Cultural variation in the visual aspects of television commercials: Comparing the use and effect of field information in Chinese and US television commercials

Cross-cultural psychology literature demonstrates cultural variation in visual perception patterns and field information1 inclusion in static visual designs between Chinese and American cultures. This study attempts to empirically investigate whether such variation exists in these two cultures' video images such as television commercials, and whether the commercials customized to cultural preference are more effective than others as previous research suggests. The research results correspond to previous claims about the visual design patterns in Chinese and American cultures, based on which suggestions for cinematic practice are provided. This research contends that variation in information inclusion and exclusion rules manifests differences in the ideology systems and "terministic screens" of the two cultures.1Field refers to the environment/situation where objects (including characters) are located and an event happens. Field information in a picture includes all the information about the environment and the relationship among the characters and focal objects. In this sense, field is the whole picture. The opposite of field is the focal objects detached from the field.