbstract：Advertising is the cultural phenomenon that includes social forms and it is a picture of social progress. Advertising transmission is expanding the result of civilization and changing the cultural structure among different nations. As a form of cultural transmission, advertising brings important influence on cultural infiltration. This thesis mainly focuses on the differences between Chinese and American culture from advertisements.Key Words：Advertisement; culture transmission; cultural differencesInstruction Part：Culture is one thing that should accumulate during a long living time in one nation. It roots in the national mind, this is the scope of consciousness. Different countries have different cultures, they should communicate with each other. Although they are many ways to exchange culture, advertising is one of best way to do it. Advertising is the cultural phenomenon that includes social forms and it is a picture of progressive society. Advertising transmission is a kind of cultural transmission. As Beity who was a famous person in American advertising said that if no one makes advertising, who can create culture? Advertising should not only transmit in native country, but also in other countries. But globalization poses a challenge to every national culture. On the international stage, China becomes a little feeble. In the international advertising judges, there is no Chinese. This shows that we should make every effort to change this phenomenon. We should transmit more commercial information and publicize national culture, such as the advertising of Kongfu shows “make people miss homer”, Hongdou shows “a poem of Hongdou”. Chinese national culture is an endless treasure.According these challenges，Ive made some analysis of cultural differences between China and AmericaAnalysis:A. Influences of Chinese and American Languages on Advertising1. Language Differences Language is the carrier of culture, every word stands for one meaning. When we speak mother language in our hometown, which must be easy. But in the trend of globalization, every country should communicate with others, so do China and America. These two different languages are obstacles when the two countries are exchanging cultures. In the advertising across culture transmission, the function of language is very obvious. Although America has 50 states, American language is very unified, there is no dialect. American people study standard American English very hard. The unit of language brings the unit of culture. The unit of culture means the unit of social values. If one production will be generalized, it just only shows “National AD” in ABC, CBS NBC, CNN and FOX. This is also called unit of advertising. It brings convenience for American business to set market, at the same time, unit advertising influences the whole America. The Chinese advertising language is high text; it pays more attention to the audio model and notion. They make a nice atmosphere so that audience has an intuition or favor about the productions. They are particular about appreciation. For example, this kind of advertising content is that one family is drinking milk, the language shows concern for the health nice future of your family members. The American advertising language is objective, refined, such as this milk advertising. First, audiences watch milk milked into the barrel and listen to the sound. Then lens move up and ones surprise it is not a cow but is a bottle of milk. This can show that this brand of milk is very fresh. The whole advertising is no language but the persuasion is very strong.2. SloganSlogan is another type of language in advertising. The functions of it is that it can help businesses set their images and transmit them to the customers. For example, Ford car has a slogan in advertising: Have you driven a Ford lately? McDonalds slogan is: Good time, Great taste, McDonalds. BMWs slogan is: The Ultimate  Driving Machine. Coca Colas slogan is: Cant beat the feeling. Pepsiss slogan is: The choice of a new generation. LGs slogan is: Lifes good. Nikes slogan is: Just do it. IBMs slogan is: No business too small, no problem too big. China telecoms slogan is: Always with you. Toyotas slogan is: Poetry in motion, dancing close to me. Panasonics slogan is: Ideas for life. Nippons slogan is: Working beautifully  everywhere. But all of these slogans cannot keep it all the time. They will be changed with the change of sales promotion. So we say slogan is not a static type. If copywriter can connect skill of language with sales promotion, this slogan must be successful.   