germany high or low context culturegermany high or low context culture

Virtual programme Cross-Cultural Management, The Multi-Focus Model on Organisational Culture. Low-context communication aspires to get straight to the point. Intercultural Business Communication by Confederation College is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License, except where otherwise noted. 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). We used 2-item scales for perceived ad complexity and ad liking because participants had to assess these constructs for 12 different ads. The red line (Benrath-Linie) divides Low German and Middle German. Democratic ideal; large middle class; long tradition of Mitbestimmung (employee co-determination), but respect for organizational hierarchy. They rely less on the shared values/assumptions of the group and the context of the situation. IOR collects cookies to improve your experience on our website. Their communication is often indirect and requires a nuanced understanding, so outsiders might find it more difficult to enter their culture. All details are transmitted explicitly. Le Pair and Van Mulken (Citation2008) examined the perceived complexity and appreciation of ads with metaphors in France, Spain (both relatively high-context cultures), and the Netherlands (a relatively low-context culture). From Relevance Theory (Sperber & Wilson, Citation1995) and the resource-matching hypothesis (e.g., Larsen etal., Citation2004), we know that, for visual metaphors in particular, the relationship between comprehension and persuasion is nonlinear: with an increase in complexity, persuasion also increases up to a point where it starts to decrease. The German society is a truly Individualist one (67). i~^/NGu8Oc$j*$hd$BC+ji.9mkK"B?0m`d()-r//JQ ?7M!7|Q]pTX6w9 Framework: Intercultural model. Self-motivation and personal identity are important values to Germans. The Lavin Agency Speakers Bureau. Therefore, empirical evidence was also found for H4, which means that participants' personal context scores indeed mediated the effect of nationality on ad liking. As a preliminary test, we first checked whether Belgian participants indeed scored higher on their personal context score than Dutch participants. High Context Culture vs Low Context Culture: Communication - TechTello Carolyn Meyer (2017)[4]discusses the prototypes for communication in low-context and high-context cultures: Communicators in low-context cultures (such as those in Germany, Scandinavia, and North America) convey their meaning exclusive of the context of a situation. Importantly, the current study examines this classification empirically by assessing individual context scores in both cultures. 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 . In high-context cultures, communication cues are transmitted by posture, voice inflection, gestures, and facial expression. 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. Characteristics of HC and LC Communication. people generally use. You can find his work on The Print, Live Wire, and YouTube. Rather than valuing positions that are based on family connections or age, Germans prefer to put trust in those who demonstrate experience and vast knowledge. Low-context cultures can seem slightly more formal due to the explicit & precise nature of their messages. According to Hall's context theory, people from different cultures may react differently to complex messages. Honesty is also valued highly because German communication as a whole is incredibly low-context. )&ucLHDcgVX In. There are smaller communities and specific settings within national/linguistic cultures, and they may exhibit different communication patterns. When working with high context cultures repeat yourself less, ask clarifying questions often and work on . High-context cultures, on the other hand, depend on both the spoken words and the context of the situationincluding the shared values/assumptions of the groupto convey meaning. Full article: The Influence of High-/Low-Context Culture on Perceived aV )I~Wo='h6&XY+]fo)'M@y~. A message does not have one given complexity; what is complex to one person is not necessarily complex to another. 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. The Belgian students were sampled from the Dutch-speaking part of the country: Flanders. The difference between High and Low Context Culture is that Low Context Cultures (Individualistic Cultures) do not need a lot of additional (Contextual) information to engage in " communication ". 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). While there is still an emphasis on enjoying oneself and having fun, the overarching mentality for many is live to work. Small families with a focus on the parent-children relationship rather than aunts and uncles are most common. To learn about our use of cookies and how you can manage your cookie settings, please see our Cookie Policy. High and Low Context Xu & Wyer, Citation2010), or foreign languages (cf. D.u{Tet&q3b Edited by Liz O. Baylen and Mike Benoist. Guffey, M. E., Lowey, D., Rhodes, K., & Rogin, P. (2013). Bill McDermott, the CEO of SAP, details his methodology when he began working with the German company, saying, When I present to a U.S. audience, I try to inspire them quickly, get them engaged right from the beginning. 