Advertising Trends in Urban China

DONGSHENG ZHOU

The Chinese advertising market expanded in the past decade at an average annual rate of above 40 percent. The sustainabiiity of such a rapid growth depends in part on the generai attitudes of the public toward advertising. This paper reports the results of a telephone survey of 825 consunners in five major cities in China. The survey

City University of Hong Kong mkclszhou@cityu.edu.hk

WEIJIONG ZHANG

China Europe International Business Schooi (CEIBS) zweijiong@ceibs.edu

ILAN VERTINSKY

focused on general beliefs about the institution of advertising, personal experiences, and general attitudes toward advertising. The relationships among beliefs, personal experiences, and general attitudes are modeled. The paper also investigates the relationships among demographic variables and experiences, beliefs,and attitudes. The study shows that urban Chinese have similar or more positive attitudes toward

University of British Columbia fepa@unixg.ubc.ca

advertising than their U.S. counterparts and that these positive attitudes demonstrate resilience over time. As in the United States, younger consumers have more positive beliefs and attitudes toward advertising. But in contrast to the United States, those with higher levels of education tend to have more positive attitudes and beliefs.

tbe nintb largest in tbe world, witb a growtb potential second to none. Indeed, some forecasts suggest that China's advertising market will overtake tbe U.S. market by tbe year 2015 (HKTDC, 1998). In tbe decade between 1986 and 1996, it grew at an average annual rate of 46 percent and is expected to continue at a growtb rate of 25 to 30 percent in tbe near future (HKTDC, 1998). In 1999, tbe total advertising expenditure in
Cbina was US$7 billion (Hotig Kong Economic Jour-

CHINA'S ADVERTISING MARKET is

retail consumption, growing during 1986 to 1996 at an average annual rate of 18.7 percent. Retail sales for consumer goods in 1997 have reacbed
U.S. $300 billion {China Statistical Yearbook, 1998).

The authors are grateful for financial support received from the Chinese Management Researeh Centre at City University of Hong Kong. The authors acknowledge the very helpful comments provided by the ]AR editor, Dr. Arthur ]. Kover.

nal, 2000). Tbe growtb of tbe market since 1979 bas reflected two interacting economic secular trends: tbe rapid growtb of tbe Cbinese economy and increases in Cbinese consumer spending, and a government policy tbat bas encouraged tbe growtb of spending on advertising. From 1987 to 1997 tbe real growtb rate of GDP was about 9 to 10 percent. Per capita GDP in 1997 reacbed US$660. Tbis increased income, especially in urban areas, and tbe increasing cboice of available products as a result of tbe continuous opening up of tbe economy, bave led to rapid growtb iii

Tbe exposure of consumers to tbe mass media bas also grown significantly during tbe past decade. In 1997, tbe number of color TV sets owned by Cbinese families was 100.5 per 100 urban bousebolds compared witb less tban 40 in 1987. Radio ownersbip is almost universal and tbe circulation of newspapers was 30 billion for 1997 compared with 18 billion in 1987. A growing retail market and competition from others supplying tbe market is prompting companies to reacb more consumers tbrough advertising. Tbe sustainabiiity of tbe growtb of tbe advertising market depends, bowever, on tbree otber factors: government policy and regulations, tbe perceived effectiveness of advertising in generating sales, and tbe general attitude of consumers toward advertising. Tbe objective of tbis paper is to provide current information about tbe general May . June 2 0 0 2 JOUflllllL OFflDUERTISinGflESEiCfl7 3

