germany high or low context culture germany high or low context culture
They often use written contracts and agreements to clarify expectations (Gudykunst & Ting-Toomey, 1988). In order to accurately demonstrate the role of context theory, participants' individual context scores should be assessed. Respect for authority; yet open and even confrontational discussions between subordinate and superior are accepted if they are fact-based and related to the subject-expertise of the subordinate. For each advertisement, perceived ad complexity was measured with two items with 7-point scales: The message of the advertisement is easy/hard to understand and The message of the advertisement is simple/complex (mean reliability: =.93, range.83.96). 3099067 The Belgian and Dutch students did not differ in mean age (F (1, 287) = 3.67, p =.056) or in gender distribution (X2(1) = 3.27, p =.071). Any cookies that may not be particularly necessary for the website to function and is used specifically to collect user personal data via analytics, ads, other embedded contents are termed as non-necessary cookies. This article was peer-reviewed and edited by Chris Drew (PhD). People may say, you are wrong. When working with high context cultures repeat yourself less, ask clarifying questions often and work on . Surprisingly, despite the research attention devoted to context theory (for a review, see Cardon, Citation2008), one of the central tenets of the theory has only been tested indirectly. However, be sure to consider that your communication style doesnt highlight instant gratification or a can-do emotion. Readers will themselves have to make the inference that the detergent is as effective in removing stains as the crocodile is in eating its prey. We cite peer reviewed academic articles wherever possible and reference our sources at the end of our articles. These results are visualized in the upper part of Figure2. These cookies will be stored in your browser only with your consent. Without socialization we do not become human. 45-52). Communicators in low-context cultures (such as those in North America, Scandinavia, and Germany) depend little on the context of a situation to convey their meaning. Examples of high-context cultures include China, India, and many non-Western societies. In low-context cultures, people are said to prefer explicit, task-related language. Low context Imagine an ad for a sports car that does not feature the car, but instead shows a leopard running on a coastal road. Want to create or adapt books like this? An example of an ad with a juxtaposition metaphor is the one for Land Rover, which shows three objects crossing a large river: two hippos and one Land Rover (with the implicature that the vehicle is able to cross that river as smoothly as the two animals). They show an ability to adapt traditions easily to changed conditions, a strong propensity to save and invest, thriftiness, and perseverance in achieving results. This can be quite confusing to an outsider, especially someone from a low-context culture who is used to communicating via explicit messages. Performance and target-based; subject expertise important; in public/government institutions, length of service is one aspect of performance appraisal. The upper half of the figure models the relationship between receiver nationality and perceived complexity of the message. 4>`~O{][-Pq [b'E2=XQb9^F4dD$",gM)0:s^>{ I-T9.,8#PT" h_%4H~ In particular he is known for his high and low context cultural factors. Based off those dimensions, there are several cultural aspects of German society that are of great importance when creating a localization strategy. Reviewers ensure all content reflects expert academic consensus and is backed up with reference to academic studies. In Relevance Theory (Sperber & Wilson, Citation1995), the principle of relevance holds that people search for a balance between the effort they have to put into understanding the message and the benefits they expect the effort to provide them. Studies mainly have accepted Hall's theoretical classification of high- and low-context cultures without attempts to substantiate it empirically (Kittler etal., Citation2011). H1: Participants from a higher-context culture perceive ads with visual metaphors as less complex than participants from a lower-context culture. In a business context, maintaining good relationships is second to getting the facts straight. There is an aversion to letting the future take its course. Produced by Will Reid and Michael Simon Johnson. The study had a one-factor design: advertisements with visual metaphors were presented to participants with the Belgian or the Dutch nationality (between-subject design). His analysis showed that only a small percentage of these studies were empirical (see also Kittler etal., Citation2011). In, Meyer, C. (2017). In a toothpaste ad that featured a pearl necklace, one version included an explicit headline as verbal anchoring (Makes your teeth pearly white), one version included an implicit headline as verbal anchoring (Flash em), and one version did not include a headline (the complex ad). Many low context cultures are individualist so people openly express their views, and tend to make important information obvious to others. Social media have become important environments for people to express and explore their political views. Why is managing Cultural Diversity important? In absolute terms, the differences between the Belgian and Dutch participants in the comprehension and liking scores were small. The Origin of High- and Low-Context Cultures Meyer uses the terms "high-context culture" and "low-context culture" exclusively to describe how people communicate messages. Wurtz found something similar while analyzing website design. Therefore, empirical evidence was also found for H4, which means that participants' personal context scores indeed mediated the effect of nationality on ad liking. In other words, high-context communicators attach great importance to everything that surrounds the explicit message, including interpersonal relationships, non-verbal cues, and physical and social settings. One