Analysis of Cultural Differences and their Effects on Marketing Products in the United States of America and Germany with a Focus on Cultural Theories of Hall and Hofstede

Bachelor Thesis , 2012 , 77 Pages , Grade: 1.7

Business economics - Offline Marketing and Online Marketing

This thesis aims at analysing cultural differences and their effect on marketing
products internationally. The United States of America and Germany are used to
exemplify this issue. Today’s science provides numerous approaches to making
cultural differences visible and tangible. All of these solutions and dimensions
give companies, and people in general, a guide to becoming aware of and understand
differences and how to cope with them appropriately.
Trompenaars, a famous consultant for intercultural communication, uses the allegory
of a fish and its habitat, water, to explain the characteristics of culture: “A
fish only discovers its need for water when it is no longer in it.”2 Accordingly,
culture can be seen as the substance that surrounds a human being and makes him
unable to distinguish between different and normal. Therefore, this thesis uses the
cultural theories of Edward T. Hall and Geert Hofstede, who both developed approaches
to cultural differences by using either a four- or five-dimensions model.
These cultural dimensions will be applied to the special circumstances and conditions
which a marketer has to deal with in the United States and Germany and
thus draws connections between those two different fields of science.
As already mentioned in section 1.1, cultural differences play an important role in
today’s international marketing. It is therefore important to examine if and how
cultural differences, according to Hall and Hofstede, affect parts of the marketing
mix for companies selling products in the United States as well as in Germany.
The following questions can help to identify the necessary steps: What cultural
differences, in both the United States and in Germany, could have an impact on
marketing the products of companies selling in those countries? What impact do
cultural differences have on parts of the marketing mix? Which adaptions should marketers make to their marketing mix due to the cultural differences? Is standardisation
a successful method in both international markets? The answers should
help the marketer make the right choice between adapting products to local circumstances
or selling and marketing the same product all around the world. This
thesis will attempt to answer these questions by applying the above-mentioned
cultural theories, and will provide suggestions for how companies from the USA
or Germany should conceive parts of their marketing mix. It will further provide
examples of culture–related marketing efforts.

Table of content:

LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS:

LIST OF TABLES AND FIGURES:

1. INTRODUCTION
1.1. PROBLEM DESCRIPTION
1.2. OBJECTIVES AND SCOPE OF WORK

2. THEORETICAL FUNDAMENTALS OF CULTURES
2.1. ORIGIN OF CULTURE AND DEFINITION OF DIFFERENT TERMS
2.2. GENERAL OVERVIEW OF CULTURAL THEORIES
2.3. CULTURE-RELATED BARRIERS TO INTERNATIONAL MARKETING

3. CULTURAL THEORIES AS A TOOL TO VISUALISE CULTURAL DIFFERENCES
3.1. USE OF MODELS AND DIMENSIONS IN INTERCULTURAL STUDIES
3.2. HALL’S CROSS-CULTURAL COMMUNICATION MODEL
3.2.1.Scope of Hall’s model
3.2.2.Cross-cultural communication dimensions
3.2.2.1. Context
3.2.2.2. Space
3.2.2.3. Time
3.2.2.4. Speed of Information
3.3. HOFSTEDE’S 5 DIMENSIONS MODEL
3.3.1.Scope of Hofstede’s 5 dimensions model
3.3.2.The 5 dimensions
3.3.2.1. Power distance index
3.3.2.2. Individualism versus Collectivism
3.3.2.3. Masculinity versus Femininity
3.3.2.4. Uncertainty avoidance
3.3.2.5. Long-term orientation
3.4. THE AMERICAN AND GERMAN CULTURES ACCORDING TO HALL AND HOFSTEDE
3.5. CRITIQUE OF THE THEORIES OF HALL AND HOFSTEDE

4. MARKETING ACROSS CULTURES
4.1. CONCEPT OF INTERNATIONAL MARKETING
4.1.1.Distinction between different geographical marketing terms
4.1.2.Standardisation vs. adaptation
4.2. CULTURAL DIFFERENCES AND THEIR EFFECT ON THE MARKETING MIX
4.2.1.Scope of cultural influences on parts of the marketing mix
4.2.2.Influence of culture on advertising
4.2.3.Examples of culture-related American and German advertising
4.2.4.Influence of culture on distribution
4.2.5.Wal-Mart as a negative example of cross-cultural distribution