Thereof, the language of advertising is not only an art, but also a science.B. Influences of Social Customs Social customs are very difficult to change. No matter what country or nation you are in, there always exist many taboos. We should respect the national customs, which are formed during millenary. Different customs bring great influence on advertising, especially for the advertising across cultures. If someone wants to make an advertising bear fruit, he must learn and respect the local customs so that the advertising can do with a definite purpose to transmit information.Respecting social customs means that the information of advertising cannot offend local taboo, otherwise it may bring unnecessary troubles. The advertising makers should make an advertising adapts to the social custom. For example, there is advertising about Saturn Car. The content is that John was a photographer, but he spent more money on the petrol than film. This was a serious problem for him. He wanted to economize some spending. When he saw the Saturn, he felt very comfortable, the back of Saturn Car could be folded and the space was very large. John wanted to bring some feed on every weekend, because he kept many animals in his house. In this advertising, the maker wanted to arouse the consumers interest so that they would purchase the products. The root of this idea is the American social custom. In America, many people pay more attention to protect the environment and they also like feeding some animals. Nowadays, we often watch some affirmatory advertising. But social difference between China and America also exists in this kind of advertising. Chinese traditional custom emphasizes on united mind, such as “absolute authority”. Advertising always uses “gain ones golden cup”, “state-owned corporation”, “drinking for national meeting”. American advertising pays more attention to the fact, such as “after many experiments, we get a result” “Many investigations show that”But China and America have a same social custom in advertising. The two countries people all take good care of animals. In 1980s, American advertising was called “The heaven of dog”, because that there were many lovely animals became the main actors in advertisements during that time. In China, Midea air-conditioner also uses a lovely bear in their advertisement. This bear is very loveable and humorous. The spectators are very interested in the animal so that the sales volume of Midea air-condition scores a great success.                                    In China, advertising should serve the Chinese important festival-Spring Festival. There is an advertisement mainly narrating important festival that a piglet wants to go home and reunite with its family. Coco Cola brings it back home. This advertisement cleverly connects Chinese lunar calendar new year with Coco Cola. It adapts to the Chinese social custom. Chinese food is also famous in the world. There is advertisement mainly narrating Chinese food. “Now you can make a real Chinese meal at home in less time than it takes to go out. Fully cooked strips of marinated chicken or tender beef, plus chopped Chinese style vegetables, oriental stir fry sauce and fluffy white rice.”(Zhou163) The maker of advertisement cleverly changes “Work of Art” to “Work of art”, which means to create an art when you are cooking.So we can say, advertising across cultures should consider the local customs. It is just like a wing to help your production fly freely in other consumer markets.C. Individual Values of the Two PeoplesEveryone, even every nation is affected by the individual values. Different values may produce different effects on the same thing owns different effects. Advertising is carrier of productive and cultural information, its connection with national culture is  inevitable. Advertising also reflects some values, which show cultural characteristics. In the advertising across cultural transmission, individual values play an important role. Because it reflects peoples minds, manners and so on. Materially they delegate the will of consumers and society. So if the information of advertising does not gain the confirmation and agreement, it will be excluded and make audiences feel very revoltive.ConclusionAdvertising is an important carrier of culture transmission, it is also the product of globalization and it extends the achievements of human civilization. It is the product of commercial economy and it reflects the level of development of a country. China and America are two big countries in the world, China represents eastern culture and America represents western culture. So advertising across the two countries faces many difficulties, such as different languages, social customs and individual values.In order to harmonize and develop the advertising in China and America, we should insist on the cultural innovation and sustainable development ; overcome fixed ways of thinking and enhance the ability of cultural transmission ; rationally regard globalization and nationalization.In a word, “Cross cultural differences in advertising expression are a growing and important area of research, primarily because an understanding of these differences is needed in order to take on the creative challenge of communicating to people of diverse cultural backgrounds.”