challenge that confronts humanity, now and in the past, is the degree to which small children are socialized. Beyond Culture. which score low on this dimension, for example, prefer to maintain time-honoured traditions and norms while viewing societal change with suspicion. Greetings are formal and tend to include academic titles (Guten Morgen, Frau Doktor Faust). The Lavin Agency Speakers Bureau. (2014, December 10). Cardon (Citation2008, p. 400), for instance, noted, Studies that use contexting as an explanatory framework for cross-cultural variation almost invariably accept the contexting continuum, neglecting to measure participants' context scores. Map of German language usage: German in Germany, Austria and Switzerland. As a result, much is taken for granted. increasing your ability to "read the air". On the other hand, low-context culture does not have any such shared background. While some cultures are low or high context, in general terms, there can also be individual or contextual differences within cultures. Germany has a "low context culture"; the information which is made explicit is extensive. n High-context cultures are more likely to be intuitive, contemplative, and concerned with the collective. Belgium and the Netherlands have been classified as low-context (only Belgium reported; Kittler etal., Citation2011) or medium-context (Helsen, Jedidi, & DeSarbo, Citation1993) in studies in which the classification was not substantiated in any way. Callow and Schiffman (Citation2002) examined the degree to which consumers infer meaning from images in advertising. Culture and Interpersonal Communication. Deductive reasoning that relies on details are what matter in German society, and having a carefully thought out plan for the future is essential. Jobs are changed infrequently (long-term thinking); labor laws support job stability and make it difficult to dismiss people. b'K/{:6 ,eQ_`RYHS9pkRg91o)?OM8u}Vo0~8m Hugs and embraces are common in a social context; the occasional pat on the back (from the older superior to the younger subordinate) may be seen in a work environment. A message does not have one given complexity; what is complex to one person is not necessarily complex to another. Individual Orientation This means that the potential cross-cultural differences observed cannot be accounted for by different languages used in the study (following the suggestion made by Van de Vijver & Leung, Citation1997). Hofstede Insights enables you to solve Intercultural and Organisational Culture challenges by utilising our effective and proven frameworks. These cookies do not store any personal information. However, scholars have noted an increase in the use of complex advertisements; for instance, through visual images (Phillips, Citation1997; Scott, Citation1993). Order Free Brochure. In addition to striving for personal accomplishment through masculine traits, Germans also enjoy tokens of status, which often comes from high-quality cars and new technology. Examples of high-context cultures include Japan, Korea, and India. Examples of low-context cultures include the United States, Australia, and many Western countries. Permission will be required if your reuse is not covered by the terms of the License. He studied English literature at the University of Delhi and Jawaharlal Nehru University. Hall's approach, however, was theoretical: nations have been grouped and accorded a position on the continuum from low- to high-context rather loosely. By considering each of these dimensions, youll be able to create a localization strategy that focuses on key elements of German society. Use our contact page or D.u{Tet&q3b Beyond these kinds of replications, we suggest five directions for future investigations to further examine how context theory affects comprehension and persuasion in advertising and communication. This work argues that message persistence (i.e., the temporal extent to which messages can be accessed by users) is a central affordance of many . However, the differences that were observed between these groups were solely attributed to consumers' context culture. That is, not only were ads with more complex metaphors better liked than ads with less complex metaphors, but ads with too complex metaphors were liked less than ads with less complex metaphors (Phillips, Citation2000; Van Mulken etal., Citation2014). Studies have shown that this satisfaction transfers to higher ad liking and to a more positive product attitude for ads that require considerable cognitive efforts than for ads that need lower cognitive efforts (e.g., Forceville, Citation1996; Phillips, Citation2000; Tanaka, Citation1992). as explicit as possible. People tend not to smile in public with people they dont know. In the studies that did investigate the role of context culture in comprehension and persuasion, individuals' nationality was measured but not individuals' context culture. The ages ranged from 17 to 25 (M = 20.94, SD = 1.78). A major limitation of the studies providing this evidence is that they drew their conclusions on the basis of groups of people: consumers from a country with a presumed lower-context culture versus consumers from a country with a presumed higher-context culture. These small differences seem to be related to the large similarities between the two populations, both in broad characteristics (e.g., political system, geographical location) and in context culture. They rely less on context & non-verbal cues and instead convey meaning more directly. Communication is among the most direct in the world following the ideal to be honest, even if it hurts and by this giving the counterpart a fair chance to learn from mistakes. A speaker can assume that listeners will know what they really mean. A Localization, Interpreting & Translation Services Company. Intentions not explicitly stated can often be inferred from the context. This is in part due to Germans unwillingness to reveal personal information to potential strangers. Based on their detail-orientation, they tend to talk at great length. Your email address will not be published. According to the influential context theory of Hall (Hall, Citation1976; Hall & Hall, Citation1990; see also Kittler, Rygl, & Mackinnon, Citation2011), a person's cultural background affects how well that person is able to comprehend complex messages and how well s/he appreciates such messages. All articles are edited by a PhD level academic. Few hallway conversations; once you have greeted a person in the morning, there is no need to say hello when passing in the hallway. One framework for approaching intercultural communication is with high-context and low-context cultures, which . Two of the most cited theoretical frameworks in communication are the cultural dimensions of Hofstede (Citation1980, Citation2001) and the context theory of Hall (Citation1976; Hall & Hall, Citation1990; see Cardon, Citation2008, for citations of both authors). After the two perceived complexity items, ad liking was assessed with two items for each ad with 7-point scales (taken from Le Pair & Van Mulken, Citation2008): The advertisement is badly/well chosen and The advertisement is unattractive/attractive (mean reliability: =.90, range.82.93). In the first half of the theoretical framework, we will outline the role of comprehension in the persuasion process in general, and in the case of complex advertisements in particular. You also have the option to opt-out of these cookies. As expected by context theory, perceived complexity was lower for Belgian (a higher-context culture) than for Dutch participants (a lower-context culture), and participants' personal context culture score fully accounted for this difference. For the replacement metaphor, an example is the ad for Contrex water, which features a Contrex water bottle looking at itself in the mirror (replacing a human person looking at his or her body shape). [8Dpl>9v >a U=CF]U) S t f,\7aR"=k gYNweK/U$5WF_s.9l@hZU@ l!u]vN%%p'/+Ed>3Wxkpu5\ lYx0R f}8b Germans are very detail-oriented and tend to ask a lot of subject-related questions. The five areas of future research relate to the study of context culture on the nonlinear relationship between comprehension and persuasion, the selection of complex message components other than visual metaphors, the measurement of context culture on an individual level, the measurement of message comprehension, and the measurement of persuasion. General information Such measures would allow a basis for effectively contrasting cultures and would allow for replication and extension studies.. In his model, context refers to the stimuli, environment, or ambiance surrounding an event. Measure your personal cultural preferences on Hofstedes 6D model, compare them to the culture of a selected country and become aware of cultural pitfalls. In contrast, low-context websites had lesser animation and images, focusing instead on the information. Start by finding experienced, knowledgeable employees within your own company. For an outsider, it is easier to enter into low-context cultures because one does not need to be aware of the shared history/values of the group. Low-context communication aspires to get straight to the point. Examples of countries that Hall classified as low-context are Norway and Switzerland; examples of high-context countries are China and Japan. There is a strong preference for a direct communication style. Studentsshould always cross-check any information on this site with their course teacher. endstream endobj 314 0 obj <>stream They were Belgian (n = 174) or Dutch (n = 115) students. The general terms "high context" and "low context" (popularized by Edward Hall) are used to describe broad-brush cultural differences between societies. Sage Publications. https://helpfulprofessor.com/low-context-culture-examples/. According to this hypothesis, the highest level of persuasion is obtained if there is a balance between the required cognitive resources for understanding the message and the cognitive resources that are available from the receiver. Business interactions tend to be unemotional and fact-driven. The ads featured different products, such as a car, detergent, soda, and a mobile phone. Low-context and high-context cultures are the ends of a continuum portraying how cultures communicate. Complex ads, such as the example of the liquid detergent, may be better comprehended and better appreciated in higher- than in lower-context cultures. (2013)[2]explain the concept of cultural context: Cultural context is a concept developed by cultural anthropologist Edward T. Hall. Germany, Sweden, and the United States are generally classified as low-context cultures. Examples of low-context cultures include Germany, the United States, and Australia. 312 0 obj <>stream Low-context cultures can seem slightly more formal due to the explicit & precise nature of their messages. Potential participants were invited to take part in an online study. 8:00AM and 16:00PM CEST Building cultural competence (pp. Future studies may examine other dependent variables, such as product attitude or behavioral intention. `Sm-!qJsx(99&om,?Ub8R2yYY0(md]-zW.ASGwqNOY O `Y`\:gh&u One of the biggest differences between cultures is the method by which we communicate. Loyalty is based on personal preferences for people as well as a sense of duty and responsibility. What is the perfect Organisational Culture? However, Relevance Theory also predicts that if people have to invest more effort into comprehending the message than they believe is warranted by the benefits they gain from this investment, they become frustrated. Examples of low-context cultures include the United States, Australia, and many European countries. Germans tend to think and argue deductively, using theoretical knowledge to build an argument. Small families with a focus on the parent-children relationship rather than aunts and uncles are most common. It can imply understanding or agreement, but it can also mean their conversea lack of certainty. An example of Germans tentative disposition toward the unknown is the countrys mentality towards Internet privacy. The fundamental issue here is what motivates people, wanting to be the best (Masculine) or liking what you do (Feminine).
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