THE MANIFESTATION OF INDIVIDUALISM IN AMERICAN AND VIETNAMESE ADVERTISEMENTS THROUGH SOCIAL-PERCEPTION THEMES

Abstract

This cross-cultural research utilizes a content analysis approach to explore how individualism
is represented through individualist social-perception themes in advertisements. A total of 131
advertisements from American magazines and 123 from Vietnamese magazines were chosen for
this analysis due to their representative qualities, with one originating from an individualistic
culture and the other from a collectivist culture, including the previously underexamined
Vietnamese context. The results indicate that social-perception themes reflecting individualism
are more frequently found in the American dataset compared to the Vietnamese dataset. These
findings support the theoretical frameworks of individualism and collectivism. The depiction of
these themes in advertising holds significant importance, and incorporating cultural values into
advertising is consistently relevant and necessary.