germany high or low context culture

Cultural map of the world according to the World Values Survey, describing Germany as high in "Rational-Secular Values" and low in "Self Expression Values" Germany is a modern, advanced society, . It is mandatory to procure user consent prior to running these cookies on your website. Low-context countries, on the other hand, relied more on linear processes and verbal communication. As we discuss culture, we are making generalizations to create cultural prototypes. "@AutisticCoach_ Autism is universal but our struggles and disabilities aren't, they are affected by the culture. Those with a culture which scores high, on the other hand, take a more pragmatic approach: they encourage thrift and efforts in modern education as a way to prepare for the future. Edward T. Hall describes low-context culture as one in which: most of the information is either in the explicit code or readily available elsewhere (Hall, 1976). Another source of variation is consumers' cultural background; namely, their context culture, as the next section will explain. A message does not have one given complexity; what is complex to one person is not necessarily complex to another. The present study is the first of its kind to test one of the central claims of context theory: namely, that complex messages are perceived as less complex and are better liked in higher-context than in lower-context cultures. This is where the study of cultural dimensions is useful. A high score (Masculine) on this dimension indicates that the society will be driven by competition, achievement and success, with success being defined by the winner / best in field a value system that starts in school and continues throughout organisational life. If empirical support for the role of context-cultures scores is to be found, it would considerably strengthen the notion of context culture as a perspective to study cultural differences and similarities in advertising and communication. German society also stresses compartmentalizing personal and professional lives in this pursuit of success. Some ideas are better understood when left unsaid. The work of Hofstede is data-driven: nations have been given precise numerical scores on cultural dimensions on the basis of empirical research. It describes the level of explicit information and the importance of context in a given culture, indicating the range of communicative abilities (verbal messages, gestures, etc.) b'K/{:6 ,eQ_`RYHS9pkRg91o)?OM8u}Vo0~8m Neuliup, J. W. (2011). (The Netherlands is the referent category.). Metaphors, whether verbal or visual, are rhetorical figures that may have a high degree of complexity (e.g., McQuarrie & Mick, Citation1996; Phillips & McQuarrie, Citation2004). It is understood that advertising messages targeted at audiences from different parts of the world do not always travel, which increases the need for adapting messages across the globe instead of standardizing them (e.g., Agrawal, Citation1995; Hornikx & O'Keefe, Citation2009; La Ferle, Edwards, & Lee, Citation2008). Why is managing Cultural Diversity important? The current study is the first empirical examination of context theory's role on message comprehension and appreciation. Learn more about our academic and editorial standards. 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). In general, both Germany and the U.S. are low-context cultures, meaning that information and meaning are usually communicated explicitly through words. The Nine Competencies that Characterize an IEP, Strategies to Increase your IEP[footnote]Deardorff, D. K. (2012). Localization Strategy Guide The Cultural Dimensions of Germany, unwillingness to reveal personal information. When working with high context cultures repeat yourself less, ask clarifying questions often and work on . 45-52). Cultures can, therefore, be described as Indulgent or Restrained. Finally, it is expected that the effect predicted in H3 is mediated by participants' context-culture scores (H4): H3: Participants from a higher-context culture like ads with visual metaphors better than participants from a lower-context culture. Recommended articles lists articles that we recommend and is powered by our AI driven recommendation engine. /T?KrGM7IL];K7,~`}b`x2Zp|yMkX1h1s]0;Vq4{i `{DXB=1 u`sBY.I43VO9#"43puz qAZf6I'a^OD. German directness is a particularly noticeable cultural standard. 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. Low-context cultures are less stable than high-context cultures as they are not founded upon any shared background. Similarly, ad liking was higher for Belgian than for Dutch participants, and again, this difference was explained by context score. Jobs are changed infrequently (long-term thinking); labor laws support job stability and make it difficult to dismiss people. 