Download Low-Context Culture

Chapter 6
Culture Dynamics in
Assiesing
Chapter Outline
• Culture and Its Characteristics
• Influence of Culture on Consumption
• Influence of Culture on Thinking Processes
• Influence of Culture on Communication Processes
Chapter Outline
• Cultural Universals
• Cultural Similarities: An Illusion
• Communication Through Verbal Language
• Communication Through Nonverbal Language
• Subculture
Culture
Culture is a set of traditional beliefs and values
that are transmitted and shared in a given society.
Culture is also the total way of life and thinking
patterns that are passed from generation to
generation. Culture means many things to many
people because the concept encompasses norms,
values, customs, art, and mores.
Characteristics of Culture
• prescriptive
• socially shared
• learned
• subjective
• enduring
• cumulative
• dynamic
Culture is PRESCRIPTIVE
The prescriptive characteristic of culture simplifies a
consumer’s decision-making process by limiting product
choices to those which are socially acceptable. This same
characteristic creates problems for those products not in tune
with the consumer’s cultural beliefs. Smoking, for instance,
was once socially acceptable behavior, but recently it has
become more and more undesirable – both socially and
medically.
It prescribes the kinds of behavior considered
acceptable in a society. As a result, culture provides guidance
for decision making.
Culture is SOCIALLY SHARED
Culture, out of necessity, must be based on social
interaction and creation. It cannot exist by itself. It must be
shared by members of a society. For example, at one time
Chinese parents shared the preference of wanting their girl
children to have small feet. Large feet, viewed as characteristic
of peasants and lowclass people, were scorned. As a result,
parents from the upper class bound a daughter’s feet tightly so
that her feet would not grow large. It did not matter to the
parents that the daughter would grow up having difficulty
walking about with distortedly small feet.
Culture FACILITATES COMMUNICATION.
One useful function provided by culture is to facilitate
communication. Culture usually imposes common habits of
thought and feeling among people. Thus, within a given
group, culture makes it easier for people to communicate
with one another. Yet culture may also impede
communication across groups due to a lack of shared
common cultural values. This is one reason why a
standardized
advertisement
may
have
difficulty
communicating its message to consumers in foreign
countries.
Culture is LEARNED
Culture is not inherited genetically – it must be learned and
acquired. Socialization or enculturation occurs when a person absorbs
or learns the culture in which he or she is raised. In contrast, if a person
learns the culture of a society other than the one in which he or she
was raised, the process of acculturation occurs. The ability to learn
culture makes it possible for people to absorb new cultural trends.
Culture is SUBJECTIVE
People in different cultures often have different ideas about the
same object. What is acceptable in one culture may not necessarily be
so in another.
As a result, the same phenomenon appearing in different cultures
may be interpreted in very different ways.
Culture is ENDURING
Because culture is shared and passed down from generation to
generation, it is relatively stable and somewhat permanent. Old habits
are hard to break, and a people tends to maintain its own heritage in
spite of a continuously changing world.
Culture is CUMULATIVE
Culture is based on hundreds or even thousands of years of
accumulated circumstances. Each generation adds something of
its own to the culture before passing the heritage on to the next
generation. Therefore, culture tends to become broader based
over time, because new ideas are incorporated and become a part
of the culture. Of course, during the process, some old ideas are
also discarded.
Culture is DYNAMIC
Culture is passed on from generation to generation, but one
should not assume that culture is static and immune to change. Far
from being the case, culture is constantly changing – it adapts itself to
new situations and new sources of knowledge. The dynamic aspect of
culture can make some products obsolete and can usher in new buying
habits.
INFLUENCE OF CULTURE ON CONSUMPTION
Consumption patterns, lifestyles, and the priority of needs are all
dictated by culture. Culture prescribes the manner in which people
satisfy their desires. Hindus and some Chinese do not consume beef at
all, believing that it is improper to eat cattle that work on farms, thus
helping to provide foods such as rice and vegetables.
