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1、PAGE 北京工商大学本科毕业论文（设计）开题报告学生姓名学号学院（系）班级论文（设计）题目A Comparison of Humor between Chinese and American Brand Advertising指导老师姓名职 称指导老师研究方向一、论文（设计）选题的依据（Rationale）1. Why have you chosen the topic?With the development of material prosperity, advertisements have become more and more important in our daily lif

2、e. Advertisements give latest information about products. If there were no advertising, consumers could not know about goods in their local shops. Advertising helps sell to a bigger market. Therefore, as more goods are sold they are cheaper. Advertisements also provide money for newspapers, magazine

3、s, radios and TV stations, etc. At the same time, we also notice that there are many differences between Chinese and American advertisements. Under the influence of different Chinese and American culture and ideology, different elements are used in Chinese and American advertisement. A noticeable di

4、fference between Chinese and American advertisement is that they use different humor elements in advertising and they have different interpretation of humor. Therefore, a study on this topic will reveal the causes for this phenomenon and better facilitate cross-cultural communication between China a

5、nd America. 2. What is the background to the topic within the context of a known academic or professional debate?Nowadays, cross-cultural communication has been a hot topic for scholars. Comparative study between Chinese and American culture has been numerous. Advertisers and researchers have long b

6、een fascinated by the peculiarities and commonalities in advertising appeals between Western and Eastern societies. Within this interest area, one stream of research focuses on the cultural values conveyed in advertisements, while another concentrates on the narrative styles effective in the context

7、s of different societies. For comparative purposes, we chose the United States and China to represent two types of cultures that were of theoretical import to this study, that is, individualistic versus collectivistic cultures. The selection process also took into account the phonological and logogr

8、aphic nature of the English and Chinese languages. In addition, the two countries represented two extremes in terms of advertising maturity.二、论文（设计）的主要研究内容及预期目标( Research issues and aims)1. Research issues (what do you expect the results to show? how do your results feed back into discussion of the

9、theoretical issues？)In this paper, it aims to make a comparative study of humor between Chinese and American brand advertising. By listing examples, this paper will try to discuss the similarities and differences between the Chinese and American brand advertising from the perspective of humor. 2. Ai

10、ms: these should be as brief and precise as possible, and set out one by one as hypotheses to be tested or areas to be investigated.(1) Have an overview of the characteristics of Chinese and American brand advertising;(2) Make a comparative study of the Chinese and American brand advertising;(3) Hop

11、e this paper will be helpful for cross-cultural communication. 三、论文（设计）的主要研究方案（Method）(1) Documentation Analysis MethodBy searching documents, journals and literatures related to this topic, I analyzed opinions of different scholars. By analyzing their respective opinions, I get a better understandi

12、ng of the element of humor that existing in Chinese and American brand advertising. (2) Comparative Analysis MethodBased on the fact that Chinese and American brand advertising may have their own characteristics, before conducting this research, this paper first explores the similarities between Chi

13、nese and American brand advertising, then it goes to the part of differences. Meanwhile, this paper will focus on one point, which is humor in Chinese and American brand advertising. 四、论文（设计）文献综述（Literature review）A critical review of main relative sources, main concepts and definitions. Please note

14、 that this is the largest section of the proposal with a specified length of 1,200 words.In todays commercial world, advertising is everywhere. The word, advertising, first appeared in a magazine in 1645 and it originates in Latin advertere which means turning towards while it means speaking publicl

15、y in Chinese and shouting or yelling in Russian. The history of advertising is not very long but the definitions of advertising offered by different scholars are various (Hu, 1996). Advertising refers to the non-personal communication of information usually paid for & usually persuasive in nature, a

16、bout products (goods & services) or ideas by identified sponsor through various media. (Arens, Wei gold, 2010) Virtually any medium can be used for advertising. Commercial advertising media can include wall paintings, billboards, street furniture components, printed flyers and rack cards, radio, cin

17、ema and television adverts, web banners, mobile telephone screens, shopping carts, web popup, skywriting, bus stop benches, human billboards, magazines, newspapers, town criers, sides of buses, banners attached to or sides of airplanes (logo jets), in-flight advertisements on seatback tray tables or

18、 overhead storage bins, taxicab doors, roof mounts and passenger screens, musical stage shows, subway platforms and trains, elastic bands on disposable diapers, doors of bathroom stalls, stickers on apples in supermarkets, shopping cart handles (grabertising), the opening section of streaming audio

19、and video, posters, and the backs of event tickets and supermarket receipts.Advertising is paid, nonpersonal communication that is designed to communicate in a creative manner, through the use of mass or information-directed media, the nature of products, services, and ideas. It is a form of persuas

20、ive communication that offers information about products, ideas, and services that serves the objectives determined by the advertiser. Advertising may influence consumers in many different ways, but the primary goal of advertising is to increase the probability that consumers exposed to an advertise

21、ment will behave or believe as the advertiser wishes. (Hu, 1996) Thus, the ultimate objective of advertising is to sell things persuasively and creatively. Advertising is used by commercial firms trying to sell products and services; by politicians and political interest groups to sell ideas or pers

22、uade voters; by not-for-profit organizations to raise funds, solicit volunteers, or influence the actions of viewers; and by governments seeking to encourage or discourage particular activities, such a wearing seatbelts, participating in the census, or ceasing to smoke. The forms that advertising ta

23、kes and the media in which advertisements appear are as varied as the advertisers themselves and the messages that they wish to deliver. (Wang, Yanxi, 2004)Generally speaking advertising has the following functions: information function, demand creation function, persuasive function, get action func

24、tion and goodwill establishment function (Wang, 2004). In order to fulfill the above functions the copywriter should keep the four principles of AIDA advanced by E. St. Elmo who was the Advertising Manager for NCR and served as Vice President at Campbell-Ewald Company. AIDA is the abbreviation of At

