Visual design and culture: Reflections of individualist and collectivist cultural characteristics to visual design elements in the magazine advertising

It is evident that culture and advertisement are in interaction with each other. One of the most significant points to consider when producing an advertisement is the cultural characteristics of the target group in order to influence and engage the target group with the advertisement. The visual design of the advertisements are also structured in accordance with the cultural characteristics of the audience. It is suggested that the visual design elements of the magazine advertisements, color, logo/emblem, typography, image, and form, are structured in accordance with the cultural characteristics of the target group in order for them to establish a bond with the advertisement. Each nation has its own cultural characteristics. Thus, it is suggested that the visual design of the advertisements may be interpreted differently in accordance with the cultural characteristics of the nations. In his study on intercultural communication, Geert Hofstede introduced the main differences in cultural values. These are: power distance, individualism/collectivism, masculinity/femininity, uncertainty avoidance, long and short term orientation, and indulgence/restraint. The purpose of this study is to reveal the differences in visual designs of magazine advertisements in countries with individualist and collectivist cultural dimension of Geert Hofstede. Within the context of this study, two magazines for men and women, which were published in 2016 in the United States, Turkey, and Portugal were analyzed. Total of 1695 full-page advertisements from the selected magazines from these three countries were evaluated within the scope of this study. As a result, no differences were observed among the visual designs of these magazine advertisements in terms of individualist and collectivist characteristics. It is suggested that this is a result of the effects of increasing globalism. However, when the visual designs of magazine advertisements were analyzed in detail, culture-specific individualist and collectivist traits were observed in these categories.