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. These countries were selected because they are similar in many respects, but differ in context culture. Croucher, S., Bruno, A, McGrath, P, Adams, C, McGahan, C, Suits, A & Huckins, A. Small families with a focus on the parent-children relationship rather than aunts and uncles are most common. Put it in writing. Privacy Policy. The methodological problem of this approach is that potential differences in comprehension and appreciation cannot be empirically attributed to context culture, but only to the broader notion of nationality. London: Routledge. n Low context This is also reflected by the law system. The Belgian participants had a higher context score (M = 3.07, SD = 0.49, n = 174) than the Dutch participants (M = 2.92, SD = 0.52, n =.115). However, in conflict situations, Germans often defend their position strongly and loudly (independent of job level). In such circumstances, recipients are persuaded by other elements in the message for which comprehension is less relevant. More responsibility; moving up in the company; time off (as monetary rewards are taxed at a very high rate). In the 21 st century, Germany has been key in developing analytic philosophy in Europe together with nations such as France, Scandinavian states, Switzerland, and Austria. Their communication is often indirect and requires a nuanced understanding, so outsiders might find it more difficult to enter their culture. Their communication is less-task oriented, and their decision-making is driven by relationships, shared experiences, and emotions. According to Hall's high-/low-context theory, cultures differ in their preferences for indirect, implicit messages versus direct, explicit messages. Therefore, communicators who wish to transmit information to a recipient are presumably motivated to construct their messages in a way that the recipient will understand and consider to be informative (Wyer & Shrum, Citation2015, p. 186). Communication Differences in Low-Context vs. High-Context Cultures, Comparing Communication Styles in Low- and High-Context Cultures, Additional Resources for Determining Cultural Contexts, Ethnocentrism and Cross-Cultural Competence, Additional Resources for Understanding Trompenaars Dimensions, Three Prototypes: Dignity, Face, and Honor Cultures, Ethnocentrism, Culture Shock, and Cultural Relativism. A person's culture shapes their beliefs, as well as the way they express themselves through communication. The mean scores for perceived complexity and ad liking were submitted to regression analyses for the direct effect of nationality on perceived complexity (H1) and ad liking (H3). (_CC 1. 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). There is a strong preference for a direct communication style. People may say, you are wrong. Germanys need for structure is again seen in its moderately high uncertainty avoidance. We also use third-party cookies that help us analyze and understand how you use this website. Germans tend to think and argue deductively, using theoretical knowledge to build an argument. After completing this chapter, you will be able to: Now that we know, broadly, what culture is, lets discuss some ways to categorize aspects of different cultures. When it comes to the role of context culture on liking, a linear regression first showed that nationality predicted ad liking (F (1, 287) = 4.39, p =.037, R2 =.01; B =.206, SE =.098): Belgian participants (M = 4.33, SD = 0.77) liked the ads better than the Dutch participants (M = 4.13, SD = 0.89). Examples of high-context cultures include Japan, Korea, and India. Importantly, the current study examines this classification empirically by assessing individual context scores in both cultures. High-context cultures are those in which the rules of communication are primarily transmitted through the use of contextual elements (i.e., body language, a person's status, and tone of voice). This methodological issue is not unique; Cardon (Citation2008), in his review of papers on context culture and communication, also noted that context culture was measured at the individual level in only a minority of studies. 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. 6e`pS"\wFR-O/XXdg%8a'Gz:A9=w5G>+1 ) . Belgian participants have a higher ad liking than Dutch participants, and this national difference is explained by the participants' personal context score. That is, people from a low-context culture are expected to have more difficulties in comprehending complex messages and, consequently, to appreciate them less than people from a high-context culture. South Korea. 