ADVERTISING IN CHINA

attitude of urban Chinese consumers toward advertising in all media types and relate these attitudes to beliefs about advertising and demographic variables that may influence individual attitudes and/or public policies. We start the paper with a discussion of the concepts of general attitudes and beliefs toward advertising and their significance in determining trends in the advertising market. We follow with an analysis of the evolution of the advertising market in China and review previous research studies about the attitudes of the Chinese toward advertising. We then describe the methodology of our study and present sample demographics and the results of the study. We follow by comparing these results with those of a similar study in the United States (Shavitt, Lowrey, and Haefner, 1998) and a discussion of alternative theories that might explain the differences between the studies. We conclude with the implications of the study to advertisers and government regulators in China as well as to future research.
GENERAL ATTITUDES AND BELIEFS TOWARD ADVERTISING

ments and criticisms of the institution of advertising. Indeed, in many countries government policies toward, and the regulation of, the advertising industry reflect the strength of the beliefs the government and the public have about the positive and negative social and economic consequences of advertising. The propensity of a decision maker to act on these beliefs, however, depends on the general attitude that one has formed toward advertising (i.e., how the beliefs result in a positive or negative general feeling toward advertising, how strong these feelings are, and how they motivate alternative types of actions). The general attitude toward advertising manifests itself not only through political and regulatory activities but also through the exposure of individuals to advertising, the attention they pay to it, their perceptions of specific advertisements, and their responses (e.g., purchasing decisions) to these advertisements (see, e.g., Lutz, 1985). James and Kover (1992) have shown that the overall attitudes toward advertising affect the involvement with specific advertisements in significant but complex ways.
THE EVOLUTION OF THE ADVERTISING MARKET IN CHINA AND THE GENERAL ATTITUDES TOWARD ADVERTISING

China began in 1979 with Deng Xiaoping's policy of "Four Modernizations." The initial phase (1979 to 1991) saw a market largely dominated by limited state-owned advertising agencies with no direct foreign participation in the advertising industry. As the China market opened to foreign firms, foreign consumer product companies have focused on the mass "horizontal" media by placing advertisements in television, newspapers, radio, magazines, and billboards to familiarize the mass market with their brand names. The approach to advertising in this phase was focused on the informativeness of advertisements. Advertisements were largely simple, factual, and unsophisticated (Semenik, Zhou, and Moore, 1986; Tse, Belk, and Zhou, 1989). In spite of this, criticism about abuse by advertisers appeared in the media. These criticisms led to the development of a regulatory framework to prevent deceit and ensure political conformity. The government's position with respect to the general value of advertising, however, did not change. Advertising was considered as an essential tool of economic development. In a 1987 address given by the then top legislator in China to the World Advertising Congress in Beijing, Wan Li declared advertising an "indispensable element in the promotion of economic prosperity." There are several studies about the reaction of Chinese consumers to advertising at that time. Pollay et al. (1990) surveyed a convenience sample of 123 Chinese consumers approached in the three big cities in China in shopping areas, offices, and factories. The study reports that Chinese consumers were more positive about advertising than consumers in the West. Chinese consumers expressed preferences for foreign advertisements compared with domestic advertisements. Pol-

The belief about advertising in general is distinct from a belief about a specific advertisement. It also differs from a person's evaluation or attitude about advertising in general, e.g., "I like advertising" (Andrews, 1989). On the basis of a large random sample in the United States, Bauer and Greyser (1968) found a significant relationship between general beliefs toward advertising and attitudes toward advertising. They focused on eight specific aspects about the nature and consequences of advertising as a social institution (e.g., the effects of advertising on prices, products, and our standard of living). These aspects provide an inventory of potential supporting argu-

While commercial advertising has a long history in China, with Chinese magazines carrying advertisements as early as the 1920s, the 1949 revolution and the Cultural Revolution of 1966 to 1976 saw commercial advertising virtually disappear (Rice and Lu, 1988; Zhang and Gelb, 1996). The 1949 revolution ushered in an era of increasing regulation and state ownership of industry. The Cultural Revolution brought a total ban on advertising, branding it a tool of "bourgeois capitalism." The modern history of advertising in