5. CONCLUSION
5.1. ACHIEVEMENT OF GOALS
5.2. OUTLOOK AND PERSPECTIVES

BIBLIOGRAPHY

List of Abbreviations:

illustration not visible in this excerpt

List of Tables and Figures:

Table 1: “Characteristics of m-time vs. p-time cultures” p

Table 2: “Fast vs. slow messages”

Table 3: “Power distance index”

Table 4: “Individualism vs. collectivism”

Table 5: “Masculinity vs. femininity”

Table 6: “Uncertainty avoidance”

Table 7: “Long-term orientation”

Table 8: “Expenditures on advertising of the 20 largest advertising markets”

Figure 1: The Iceberg Concept of Culture,

Figure 2: Process of Cross-Cultural Communication,

Figure 3: The context factor in cross-cultural communication,

Figure 4: Similarities and differences between the USA and Germany,

Figure 5: Relationship between culture and standardisation,

Figure 6: Continuum of standardisation vs. adaptation,

Figure 7: Nike advertising “Just Do It”,

Figure 8: Nike advertising “My Assault”,

Figure 9: Nike advertising “I am the Bullet”,

Figure 10: Nike advertising “My Time is Now”,

Figure 11: Langnese advertising,

Figure 12: Coke Light German advertising,

Figure 13: Acura advertising,

Figure 14: Audi advertising Q7,

Figure 15: Hummer advertising,

Figure 16: Pantene advertising,

Figure 17: McDonalds advertising,

Figure 18: Audi advertising website,

1. Introduction

1.1. Problem description

“Companies that do not adapt to the new global realities will become victims of those that do.”¹

In this quote Theodor Levitt, a former professor at the Harvard Business School, makes clear that companies all over the world have had to face a process which has changed the way they do business in many ways. This process, called globali- sation, carries advantages as well as disadvantages, not only for the business world but also for nearly every person in the world. The importance of facing globalisation has always been there, but it has increased with the evolving stages of globalisation. Ever since this process started companies have tried to use the advantages of globalisation while at the same time dealing with the disadvantages. For marketers in particular, this process seems to offer a lot of potential for ex- ploring new markets and customers. However, the questions determining the suc- cess or failure of a marketing campaign are more complex than in domestic mar- keting. Accordingly, the terms international and global marketing are strongly connected to globalisation and have become a key factor for the success of com- panies. Corporations that want to belong to these successful multi-national com- panies (MNC) or global players certainly have to deal with the different issues that come along with marketing products in other countries. These can have a sig- nificant impact on international operations, but also on the overall performance of a company.

Since a company’s approach to these issues determines the success or failure of marketing a product abroad, these situations have to be addressed at an early stage. Among others, cultural differences are one of the major obstacles that have to be addressed when marketing products internationally. Every culture has its own individual values, behaviours, way of thinking, lifestyle and languages which make it unique. Accordingly, companies have the possibilities of dealing with this process in two different ways. In the first, standardisation, an identical marketing plan is used across different cultures while in the second, adaptation, appropriate adjustments are made to the special cultural environment of the target market. For a marketer it is therefore important to be aware of these differences and to use the right tools to market products successfully in multiple, varied cultural environ- ments.

1.2. Objectives and scope of work

This thesis aims at analysing cultural differences and their effect on marketing products internationally. The United States of America and Germany are used to exemplify this issue. Today’s science provides numerous approaches to making cultural differences visible and tangible. All of these solutions and dimensions give companies, and people in general, a guide to becoming aware of and understand differences and how to cope with them appropriately.