25、tention, Interest, Desire and Action. Qi Yunfang (2003) adds other three principles: Conviction, Memory and Satisfaction. He thinks that the copywriter should pay attention to the two values of English advertising: Attention value and Memory value. The two values promulgate that English advertising

26、is a unique discourse.Cultural values have a significant effect on communication. They provide broad guidelines for acceptable ways of behaving and acting in particular situations (Feather, 1995); they influence how we interact and socialize with other members of society (Rokeach, 1973); they affect

27、 the valences we attach to different situations (Feather, 1995); and they are a powerful force shaping our motivations, lifestyles, and product choices (Tse, et al., 1989). In essence, cultural values represent the most basic and core beliefs of a society, and these beliefs largely influence our com

28、munication patterns. Of course, cultural values are also reflected in advertising, since they are aimed to attract the customers. A study by Caillat and Mueller (1996) found that American and British commercials have different illustration styles and that these differences are based on cultural diff

29、erences between these countries. Links between communication differences and cultural value differences have been found across various countries including Brazil (Tansey, Hyman, & Zinkhan, 1990), China (Cheng & Schweitzer, 1996), Hong Kong (Tse, Belk, & Zhou, 1989), Japan (Mueller, 1987), Mexico (Mc

30、Carthy & Hattwick, 1992), Sweden (Martenson, 1987), and Taiwan (Tse, Belk, & Zhou, 1989). Several researchers, therefore, have emphasized the use of country-specific cultural value appeals when developing international advertising campaigns. The collectivism dimension is operationalized, within the

31、context of Web communications, in terms of the depiction of community relations, clubs and chat rooms, newsletters, family theme, pictures and symbols of national identity, and loyalty programs. These categories are based on the emphasis that collectivist societies place on community-based social or

32、der (Hofstede, 1991), group well-being (Cho, et al., 1997) and the preservation of the welfare of others (Gudykunst, 1998). In collectivist societies, there is an emotional dependence by individuals on organizations and society (Hofstede, 1980); thus people need forums, places, or clubs where they c

33、an share their concerns, views, and emotions. The use of these themes in advertising in collectivist societies has been found in studies of other media. For example, advertising themes in collectivist cultures such as China depict self-in-relation-to-others and group consensus appeal (Lin, 2000). In

34、 individualist societies, ties between individuals are loose, personal freedom is valued and individual decision-making is encouraged. On the contrary, in collectivist societies, in-group ties are strong, following societal norms is valued, and group decision-making is encouraged. In terms of the in

35、dividualism-collectivism dimension the United States has the highest score out of all of the countries analyzed.It is assumed that people in different societies both perceive and utilize visual images in accordance to the norms and values of their own culture. Theoretically, visual images are both a

36、gents and artifacts of human behaviors within a society. Contextuality is a construct often used to describe global cultural differences. There are high-context (HC) cultures and low-context (LC) cultures, between which exist significant differences in how people relate to informational content, in

37、particular information that is implicit or explicit. In LC cultures, most information is vested within explicit codes, such that things are spelled out as concisely and thoroughly as possible (Hall and Hall 1987). For example, messages are explicit, and there is considerable dependence on what is ac

38、tually said or written. In contrast, high-context culture is one in which the communicators assume a great amount of shared knowledge and views, so that less explanation is necessary. In HC cultures, intimate human relationships, social hierarchy, and social norms all influence human communication,

39、rather than the message alone. Chinese consumers belong to a high-context cultural group that is characterized by the use of symbolism and nonverbal and indirect verbal expressions, whereas the United States and most western European countries are considered LC countries accustomed to explicit infor

40、mation and direct speech that is less reflective (Hall and Hall 1987; Zandpour, Chang, and Catalano 1992).Sociologists also use the concepts of individualism and collectivism to differentiate cultures (Hofstede 1980). In individualist cultures, uniqueness and self-determination are valued. People wh

41、o show initiative or work well independently are admired. Collectivism, on the other hand, is marked by closely linked individuals who see themselves belonging to one or more collectives and are inclined to give priority to the goals of the groups before their own. Collectivist societies expect indi

42、viduals to identify with and work well in groups; the group offers protection in exchange for loyalty and compliance (Earley and Gibson 1998; Triandis 1995). Research has shown, for example, that a difference on the individualism-collectivism dimension represents a primary distinction between Chines

43、e and American cultures (Chan 1986; Ho 1979). Historically, as a collectivistic culture, China has emphasized the importance of family, social interests, and collective actions, while de-emphasizing personal goals and accomplishments (Li 1978; Oh 1976). The United States, on the other hand, is known

44、 for its rugged individualism, and the belief that each person is an entity separate from others and the group (Spence 1985).五、参考文献（Major references）1 Cheng, H. & Schweitzer, J.C. Cultural values reflected in Chinese and U.S television commercials. Journal of Advertising Research, May/June, 27-45. 1

45、9962 Chiou, J-S. The effectiveness of different advertising message appeals in the eastern emerging society: Using Taiwanese TV commercials as an example. International Journal of Advertising, 21(3), 217-236. 20023 Clark, T. (1990). International marketing and national character: A review and propos

46、al for an integrative theory. Journal of Marketing, 54, 66-794 Cutler, B. D., & Javalgi, R. G. A cross-cultural analysis of visual components of print advertising: The United States and European Community. Journal of Advertising Research, 32 (Jan/Feb), 71- 80. 19925 Gregory, G. D., & Munch, J. M. Cultural values in international advertising: An example of familial norms and roles in Mexico. Psychology & Marketing, 14 (2), 99-119. 19976 Han, S-P., & Shavitt, S. Persuasion and culture: Advertising appeals in individualistic and collectivistic societies. Journal of Experimental Soc