7 4 JOURIlflL OF flDyERTISIIlG HESEHRCH May . June 2 0 0 2

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lay et al. (1990) attributed the positive attitude to advertising to government encouragement and influence through its propaganda machine. Zhao and Shen (1995) reported the results of a number of surveys in Chinese publications. A study based on a sample of 200 Beijing households found that most viewers were irritated by television commercials. A 1986 survey in Shanghai also reported complaints from some viewers. The most extensive and representative study of Chinese attitudes toward advertising was based on two data sets collected in 1987. One set was based on a survey of 25,000 television viewers throughout China, with the second data set based on a survey of more than 1,000 Beijing residents. Zhao and Shen (1995), who conducted secondary analyses of these data sets, concluded on the basis of the first data set that "Contrary to the repeatedly cited earlier report that 'a Chinese audience loves commercials', close to three-quarters of the respondents thought there were too many advertisements while a mere 2% wanted more." The results of the analysis of the second data set showed that 43 percent of respondents were satisfied with TV advertisements. The years 1992 and 1993 saw dramatic increases in advertising spending (100 percent average annual increases) as well as in the number of advertising agencies (90 percent average annual increases). The govemment permitted foreign advertising agencies to set up joint ventures in China and allowed state-owned enterprises to choose advertising agencies without its interference. This resulted in increased competition among agencies and a marked improvement in the quality of advertisements. In 1994 there was an increase in government regulation of entry to the industry and the elimination of some of the incentives that were introduced to attract foreign investments in the advertising and

other service industries. Only qualified advertising agencies were now allowed to enter China. There are no published studies about the general attitude of the Chinese consumers during the current period of rapid growth in advertising.
METHODOLOGY

The objective of our study was to fill this information gap and measure current general attitudes toward advertising, beliefs about advertising, and personal experiences with advertising of urban Chinese. Data were collected in February 1999 through phone interviews using a structured questionnaire.
Sampling procedures

Personal comniunications with telephone company officials in Shanghai showed that non-listing is insignificant. Prospective respondents for the study were selected using a systematic sampling method. Subjects were called up to three times if they could not be reached initially. Respondents were screened for age and media usage. Only those between the ages of 18 and 64 who had seen some advertisements in the past month before the interview were surveyed. The response rates varied among the cities, from 39 percent in Chongqing to 17 percent in Shanghai. The overall response rate was 24 percent with a total of 825 valid completed questionnaires. Since nonrespondents could have different characteristics from respondents (Colombo, 2000) and the response rate of our survey is relatively low, we have persisted and, after repeated tries, managed to contact 30 nonrespondents in each of the five cities. We checked their demographic characteristics as well as their views on some of our survey questions concerning attitudes toward and beliefs about advertising. Testing for group mean differences (t-tests) showed that there were no significant differences between these two groups in terms of their views on advertising and most of the demographic characteristics. The only difference was income. It seems that the nonrespondents had slightly higher average income than respondents. Thus, we concluded that the nonresponse bias in our survey is very small. We also compared respondents' characteristics to those of the general Chinese urban population. The comparison showed that only the more educated were marginally overrepresented. This was expected since the five cities in our survey are among the most developed economies in China and are likely to attract more

Five Chinese cities were selected as the sites of the study: Beijing, Shanghai, Hangzhou, Qingdao, and Chongqing. Beijing and Shanghai were included in the study since they represent about 40 percent of the advertising market (HKTDC, 1998). The three other cities were randomly chosen from a list of the major cities in China. In each city the white pages phone directory constituted the sampling population. In 1999, most families in large Chinese cities had telephones. In the surveyed five cities, the percentages of household phone ownership ranged from around 60 percent in Chongqing to over 90 percent in Shanghai. Since not every household owns a telephone, it is likely that the distribution of phones is skewed by household income for some cities, but given the almost universal ownership of phones in the major cities, the possible income bias there n-iay not be strong. Nonlisting of names could introduce another bias. However, the habit of non-listing is not prevalent in China as phones are rarely used for direct marketing, and security concerns have not been significant.

