Advertisting beauty & health across cultures

How Well Do AdvertisingImages of Health and BeautyTravel Across Cultures? ASelf-Concept PerspectiveRune BjerkeOslo School of Management

Rosemary PolegatoMount Allison University

ABSTRACT

This study is a cross-cultural examination of the ideal self-image ofwomen in terms of health and beauty. The match-up between twoadvertising beauty types (possible advertising presenters) and femaleconsumers’ ideal health and beauty images in terms of wanting tolook like a specific model were tested with 750 female respondentsfrom five European cities. The respondents also identified the idealeye and hair colors for health and beauty. This quantitative studyrevealed cross-cultural variation in ideal self-image in terms ofhealthy and beautiful beauty types. International advertisers need tounderstand the important, contemporary, cultural characteristics ofan ideal beauty type in terms of healthy or beautiful before develop-ing standardized advertising communicating such appeals. © 2006Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

Issues related to standardization of cross-cultural advertising are ofgreat importance to international advertisers. Consumer perceptions ofmessages communicated through visual elements of advertisements canbe especially challenging due to the potential to communicate unintendedmeanings and the cost of ineffectiveness or outright blunders. Thus, it is

Psychology & Marketing, Vol. 23(10): 865–884 (October 2006)Published online in Wiley InterScience (www.interscience.wiley.com)© 2006 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. DOI: 10.1002/mar.20137

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important to understand whether consumers across various culturalmarkets identify with specific images in an advertisement.

Previous research focused mainly on content analyses of advertise-ments using pre-established criteria (often advertising elements) to inves-tigate the degree of standardization practices across cultures (Cutler &Erramilli, 1992; Cutler & Javalgi, 1992; Duncan & Ramaprasad, 1995;Evans & Riyait, 1993; Frith & Wesson, 1991; Graham, Kamins, & Oteomo,1993; Kaynak & Mitchell, 1981; Leach & Liu, 1998; Martenson, 1987;Mueller, 1987, 1992; Resnik & Stern, 1977; Szymanski, Bharadwaj, &Varadarajan, 1993; Whitelock & Chung, 1989; Zandpour, Chang, & Cata-lano, 1992). However, these studies say little or nothing about possiblecross-cultural differences in consumer perceptions of advertising stim-uli in advertising elements. Yet international advertisers need to get con-sumers involved in advertisements and in advertising elements, such asheadlines, texts, colors, appeals, and beauty types, as well as the overallmessages.

This paper investigates an important contextual aspect of the adver-tising standardization issue by studying consumer perceptions of whatcharacterizes health and beauty across cultures. The match-up betweentwo advertising beauty types and female consumers’ ideal self-imagesin terms of wanting to look healthy and beautiful was studied. In otherwords, the question investigated was, “How well do advertising imagesof health and beauty travel across cultures?” Specifically, the study dealswith cross-cultural comparisons across five European cities (Hamburg,London, Madrid, Milan, and Paris) and focuses on self-identification dif-ferences based on who respondents wanted to look like (their ideal self-image) to look healthier or more beautiful. Ideal characteristics of theadvertising presenters in terms of eye and hair color to look healthy andbeautiful were constructed based on black-and-white portraits selectedby advertising practitioners.

THEORETICAL DEVELOPMENT

The Role of Visuals in the Transfer of Meaning in Global Advertising

Kernan and Domzal (1993) maintained that it is crucial to differentiatebetween a campaign’s appeal (i.e., selling proposition or theme) and exe-cution (i.e., the creative presentation to implement or express the adver-tisement’s proposition or theme). It is much easier to sustain a globaladvertising strategy than its execution because it is the execution of thetheme that is the object of consumers’ perceptions. If not executed appro-priately, the theme runs the risk of being thwarted by cultural differ-ences and will not “travel” across cultures.

Visual illustrations are important because up to 98% of the informa-tion content in advertising is ignored by consumers (Kroeber-Riel, 1990,

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cited in Appelbaum & Halliburton, 1993). Hirschman (1991) held thatadvertisers must understand how the product class and specific brandare culturally perceived before determining the use of imagery. Mitchell(1986) indicated that visual presentations of advertisements are richerin imagery than verbally oriented advertisements, which is likely to leadto greater attention, comprehension, learning, liking, and persuasion.Motes, Chadwick, and Fielden (1992) examined 24 variations of a printadvertisement and also found that excluding or including an illustra-tion made a huge difference in influencing reader reactions. The illus-tration seemed to function beneficially and independently of other vari-ables, such as language, sentence structure, and text layout. This qualityor effect was referred to as the “picture superiority effect” by Debevecand Romeo (1992).

Visual illustrations are also important in global advertising. Based ona study involving 2,600 advertisements, Kernan and Domzal (1993) con-cluded that “once the decision to advertise globally has been made, thebest way to execute such campaigns is with a visual emphasis” (p. 67) withuncomplicated messages that are basic reminders of what the brandstands for. In other words, global brands and their advertisements shouldhave cross-culturally transcendent meanings.

