Oceans Apart: an Initial Exploration of Social Communication Differences in US and UK Prime-time Television Advertising

While research on international advertising has been conducted for more than 30 years, previous efforts have paid little attention to countries that share a similar language and/or culture. This study of prime-time television advertising in the US and UK utilizes the social-communication approach (Leiss, Klein and Jally, 1986) which combines information-content analysis with a comparison of cultural values. Eleven categories and four formats were included. Findings show significant differences both in the categories advertised, and the formats used. There were also differences of formats by category. These results suggest cultural differences may be important, and that categories may determine the format used. Future research needs to consider relative advertising expenditures and media use by category, and to account for multi-media campaigns.