M a y . June 2 0 0 2 JOORnilL OF BOyEBTISIIlG RESEflRCII 7 5

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highly educated people. The demographic characteristics of the sample are given in Table 1.

on respondents' own experiences, similar to the approach in Gallup (1959). To provide comparisons to previous research on attitudes to and beliefs about advertising in China, we added several measurements not included in Shavitt et al. (1998). These measurements included: (1) preferences for advertised domestic products versus advertised foreign products; (2) the relative trustworthiness of advertisements promoting domestic versus foreign products; (3) the degree to which respondents perceive that there is too much advertising; (4) the belief that advertising leads people to buy what they do not need; and (5) the belief that advertising promotes materialism. The items were translated to Chinese and retranslated into English to ensure translation accuracy.
RESULTS

leading. Thirty percent feel that they can trust advertising or that, in their experience, products they use usually live up to the promises of quality and performance made in advertisements. A majority (56 percent), however, report that they often use information from advertising to help make purchasing decisions, though only 24 percent feel confident when using such information. Further analysis revealed that there was a positive relationship between confidence in advertising and using information from it for purchasing decisions (x^ = 12.5, df = 4, p = 0.014). The differences between users and nonusers of information from advertising for purchase decisions are especially pronounced in the percentage of those who lack confidence (35.2 percent among users versus 49.7 percent among nonusers). In China, where alternative sources of information to aid purchase decisions are relatively scarce, even those who have low levels of confidence in information from advertising find it necessary to use it. Strong distrust, however, seems to deter the use of such information. Some Chinese (20 percent) believe that advertising leads to a reduction in prices of the advertised products. Many (40 percent), however, associate advertised brands with quality. Forty-six percent believe that advertising promotes materialism, and forty-one percent believe that advertising leads people to buy things they do not need. The relative strength of these negative beliefs about the social contributions of advertising, however, did not translate to an overwhelming endorsement of tighter government regulations (only 25 percent agree there is a need for further government intervention), despite the fact that a minority (34 percent) feel that selfregulation by the industry is preferred. Chinese consumers appear to have increased their confidence in domestic prod-

The questionnaire

The survey asked respondents to provide ratings on five-point Likert-type scales (strongly disagree, disagree, neutral, agree, and strongly agree), with respect to statements relating to (1) their general attitudes toward advertising; (2) their general beliefs about advertising; and (3) their personal experiences with advertising. The specific framing of the items closely followed the survey of Shavitt et al. (1998) to provide international comparisons. Their instruments focused on similar dimensions used in previous studies (e.g., Bauer and Creyser, 1968; Zanot, 1981, 1984; Andrews, 1989; Mittal, 1994) but added items that tapped attitudes based

The results of the survey are summarized TABLE 1 below. More Chinese agree that, in gen-

Sample Demographics
P..^!!^.''.^P!1!P. Gender Male Female ' 18-30 ....^.1.7^?. 41-64 Income <RMB 800 RMB 801-1200 RMB 1201-2000 34.3 26 7 19.5 .''.fl'P"* 50.2 49 8

" ^ ' ' *<^y ^'^^ advertising (49 percent)

than those who disagree (20 percent). However, a significant number (45 percent) think that there is too much advertising. A cross-examination of the relationship between attitude toward advertising and the perception that there is too much advertising found that there was no , , , strong relationship between these two variables (x^ = 3.2, df = 4, p = 0.525). Indeed, from Table 2 we noticed that, of those who reported they liked advertisirig' ^3.1 percent thought there was too much advertising, while a similar percentage (43 percent) of those who did not like A , .u u. ,u . u advertising thought there was too much

Age

51.4 H-.^. 25.1

....^.^^1.^99.^
Education <High school High school ' ',' >Some college/college :

1^.5.
49.2 37.0 ""'' 13.8

advertising.
Our results show that some respondents find advertising to be an insult to

*heir intelligence (24 percent). A majority finds advertising to be informative (69 " percent). Only a minority (25 percent) 8 2 5 ^ g ^ ^ ^ ^ ^^^^ advertising, in general, is mis-

