Cultural differences in DVD front cover design across region 1 (US) and region 2 (UK)

Abstract

The aim of this dissertation is to identify the cultural differences in the design of DVD front covers targeted at the UK and US markets. The dissertation contains a general introduction; a review of the literature which provided a solid base for the analysis; a methodology chapter describing the 7 design elements that indicated the cultural differences across region 1 and 2 DVDs. A content analysis analyzed 50 DVD film titles from one production company, concluding that DVD front covers are designed differently for different markets containing 7 major design elements: (1) main colours used, (2) title (placement, font type, size and colour), (3) actor and/or action prominence, (4) names of actors featured on the cover, (5) company logo (appearance, brand used and position) (6) taglines and (7) reviews. These design elements were then examined using content analysis. This infers that cultural differences can be significant and are actively exploited for marketing purposes.