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. In Collectivist societies people belong to in groups that take care of them in exchange for loyalty. Low-context and high-context culture are anthropological concepts that describe the level of explicit information and the importance of context in a culture's communication. In low-context cultures, people are said to prefer explicit, task-related language. Your email address will not be published. EJ]?SGfekI NTj\*5~RGzN%#QeOJkLPvYwA9xCk9?FM~0xtCxjg-G3'Uw?g`#IcN!Yr%{U4`8sDUTEP^ Many aspects of cultural behavior are not made explicit because most members know what . In other words, messages should not be too complex. They often use written contracts and agreements to clarify expectations (Gudykunst & Ting-Toomey, 1988). The socio- . Information is transmitted not through words alone but also through non-verbal cues such as gestures, voice inflection, and facial expression, which can have different meanings in different cultures. (Citation2010) also investigated perceived complexity and liking of visual metaphors in advertising among participants from the same three countries. That is, the more benefits they expect, the more willing they are to invest in processing the message. The upper half of the figure models the relationship between receiver nationality and perceived complexity of the message. Hosted by Sabrina Tavernise. Learn more about how Pressbooks supports open publishing practices. 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. When it comes to complex messages in the advertising domain, though, there have been empirical studies that based their expectations on context theory. These great minds from Germany have come up with . They assume that listeners know very little and must be told practically everything. Formal/Reserved which score low on this dimension, for example, prefer to maintain time-honoured traditions and norms while viewing societal change with suspicion. This means that Germans tend to pay more attention to the literal meaning of words than to the context surrounding them. Strong analytical orientation. A Feminine society is one where quality of life is the sign of success and standing out from the crowd is not admirable. All articles are edited by a PhD level academic. Power Distance is defined as the extent to which the less powerful members of institutions and organisations within a country expect and accept that power is distributed unequally. Which one of the following countries is considered a low context culture? Your email address will not be published. Emotions are discredited as unprofessional; in a business context, trust and credibility are developed through suppression of emotions; tendency to be more emotionally expressive with family and friends, particularly in southern Germany. Blunt, pragmatic communication styles will be effective in Germany. Details are equally important to create certainty that a certain topic or project is well-thought-out. Two studies have empirically tested this expectation. 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). Based on their fact-orientation, they may appear confrontational and overly critical. Repeat key points. Hall defines intercultural communication as a form of communication that shares information across different cultures and social groups. brH!|QZi4 0L9~eJ_cTwxme%$ GJN. This work deals with the most common leadership theories in due consideration of their applicability in high- and low-context cultures, more precisely with the leadership styles which are mainly being used Turkey and Germany. Even if not stated exactly, a speaker's intent will rarely be misunderstood. Consensus-finding; thorough decision-making phase is followed by swift implementation phase. In communication theories, the important role of comprehension has been acknowledged. endstream endobj 316 0 obj <>stream In other words, people communicate explicitly in low-context cultures. Note: Comparison of low- and high-context cultures reprinted from Business communication: Process & product (p. 64) by M.E. The context refers to the information, with regards to communication and cultural issues conveyed via action, behavior, or speech. Unlike low-context cultures, high-context cultures prioritize the group over the individual (Hofstede, 1984). When it comes to the role of context culture on perceived complexity, a linear regression showed, in the first place, that nationality predicted perceived complexity (F (1, 287) = 4.48, p =.035, R2 =.01; B = .216, SE =.102, p =.035): Belgian participants (M = 3.28, SD = 0.86) perceived the ads as less complex than the Dutch participants (M = 3.49, SD = 0.83). Hall observed that "meaning and context are inextricably bound up with each other" (Hall, 2000, p. 36), and suggested that to understand communication one should look at meaning and context together with the code (i.e., the words themselves).By context, we refer to the situation, background, or environment connected to an event, a situation, or . Eye contact, for example, which is encouraged in North America, may have ambiguous meaning or be considered disrespectful in certain high-context cultures. Based off those dimensions, there are several cultural aspects of German society that are of great importance when creating a localization strategy. It ranks third in both total exports and imports, and has a strong economy that is the largest in Europe and the 5th largest in the world. Highly decentralised and supported by a strong middle class, Germany is not surprisingly among the lower power distant countries (score 35). Map of German language usage: German in Germany, Austria and Switzerland. 