Alternative Modes of Self‐Construal: Dimensions of Connectedness–Separateness and Advertising Appeals to the Cultural and Gender‐Specific Self

Abstract

This research examines how variations in consumers’ connectedness–separateness (C–S) self‐schema, which refers to an individual's perceptions of others as an extension of self or of the self as distinct from others, may explain cultural and gender‐level persuasion effects. Results from a cross‐cultural experiment demonstrate that a connected advertising appeal stressing interdependence and togetherness results in more favorable brand attitudes among Chinese and women consumers than does a separated appeal stressing independence and autonomy. Conversely, a separated appeal results in more favorable attitudes among U.S. and male consumers. Most important, the results suggest that the interactions detected between ad appeal and culture, as well as between ad appeal and gender, are mediated by distinct dimensions of consumers’ C–S. The self‐orientation dimension of C–S is shown to account for cultural‐level persuasion effects, whereas gender‐level effects are attributable to the dependence dimension. Thus, individual differences in these dimensions compose an important factor in explaining cultural and gender variations in consumers’ responses.