Trompenaars, a famous consultant for intercultural communication, uses the alle- gory of a fish and its habitat, water, to explain the characteristics of culture: “A fish only discovers its need for water when it is no longer in it.”² Accordingly, culture can be seen as the substance that surrounds a human being and makes him unable to distinguish between different and normal. Therefore, this thesis uses the cultural theories of Edward T. Hall and Geert Hofstede, who both developed ap- proaches to cultural differences by using either a four- or five-dimensions model. These cultural dimensions will be applied to the special circumstances and condi- tions which a marketer has to deal with in the United States and Germany and thus draws connections between those two different fields of science.

As already mentioned in section 1.1, cultural differences play an important role in today’s international marketing. It is therefore important to examine if and how cultural differences, according to Hall and Hofstede, affect parts of the marketing mix for companies selling products in the United States as well as in Germany. The following questions can help to identify the necessary steps: What cultural differences, in both the United States and in Germany, could have an impact on marketing the products of companies selling in those countries? What impact do cultural differences have on parts of the marketing mix? Which adaptions should marketers make to their marketing mix due to the cultural differences? Is standardisation a successful method in both international markets? The answers should help the marketer make the right choice between adapting products to local circumstances or selling and marketing the same product all around the world. This thesis will attempt to answer these questions by applying the above-mentioned cultural theories, and will provide suggestions for how companies from the USA or Germany should conceive parts of their marketing mix. It will further provide examples of culture - related marketing efforts.

2. Theoretical Fundamentals of Cultures

2.1. Origin of culture and definition of different terms

Throughout history scientists from different academic backgrounds have tried to define what culture in general means. To be able to successfully analyse cultural differences in international marketing it is important to familiarise oneself with a broad variety of these definitions.

According to the Oxford Dictionary the word culture derives from the Latin word colere, which in translation means to tend, or to cultivate. From this very early stage the word developed into cultura, which is the Latin for growing and cultiva- tion. It further made its transition into French and Middle English. From the early 16th century its meaning was transformed into cultivation of the soil and from there to the cultivation of the mind, faculties and manners. The term’s first appear- ance in an academic environment as we know it today dates back to the early 19th century.³ Especially in western languages, “culture commonly means ‘civilisation’ or the ‘refinement of the mind’ and in particular the results of such refinement such as education, art and literature.”⁴

The early 19th century also marks the starting point for attempts to define the term culture. Since then a broad variety of definitions has been drawn up. The Ameri- can anthropologists Alfred Louis Kroeber and Clyde Kluckhohn assembled a list of 164 definitions.⁵ The fact that they were able to collect this relatively high number emphasises that there is no single right definition. It rather depends on which field of science the author originates from. Sociologists have defined culture differently from “cultural anthropologists”⁶ like Hofstede or Trompenaars. However, the general idea is in many cases similar.

One of the earliest definitions of culture comes from Christopher Dawson, an im- portant British Catholic historian in the 20th century. In his definition culture “is a common way of life - a particular adjustment of man to his natural surroundings and his economic needs.”⁷ It implies culture as a common situation, one shared by more than one person. This aspect has significant connections to more modern definitions, like the one provided by Hofstede for instance, who argues that “cul- ture (…) is always a collective phenomenon, because it is at least partly shared with people who live or lived within the same social environment.”⁸ He further de- fines culture as the “collective programming of the mind distinguishing the mem- bers of one group or category of people from others”⁹ and additionally, “the un- written rules of the social game.”¹⁰ He also intensified his focus on the differences that allow one to distinguish groups of people from other groups.

A similar definition provides more information about what these different groups share with each other and make them unique: “The shared set of learned beliefs, values, assumptions, attitudes, and behaviors that differentiates a particular group of people from others.”¹¹ According to Hall, culture “is not innate, but learned.”¹² This fact is underlined by the previous definitions and also by the fact that this process “derives from one’s social environment, not from one’s genes.”¹³ Accord- ingly, the group which a human being grows up in teaches him their own beliefs and values. According to Trompenaars “culture is [also] the way in which a group of people solves problems and reconciles dilemmas.”¹⁴ Thus, culture also gives so- lutions to problems that occur during the interaction of different groups of people.

