Do people become more interested in a healthier lifestyle at temporal landmarks? A comparison between individualistic and collectivistic cultures

Article excerpt

ObjectivesThe objective of this study is to understand whether individuals show different search patterns for health-related terms on Google Trends depending on their cultural background.MethodThis study analyzed Google Trends data for health-related terms in both the United States and South Korea.ResultsThe result suggests that Americans show stronger temporal landmark effects than Korean with health-related terms being more heavily searched during earlier time periods. Meanwhile, Koreans also showed an inverted U-shape pattern, where health-related terms were more often searched in the middle of the year than in the early periods.DiscussionThe results offer key implications for policymakers or marketers who are interested in health-focused campaigns, as well as extend the concept of temp