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the tastes of the young but not the old

A Cross Tabulation of the Attitude toward Advertising and the Perception of the Amount of Advertising

'^^""^ and Schweitzer, 1996).

income differences

Too little advertising No opinion " , , . . Too much advertising Total

.'r.'.'*..?.^.^.';*.''".? 21.4% 35.4% , Hr,/ 43.1% 48.7%

!^..".V.^.! 20.6% 30.7% /lo ^n/ 48.6% 31.3%

P.?".!*..!i!*.^.'!yr^i^i!'?. 24.8% 32.1% ,10/>n/ 43.0% 20.0%

.T.*.^.' 21.9% 33.3% >i/ion/ 44.8% 100%

A N O V A results have s h o w n n o significant difference in general attitudes toward advertising among different income groupsbut suggest that the upper-income 5 K 65 KK groups find advertising more enjoyable (p ^^, . . . ^ , A , < .05). Lower-income respondents tend to more Strongly agree that there is too much advertising (p < .01). They also tend to agree more strongly that advertised do" mestic products are as cood as foreign ones (p < .01) and that advertisements pron-ioting domestic products are as trustworthy as advertisements for foreign

x^ = 3.202; No. of degree offreedom = 4. , , ,. , , . . . . .01) and believe that advertising is mis, , , . . , . . , leading (p < .01) more than younger people. Surprisingly, older people tend to agree more than younger people that, in their experience, products they used lived up to the promises of quality and performance (p < .01). Older people tend to beHeve that advertising is leading people to younger people {p < .01). Older peoplethan buy products they do not need more appear to be more patriotic, tending to agree more than the younger ones that advertised domestic products are as good as foreign ones [p < .05). The differences in attitudes toward advertising among different age groups may reflect strong differences in the value systems to which the older and younger generations were socialized. The older generation grew up in a puritan culture
Age differences

uct advertising and advertised domestic ^ , products. Forty-six percent of the respondents believe that domestic product advertisements are as trustworthy as adver, , . , ,- tisements of foreign products (23 percent disagreed). Similarly, 43 percent of the respondents agree that advertised domestic products are as good as advertised foreign products (24 percent disagreed).
Gender differences

Education differences

ANOVA results show that the higher the educational level of respondents the more positive their attitude toward advertising is likely to be (p < .01). People with higher education tend to find advertising more enjoyable (p <. 01) and informative (p < .01). The lower the educational level the higher the tendency of respondents to believe that advertising is misleading (p < .01). The lower the educational level, the higher the degree of belief respondents tend to have that advertising leads to a reduction in prices (p < .01). The higher the educational level the more likely respondents are to report that, in their experience, advertised products have better value for money than unadvertised products (p < .05). The impacts of educational levels on attitudes toward advertising may be attributed to the close relationships between educational levels and cosmopolitan attitudes. Among those with lower levels of education, migrants from the countryside are significantly overrepresented. They are generally more traditional, conserva-

No significant differences between men and women were found for most of the attitude, belief, and experience variables. Women tend to agree more than men that most advertising is informative {p < .05) and that they often use information from advertising to help make purchase decisions (p < .05).

where orthodox ideology rejected private, and what was defined as frivolous, consumption. The younger generation grew up in a culture where pragmatism replaced orthodoxy and in which markets and the consumption values they inculcate were increasingly legitimized. The differences in attitudes, however, may not be rooted only in the differences in values (vilifying or legitimizing consumption and advertising which promotes it). It is possible that advertisers targeting advertising to the younger generation have produced advertising that is congruent with

ANOVA results have shown that general attitudes toward advertising tend to be more positive for younger people (p < .05). Younger people are also more likely to find advertising to be enjoyable (p < .01) and informative (p < .01) than older people. These results are consistent with past findings that advertising in China is used to target young consumers more often than people of other demographic segments (Cheng and Schweitzer, 1996). Older people tend to say they find advertising "an insult to their intelligence" (p <