The Advertiser’s Presenter

Mehrabian (1971) suggested that through the immediacy principle peo-ple are drawn toward persons and things they like, evaluate highly, andprefer, and vice versa—people move away from persons or things they dis-like, evaluate negatively, and do not prefer. In the practical advertisingworld, applying this principle means that advertisers should includelikeable people and other advertising elements to achieve overall adver-tising likeability, which is in line with the importance Walker and Dubit-sky (1994) place on likeability. The theoretical and practical challenge,however, is to understand the role played by the advertiser’s presentersand the extent to which consumers’ identification with advertising mod-els influences advertising likeability. When a female model is an adver-tiser’s presenter, she should represent the ideal self-image of the tar-geted female consumer because the model is perceived to be the presenterof the benefits of the brand. It seems to be paramount, then, that thereis a match between the model (the advertiser’s presenter) and the con-sumer’s ideal self-image.

Advertising, Self-Concept, and Identification

As Prince (1993) stated:

The self-concept is a system of thoughts and feelings about the self whichis a driving force for much of human behavior. It exerts a directive influ-ence that leads if not to congruence, then very likely to self-consistency

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between self-concept and attitudes. The general notion of self-conceptinvolves a person’s multifaceted perceptions of what she or he is. (p. 161)

Onkvisit and Shaw (1987) claimed that the self-concept is multidi-mensional and consists of four different “selves”:

1. Real self (actual or objective self)—the way the person actually is

2. Self-image (subjective self)—the way a person sees herself or himself

3. Ideal self (self-actualization)—the way she or he would like to be

4. Looking-glass self (social self)—the way she or he thinks othersregard her or him (p. 17).

Few researchers distinguish between self-concept and self-image,most likely because the distinction is blurred depending on the con-text of the research. (For example, the ideal self-image of Solomon, Ash-more, and Longo [1992] seems to be defined as a combination of theself-image and the ideal self as specified by Onkvisit and Shaw [1987].)However, Onkvisit and Shaw defined self-image as “the total set of atti-tudes, the ‘halo’ of psychological meanings, the associations of feelings,the indelibly written aesthetic messages over and above bare physicalqualities” (p. 15). Thus, in this article self-concept (or one of its fourparts, most frequently the ideal self) will be used to denote the focusof a consumer’s evaluation, whereas self-image will be used to connotethe actual evaluation.

The early work of Birdwell (1968) and Grubb and Stern (1971) foundcongruence between car owners’ perceptions of themselves (their self-image) and their brand of car. Dolich (1969) and Sirgy (1982), in criticalreviews of the self-concept in consumer behavior, provide some evidencethat the ideal self is dominant in consumer choice decisions. Further, arecent study by Helgeson and Supphellen (2004) found that self-con-gruity and brand personality have positive, independent effects on atti-tudes toward retail brands. Indeed, Onkvisit and Shaw (1987) suggestedthat marketers’ understanding of the self-concept can enhance the processof developing a more effective marketing program.

Consumers may use distinctively branded products to promote theirself-concept because brands may be used to represent “who they are andwhat they are not.” In other words, a marketer can capitalize on creat-ing a match between consumers’ self-concept and brand image. This rec-ommendation is similar to Evans’ (1989) suggestion that fashion mar-keters should

1. emphasize self-expression rather than fashion newness for its ownsake, and

2. emphasize image, instead of styling newness, to enable more con-sistent branding communications over time and longer life cycles.


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Evans based his recommendation on three tenets: (1) People’s use offashion reflects a desire to manifest the self; (2) the desire for self-expres-sion is growing; and (3) there is a continuing need to match female (stillthe main buyers of clothing and cosmetics) self-images and brand imagesin more congruent ways (pp. 10–11).

Lupton (1994) made similar suggestions in the area of health. Forinstance, health promoters must understand that health maintenanceadvertisements need to correspond to an already existing desire forhealthiness. In other words, the advertising message must match anexisting self-image or a self-image in the process of changing towardhealthiness. She referred to new existentialist theories pointing out thathealth promotion should intend “to attract the consumer who alreadywants to enter that lifestyle, be that type of person” (Lupton, p. 115).Further, Lupton held that advertisements for consumer products shouldemphasize their image rather than their use-value.

People have a desire to link themselves to brands of clothes, cars, drinks,and food to create an identity and image around themselves (Bourdieu,1984). The importance of a match between females’ self images/self-con-cepts and brand images in a marketing program is stressed by Onkvisitand Shaw (1987). This suggestion is similar to the recommendation ofSolomon et al. (1992) that there should be similarity or consistency betweenthe advertising presenter or beauty type and the consumers’ desired orideal self-image. Solomon et al. (1992) also refered to the ideal self-imageof consumers when it comes to identification with the presenter or beautytype in advertising. Malhotra (1988) also maintained that the essentialstrategy is to match the brand image with the self-concept of a particu-lar target segment, as well as matching both brand image and self-con-cept with the advertisement’s spokesperson (presenter) for that brand.

