Cross-cultural media effects research

• Main Authors: KIM, Jinhee, EOM, Kimin
• Format: text
• Language: English
• Published: Institutional Knowledge at Singapore Management University 2019
• Subjects: Mass media; United States; cross-cultural research; Applied Behavior Analysis; Mass Communication; Multicultural Psychology
• Online Access: https://ink.library.smu.edu.sg/soss_research/3116; https://ink.library.smu.edu.sg/context/soss_research/article/4373/viewcontent/KimEom_2019_Cross_CulturalMediaEffects_sv.pdf
• Institution: Singapore Management University

Despite the substantial development of media effects research, one critical dimension, cultures, has not been actively examined. Most of the theoretical accounts have been derived from Western thought systems, and relevant empirical studies have been conducted mostly in the U.S. or Western Europe. Except for the areas of advertising and health campaigning, very little media effects research has used a cross-cultural framework. In this chapter, we review scholarly work that compares and contrasts portrayals of media messages and their uses/effects/processes of one culture with those from a different culture. Cultures are often equated with national groups, but concept of cultures are diverse, and ambiguities are inevitable. With these caveats in mind, we first introduce three central theoretical frameworks that have guided cross-cultural research, then overview the pertinent prior research on media effects. Subsequently, we point out key challenges to be addressed and suggest new directions. We hope this chapter provides general guidelines that will facilitate cultural inquiry in media effects research.