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tive, and distrustful of the various manifestations of modernization.

provided in Table 3. The general attitudes toward advertising in our sample are in line with the findings of Zhao and Shen (1995) for the Beijing 1987 survey. One in-

In the Beijing sample, those with higher education were less satisfied with advertising and found its message less credible. In our sample the relationship is reversed. Those with higher education like advertising more. The shift may be explained by the following factors. First, there was a significant change in the nature of education in the early 1980s. The old educational system was, to a much higher degree, a

Comparison to previous studies of Chinese attitudes toward advertising A comparison of this study to previous studies on China and the United States is TABLE 3

teresting difference between the results of our survey and the 1987 Beijing survey relates to the relationship between attitudes toward advertising and education.

A Connparison of Current Study to Previous Studies on Attitudes toward Advertising

Past study on U.S. Current study Percentage of respondents who like advertising Percentage of respondents who don't enjoy advertising Percentage of respondents who find ...^^"^^^J}^}^"!!^^^. Percentage of respondents who think there is too much advertising Percentage of respondents who think advertising misleading
_ . , . j i L - i x

^^hide through which students were in'''''''''' "'*^ * ^ communist orthodox

puritan ideology. Second, the impact of

Past study on Ciiina (Zhao and Shen, 1995) 43% (satisfied)

the urbanization process before the late 1980s was less significant and thus its effects on the relationship between educational levels and cosmopolitan attitudes ^ ^ ^ 1^^^ pronounced. It is also possible that the increased correlation between educational levels and income in the 1990s as a consequence of the liberalization of labor market intro^^^^^ ^^ .-^^^^^ ^^^^j j^^^ ^i^^ ^^^

(Shavitt et ai., 1998) 44%

49%

20%

37%

N/A

69% 45% 25%

em N/A 69%

59% (useful) 66%-69% 47%

^^^^^^f^ ^^^^ ^-^^ the lifestyles portraye by advertising and can afford the goods advertised, and thus enjoy watching the advertisements more. Indeed, we have found that the rich tend to enjoy advertisine more than the poor.

Percentage of respondents who trust advertising

^ 30% 38% 5%

Percentage of respondents who believe ^ in industry self-regulation 34% Percentage of respondents who don't believe that advertising results in ....l?^.?''..P.';i^.?^ Percentage of respondents who feel insulted by some advertising Ratio of respondents who like advertising (high-to low-education) " ' Ratio of respondents who think . . , advertising informative (high- to , ^ low-education) Ratio of respondents who think advertising misleading (high- to ....'!^:^^uca^or,) 53:41 24% 5.5?^

57%

N/A

Comparing Chinese and American ^^.^ _. ^ .. , attitudes and beiiefs c ^ ui o u u r^uFrom Table 3, we notice that urban Chinese appear to have similar, if not some^^hat more positive, general attitudes toward advertising. On the other hand, despite a profile of general beliefs that is more positive toward advertising, a smaller share of the Chinese respondents feel that they can trust advertising (30 percent compared to 38 percent). This may r > ^ reflect the general tendency in Chinese culture to distrust communications from

^.2./. 47% 43:45

N/A N/A 43:68 (satisfied)

^ ^ 73:52

^ 55:64

63:69 (useful) strangers (Gao et al., 1996). This distrust. ^^^^^^^^ ^^^^ ^^^ ^^^p ^ j ^ ^ ^ ^^^^ ^^p^. ^^^^ ^^ advertising, enjoying it, or using the information transmitted by it.

