3.3 Different cultural psychology

Advertiser often reflecting takes me the psychology and tries to appear the customers.  Ads reflected the cultural psychology of language is quite common. Such as:1、congratulate to make a pile to welcome new year, have long luck Goldlion (Goldlion  wearing advertisement); 2、WEI LI washing machine, dedicated to a mother. (WEI LI washing machine); the advertising language cater to the cultural psychology of Chinese, has persuaded function. Good fortune、salary、longevity 、happy and wealth were the symbol  of Chinese traditional culture. Chinese have the psychology of hearing nice words, so many products related to the common use show menu of the family affection. For example: “A lot of good luck, a lot of satisfaction” (FU MAN DUO instant noodles) (Yao, 2000:4)and “A bowl nice glue ball round and round , a good reunion after eating (a advertisement of Chinese glutinous rice flour) are two types examples which emphasis Chinese value. (Yao, 2000:16) In contrast, the Western culture takes more emphasis on independence and individuality; their ads pay more attention to character display, ideas and humor. “Kodak film and your family happiness” (Yao, 2000:22) Is a popular advertisement in China’s market, but its ads in U.S is a picture of one boy holding ponchos in one hand, and the other standing on a sword with the statements. “He just killed his last dragon”. (Yao, 2000:30) Kodak keeps happiness for Chinese, keep the feat for American.

The whole world has a common human emotion, such as kinship, friendship and love, but the expression is different. Westerners are more candid and Asians are more subtle. “Using your telephone to transmit love”. Bell Telephone Company deliver the message by illustrating picture of that: the daughter of an elderly parent far away give a phone call to them and say “I love you”, and excite the older parents by contract.“ Find one day for us to look through the romantic” (ads of one Hotel in Taipei) this conveys the love between husband and wife. The romance is subtle (Shen, 1999:20).

In accordance with Chinese laws the content in ads about ethnic racial difference and gender discrimination is illegal, ads language must be truthful and standardized. It should conform to the construction of socialist spiritual civilization. The following example shows the difference. One American company plants to recruit a female secretary, who looks like puberty girl, thinks like an adult male, walks like adult woman, works like a donkey! In American culture, this parlance has humorous effect. But it makes Chinese viewers angry: because it has the discrimination meaning toward to the female and the donkey means stupid in Chinese culture.

Below there are two ads of advocating non-smoking: The first one was a foreign plane that will make public service announcements, its center is a picture of a rifle, a bullet and a cigarette. The title is: rapid death, slow suicide. This ad directly put the death linked to smoking the language is explicit and straightforward, and has a strong visual impact. It works with undisguised and straightforward method of smoking hazards, to alert people not to smoke. However the other one is a domestic television commercial. It shows us that there is a glass of water on the table, and then a drop of ink is dropping in it, after that clean water turning into muddy, and the last is bigger ,with three drops...  until the whole clean water mixed to dirty completely. Accompanied outer sound: “If smokes, the lung of us will be like this cup of water...” ( Shen,1999:36) This ads like the first one, want to remind people of the hazards on body health, but it keeps away from the death and through the subtle language like the clean water become muddy, hints the relations between smoking and death. The ads above show the different cultural atmosphere of different nation and countries. From this, we can see that the foreign ads try to forbid smoking strongly and straightforwardly, but local ads is meant to remind the rise of smoking people quit smoking subtly and unobjectionable. The western ads make people think seriously after shocked, the domestic ads is allowed people know the hazards while tasting. This is not just the feeling difference of performance, but more important is that it is through language and images to reflect the cultural differences.

3.4 Different cultural atmosphere

Chinese people are not accustomed to express their ideas directly, but to use the euphemism, tortuous way to express. Han nationality affected by Confucian ideas is modest, introverted and conservative. This is unlike European and American national export and lively personality. In France, for example, a perfume advertisement: “The one drop is to the beauty, two drop is for the lover, three drop is enough to lead to one love affair.” (Zhu,1999:28).  French people think that this expression is very romantic and attractive, but Chinese consumers think it hard to accept this extreme expression. Three drops can bring a love is fast open. Chinese people are conservative and cautious. They believe down-to-earth do not believe that asking for the moon. So the instant love more difficult to accept.