Abstract：Public Service Advertisement or Advertising abbreviated as “PSA” is significant for people to solve problems. PSAs have relationships with the country’s social customs, social values, moral standards, humanistic quality and so on. So PSA is not only a linguistic phenomenon, but also a cultural phenomenon. 

This paper compares Chinese and American PSAs and conclude the influence of cultural differences on PSAs. According to the study, there are significant differences in four dimensions of collectivism/individualism, power distance, uncertainty avoidance, long-term/short-term orientation between China and the United States, and some common points in the dimension of masculinity /femininity. Finally, the author gives some suggestion for the creation of domestic PSAs.

The first part is an introduction that mainly shows the background and the significant of the study. The second part is a literature review, which introduced Hofstede’s cultural dimensions and the development of public service advertisements at home and abroad. The third chapter is main part include the comparisons of Chinese and American PSA from Hofstede’s Cultural Dimensions and its influence. The last part are the major findings and limitations of the thesis.

Keywords:  public service advertisement; cultural differences; Hofstede’s cultural dimensions

中文摘要：公益广告作为一种广告形式，与一个国家的社会习俗、社会价值观、道德标准、人文素质等有着密切的联系，公益广告作为一种有效劝导手段，能够帮助人们了解不足，解决社会问题。公益广告还能够传播文化，所以它不仅是一种语言现象，也是一种文化现象。

本文通过从霍夫斯泰德的五个文化维度出发，旨在中美文化探讨差异对公益广告造成的影响。研究发现中美广告在集体主义/个体主义,权力距离，不确定性规避，短期导向/长期导向四个维度上存在明显差异，在男性气质/女性气质这一维度上存在一些共同点。本文在研究文化差异对公益广告的影响的同时，也为国内公益广告的发展提出一些意见。

文章的第一部分介绍了研究的背景和意义，第二部分是文献综述，介绍了公益广告的定义，中美公益广告的发展历史，以往学者从跨文化角度对中美公益广告的研究。第三章重点从霍夫斯泰德五个文化维度对中美公益广告进行对比，并得出中美文化差异对公益广告的影响，并对中国的公益广告制作提出意见。最后一章是总结，对文章的主要发现进行小结并提出文章的局限性。

关键词: 公益广告；中美文化差异；霍夫斯泰德文化维度

Contents

Abstract

中文摘要

Chapter One Introduction-1

1.1 Background and Significant of the Study-1

1.2 Structure of the Thesis-2

Chapter Two Literature Review-3

2.1 Hofstede’s Cultural Dimensions-3

2.2 Public Service Advertisement-4

2.2.1 Definitions of Public Service Advertisement-4

2.2.2 The Development of PSA at Home and Abroad-4

2.2.3 Previous Studies on Cultural Differences in PSA-5

Chapter Three Comparisons of Chinese and American PSA from Hofstede’s Cultural Dimensions and Its Influence-6

3.1 Comparisons of Chinese and American PSAs from Hofstede’s Cultural Dimensions.-6

3.1.1 On Collectivism/Individualism-6

3.1.2 On Power Distance-7

3.1.3 On Uncertainty Avoidance-8

3.1.4 On Long-term/Short-term Orientation-9

3.1.5 On Masculinity/Femininity-10

3.2 Influence of Cultural Difference on PSA-10

3.3 Suggestions-11

Chapter Four Conclusion-13

4.1 Major Findings of the Study-13

4.2 Limitations of the Study-14

References-15