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. London: Routledge. They also displayed pictures of individuals, while high-context websites foregrounded group pictures. United States Le Pair and Van Mulken (Citation2008, p. 289) stress that their choice to relate the findings on ad liking to participants' context culture is a tentative explanation, and Callow and Schiffman (Citation2002, p. 274) acknowledge, It would also be advantageous to measure context at an individualas opposed to a culturallevel.. Being autistic seem to be a lot easier in low context cultures (USA, Germany) and a lot harder in high context cultures (France, Japan)." The questionnaire ended with items on nationality, gender, age, and education. 8:00AM and 16:00PM CEST The ages ranged from 17 to 25 (M = 20.94, SD = 1.78). This is why complex messages are sometimes more effective than less complex messages. 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. One framework for approaching intercultural communication is with high-context and low-context cultures, which . 17 Germany is an excellent example for a low context country as its population is commonly known for its direct way of stating opinions and its logical, almost emotionless . (2013)[2]explain the concept of cultural context: Cultural context is a concept developed by cultural anthropologist Edward T. Hall. Scheduling, punctuality emphasized; time is a commodity not to be wasted, Equality Germany, Sweden, and the United States are generally classified as low-context cultures. A conclusion may be implied but not argued directly. Potential characteristics may be verbal metaphors (cf. Also, in contrast to Indulgent societies, Restrained societies do not put much emphasis on leisure time and control the gratification of their desires. While a lot of resources are in the realm of international relations and business, there are some valuable high and low context culture lessons to glean for community engagement. A number of experimental studies have presented results that are in line with predictions from Relevance Theory. Such measures would allow a basis for effectively contrasting cultures and would allow for replication and extension studies.. A number of scholars have claimed that the comprehension and interpretation of visual metaphors in particular may differ between cultures (e.g., Kvecses, Citation2005; Le Pair & Van Mulken, Citation2008; McQuarrie & Mick, Citation1999; Van Mulken etal., Citation2010). However, scholars have noted an increase in the use of complex advertisements; for instance, through visual images (Phillips, Citation1997; Scott, Citation1993). It will be based on the book entitled The Culture Map by an INSEAD professor and cross-cultural specialist Erin Meyer. This concept was first advanced by Edward T. Hall in the 1950s. 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. This morning on Sky's Sophy Ridge on Sunday, nurses union leader Pat Cullen attacked the government over its failure to give RCN members a decent pay rise as Transport Secretary Mark Harper . When it comes to complex messages in the advertising domain, though, there have been empirical studies that based their expectations on context theory. It should be noted that the present study cannot rule out a potential role of the participants' study background, as we did not assess this in the questionnaire. Based off those dimensions, there are several cultural aspects of German society that are of great importance when creating a localization strategy. People understand many things that are left unsaid. 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. High and low context cultures were a concept that emerged from anthropology in the 1950s and became more prevalent starting in the 1990s. In combination with their low Power Distance, where the certainty for own decisions is not covered by the larger responsibility of the boss, Germans prefer to compensate for their higher uncertainty by strongly relying on expertise. Examples of high-context cultures include Japan, Korea, and India. 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. 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. Repeat key points. New empirical studies should be conducted with other countries than Belgium and the Netherlands in order to empirically examine Hall's theoretical classification of high- and low-context cultures. This is especially true when it comes to business dealings. 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. With its first empirical demonstration of the role of context culture on comprehension and persuasion, the current study suggests that using Hall's context theory may be a fruitful way of thinking about adapting messages to diverse cultural audiences. Necessary cookies are absolutely essential for the website to function properly. In absolute terms, the differences between the Belgian and Dutch participants in the comprehension and liking scores were small. jCA(/pq/2?