Hornik (1980) suggested that consumers preferred illustrations withwhich they can identify themselves and in which they can project them-selves. Driving and motivating the identification process are suggestedto have psychological and emotional benefits. As soon as a person is con-nected to groups that are evaluated favorably, the person’s identity ispositive (Fisher & Wakefield, 1998). In a study of 165 students, aged 19to 52 years, Hong and Zinkhan (1995) found that ideal self-congruencyhad a stronger influence on brand preference than actual self-congru-ency. In a study to develop scales to measure self-concepts, person con-cepts, and product concepts, Malhotra (1981) suggests that self-conceptscales be used to select spokespersons to best match the brand imageand self-concept(s) of the target market. Thus, if a female consumer,exposed to an ad with a female beauty type, perceives similarity betweenherself and the model, some sort of identification is expected to takeplace because the model represents the consumer’s ideal self.

Although it is not role portrayal, per se, but rather the ideal “face” ofhealth and beauty that is being studied here, female role portrayal inadvertising needs to be considered briefly before discussion of the research


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methodology. Even with industry improvements, Ford, LaTour, and Lund-strom (1991) found that younger, better educated, and relatively strongfeminist respondents continue to be more critical of current portrayals,and reported that they would not buy or would discontinue their purchaseof products associated with an offensive ad campaign. On a cross-culturalnote, Ford, LaTour, and Clarke (2004) recommended that the developmentof cultural understanding include the study of sex roles in internationalmarkets. The implications for this study are that data collection and thepresentation of the results need to be sensitive to these issues. That said,it must be acknowledged that women in all their diversity have ideal selvesvis-à-vis health and beauty, although an individual respondent may not seeher ideal self in the “face” portrayals included in this study. Further, dueto constraints on time and resources, the focus is on Caucasian womenonly. However, it should be mentioned that researchers, such as Shepherd(1989) and Cunningham, Roberts, Barbee, and Druen (1995), have shownthat there is wide consensus about standards of attractiveness betweenages, races, and nationalities in terms of facial proportions.

METHODOLOGY

Research Questions

The review of the literature suggests that standardized advertisementsshould be richer in imagery than verbal content. Consistency between aconsumer’s ideal self and the advertising presenter improves advertis-ing effectiveness. Further, the advertising message should match exist-ing ideal self-images of consumers and provide illustrations with whichthey can identify themselves. As a starting point, to achieve effective-ness in the standardization of international advertising, it seems impor-tant that this consistency is present across cultures. Thus, the purposeof this study was to investigate the consistency (in terms of identification)between consumers’ ideal self and the beauty type portrayed by theadvertising presenter across cultures. Two specific research questionswere directed at two beauty types (Woman A and Woman B) represent-ing images of health and beauty:

RQ 1. Are there cross-cultural differences in the beauty type (WomanA or B) women prefer to look like to look healthier or morebeautiful?

RQ 2. Are there cross-cultural differences in the ideal eye and hair col-ors that characterize healthy and beautiful?

Data Collection Instruments

The data are from a larger study of the transferability of meanings, words,and images across cultures. The exploratory and pretesting stages of the


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research provided the basis for refining the sampling procedures and datacollection instruments. This section provides a description of the develop-ment of the data collection instruments, which included extensive consul-tation with industry professionals, translation and back translation of ques-tions across five languages, and reliability and validity checks.

The data collection instruments consisted of a face-to-face interviewquestionnaire accompanied by two black-and-white photographs of twobeauty types. The layout and order of the questions and visual stimuliwere developed to avoid repetition, respondent fatigue, and boredom.Because responses relating to black-and-white photos of two women wereto be measured, the visual aids had to be shown to the respondents in aface-to-face interview to eliminate possible influences from various sources,such as personal advice (from family, friends, and colleagues), magazines,store fronts, and general observations in the surrounding environment.

The main constructs of interest in this paper were measured as follows:Woman A and Woman B. Often, pictures are used to provide examples

for the attribute information discussed in the verbal copy of an ad(Unnava & Burnkrant, 1991). Most global advertisements are mainlyvisual, with reinforcing verbal components; developing global advertis-ing themes requires a semiotic study of object meaning in each culturalmarket (Domzal & Kernan, 1990, cited in Kernan & Domzal, 1993). Thus,25 European beauty specialists at Saatchi & Saatchi and Non Stop Pic-tures, N.Y., were mailed a brief, open-ended questionnaire with black-and-white photos (to eliminate possible influences of poor color repro-duction) of several non-American models.

The requirements for, and characteristics of, the black-and-whitefacial photos were that (1) the size of the faces had to be about thesame and (2) the makeup, hair style, and expressions could not be sig-nificantly different. Two models were judged to represent the two con-temporary beauty constructs of interest in this study. (Please see pho-tos in the Appendix.)

Ideal self. The question asked upon showing each participant Woman Aand Woman B was, “If you wanted to look more healthy [or beautiful],which of these women would you prefer to look like?” Possible responseswere A, B, or Neither.This type of global and tailored measure is supportedby the work of Sirgy et al. (1997) and Malhotra (1981), respectively.

