Are There Universal Themes in Story Advertisements? A Cross-Country Study on Identification, Usage, and Attitudes Towards Story Ad Themes

This study is a pioneering investigation into the themes present in story ads, examining both universal themes and the influence of viewers’ culture-mediated self-construal on their attitudes towards themes. Using a mixed-methods approach, we analyzed story advertisements from the six largest economies (the USA, the UK, China, Japan, Germany, and India) to identify common themes (studies 1 and 2) and conducted experimental testing in three of these countries (the USA, Japan, India) to evaluate the identified themes (study 3). The results revealed that story ads from different countries contain a limited number of universal themes. Additionally, we found that favorability towards these themes varies across countries and is moderated by viewers’ self-construal. These findings build a case for incorporating themes into future academic research and managerial practice, highlighting the significant role that culture-mediated self-construal plays in shaping audience attitudes towards story themes.