Advertising in Three Muslim Countries: Saudi Arabia, Turkey and United Arab Emirates - Term Paper Example

Advertising in Three Muslim Countries (Saudi Arabia, Turkey and United Arab Emirates) What Are The Possibilities, The Limits And Also The Efficiency Of Advertising In These Three Countries? Table of Contents Introduction 2 A Framework of Islamic Values and Advertising Implications 3 Relationships with People 3 Time Orientation 4 Human-Nature 4 Activity Orientation 5 A Cross Cultural Comparison of Advertisement Content in Western and Muslim Countries 6 Advertising in Muslim Countries and Cultural Differences 7 Examples of Cultural Differences and Their Consequences on Advertising 9 Women Occupation Depiction 9 Demonstration On The Basis Of Values 10 Communication Style 10 Price Appeal 11 Efficiency of Advertising in Muslim Countries in Present Market 12 Examples of Advertisements Success in Muslim Countries 13 Possibilities/Opportunities of Advertising in Muslim Countries 14 Limitations in Advertising in Muslim Countries 16 Instances Where Cultural Values Interfered in Advertising 17 17 Conclusion 19 References 20 Introduction The research paper is a comprehensive analysis of scope of advertising in the Muslim countries like Saudi Arabia, Turkey and United Arab Emirates. The essence of this paper is to focus on the cultural differences that seldom interfere in the phases of advertising. The paper will basically focus on the modes of advertisements in these three Muslim countries which are completely different from those in Europe or USA. The differences in advertising concepts in these countries will be shown as a result of differences of culture, mentality and belief between people regarding their nationality and ethnicity. The discussion in the whole research paper will be confined to aspects of advertisements in these three countries alone because comparing all the Muslim countries will present a different picture. These three countries have been chosen because these are quite conservative than others among the Muslim countries. A Framework of Islamic Values and Advertising Implications In Muslim countries, the Muslims do not differentiate between the spiritual and material but belief that Islam is a complete way of living. Islam is misunderstood often but it is also contained with certain managerial task such as the advertising. Before looking at the cross cultural differences between Muslim countries and the Western countries, the managerial framework of Muslim values and implications of advertising will be presented with the aim that the differences can be shown prominently. There are several values of Muslim people that affect the mode of advertisement. These values will be explained in this section. The Islamic values are very much affected by the teachings of Qur’an, the Islamic religious book. Relationships with People The relationship among the people is affected by different issues like style of communication, justice and diversity appreciation. The Islamic values state that advertisers should make the communications truthfully about the features of products and services. Exaggeration should be ignored because in Islam this is a false communication and ethics of Qur’an do not support this. The diversity prevailing in the Muslim region should be appreciated by the demonstration of advertising. There should be enough justice in the advertisements shown and according to their tradition; the contractual obligations should be sanctioned by the God. Time Orientation The concept of time orientation in advertising implication means the level of acceptance of values and beliefs in consideration to the past and traditional values and also acceptance in the future. The consumer behavior helps to a greater extent in understanding the cultural norms and evaluating the consumer’s acceptance of the practical world or the traditional one. Human-Nature The human-nature plays a significant role in demonstrating the advertisements. In Islam, modesty is an important trait of human nature. The Islamic people are quite conservative in nature and there is a vast difference in their cultures and the western cultures. While designing the advertisements, the advertiser must have to keep the valuation of human nature in mind. Activity Orientation The activities in which the Islamic people are generally engaged should be considered in designing advertisements. Advertisements that demonstrate activities, to which the Islam people are not accustomed with, cannot be accepted by the people. For example, depicting a young girl enjoying the club nights will be harmful for the advertisers to depict as this is totally contradictory towards their cultures (Al-Mossawi, 2002). A Cross Cultural Comparison of Advertisement Content in Western and Muslim Countries There has been a debate regarding achievement of optimum cost structure by adopting standardized global advertisement. Although it results in cost savings, the cultural barriers towards adoption of standardized advertisements always pose as a problem. In fact advertisement is the most difficult instrument of marketing for standardization. It depends on the information of cultural norms, beliefs and values in different regions of