Eye and hair color. Respondents were then asked what eye color andhair color a woman should have to look healthy/beautiful. Essentially, thisquestion asks the respondent to further construct (i.e., color in) two aspectsof her (ideal) face. The seven predetermined eye color responses rangedfrom blue to black, and the eight hair color responses ranged from blondto black. “Any of them” was also included explicitly as a possible response.

Demographic variables. Age and education were two demographicvariables of interest. Age was measured in three nominal categories:(1) 18–24 years, (2) 25–34 years, and (3) 35–44 years. Education wasalso measured in three categories: (1) secondary school, (2) vocational(practical), and (3) university.


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Reliability and Construct Validity

As part of the larger study, three tests of validity—content validity, con-vergent validity, and discriminate validity—were applied to the meaningof “healthy” or “beautiful.” These two constructs met the conditions ofstandard tests (e.g., Peterson, 1994) adequately or better. For example,with respect to discriminant validity, the measurement scales of “healthy”and “beautiful” were found to reflect different variables (i.e., dimensions)across the cultures studied.

Sampling Procedures

Caucasian women (no ethnic background) between 18 and 44 years oldin Hamburg, London, Madrid, Milan, and Paris were asked to completea questionnaire about cross-cultural perceptions. (Saatchi & Saatchi,N.Y., claimed that this was the heavy user segment for perfume andwater, the products of interest in the larger study.) The cities representedthe same countries that were included in Seitz and Johar’s (1993) studyof self-image and advertising. England and France were included as instudies of advertising content analysis conducted by Whitelock and Chung(1989) and Cutler & Erramilli (1992). The sample was divided into fivestrata due to the cross-cultural nature of the study and the expectationof larger variance among the strata than within them.

Steps were taken to neutralize three possible sample selection biases—accessibility, affinity, and nonresponse bias. Three expert judges, whowere employed by female fashion magazines in each city, recommendedareas in the cities representing a mid-socioeconomic range. Similar loca-tions were identified across the five cities.

One hundred and fifty respondents were interviewed outside specificdepartment stores, subway stops, and parks every afternoon and eveningduring one week in each city, which provided a total of 750 respondentsfor the whole European cluster. Thus, the sample qualification and selec-tion procedure represents a combination of stratified, judgmental, andquota sampling. To ensure that the desired sample size of 150 per city wasachieved, the data were controlled for completeness on a daily basis, andentered on completion of data collection in each city.

RESULTS

Respondents’ Characteristics

Across the five cities, there were not big differences among the samplesof Madrid, Milan, Paris, and London in the distribution of the three agegroups and three education levels. However, compared to the samples inthe other four cities, the Hamburg sample consisted of more women inthe 25 to 34 years and 35 to 44 years age groups, and fewer Hamburg


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women had a university education. In general, the results for Hamburgshow much in common with those of London, indicating that the differ-ences in the sample profile for Hamburg was not overly problematic. Toaddress the two research questions, chi-square analysis across the fivecities, representing five cultures, was conducted.

RQ 1. Are there cross-cultural differences in the beauty type (Woman Aor B) women prefer to look like to look healthier or more beautiful?

This research question focuses on the concept of the ideal self-image (ISI)in terms of looking healthier (ISIH) and more beautiful (ISIB).Table 1 pres-ents the distribution differences with regard to “if you wanted to lookmore healthy/beautiful” (ISIH/ISIB). In terms of preferring to look likeWoman A, B, or N (neither) to look healthier, Woman B was preferred bythe total European cluster (44.0%). However, there was a Latin (i.e.,Madrid, Milan, and Paris) versus London/Hamburg dichotomy in termsof cross-cultural differences (chi-square 5 54.0; p 5 0.00). Respondents inthe Latin cities were more likely to identify with Woman B (47.3% inMadrid, 56.0% in Milan, and 50.7% in Paris, compared to 32.7%, 18.7%,and 29.3%, respectively, for Woman A), whereas Woman A was preferredamong the women in London and Hamburg (48.7% and 36.7%, respec-tively, compared to 36.7% and 29.3%, respectively, for Woman B). Fur-ther, it is interesting to note that at least two-thirds of the women acrossthe five cities—and over three-quarters of the total cluster—reported thatif they wanted to look healthier, they would want to look like either WomanA or B. (In other words, a minority of respondents chose the Neitheroption.) Interestingly, women in the Latin cities and London seemed tohave very firm preferences for what their ideal healthy woman should


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Table 1. Distribution of Respondent Profiles by City and Total Cluster.