Influence of culture on communication
processes
Context is best defined as the array of stimuli surrounding
a communication event including: body gestures; tone of voice;
physical distance between interlocutors; time of day; weather;
situation; societal norms; geographic place of communication;
and other external factors.
Influence of culture on communication
processes
The context of a culture is either high or low in terms of in-depth
background information. This classification provides an understanding
of various cultural orientations and explains how communication is
conveyed and perceived. Edward T. Hall has suggested the concept of
high and low context as a way of understanding different cultural
orientations.
Low-context vs high-context
In a low-context culture, messages are explicit and specific; words
carry most of the communication power. In a high-context culture, less
information is contained in the verbal part of a message. Much more
information resides in the context of communication, including the
background, associations, and basic values of the communicators. In
general, high-context cultures function with much less legal paperwork
than is deemed essential in low-context cultures.
Context of Culture:
Low-Context Culture
• Low-Context Culture
- explicit messages
- words conveying main part of information
- words and meanings being independent of context
- e.g., Germany, North America
Context of Culture:
High-Context Culture
• High-Context Culture
- indirect communication
- message not understood without context
- environment changing meanings of words
- e.g., Japan, France, Asia, Middle East
Japan, Saudi Arabia, and other high-context cultures
place a great deal of emphasis on a person’s values and
position or place in society. In such cultures, a business
loan is more likely to be based on “who you are” than on
formal analysis of pro forma financial documents. In a
low-context culture, such as the United States,
Switzerland, or Germany, deals are made with much less
information about the character, background, and values
of the participants. Much more reliance is placed upon
the words and numbers in the loan application.
Hofstede’s national cultures
Based on Hofstede study of work-related values in fifty
countries, national cultures have four largely independent
dimensions: (1) individualism vs. collectivism, (2) large or small
power distance, (3) strong or weak uncertainty avoidance, and (4)
masculinity vs. femininity.
Hofstede Cultural Dimension
Power Distance
The first dimension, power distance, is the extent to which
the less powerful members of a society accept—even expect—
power to be distributed unequally. All societies are unequal, but
some are more unequal than others. Hong Kong and France are both
high power-distance cultures; low power distance characterizes
Germany, Austria, the Netherlands, and Scandinavia.
Hofstede Cultural Dimension
individualist vs collectivist
The second dimension is a reflection of the degree
to which individuals in a society are integrated into
groups. In individualist cultures, each member of society
is primarily concerned with his or her own interest. In
collectivist cultures, all society’s members are integrated
into cohesive in-groups. High individualism is a general
aspect of culture in the United States and Europe; low
individualism is characteristic of Japanese and other
Asian culture patterns.
Hofstede Cultural Dimension
masculinity vs femininity
Masculinity, the third dimension, describes a society in
which men are expected to be assertive, competitive, and
concerned with material success, and women fulfill the role
of nurturer and are concerned with issues such as the welfare
of children. Femininity, by contrast, describes a society in
which the social roles of men and women overlap, with
neither gender exhibiting overly ambitious or competitive
behavior. Japan and Austria ranked highest in masculinity;
Spain, Taiwan, the Netherlands, and the Scandinavian
countries were among the lowest.
Hofstede Cultural Dimension
uncertainty avoidance
Uncertainty avoidance is the extent to which the
members of a society are uncomfortable with unclear,
ambiguous, or unstructured situations. Members of
uncertainty avoiding cultures may resort to aggressive,
emotional, intolerant behavior; they are characterized by a
belief in absolute truth. Members of uncertainty accepting
cultures (e.g., Denmark, Sweden, Ireland, and the United
States) are more tolerant of persons whose opinions differ
from their own.
Communication through
Verbal Language
• Language Acquisition
- "Use It or Lose It" hypothesis
• Translation
• The World's Best Language
- English
- Chinese
- Spanish
- Esperanto
• Marketing and Languages
Communication through
Nonverbal Language
• Language of Time
- linear-separable time
- circular-traditional time
- procedural-traditional time
• Language of Space
• Language of Agreement
• Language of Friendship