the world; whether the marketer should adopt standardized advertising technique or not. But advertisement is the only means by which the marketer can influence the buying behavior of the people in the world. Conveyance of message through mass media is more effective than any other means of communication. The same message will be conveyed but the perceptions of people in two different regions will be different. Thus the conveyance of message through mass media has to be based on certain values and beliefs of the people in region where they will be conveyed. There cannot be a Muslim code of ethics that has to be followed up by the advertisers for influencing the Muslim people but there can be a discussion on the aspects which forms the basis of Islamic moral system. It is important because on this perspective the advertisers operate which is inherently different from the practical Western values. The central focus of Islamic moral system is on the concept of ‘Tawhid’ which means unity among all the people of universe. The facts that are demonstrated through advertisements should not pose any contradiction towards the trust of God. They should not harm the soul of human being in any single part of the depiction. Another aspect of advertisement is that they should take up the social responsibility as one of its duties in conveyance of message. This has to be used as an important tool of mobilizing public opinion. But in western culture social responsibility is used as a concept of pluralistic individualism. In Islam, the concept is different as it is used to mobilize each individual to work for the good of all (Free Books Online, 2010). Advertising in Muslim Countries and Cultural Differences There is a necessity of understanding particular nation’s cultures and value system for a successful international advertisement. It is very important for the advertisers to understand the Islamic values for success. It is quite difficult to infuse one standard form of advertisement for all the Muslim countries but historical data shows that the beliefs and values of almost all the people of Middle-East are the same. Violation of cultural standards is really unacceptable there. For example, advertisements with exposition of women will hamper the reputation of the advertiser in Islamic area. The primary motto of this research paper is to present the similarities and differences in advertisement contents that manifest cultural values in Western countries and Muslim countries like Saudi Arabia, Turkey and U.A.E. As the study has been conducted to find out the differences, hence these countries are selected; otherwise countries like Egypt and Lebanon are much more contemporary than these countries. Congruence to cultures will influence the customers in an area to response quickly to the advertisements. The advertisers are awarded or punished based on their ability to interpret notional implementations (Kalliny & Et. Al., 2008). Examples of Cultural Differences and Their Consequences on Advertising The most common example of cultural differences in western and Muslim countries is the modesty of women that they should not show much of their body parts to the outsiders except to their husbands and fathers. Saudi Arabia is the least liberal among all the Muslim countries. This kind of believes is based on the values of Islam but in Europe or USA, the value system is based on Christian beliefs. The values which the western countries need to adhere to are flexible than those in the Muslim countries. According to a study conducted on the commercials shown in Western and Muslim countries, the women were dressed more modestly in Muslim countries than in Western countries. It is also true that if an inter-Arab countries comparison is made; some countries will be depicted resembling the western countries. Women Occupation Depiction If the advertisements in Western countries and Muslim countries are compared, it will be found that most women in the western ads are shown as employed or moving outside their home; whereas in most Muslim countries’ ads it will be seen that women are working inside their home. This difference is due to the cultural beliefs that women in Muslim countries are not allowed to go outside home without their husband’s permission. Demonstration On The Basis Of Values An analysis of the cultures of Western and Muslim countries reveals that Western people value more Hedonic principles, meaning the consumption needs based on fun and enjoyment. While the people in Muslim countries bases their consumption needs on satisfying the basic necessities of their lives like food and clothing. Thus it will be useful for advertisers in Muslim countries to depict the psychological needs there. It is viable also considering the per capita GDP figures in these countries which shows Saudi Arabia’s to be $12,900; U.A.E’s $29,100 (in 2008) whereas in United States the figure is $41,800. Communication Style The culture of the Muslim countries is high context, which means the communication style is rooted in the background of the meaning. The contextual prompt of the message have to be communicated to the listener. The Muslim people are very emotional and hence emotional message are need to be