Total City/Profile Madrid Milan Paris London Hamburg Cluster

# % # % # % # % # % # %

ISIH A 49 32.7 28 18.7 44 29.3 73 48.7 55 36.7 249 33.2ISIH B 71 47.3 84 56.0 76 50.7 55 36.7 44 29.3 330 44.0ISIH N 30 20.0 38 25.3 30 20.0 22 14.6 51 34.0 171 22.8TOTAL 150 100 150 100 150 100 150 100 150 100 750 100ISIB A 41 27.3 29 19.3 48 32.0 45 30.0 47 31.3 210 28.0ISIB B 74 49.3 82 54.7 54 36.0 72 48.0 42 28.0 324 43.2ISIB N 35 23.4 39 26.0 48 32.0 33 22.0 61 40.7 216 28.8TOTAL 150 100 150 100 150 100 150 100 150 100 750 100

Profile = Profile of respondents.Total cluster 5 Respondents across all cities.# 5 Number.% 5 Percentage of total; 150 for city sample/750 for cluster.ISIH = Ideal self-image in terms of healthy (Woman A, B, or N 5 Neither).ISIB = Ideal self-image in terms of beautiful (Woman A, B, or N 5 Neither).

look like because more than 80% of the respondents in each city (85.4%in London) selected Woman A or B as their preference. In contrast, theHamburg respondents identified the least with Woman A or B (66.0%).

With regard to identifying with Woman A, B, or N (Neither) on thebeautiful dimension (ISIB), Woman B was preferred to a greater degreethan Woman A in the total cluster (43.2%). However, more respondentsidentified with neither Woman A nor B on the beautiful dimension thanon the healthy dimension (28.8% and 22.8%, respectively). Woman B waspreferred reasonably consistently in Madrid, Milan, and London (49.3%,54.7%, and 48.0%, respectively, compared to 27.3%, 19.3%, and 30.0% forWoman A), whereas Woman B was preferred by 36.0% and 28.0% of therespondents in Paris and Hamburg, respectively, compared to 32.0% and31.3% for Woman A) (chi-square 5 37.1; p 5 0.00).

Woman A was preferred to Woman B only in Hamburg (by 31.3%) onthe beautiful dimension, which is quite consistent with the respondents’degree of preference for Woman A in Madrid, Paris, and London (27.3%,32.0%, and 30.0 %, respectively). These results indicating that respondentsin Hamburg identified with neither Woman A nor B to the largest degreeon both dimensions (34% said “Neither” on “healthy” and 40.7% said“Neither” on “beautiful”) may be explained by the somewhat older age pro-file of that city sample.

Overall, the results indicated that there were statistically significantidentification differences (in terms of the ideal self) related to a possibleadvertising presenter on the dimensions of healthy and beautiful acrossthe five European cities. Specifically, there were differences in prefer-ence in terms of “I prefer to look like [Woman A or B or Neither],” sug-gesting that images of health and beauty are not the same across thefive cultures. Because Woman B was the most preferred woman withinthe total European cluster, Woman B can be considered to be more cross-culturally “transferable” (i.e., her look “travels” better) than Woman Aon both the healthy and beautiful dimensions.

RQ2. Are there cross-cultural differences in the ideal eye and hair col-ors that characterize healthy and beautiful?

Even though the photographs of Woman A and B were in black-and-white, it is obvious that the hair color of Woman A is toward blondish andthe hair color of Woman B is darkish. Nevertheless, except in the instanceof black hair for healthy in London and dark blond hair for beauty acrossthe five cultures, the eight hair colors and seven eye colors were chosenby at least some of the respondents across the five cities. Perceptions ofhair color together with other facial characteristics stood as the startingpoint for respondents providing their reports on which eye and hair colorrespondents thought the women should have to look healthy and beau-tiful. However, as the data show, overall, the respondents departed fromthe “obvious” eye and hair colors in the photographs.


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Cross-cultural “healthy” eye and hair color. Table 2, which shows the eyecolor a woman should have to look healthy, suggests a Northern Euro-pean versus a Latin dichotomy. Blue eyes are preferred in Hamburg(19.4%) and London (23.3%) more than in the Latin cities (chi-square 583.5; p 5 0.00). Green eye color, however, is preferred at a relatively highlevel across each of the five European cities and when the whole clusteris taken together (15.7%). Almost half (46.7%) of the women in the totalcluster (56.7% in Milan) have no preference for eye color to look healthy.

With regard to hair color to look healthy, across the total cluster, lightand dark brown hair color are at a relatively high and equal level of pref-erence (12.5% and 12.4%, respectively), as is blond (10.0%). However,there are several differences to be noted when the cities are consideredseparately. Blond and dark brown hair were more likely to be preferred


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Table 2. Cross-Cultural Comparison of Eye and Hair Color a Woman ShouldHave to Look Healthy.

Eye Color a Woman Should Have to Look Healthy

City/Eye Total Color Madrid Milan Paris London Hamburg Cluster

# % # % # % # % # % # %

Blue 13 8.7 11 7.2 17 11.4 35 23.3 29 19.4 105 14.0Blue gray 8 5.3 2 1.3 6 4.0 7 4.7 2 1.3 25 3.3Green 27 18.0 24 16.0 27 18.0 18 12.0 21 14.0 117 15.7Green gray 13 8.7 7 4.7 5 3.3 2 1.3 9 6.0 36 4.8Hazel 10 6.7 7 4.7 14 9.3 10 6.7 5 3.3 46 6.1Brown 5 3.3 7 4.7 3 2.0 12 8.0 18 12.0 45 6.0Black 12 8.0 7 4.7 4 2.7 0 0.0 3 2.0 26 3.4Any color 62 41.3 85 56.7 74 49.3 66 44.0 63 42.0 350 46.7Total 150 100 150 100 150 100 150 100 150 100 750 100.0