These relatively modern definitions of culture are different, but they all share the same general idea and are dependent on each other. They illustrate that one has to focus one’s attention on the specificities of groups: their individual beliefs, values, assumptions, attitudes, behaviours, and their interaction with as well as dissociation of other groups. Since there is no single right definition of culture, the overall concept used in this thesis assimilates the similar components and the general idea in order to have a comprehensive concept for the entire analysis.

2.2. General overview of cultural theories

There are many approaches to visualising cultural differences. The main scientists that have to be mentioned regarding these cultural theories are Edward T. Hall, Geert Hofstede and Fons Trompenaars.

Apart from his four dimensions model, which will be one of the theories focused on in this thesis, Hall also developed the iceberg model (see figure 1).

The Iceberg Concept of Culture

illustration not visible in this excerpt

Figure: 1 The Iceberg Concept of Culture (source: Wederspahn, G., p. 35)

This model describes culture as a concept consisting of two different parts. There are parts that are visible over the surface, which are ways of living, laws and cus- toms or institutions (music, food, signs, fine arts). Then there are components that cannot be seen at first, for example certain values, norms, assumptions or atti- tudes.¹⁵

Another important method to identify cultural differences is provided by Hof- stede. Apart from his five dimensions model, which will be the second key com- ponent of this analysis, he designed the so-called onion model. He uses the differ- ent layers of an onion to describe the concept of culture, starting from the superfi- cial (outer layers) to the key values and factors of a culture (inner layers). Accord- ing to Hofstede, understanding the concept of a culture means that you have to an- alyse all these layers, which are represented by symbols, heroes, rituals, values and basic assumptions.¹⁶

Fons Trompenaars introduced his seven dimensions model in 1993. He focuses his work on the “ways in which human beings deal with each other”¹⁷ as well as their relationship to time and the environment. He also worked on a similar theory of different cultural layers by “describing culture as consisting of three layers: the outer layer of artefacts and products, the middle layer of norms and values, and basics assumptions at the core.”¹⁸ These four cultural theories provide a good ba- sis for analysing cultural differences. However, this paper focuses on the four di- mensions model of Edward T. Hall as well as on the five dimensions model of Professor Geert Hofstede because together they cover a broad area of different patterns. Although Hall developed his cross-cultural communication theory some decades ago it is still used by scientists for studies from different subjects, for ex- ample marketing, but also in business negotiations.¹⁹ Hofstede’s research remains adequate due to its elaborate concept. He investigated several different nations; his might be the most wide-ranging research on this topic. His model also sup- ports the formulation of hypotheses in terms of cross-cultural research.²⁰ Trompenaars’ model shows similarities to Hofstede’s in many aspects and is therefore not considered in this thesis.

2.3. Culture-related barriers to international marketing

“Culture is more often a source of conflict than of synergy. Cultural differences are a nuisance at best and often a disaster.”²¹ This quote from an interview Professor Geert Hofstede gave to the Centre of Intercultural Learning in Canada underlines the fact that culture tends to have a more negative impact on international business than to create a potential for synergies, and hence it significantly influences the international marketing efforts of MNCs. However, he further argues that approaching this issue in the right way leads to success.²²

Nonetheless, a lot of companies’ international marketing efforts fail, although the risks of cultural differences are well known. The most important issues and barri- ers that arise when marketing products across cultures are the so-called self- reference criterion (SRC) and consumer ethnocentrism (CET). The SRC, intro- duced by James Lee in 1966, is “the unconscious reference to one’s own cultural values.”²³ Due to the SRC, marketers are not able to recognise different cultural patterns than their own. They automatically project their cultural characteristics onto the foreign culture: “they use their own set of values as their reference point.”²⁴ As a result they cannot achieve the step of actually becoming aware of cultural differences. These companies expect to find the same market conditions in a foreign market as in their domestic business, so they sell and promote prod- ucts in both markets identically without applying any adaptions to their marketing mix.