communicated well to them. On the other hand Western ads are vey direct in nature and communicate information directly to the listeners. Western viewers seek information from the advertisements while the Muslim viewers in the mentioned countries grasp emotions more than information. Price Appeal The consumers in Muslim countries are more negotiating than those of the Western countries. The phenomenon of bargaining is still in practice in the Muslim countries. The advertisers in those areas, thus, prefer to use less price information in their advertisements. On the other hand, Western consumers want to have precise information of price from the advertisements. From the above discussion it can be said that simply transforming the advertisement into another language and displaying in another culture will not provide positive results for the marketer. Rather the marketer has to understand the cultural beliefs and than it would be useful to design the advertisement (Kalliny & Et. Al., 2008). Efficiency of Advertising in Muslim Countries in Present Market The cultural constraints in Saudi Arabia have started to be lifted off by the women of the country themselves. The earlier notion of the certain prohibitions on women in Arab countries has started to be abolished. The women have started to place TV ads on their marriages by themselves be it with the consent of their families or not. This vast movement of cultural beliefs has been possible due to the efficiency of advertising that has provided women the scope to take such step against their country’s cultural norms (Bahry, 2008). Advertising plays a very important cultural role in the Arab societies. As Arab society is considered as the consumption society which means the people put more emphasize on the consumption pattern, they assumes advertising to be much more important than just displaying information about the product. They take advertising to be a demonstrator of their necessities. According to the Arab culture advertising is not only a means of knowing the product, but it is also a demonstrator of the cultural importance of the product. Advertising is considered to be a powerful tool of promoting cultural and social changes in the Arab society. The ads in the Arab countries are seemed to be depicting the culture of the country that have supported in the ads formation. The following elements are generally studied there for finding the efficiency of the advertisements: The status of the people shown in the ad (socio-economic characters) that shows the social class of the ad The number of people in the ad for determining the group feeling or individualism The gender of the personality in the ad to determine the dominant in the society The way in which the dominant person depicted in the ad tries to dominate the other (Gazzar, 2004) Examples of Advertisements Success in Muslim Countries When Coca-Cola launched a 500 ml soft drink ‘Burn’ in UAE during 2009 it proved to be a success for the company. The drink was launched by targeting the youth culture in the country that likes adventures and is trendsetter. The brand name was also kept as such that signifies their cultural notions (AMEInfo, 2010). The Abu Dhabi Film Festival is a very good example of the influence of culture on the brand’s popularity. The festive during 2010 launched its new name being stimulated by the will to highlight the Festival’s association to its home (AMEInfo, 2010). According to Murphy (2008), the ad campaign ‘Mercy’ was launched in Saudi Arabia to make an urge to the Saudis to stop treating the foreign employees harshly. It was an appeal to the culture of Saudi Arabians who does not treat well the employees coming from foreign regions. It has been mentioned to cite an example of the effectiveness of Arabian advertisements. This depicts a clear example of the cultural differences in demonstrating advertisements in Arabian countries that resembles emotional appeal more than practical ones as it is seen in the ads of Western countries (Murphy, 2008). Possibilities/Opportunities of Advertising in Muslim Countries According to the ‘Arab Media Outlook’ released on March 2010, the prospect of advertising in the Arab countries is fine in the near future. This is because the television industry in Arab is unique for the world. There is huge number of spoken language due to the huge number of population prevailing in the country. There are about 250 million people spread across a vast area of 7.5 million square kilometers. At present there are 600 channels that are prevailing free on the satellite. Thus it can be seen that there is a large market for the advertisers in the Arab region which is almost equal to the USA market. The figure below depicts the projections of Arab region TV revenue in the next few years with comparison of the last few years. In a country like Turkey, where the population is just 70 million, the TV advertising is valued at over $1billion. Projections for Arab region TV Revenues, 2007-2013 (Dubai Press Club, 2010). According to Sobecki (2010), the scope of women employment in Turkey is increasing day by day and the economy is striving towards a better position than China, Russia, and other developing nations. Thus the