Measuring the effect of culture in experimental persuasive effects research

Persuasive effects research is interested in the effects of message factors (e.g., vividness, style), receiver factors (e.g., involvement, motivation), and situational factors (e.g., distraction) on the persuasiveness of a message. One of the receiver factors is cultural background. Receivers may be American, Asian, European, or, more specific, Spanish or Swedish. There is growing interest in the impact of culture in the field of persuasion effects research (see, e.g., Fitch 2003; Le Pair/ Crijns/ Hoeken 2000). (2003: 100), for instance, remarks that it is “commonly recognized that persuasion is fundamentally shaped by culture”. The importance of culture goes back, argues (2003: 102), to the foundation of rhetoric with Aristotle’s enthymeme. This means that persuasive attempts should be consistent with the values and beliefs shared by the audience. As cultures may differ in the beliefs and values that they have, messages should be adapted to be consistent with the values and beliefs of a specific culture. This ancient Greek suggestion has received some research attention in the field of advertising research. I will come back to these advertising studies in Section 2.