Reference Groups, Congruity Theory and Cross-Cultural Persuasion

Certain hypotheses concerning persuasive communications, based on reference-group and congruity theory were tested in the field in France and Egypt. The research design involved three levels of identified sources, two levels of attribution of the source of the message, two levels of translation of the message, and five widely-used consumer products. The persuasive messages used were five print advertisements which had been run quite successfully in mass-circulated magazines in the United States. Findings suggest that persuasive messages are easier to transfer from one culture to another than is generally supposed. With the audience tested here, it seemed to make little difference whether the source was native or foreign, whether the message was attributed or not, or even whether it was illustrated. There was some support for the hypothesis that a message translated idiomatically is not as effective as one stressing the same point which is composed from scratch in the language of the intended audience. The study suggests that general theories such as reference group and consistency theories may need refinement and possible modification when they are applied to cultures other than the one in which they were developed.