Hair Color a Woman Should Have to Look Healthy

City/Hair MADRID MILAN PARIS LONDON HAMBURG Total Color Cluster

# % # % # % # % # % # %

Blond 14 9.3 8 5.3 9 6.0 28 18.7 16 10.7 75 10.0Red blond 2 1.3 2 1.3 10 6.6 4 2.7 7 4.7 25 3.3Dark blond 0 0.0 0 0.0 0 0.0 0 0.0 0 0.0 0 0.0Light brown 31 20.7 16 10.8 23 15.3 10 6.7 14 9.3 94 12.5Dark brown 14 9.3 18 12.0 22 14.8 17 11.3 22 14.7 93 12.4Red 2 1.3 5 3.3 2 1.3 2 1.3 3 2.0 14 1.9Red brown 9 6.0 3 2.0 3 2.0 2 1.3 8 5.3 25 3.3Black 16 10.7 11 7.3 3 2.0 2 1.3 5 3.3 37 4.9Any color 62 41.4 87 58.0 78 52.0 85 56.7 75 50.0 387 51.7Total 150 100 150 100 150 100 150 100 150 100 750 100

in London (18.7% and 11.3%, respectively) and Hamburg (10.7% and14.7%, respectively), whereas light brown hair was more often preferredin the Latin cities (by 20.7% in Madrid, 15.3% in Paris, and 10.8% inMilan) than in the other cities. Dark brown hair played well as a healthycolor in Milan, Paris, London, and Hamburg, while black hair was pre-ferred strongly only in Madrid (10.7%) (chi-square 5 82.8; p 5 0.00).

Although about half of the respondents in the total cluster reported thatany color of eyes and hair would look healthy, blue or green eyes andlight or dark brown hair were reported as the ideal for the other halfwho had a preference. The cross-cultural results in Table 2 suggest thatthe ideal healthy-looking woman in London and Hamburg should haveblue eyes and blond hair, whereas in the Latin cities the ideal healthylooking woman should have green eyes and light brown hair.

Cross-cultural “beautiful” eye and hair color. Table 3, which shows theeye color a woman should have to look beautiful, suggests a preferencefor blue and green in the total cluster and a similar preference for blue,and especially green, eye color across the five European cities. However,green-gray eyes were more likely to be favored in Madrid (15.3%) andMilan (13.3%), whereas London and Hamburg were distinct from theLatin cities in their stronger preference for brown eyes (11.3% and 10.7%,respectively) (chi-square 5 82.5; p 5 0.00).

The results for hair color to look beautiful were not nearly so homo-geneous cross-culturally as for eye color (chi-square 5 79.3; p 5 0.00).Although blond and light and dark brown hair were the most frequentlychosen colors within the total cluster, there were many differences acrossthe five cities. The preferences in Madrid ranged from blond (11.4%) toblack (13.4%), with dark brown being the most preferred hair color(14.8%). About 30% of respondents in Milan about equally preferred lightbrown or black hair for beauty, whereas light and dark brown hair werethe preferred hair color for about one-third of the Parisians (16.1% and16.7%, respectively). Women in London and Hamburg chose blond anddark brown hair most frequently for beauty; again, it is seen that North-ern Europeans have preferences distinct from the Latin respondents(and again London and Hamburg align despite demographic differences).

Only about one-third of all respondents thought any color of eyes or hairwould make a woman look beautiful, whereas close to half reported thatany color would make a woman look healthy. Interestingly, there is morediversity across the five cities about which eye and hair color would makea woman look beautiful than eye and hair color that would make themlook healthy. However, there is a fairly marked dichotomy between Lon-don/Hamburg and the Latin cities for the eye and hair colors that sug-gest health and beauty.

Further Discussion

Interestingly, within the total cluster, more than three-quarters of therespondents chose Woman A or Woman B as an ideal self-image to look


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healthier and more beautiful, respectively, even though there was anexplicit option to choose neither. About two-thirds also identified a spe-cific eye and hair color to make a woman look beautiful, but only abouthalf identified a specific eye and hair color for health. These statistics sug-gest that there were much more specific (and perhaps, more stringent)views about what comprises the ideal self-image for a beautiful versushealthy look. The fact that hair color can be changed fairly easily, fre-quently, and rather inexpensively, unlike eye color (barring an expen-sive collection of colored contact lenses), makes these findings very intrigu-ing. The implication is that the ideal self is a reality and consumers arewilling and able to identify aspects of their ideal self in specific detail.(Note that the questions about eye and hair color were framed with thenormative verb “should.”) These findings may be rather delicate to dis-cuss amid the sometimes controversial climate around the debate aboutthe role of advertising in defining the (ideal) self-image of women. How-


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Table 3. Cross-Cultural Comparison of Eye and Hair Color a Woman ShouldHave to Look Beautiful.