19:35

67:70

45:30

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The rich can identify more with the lifestyles portrayed by advertising and can afford the goods advertised, and thus enjoy watching the advertisements more.
Analyses of the relationship between attitudes and demographic variables point to some interesting differences and similarities between the Chinese and American societies. In both countries, men and women's attitudes toward advertising appear largely similar, and younger consumers have a more favorable attitude toward advertising. The major differences between Chinese and Americans are reflected in the relationships among education, income, and attitudes and beliefs. In the United States, respondents with less education and those with lower income are more likely than other respondents to enjoy advertising. Less-educated respondents tend to believe that most advertising is informative and have more confidence in it than more-educated respondents. In China these relationship are inverted. Respondents with a better education tend to have more positive attitudes toward advertising, enjoy it more, and hold more positive beliefs about its trustworthiness. Similarly, the rich enjoy advertising more than the poor. In comparing income groups in China and the United States it is important to note that the absolute scales are different. Indeed, what is considered to be a high income in China may very well be defined as low income in the United States. Lowincome Americans can relate to the products advertised and the lifestyles depicted in advertising. Many of the products advertised and the lifestyles portrayed may be quite alien to low-income Chinese. The current content and form of advertisements represents an innovation in China, where the transformation of the advertising industry is recent. Generally, highly educated people are more open to innovations than those with lower education. The foreign content element that is significant in advertising is likely to appeal to the better educated who are more likely to have a more cosmopolitan orientation. In contrast, a lower education is likely to be associated with suspicion of the new and foreign. Not surprisingly, the lower income groups in China tend to show more positive beliefs about advertisements promoting local products than the rich.
Attitudes as a function of beiiefs and experiences

beliefs, experiences, and general attitudes to advertising suggest that the results of Shavitt et al. (1998) are robust. The variables found significant in our analysis belong to the same group of variables found significant in Shavitt at al. (1998) for U.S. respondents. Not surprisingly, enjoyment is perhaps a universal key to positive general attitude formation toward advertising.
CONCLUSIONS AND iiVIPLICATiONS

We have tested the relationship between the general attitudes toward advertising and the beliefs about and personal experiences with advertising using multiple linear regressions. Enjoyment, trustworthiness, informativeness, positive experience of better values with advertised brands, indignity associated with the advertising message, and the belief in the need for further government regulation were statistically significant. The largest contribution to the determination of the strength of attitude was the degree of enjoyment. In view of Haley and Baldinger's (1991) finding that the enjoyment of a specific advertisement is related to its effectiveness and our finding that the enjoyment of advertising is correlated to the general attitudes toward advertising, it is plausible to speculate that the general attitude toward advertising is correlated to the effectiveness of advertising. General beliefs about the institution of advertising, such as the belief that advertising is misleading, were not significant. The analysis of the relationship between

Our survey showed that urban Chinese largely have a positive attitude toward advertising and enjoy it. Their personal experiences with advertising are largely positive but they lack trust and confidence in advertising. Their general beliefs about the institution of advertising tend to be positive with respect to most aspects. The more educated and the richer urban Chinese enjoy advertising more than the less educated or lower-income Chinese. The more educated find advertising more informative and a better aid in their purchasing decisions. The implications to the industry are clear. To foster positive attitudes, the entertainment value of advertising has to be increased. Investment in improving the content and presentation are warranted to strengthen the positive general attitude. Manufacturers of branded products gain from advertising irrespective of the attention their advertisements get, as being advertised provides a signal of quality to customers who tend to believe that advertised products give a better value for money than unadvertised ones. The survey suggests that advertising in China is well targeted. It seems to affect more purchasing decisions of those with the means to purchase. Advertisers, however, should not ignore the importance of trustworthiness and informativeness. Advertising, though not always trusted by urban Chinese, fulfills an important role in conveying information about products

