Advertising plays a vital role in influencing consumer behaviour and shaping brand perception. In culturally diverse contexts like India, culturally embedded content has become increasingly relevant. This paper examines the influence of four cultural elements: vernacular language, cultural values, customs and rituals, and cultural symbols, on six stages of consumer decision-making. The model extends the traditional framework by treating attitude formation as a distinct stage, enabling closer analysis of emotional and trust-based responses to advertisements. Data were collected from Assam’s Kamrup Metropolitan District using a structured questionnaire administered to 400 respondents. The findings showed that these elements had the strongest influence on the attitude formation stage, with age and gender differences observed mainly in the purchase and post-purchase phases. Regression findings confirmed that attitude along with exposure significantly predicted cultural advertising’s impact, while satisfaction showed no meaningful effect. These results emphasise the importance of aligning advertising strategies with cultural context in demographically diverse markets. The study supports the usefulness of a modified decision-making model and provides practical direction for marketers aiming to connect with audiences through culturally meaningful content.
Limbu et al. (Thu,) studied this question.