$O-@$h8KYGd N. Two Types of Reflective Writing Assignments, Additional Resources for Improving Writing, Consistency in comparatives and listed elements: Parallelism, A Note on Punctuating the End of List Items, Hofstede Insights country comparison tool, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9oYfhTC9lIQ, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zQvqDv4vbEg, https://www.sagepub.com/sites/default/files/upm-binaries/42958_2_The_Cultural_Context.pdf, Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License, Tend to prefer indirect verbal interaction, Tend to understand meaning at one level only, Tend to understand meanings embedded at many sociocultural levels, Are generally less proficient in reading nonverbal cues, Are generally more proficient in reading nonverbal cues, Communication in highly structured messages, provide details, stress literal meaning, Communication is simple, sometimes ambiguous, messages; understand visual messages readily, Define cultural context (Guffey et al., 2013, p. 64), Contrast communicate styles for low-context and high-context cultures (Meyer, 2017, p. 59), Explain how cultural differences can affect workplace communication (Lavin Agency Speakers Bureau, 2014). The dimension Uncertainty Avoidance has to do with the way that a society deals with the fact that the future can never be known: should we try to control the future or just let it happen? Many low context cultures are individualist so people openly express their views, and tend to make important information obvious to others. Getting the message across. The terms low-context and high-context usually refer to language groups or nationalities. Universalism The visual in the ad displays a piece of clothing with blue liquid detergent in the form of a crocodile attacking a brown, coffee-like stain. Instead of doubling down on the tried and true method of fossil fuel power, however, Germany has launched a massive clean-energy revolution. Relevance Theory has been successful in explaining findings related to comprehension and persuasion of metaphors. 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. B`%~Prj_G:r`m^1&[3PfX$]#b?UoZs43avM"M iwz|t&GEyea;Nu;Y;VNv3'k[dX@^kN+Vd4.?BBSKeA{x/ Uyg"] )1MQS z6lx{(7x*g6'lfD2q9up q61M 0.R Based on their insights into Hall's context theory and the Dutch and Belgian (communication) culture, cross-cultural communication scholars Gerritsen and Claes (Gerritsen, Citation2002; Claes & Gerritsen, Citation2011) indicate that Belgium is a medium-context culture, and the Netherlands a low-context culture. German families are prone to center mostly on their immediate relatives, which stands in contrast to collectivist cultures. Which countries have low context. Managers are expected to be decisive and assertive. When communicating, senders would seem to be most successful if their recipients understand them. Guffey, D. Lowey, K. Rhodes, K., & P. Rogin. H2: Participants' personal context scores mediate the effect of nationality on perceived complexity. Robin Bargheon on Twitter 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). By considering each of these dimensions, youll be able to create a localization strategy that focuses on key elements of German society. Similarly, ad liking was higher for Belgian than for Dutch participants, and again, this difference was explained by context score. What is an Interculturally Effective Person (IEP)? Due to this shared understanding, high-context cultures are slightly more informal. A message that is too simple or too difficult to understand is therefore expected to be less persuasive than a message with matching resources. Low vs. high context . Metaphors, whether verbal or visual, are rhetorical figures that may have a high degree of complexity (e.g., McQuarrie & Mick, Citation1996; Phillips & McQuarrie, Citation2004). Produced by Will Reid and Michael Simon Johnson. In total, 289 students participated in this comparative survey-based study. A principal component analysis did not lead to a more reliable scale. General information Belgian participants have a lower perceived complexity than Dutch participants, and this national difference is explained by the participants' personal context score. 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. A direct and participative communication and meeting style is common, control is disliked and leadership is challenged to show expertise and best accepted when its based on it. $suH\ Likewise, large numbers of studies have measured cultural values on participants' level to examine how these values relate to other variables (for an overview of such studies, see Soares, Farhangmehr, & Shoham, Citation2007; Taras, Kirkman, & Steel, Citation2010). 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. 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). Since they value collectivism and interdependence, it makes sense that their communication requires an understanding of the communitys shared values. Unlike low-context cultures, high-context cultures prioritize the group over the individual (Hofstede, 1984). Hall's cultural factors - Changing minds A Chinese living in Germany - A reflection on cultural differences (_CC Individual Orientation [emailprotected], Technical Support 9. The review process on Helpful Professor involves having a PhD level expert fact check, edit, and contribute to articles. Brings out best in individual; challenges to produce best possible outcome, yet a strong sense of collaboration persists, Task Orientation Examples of low-context cultures include Germany, the United States, and Australia. All the advice on this site is general in nature. 