Mirror of beauty: Cultural values reflected in online skincare advertising in the Philippines and Taiwan

Abstract

As mirrors of culture, advertisements are believed to reflect values relevant to consumers. This research aims to examine whether the cultural values are reflected in online skincare advertisements between countries with different cultural influences and then further investigate what values consumers maintain and shift. Content analyses of online skincare advertisements and in-depth interviews with consumers in the Philippines and Taiwan were conducted in this study. The research focused in particular on how slogan values, brand prominence, and product prominence and context of online skincare advertisements can be manipulated in a strategic way to pass on implicit messages to the receiver. The results highlight that the notion of beauty in online skincare advertisements and the minds of consumers is socially and culturally constructed and its meanings are maintained and changed by social forces and globalized communication of advertising media.