Sentiment toward marketing: a comparison of German and US students

The purpose of this study is to examine whether sentiment toward marketing differs between students attending universities in the USA and Germany.

The sample was drawn from students attending classes in professional programs at two universities in the USA and two universities in Germany. The resulting sample sizes were 312 from the Germany institutions and 392 from the US institutions. Sentiment toward marketing was measured using the Index of Consumer Sentiment toward Marketing.

The hypothesis that students attending universities in Germany possess lower sentiments toward marketing is supported. Only the first hypothesis addressing the individual aspects of marketing is supported; however, a significant (at the 0.05 level) difference was only observed for sentiment toward advertising. In that instance, students attending universities in Germany were shown to possess more negative sentiment toward advertising than students attending universities in the USA.

The lower sentiment toward advertising among students attending universities in Germany may be expected to present a challenge to marketers attempting to reach these individuals. Their lower sentiment toward advertising may lead German students to be less likely to accept messages conveyed via advertising than their counterparts in the USA.

Past research suggests that differences in sentiment toward marketing exist between consumers residing in nations at different stages of development and with differing types of market structures. Do differences exist, however, between different nations at similar levels of development?