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 use of short scales is consistent with recommendations in the marketing literature (Bergkvist & Rossiter, Citation2007). These cookies do not store any personal information. In his model, context refers to the stimuli, environment, or ambiance surrounding an event. Each participant judged all ads in the same order. Low-Context Culture Communication & Examples - Study.com Communication Research Reports. Coming from a high context culture, I found the German colleagues too wordy when writing minutes of meeting and focus too much on details in discussions. Examples of high-context cultures include China, India, and many non-Western societies. High Context Culture: What Does It Mean and How to Adapt Greetings are formal and tend to include academic titles (Guten Morgen, Frau Doktor Faust). In public, space is less of a physical concept: people bump into each other in the street and push others when queuing; it is more a concept of the mind. 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.) (1971). These relationships are relevant to the hypotheses. He studied English literature at the University of Delhi and Jawaharlal Nehru University. Strict application of formal rules without much attention to context. A person's culture shapes their beliefs, as well as the way they express themselves through communication. It will examine whether it is indeed people's individual context score that affects the degree of comprehension and liking of complex messages. She found out that in high-context countries, the advertising campaigns used more colors, movements, and sounds to provide context. The effect size is small, but what matters is the relationship between personal context score, on the one hand, and perceived complexity and ad liking on the other. In a high-context culture, there are many contextual elements that help people to understand the rules. While some cultures are low or high context, in general terms, there can also be individual or contextual differences within cultures. There is a strong belief in the ideal of self-actualization. Communicating With High- and Low-Context Cultures Comfort with structure. Those in management are expected to have both, while also keeping an open mind to respectful critiques and challenges. However, no country is low-context or high-context in absolute terms; instead, there is a mix of explicit & implicit communication everywhere. Many aspects of cultural behavior are not made explicit because most members know what . (2012). 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. These countries were selected because they are similar in many respects, but differ in context culture. This, in turn, may make employers (particularly of smaller companies) very cautious and selective when hiring people. That is, the more benefits they expect, the more willing they are to invest in processing the message. 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. Also remember that although cultures are different from one another, no culture or cultural characteristic is better or worse than any other. Although context theory has been a dominant perspective in studying cultural differences and similarities in advertising and communication, the theory has received only very limited empirical attention (Cardon, Citation2008; Kittler etal., Citation2011). This actually implies that context theory is a powerful explanation for differences in perceived complexity and liking of ads. =AUj/9B Xxbhn%nH4o Theoretical model of the role of context culture in perceived complexity and liking of ads. They rely less on context & non-verbal cues and instead convey meaning more directly. 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). This dimension describes how every society has to maintain some links with its own past while dealing with the challenges of the present and future, and societies prioritise these two existential goals differently. Did you know that with a free Taylor & Francis Online account you can gain access to the following benefits? 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? In, Meyer, C. (2017). Use our contact page or 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). Required fields are marked *, This Article was Last Expert Reviewed on March 15, 2023 by Chris Drew, PhD. Yet, relatively little is known about how affordances provided by social media platforms affect whether and how users express political opinions. Understanding German business culture and communication customs In such circumstances, a less complex message is more effective. First, it is expected that participants from a higher-context culture will like the complex ad better than participants from a lower-context culture (H3). hbspt.cta._relativeUrls=true;hbspt.cta.load(3356907, 'f3c79a54-94fa-4875-95d8-58d85fe04dc8', {"useNewLoader":"true","region":"na1"}); St. Patricks Day, cable-knit wool sweaters, and lush, green rolling landscapes are what people Read More, How people communicate with one another varies wildly from culture to culture.