(Mueller 151) There is an important sentence for advertising transmission across culture: knowing what should do is as important as knowing what should not do.References:1 Aitchison,Jim. Cuttiong Edge Advertising. Kunming :Yunnan University Press, 2001.2 Mueller,Barbara. International Advertising Communicating Actoss CulturesShenyang : Northeast Finance and Economics University Press，1998. 3 Sivulka,Juliann. A Cultural History of American Advertising. Shenyang : Northeast Finance and Economics University Press，1998. 4 Stevenson, Douglas K. American Life and InstitutionsShanghai：Shanghai Foreign Language Education Press， 2003. 生命列车The Train Of Life1. 不久以前，我读了一本书。书中把人生比作一次旅行。2. 人生一世，就好比是一次搭车旅行，要经历无数次上车、下车; 时常有事故发生; 有时是意外惊喜，有时却是刻骨铭心的悲伤 3. 降生人世，我们就坐上了生命列车。我们以为我们最先见到的那两个人-我们的父母，会在人生旅途中一直陪伴着我们。 4. 很遗憾，事实并非如此。他们会在某个车站下车，留下我们，孤独无助。他们的爱、他们的情、他们不可替代的陪伴，再也无从寻找。 5. 尽管如此，还会有其他人上车。他们当中的一些人将对我们有着特殊的意义。 6. 他们之中有我们的兄弟姐妹, 有我们的亲朋好友。我们还将会体验千古不朽的爱情故事。7. 坐同一班车的人当中，有的轻松旅行。8. 有的却带着深深的悲哀 还有的,在列车上四处奔忙，随时准备帮助有需要的人  9. 很多人下车后，其他旅客对他们的回忆历久弥新 但是，也有一些人，当他们离开座位时，却没有人察觉。10. 有时候，对你来说情深义重的旅伴却坐到了另一节车厢。你只得远离他，继续你的旅程。11. 当然，在旅途中，你也可以摇摇晃晃地穿过自己的车厢，去别的车厢找他 12. 可惜，你再也无法坐在他身旁，因为这个位置已经让别人给占了 .13. 没关系。旅途充满挑战、梦想、希望、离别 就是不能回头。因此，尽量使旅途愉快吧！14. 善待旅途上遇见的所有旅客，找出人们身上的闪光点。15. 永远记住，在某一段旅程中，有人会犹豫彷徨，因为我们自己也会犹豫彷徨。16. 我们要理解他人，因为我们需要他人的理解。17. 生命之谜就是：我们在什么地方下车？坐在身旁的伴侣在什么地方下车？我们的朋友在什么地方下车？我们无从知晓 18. 我时常这样想：到我该下车的时候，我会留恋吗？我想我还是会的。和我的朋友分离，我会痛苦。让我的孩子孤独地前行，我会悲伤。 我执著地希望在我们大家都要到达的那个终点站，我们还会相聚 19. 我的孩子们上车时没有什么行李，如果我能在他们的行囊中留下美好的回忆，我会感到幸福。20. 我下车后，和我同行的旅客都还能记得我，想念我，我将感到快慰。21. 献给你, 我生命列车上的同行者, 祝您旅途愉快!1. Not long ago, I read a book, in which a mans life was compared to a journey.2. The life of a man is just like a hitchhiking，during which many times we go up and down. Now and then things will happen accidently, some of which are to be unexpected excitement，while some heart-breaking sorrows. 3. When first embraced the world，we are already on the train of life. We take it for granted that the first two persons, our parents, whom we are encountered with, will accompany us all the way.4. Sadly，things do not go on as we thought.Our parents will get off the train at a certain station，leaving us, bereft and helpless.Their love and emotion to us and their irreplaceable company can be found in nowhere.5. However，there will be somebody else who will get on the train. Some of them will have special meaning to us.6. Some of them may be our siblings , relatives and friends, and we will also expereince the imperishable love.7. Some of our travelling companions are quite light-hearted on the way.8. While some may bear immense sorrow.Still some ,back and forth, are ready to hold out their hands for others who need help.9. Some people alight off the train, yet they are still kept in the mind of the other passengers for long;some, to the opposite, leave their seats without being noticed.10. Sometimes, the one,who is dear to your heart, has huddled into another carriage. Nothing but one you can do is just to keep on going, far away from him.11. Of course, during the journey, you may stagger to another carriage to look for him.12. Its a pity that you will never seat yourself beside him because the seat has been engaged by others. 13. Never mind. The journey is full of challenges,dreams, hopes and departures- but only one thing is that you cant turn back. So, have a good journey with heart and soul.14. Show your good-will to all the passengers you are encountered with, and find the merits of theirs.15. Remeber that someone may oscillate just as we do in the journey.16. We should understand others just as we need others understanding.17. The enigma of life is：Where shall we get off the train of life?And how about the companions beside us?And our friends?We dont know.18. Sometimes I think：When my time comes to get off the train，shall I miss it？I think I will.It is a suffering when I part with my friends.I will be sorry for leaving my kids going alone.I firmly hold that when we get to the terminal，we will have another reunion.19. When my kids get on the train of life, they have only little luggage in their travelling bags. However,if I can leave the beautiful memory in them,I will be happy. 20. After getting off the train of life, I will be content if my fellow passengers will remember me and miss me.21. To you , the companions on my train of life.May you have a good journey!