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Not surprisingly, enjoyment is perhaps a universal key to positive general attitude formation toward advertising.
and lifestyles in China. As other sources of information are becoming available (e.g., the internet), the usefulness and influence of advertising are likely to decline unless its trustworthiness increases. Our study raises some important questions that need further research. We have found that no relationship exists between the general attitude toward advertising and the perception that there is too much advertising. This would not be surprising when dealing with the printed media since it's easy for readers to ignore the advertisement. However, when we consider radio or TV, one would expect that a positive attitude might increase tolerance for interruption that advertising may cause in listening to or watching a program. Clearly, there is a complex relationship between the tolerance of advertising and the attitude toward it. It is possible that watching and "hating" an advertisement fulfills some psychological need and thus increases the tolerance for more advertising, much the same way as was found about the relationship between the general attitudes toward advertising and the involvement with specific advertisements (see, e.g., Kover and James, 1993). Our study highlights the strong correlation between general attitudes toward advertising and the enjoyment of advertising. The direction of causality, however, is uncertain. It is highly likely that a positive attitude increases enjoyment and enjoyment helps form a positive attitude. Past research suggests that there is a relationship between the likability of a specific advertisement and its effectiveness (Haley and Baldinger, 1991). If a similar relationship exists between the enjoyment of advertising in general and effectiveness. then it is plausible that general attitude toward advertising can be a contributor to its effectiveness. <U^
D N S E G ZHOU teaches at City University of Hong oGHN Kong. He received his Ph.D. from the Facuity of Commerce and Business Administration at the University of British Columbia in Canada. His research interests include marketing strategy and advertising, marketing modeling, China business, and intemationai marketing. His work has been pubiished in the International Marketing Review, the Journai of Business Researcii, the Journai of international Economics, the Jourr)al of Global Marketing, the international Business Review, and others.

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ANDREWS, J. C. "The Dimensionality of Beliefs toward Advertising in General." journal of Advertising 18, 1 (1989): 26-35.

BAUER, R. A., and S. A. GREYSER. Advertising in America: The Consinner View. Boston, MA: Harvard University, Graduate School of Business Administration, Division of Research, 1968.

CHENG, H . , and J. C. SCHWEITZER. "Cultural Values Reflected in Chinese and U.S. Television Commercials." journal of Advertising Research 36, 3 (1996): 27-44.

CHINA STATISTICAL YEARBOOK. China Statistical Publishing House, Beijing, 1998.

COLOMBO, R. "A Model for Diagnosing and Reducing Nonresponse Bias." journal of Adver-

WEIJIONG ZHANG is an associate professor of management and the associate dean at China Europe International Business Schooi (CEiBS). He is aiso the Director of the Research Center for Chinese Private Enterprise at CEIBS. He received his Ph.D. from the Facuity of Commerce and Business Administration at the University of British Columbia in Canada. His main research interests are in Chinese private enterprises, competitive strategy of the auto industry, and corporate governance. He has been conducting research on China business for over 15 years and has published a number of papers in academic journals.

tising Research 40, 1-2 (2000): 85-93.

THE GALLUP ORGANIZATION, INC. A Study of Public Attitudes toward Advertising. Princeton, NJ: The Gallup Organization, Inc., 1959.

GAO, G . , S. TING-TOOMEY and W. GUDYKUNST. "Chinese Communication Processes." In The Handbook of Chinese Psychology, M. H. Bond, ed. Oxford Univ. Press, 1996.

HALEY, R. I., and A. L. BALDINGER. "The ARP Copy Research Validity Project." journal of Advertising Research 31, 2 (1991): 11-32.

ILAN VERTINSKV is Vinod Sood Professor of International Business Studies and Director of the Center of International Business Studies at the University of British Coiumbia. He received his Ph.D. from the University of California at Berkeiey. His research interests include corporate strategy, international business and the Pacific Rim, and strategic management. His work has been published in the Journai of intemationai Economics, the Journai of Business Research, the Journai of intemationai Business Studies, the Journai of Management, the Journai of Marketing, and many other journals. JAMES, W . L., and A. J. KOVER. " D O Overall Attitudes toward Advertising Affect Involvement with Specific Advertisements?" journal of Advertisiiig Research 32, 5 (1992): 78-83. HONG KONG TRADE DEVELOPMENT COUNCIL (HKTDC). Advertising and Market Researcli in Chinese Mainland: Opportunities for Hong Kong, 1998. HONC KONC ECONOMIC JOURNAL, June 8, 2000.

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