advertisers can visualize the scope of advertisements in this country which is also an Arab country. This will add dimensions to their opportunity in the Muslim countries (Sobecki, 2010). Limitations in Advertising in Muslim Countries The major problem in advertising in the Muslim countries is the feeling of ethnocentrism among the masses. This is a psychological notion of a country’s people which makes them feel pride for their own country’s product and thus restricts them to accept another country’s product. This might also happen during advertising in Muslim countries that due to the effect of animosity, they might not just be ready to accept another country’s products due to certain negative feelings about the other countries. Thus international advertisements can be affected by either of these two factors in countries like Saudi Arabia, Turkey and U.A.E. Certain findings of the researchers show that both of the above mentioned factors have some function in the Arab World (Keenan & Pokrywczynski, 2010). The limitations arising due to these two factors will be better explained by evidences of various articles and journals published on the issue of cultural interferences in advertisement acceptance in Saudi Arabia, Turkey and U.A.E. Instances Where Cultural Values Interfered in Advertising According to Leslie (2010), Western countries have started to market their products in many Muslim countries in present times. But there are certain instances also when certain advertisements failed due to cultural contradictions. For example, Nike tried to capture market by marketing shoes which has a symbol on it that resembled Arabic letter fir ‘Allah’. The strategy was a complete failure. The advertisement failed because the advertiser failed to understand the cultural motives of the Arabic people. Their culture does not allow them to put anything related to their God (Allah) in contact to their feet. This was the main reason for the failure (Leslie, 2010). According to Summers (2010), there are certain things which a marketer should keep in mind while he is planning to advertise and market in the Arab countries. The writer says that the advertisement should be conservative and it should not visualize any social values of Muslims. The message through the advertisement should focus on the quality and functionality of the product and the most effective tools of advertisement are magazines, newspapers and television (Summers, 2010). According to Enzensberger, “Culture is like dropping an Alka-seltzer into a glass-you don’t see it, but somehow it does something” (Enzensberger, n.d.). Mentioning the above line, the writer wants to focus on the importance of culture in cross cultural advertisements. Alka-Seltzer is an aspirin (tablet) that creates a bubbly solution. If culture is violated in a country where the advertisement will be demonstrated, it will create violent result. Thus an advertiser should see the importance of culture as such a violent element which is very hard to ignore (Enzensberger, n.d.) According to Gharbi & Ashrafi (2010), in private Omani organizations, internet technologies are not adopted because it is not considered as much relevant to their businesses. This is also an example of cultural differences; this time the culture is the organizational culture. Although organizational culture is influenced by the country culture, thus the common culture is such that does not allow the adoption of internet technologies (Gharbi & Ashrafi, 2010). Conclusion The research paper has depicted all the issues relevant in discussing the concept of advertising in the Muslim countries like Saudi Arabia, Turkey and UAE. The focus of the discussion was on the factors that differentiates the forms of advertising in the Muslim countries to that in the Western countries. It has revealed up many instances when the cultural values in the Muslim countries have interfered in the standards form of advertisement process. The opportunities in the future in these countries have been identified and put forward which can provide success to the advertisers globally. Most importantly, the limitations that cultural differences provide have been supported by certain articles that show their practical evidences. References Al-Mossawi, M., (2002). The Implications of Islam for Advertising Messages: The Middle Eastern Context. Journal of Euro-Marketing. Retrieved Online on November 26, 2010 from http://www.google.co.in/url?sa=t&source=web&cd=2&ved=0CB0QFjAB&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.thunderbird.edu%2Fwwwfiles%2Fpublications%2Fmagazine%2Ffall2004%2Ffaculty-papers%2F4386rice.doc&rct=j&q=comparison%20of%20advertising%20content%20in%20Muslim%20countries%20and%20Western%20Countries%20site%3Aedu&ei=uo3vTJPgCYX5cabW7KEK&usg=AFQjCNHP3ZO7kXx5ERzpFpkaMU3UnLjarw&sig2=bT8kG0HvaeQQrvW3ock-4g&cad=rja AMEInfo, (2010). Coca-Cola Launches New 500ml Burn Energy Drink In UAE. The Ultimate Middle East Business Resource. Retrieved Online on November 27, 2010 from http://www.ameinfo.com/226245.html AMEInfo, (2010). 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Retrieved Online on November 27, 2010 from http://www.globalpost.com/dispatch/turkey/100225/turkish-women-employment Read More