A Comparative Analysis of Chinese and American Automobile Advertising Culture

【摘要】随着经济的全球化发展，中美广告界的交流日益频繁，中美汽车广告也呈现出多样的风格。本文通过对中美汽车广告案例的整理和分析，列出中美汽车广告文化的异同点。

【关键词】文化；汽车广告；中美

【作者简介】王丽，湖北省郧西县景阳乡中心小学。

1. Similarities

The ultimate ideal of Chinese philosophy is pursuing a realm of harmonious coexistence of human and nature. This concept in Chinese auto advertising also performed very obviously.

For example， in the Buick Regal“动静合一篇”， the picture is a car passing through the vast grasslands， and it over mountains， he follows joyous run in the forest， and then on the open road. The voice-over is： “心致，行随，动静合一，别克君威”. The entire advertisement has no more description of vehicles performance， but the vehicle is positioned at the nature of harmonious beauty， and Chinese natural values are revealed visibly.

Also in the United States， people have the original love and respect for nature and environment. In the Buick Enclave ad， the screen is： in the morning， a man drives up to wash out， whose process seems to expose to the same harmonious and beautiful nature. The voice-over is： “We designed to wake up the senses， to please your eye and invite your touch. We designed to move you， the finest luxury crossover ever.” The song in this advertisement is the lyric of natural element， for example， “birds are flying high in the sky， and I can feel that. Its a new day. Its a new life.”

In conclusion， life that is close to the nature is even more beautiful. Through these two words， it can be seen that China and America are closely similar to the values of nature.

2. Differences

In Chinese culture， collectivism is the primary value. Among the traditional culture， the family is a basic unit in social structure and cannot be divided， and individual is only an organic part of this unit.

For example， “国车骄傲，中国芯”，“我是中国人，我开中国车”these languages appeared in Chery ads as they can find their cultural echo in Chinese culture. So， the concepts as family， group unity， kinship and being social are very common in Chinese auto ads and are favored by Chinese consumer.

American social and cultural core is individualism. They are self-centered， i.e. they purse self-satisfaction and emphasize self-realization. Buick Moments in American television commercials， the screen is a man driving the Buick in the forest， his hair with the wind blowing. The monologue： “I feel like I am free simply for the experience of driving.” Full papers use the first person–“I” to describe feelings， and personal feelings and values of performance are very obvious.

In this ad， we can see that individualism is the essence of American culture， which becomes the starting point and destination of American thought in the process of the development of American culture.

By content analysis， it is shown that Chinese ads tend towards collectivism， but American ads pursue individualism.

References：

[1]三聯教程.别克系列汽车广告语大全[EB/OL].http：//www.3lian.com/edu/2014/01-26/127061.html.2014.