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Cultural imperialism through advertising: The case of advertising in Malaysia
Abstract
The purpose of this study is to examine the role of advertising in socio-economic development. The increasing presence of multinational corporations (MNCs) or transnational corporations (TNCs) in developing countries, as a result of the expansion of capitalism in these regions, has given rise to a growth of transnational advertising agencies (TNAAs) for the purpose of serving the transnational advertiser's needs. In the process of doing business in these countries, a question arises as to whether the TNAAs tend to promote advertising imperialism. Galtung's (1971) "Structural Theory of Imperialism," extended later into the field of transnational advertising (Anderson 1984), is drawn upon as a theoretical framework. First, the study focuses on examining whether the advertising processing level of the TNAA ads is higher than that of the local ads. If indeed it is so, then this condition may produce an asymmetrical interaction relation between the developed industrial nation and the developing third world nation, leading towards imperialist development. Second, the study examines whether the values and images reflected in advertisements created by the TNAAs tend to reinforce the consumption patterns of advanced industrial nations (especially the consumption values of the Western culture), instead of reflecting the values and images in accordance with the socio-cultural and economic objectives of the developing country. Again, if indeed this is found to be true, then the TNAA ads have the potential of threatening the indigenous cultural development and autonomy of the developing nation. The findings do not support the hypothesis that the processing level of the TNAA ads is higher than that of the local ads. Thus, the interaction relation may be moving towards a more symmetrical balance, arresting imperialist development in this aspect. On the other hand, the findings support the hypothesis that the TNAA ads tend to reflect the values of the advanced industrial nation, specifically the consumption values of the Western culture. This would have negative intra-actor effects on the developing nation.
Subject Area
Marketing|Cultural anthropology|Mass media|Social structure
Recommended Citation
Ahmad, Darinah Binti, "Cultural imperialism through advertising: The case of advertising in Malaysia" (1995). ETD collection for University of Nebraska-Lincoln. AAI9600723.
https://digitalcommons.unl.edu/dissertations/AAI9600723