8:00AM and 16:00PM CEST In the second half, we will explain how context theory is related to people's comprehension of messages, leading to the hypotheses of the current study. Anchor Press/Doubleday. As a result, context theory predicts complex messages containing visual metaphors to be better understood and to be better appreciated in high- rather than in low-context cultures. Hornikx & Van Meurs, Citation2015). Goodwill Messages and Recommendations. Intentions not explicitly stated can often be inferred from the context. According to Hall's context theory, people from different cultures may react differently to complex messages. Strict application of formal rules without much attention to context. To become successful as a cross-cultural communicator in Germany: As Lowrey (Citation2008, p. 173, italics in original) argued: The important issue is the recognition that complexity effects occur in the individual. When we refer to the complexity of a message in this article, we therefore also refer to the comprehension of the message by the receiver. He studied English literature at the University of Delhi and Jawaharlal Nehru University. Want to create or adapt books like this? The frequent use of complex ads can be best understood when these ads are conceptualized as messages with rhetorical figures, such as visual metaphors (Forceville, Citation1996; Phillips, Citation1997). 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. Focus on accomplishing tasks one at a time and sequentially. 3~_9!1JLW? WC "9T$8jKX@N>@\b}16#Q{E82J7gxQWk7&nr^VRjxL%%o7%os ^URt_aOewb,im_ole)hdc|LE<6%E4TEo o@ W Germany has a "low context culture"; the information which is made explicit is extensive. Exact Time This study focuses on two Western European countries: Belgium and the Netherlands. The lower part of Figure1 models the relationship between receiver nationality and ad appreciation. This result supported H3 (see the lower part of Figure2). This dimension is defined as the extent to which people try to control their desires and impulses, based on the way they were raised. In a business context, maintaining good relationships is second to getting the facts straight. About half of the participants were female (56%). Intercultural Business Communication by Confederation College is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License, except where otherwise noted. Which of the following statements best describes a larger power distance. Second, it seems useful to conduct conceptual replications of this kind of study with other complex ads that do not contain visual metaphors, but instead contain other complex message characteristics. There is an aversion to letting the future take its course. While there is still an emphasis on enjoying oneself and having fun, the overarching mentality for many is live to work. Sage Publications. More recent persuasion models, such as the Elaboration Likelihood Model (ELM; Petty & Cacioppo, Citation1986) and the Heuristic-Systematic Model (HSM; Chaiken, Citation1987), have nuanced the role of comprehension. Register a free Taylor & Francis Online account today to boost your research and gain these benefits: The Influence of High-/Low-Context Culture on Perceived Ad Complexity and Liking, Centre for Language Studies, Communication and Information Studies, Radboud University Nijmegen, Nijmegen, the Netherlands, Review of a 40-source debate in international advertising: Practitioner and academician perspectives to the standardization/adaptation issue, Ease of message processing as a moderator of repetition effects in advertising, The moderator-mediator variable distinction in social psychological research: Conceptual, strategic, and statistical considerations, The predictive validity of multiple-item versus single-item measures of the same constructs, Implicit meaning in visual print advertisements: A cross-cultural examination of the contextual communication effect, A critique of Hall's contexting model: A meta-analysis of literature on intercultural business and technical communication, How to persuade Belgian, French and Dutch business people to listen to your presentation, Beyond Baron and Kenny: Statistical mediation analysis in the new millennium, A new approach to country segmentation utilizing multinational diffusion patterns, Conducting experiments on cultural aspects of document design: Why and how, Adapting consumer advertising appeals to cultural values: A meta-analytic review of effects on persuasiveness and ad liking, Foreign language display in advertising from a psycholinguistic and sociolinguistic perspective: A review and research agenda, High- versus low-context culture: A comparison of Chinese, Korean, and American cultures, Beyond culture or beyond control?

Install Greenbone Vulnerability Manager, When Did Communion On The Tongue Begin, Who Owns Nest Seekers International, Pelham, Ga Funeral Home Obituaries, Meyer Lansky Nephew Robbie, Articles G