Eye Color a Woman Should Have to Look Beautiful

City/Eye Total Color Madrid Milan Paris London Hamburg Cluster

# % # % # % # % # % # %

Blue 22 14.7 19 12.7 25 16.7 24 16.0 25 16.7 115 15.4Blue gray 9 6.0 11 7.3 11 7.3 2 1.3 4 2.7 37 4.9Green 37 24.7 38 25.3 34 22.7 32 21.3 39 26.0 180 24.1Green gray 23 15.3 20 13.3 9 6.0 4 2.7 13 8.7 69 9.1Hazel 8 5.3 3 2.0 9 6.0 7 4.7 3 2.0 30 4.0Brown 3 2.0 5 3.3 4 2.7 17 11.3 16 10.7 45 6.0Black 12 8.0 8 5.3 3 2.0 0 0.0 5 3.4 28 3.6Any color 36 24.0 46 30.7 55 36.7 64 42.7 45 30.0 246 32.6Total 150 100 150 100 150 100 150 100 150 100 750 100

Hair Color a Woman Should Have to Look Beautiful

City/Hair Total Color Madrid Milan Paris London Hamburg Cluster

# % # % # % # % # % # %

Blond 17 11.4 11 7.3 10 6.6 22 14.7 21 14.0 81 10.8Red blond 1 0.0 9 6.0 12 8.1 4 2.7 8 5.3 34 4.5Dark blond 15 10.0 8 5.3 7 4.6 7 4.7 11 7.3 48 6.4Light brown 19 12.8 21 14.1 24 16.1 9 6.0 12 8.0 85 11.3Dark brown 22 14.8 12 8.0 25 16.7 26 17.3 20 13.4 105 14.0Red 7 4.8 9 6.0 9 6.0 4 2.7 3 2.0 32 4.3Red brown 12 8.0 7 4.6 6 4.0 8 5.3 14 9.4 47 6.3Black 20 13.4 22 14.7 7 4.6 4 2.7 11 7.3 64 8.5Any color 37 24.8 51 34.0 50 33.3 66 44.0 50 33.3 254 33.9Total 150 100 150 100 150 100 150 100 150 100 750 100

ever, McCracken (1995), in his anthropological analysis of women’s hair,contends that hair is perhaps the most important way in which womentransform themselves into contemporary ideal self-images, and that hairis a definitional resource.

Table 4 is a summary of the cross-cultural comparisons of womenchoosing neither Woman A nor Woman B as their ideal self-image (approx-imately one quarter) and any eye and hair color to look healthy and beau-tiful (approximately one-half and one-third, respectively). Hamburg hadthe highest percentage of respondents who reported that neither WomanA nor Woman B represented their ideal self-image for health (34.0%) orbeauty (40.7%); however, the Hamburg respondents were at the mean forthe total cluster with respect to reporting that any eye and hair colorwould make their ideal woman look healthy or beautiful. London hadthe lowest percentage of respondents who reported that neither WomanA nor Woman B represented their ideal self-image for health (14.6%) orbeauty (22.0%); however, Londoners were close to the mean for the totalcluster only with respect to reporting that any eye or hair color wouldmake their ideal woman look healthy. And London had the highest per-centage of respondents reporting that any eye color (42.7%) or hair color(44.0%) would make their ideal woman look beautiful.

Interestingly, it was Madrid and Milan respondents who had the low-est and highest level of acceptance of any eye color (41.3% and 56.7%,respectively) or hair color (41.4% and 58.0%, respectively) to look healthy,and Madrid and London that had the lowest and highest percentage ofrespondents reporting that any eye (24.0% and 42.7, respectively) or haircolor (24.8% and 44.0, respectively) would make a woman look beautiful.Thus, compared to women in the other four cities, women in Madrid seemto be the least flexible (or in other words, most definite) about the eye andhair color their ideal self should have to look healthy or beautiful. Milan


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Table 4. Summary of Cross-Cultural Comparisons of Respondents ChoosingNeither Woman A or B and Any Eye and Hair Color to Look Healthy orBeautiful.

City/ Madrid Milan Paris London Hamburg Total Dimension % % % % % Cluster

Neither woman A or B to look • Healthy 20.0 25.3 20.0 14.6L 34.0H 22.8• Beautiful 23.4 26.0 32.0 22.0L 40.7H 28.8

Any eye color to look • Healthy 41.3L 56.7H 49.3 44.0 42.0 46.7• Beautiful 24.0L 30.7 36.7 42.7H 30.0 32.7

Any hair color to look • Healthy 41.4L 58.0H 52.0 56.7 50.0 51.7• Beautiful 24.8L 34.0 33.3 44.0H 33.3 33.9

L 5 Lowest percentage across five cities; H = Highest percentage across five cities.

is the most flexible (or least definite) about eye and hair color to lookhealthy, and London is the most flexible (or least definite) about eye andhair color to look beautiful.

