Conclusions
Our study had several limitations. Despite the fact that it was larger in scope than similar studies, the results may have been limited by the restriction to only 11 countries. Adding more countries might have led to significant correlation coefficients for more appeal/cultural dimension pairings.
Although business magazines were selected to ensure homogeneity of readership and to maintain the domain of Hofstede's model, the audience of such publications tends to be better educated and wealthier than the general population. An argument can be made that this audience is more globally aware and therefore its members are less bound to any unique culture. Caution therefore should be used in generalizing these results beyond this context.
Another limitation is the use of Hofstede's model. Although his scales and findings have been revalidated (Hofstede 1991), his model is based on research begun nearly 20 years ago and developed empirically rather than theoretically. As the international team that developed the research instrument consisted only of Western researchers (Hofstede 1994), the model may be oriented toward Western thinking. Furthermore, the scales were developed within an organizational setting and expansion to a consumer context does not appear to be valid or advisable. Additional models of culture (e.g., Schwartz 1992) and studies examining particular dimensions (e.g., Triandis 1990) should be considered for future research.
Taking these limitations into account, we offer several tentative conclusions. The obvious conclusion is that appeals in ads and cultural values often relate in a nonrandom way. Despite the fact that advertising content is affected by many variables, at least one model provides insight into cultural correlates. Even with a relatively homogeneous audience of business and professional readers, variation in advertising across cultures is observable. Studying ads will in many ways tell us something about values. Studying values will in many ways tell us what to expect as advertising appeals.