Convergent, Contrasting, and Country-Specific Attitudes toward Television Advertising in Germany and the United States

Abstract

In recent years, German television (TV) has become increasingly Americanized in terms of the number of available channels, types of programming, and system financing via commercial sponsorship. To investigate whether the outlook of the German audience also has begun to resemble its American counterpart, this study collected data on attitudes toward TV advertising from 582 respondents in the Frankfurt area and from 436 respondents in southern California. The findings suggest that attitudes toward TV advertising in Germany and the United States are largely convergent when taken as a whole, but cultural differences do remain and there are two noteworthy country-specific segments.