SUMMARY, CONCLUSIONS, AND IMPLICATIONS

Standardization versus Localization

Overall, the results suggest that there are cross-cultural differences inthe ideal self-image related to a possible advertising presenter on thedimensions of healthy and beautiful. Within the context of these data,Woman B was the most preferred woman within the total Europeancluster, and can be considered to be more cross-culturally “transferable”(i.e., her look “travels” better) than Woman A on both the healthy andbeautiful dimensions. However, supporting the perspective of a local-ized approach to international advertising is that Woman B would notappeal to at least 75% of the (respondents’) market; the opportunity lostwould be most critical for the image of beauty due to the greater mis-match between the respondents’ ideal self-image and the image pro-jected in marketing communications. Indeed, two-thirds of the respon-dents had firm—and diverse—ideas about the ideal eye and hair colorfor beauty, while about half had a firm idea about eye and hair color forhealth. When specific ideal self-images (such as Woman A and B) are con-sidered across the five cultures, there are many differences to considerwhen choosing an advertising presenter who will appeal more effec-tively to women in the respective cultures. On the other hand, the poten-tial to take the middle ground between complete standardization ver-sus complete localization of advertising is suggested by the dichotomyidentified in the differences in the preferences between the three Latincountries and the two Northern European countries. Further researchis needed to determine the extent to which alternate images will travelacross cultures, or need to be localized.

Ideal Self-Image and Identification

The respondents understood the ideal images of health and beauty as twodifferent concepts, and overall the vast majority selected specific aspectsof eye and hair color for their ideal self-images even though they hadthe explicit option not to. The implication is that the ideal self is a real-ity and consumers are willing and able to identify aspects of their idealself in specific detail. Indeed, the findings show that women in some cul-tures are more or less definite than those of other cultures about eyeand hair color that characterize health and beauty.

In terms of communicating appeals related to ideal self-images of healthand beauty across cultures, this study supported the findings of previousresearch that found the use of visuals and their specific characteristics are


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of prime importance, especially in cross-cultural advertising (Domzal & Ker-nan, 1990; Motes et al., 1992; Unnava & Burnkrant, 1991).As suggested bythe work of Mehrabian (1971) and Walker and Dubitsky (1994), the con-struction of the characteristics of the advertiser’s presenter is also an impor-tant aspect of communicating a brand’s benefits to the target audiencethrough an ideal self-image. A match (or congruence) between consumers’ideal self-image and brand image contributes to the development of posi-tive attitudes toward a brand (Helgeson & Supphellen, 2004; Malhotra,1981, 1988; Onkvisit & Shaw, 1987; Solomon et al., 1992), especially for fash-ion products (Evans, 1989).Therefore, advertisers need to understand impor-tant, contemporary, cultural characteristics of the ideal beauty type in termsof healthy or beautiful before developing international advertising copy.

Future Directions

This study was limited in four ways. First, only five cultures in geographicproximity were studied. Cultures of greater diversity may have high-lighted more cross-cultural differences in the choice of ideal self-imagesand their characteristics. Second, only Caucasian images were used inthis study. Third, only two aspects of the advertiser’s presenter were stud-ied. Although the choice of eyes and hair are the easiest to make, they donot paint a complete picture of health and beauty. Fourth, ideal self-imagecould be measured more comprehensively in future studies, perhaps usingdescriptive approaches attached to visual images, which could be helpfulfor creating text accompaniments. Despite these limitations, differencesin ideal self-image and characteristics of specific physical components(eye and hair color) were identified among the five cultures.

An intriguing direction for further research is to conduct a follow-upstudy of the unconscious driving forces behind the (conscious) choice ofideal self-image, and eye and hair color. A sophisticated technique, suchas the Zaltman Metaphor Elicitation Technique, could be used to mapthe themes of the structure and substructures of the mental models ofthe cognitive and affective meaning associated with, say, hair color asa component of a woman’s ideal self-image, as well as to gain an under-standing of the evaluative dimensions of self-image (Christensen &Olson, 2002; Zaltman, 2000; Zaltman & Coulter, 1995). It would also bebeneficial to study a range of models/images to determine whether theuniversality of beauty in terms of proportionality of facial features(Cunningham et al., 1995; Shepherd, 1989) extends to specific facialcomponents.

The debate on the issue of standardization versus localization of adver-tising in global markets seems to be more pressing than ever due to polit-ical and economic changes, such as the increase in free trade agreementsand the expansion of the European Union. The cultures studied here rep-resented various regions of Europe, but are relatively close geographically.It is likely that countries that are more disparate geographically (e.g.,Asia


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vs. Europe vs. North America), culturally (e.g., Eastern vs. Western cul-tures), and politically (e.g., Eastern vs. Western Europe) would exhibitideal self-image differences that would be greater in magnitude and diver-sity. Expansion of the geographical and methodological scope of futurestudies will enrich the theoretical debate and practical applications in thedevelopment of brand images for global marketing strategies.

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Rosemary Polegato thanks HEC, Paris, for research support provided during thepreparation of the manuscript.

Correspondence regarding this article should be sent to: Rosemary Polegato, Pro-fessor & Head of Commerce Department, Mount Allison University, 144 MainStreet, Sackville, New Brunswick, Canada E4L 1A7 ([email protected]).


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APPENDIX: PHOTOGRAPHS OF WOMAN A AND WOMAN B.

Advertisting beauty & health across cultures

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