This study extends our understanding of the influence of culture on advertising within the novel context of online dating. People around the world have come to depend on online dating services (ODSs) to participate in the dating process. Since the norms and expectations of dating are influenced by a country’s cultural values, we expect ODSs to adapt their advertising messages to be congruent with these values. Using the Pollay–Hofstede framework, we examine the relationship between advertising appeals used by 1,003 ODSs from 51 countries and the cultural dimensions of these countries. Results showed that ODS advertisements appealed to people’s need for relationship, friendship, entertainment, sex, status, design and identity. The use of these appeals was congruent with only the individualism/collectivism and uncertainty avoidance cultural dimensions. Based on these results, we argue that ODS’s overwhelming use of culturally incongruent advertising messages can lead to a global transformation and homogenisation of the dating culture.

这项研究扩展了我们对在线约会新环境中文化对广告影响的理解。世界各地的人们已经开始依赖在线约会服务 (ODS) 来参与约会过程。由于约会的规范和期望受国家文化价值观的影响，我们希望 ODS 调整其广告信息以符合这些价值观。使用 Pollay-Hofstede 框架，我们研究了来自 51 个国家的 1,003 个 ODS 使用的广告诉求与这些国家的文化维度之间的关系。结果表明，ODS 广告吸引了人们对关系、友谊、娱乐、性、地位、设计和身份的需求。这些呼吁的使用仅与个人主义/集体主义和不确定性规避文化维度一致。基于这些结果，我们认为 ODS 大量使用与文化不一致的广告信息会导致约会文化的全球转型和同质化。