Consumer ethnocentrism is another key barrier that explains why international marketing efforts have a high tendency to fail. It derives from the more sociologi- cally orientated term of ethnocentrism introduced by Sumner in 1906. According to him ethnocentrism is “the view of things in which one’s own group is the cen- ter of everything, and all others are scaled and rated with reference to it. (...) Each group nourishes its own pride and vanity, boasts itself superior, exalts its own di- vinities and looks with contempt on outsiders.”²⁵ On the basis of this definition

Terence A. Shimp and Subhash Sharma developed the theory of CET. This con- cept connects the theoretical aspects of Sumner’s definition of ethnocentrism with the behaviour of consumers. CER “represents the beliefs held by (American) con- sumers about the appropriateness, indeed morality, of purchasing foreign made products.”²⁶ They argue that these consumers do not purchase products from abroad because they do not want to harm their own economy as well as behave unpatriotically.²⁷ Although this concept was mainly developed for American con- sumers, or consumers in general, it can also be applied to cultures since it “gives the individual a sense of identity, feelings of belongingness, and (…) what pur- chase behavior is acceptable or unacceptable to the ingroup.”²⁸ This aspect shows similarities to the definition of culture mentioned in section 2.1.

As a conclusion, the first step marketers have to take is to become aware of the SCR and the CER to successfully market products abroad. This step is essential to effectively adapting the marketing mix to cultural differences or to identifying standardisations possibilities and has to be included in the marketing plan of companies selling products abroad.

3. Cultural Theories as a Tool to Visualise Cultural Differences

3.1. Use of models and dimensions in intercultural studies

Cultural differences have always been an issue. But the importance of becoming aware of these differences has increased in step with the advancing interconnectedness of the world, called globalisation. The first step to make the public familiar with culture is to help it visualise and give it tools to actually become aware of cultural differences. Scientists have therefore developed different tools and methods to visualise these differences.

Throughout the different groups of scientists and the decades, all approaches to cultural differences show similar components and structures. Hall’s four “distin- guishing features”²⁹, Hofstede’s five dimensions, or Trompenaars’ seven dimensions model - all use the concept of models and dimensions to make cultural differences visible. Thus, it can be assumed that these concepts have been proven to be appropriate to analyse culture differences.

Models have been used in several different disciplines to enable scientists to better understand and handle highly complex situations.³⁰ Accordingly models do not represent the entire system but show only abstractions.³¹ To understand the con- cept of culture with its complexity and different patterns, the use of models is an appropriate approach to make culture comprehensible. As with the definition of culture, defining the term dimension also depends on the field a researcher comes from. There are several different definitions, for example in terms of mathematical or physical approaches. Usually dimensions are used to measure lengths, breadths, depths, or heights.³² In contrast to this usual usage physical approaches describe dimensions as “a physical property, such as mass, length, time, or a combination thereof, regarded as a fundamental measure or as one of a set of fundamental measures of a physical quantity.”³³ To apply a concept of dimensions to cultural issues a general approach is more appropriate. Therefore, dimensions in general can be defined as an independent feature to describe a system. This feature con- nects allegories to the system to make it measureable and predictable.³⁴

These definitions, as well as the explicit wording, show similarities to the above- mentioned cultural theories. Connecting the two descriptions of dimension further underlines the applicability of dimensions in cultural sciences. Hence, it is appro- priate that cultural scientists like Hall, Hofstede and Trompenaars used this con- cept to make cultural differences visible and give members of cultures a way to realise “the idea of situated difference, (…) difference in relation to something lo- cal, embodied, and significant.”³⁵ Thus, dimensions are a tool for groups of people to understand the characteristics of different cultures and help them to scale and

experience their culture in relation to other cultures.³⁶ However, one has to keep in mind that everybody experiences these differences individually³⁷ so these cultural dimensions are to a certain degree personal interpretations and not universally ap- plicable.

3.2. Hall’s cross-cultural communication model

3.2.1. Scope of Hall’s model

For Hall culture is especially characterised by communication between two differ- ent groups of people, so he focused his work on intercultural communication problems. Due to invisible cultural differences, communication between two dif- ferent cultures is far more challenging than within the same culture.³⁸ To under- stand the difficulties in intercultural communication one first has to understand the overall concept of communication and its specificities in a cross-cultural envi- ronment.

Figure 2: Process of Cross-Cultural Communication (source: Wederspahn, G. (2000), p. 47).

illustration not visible in this excerpt

For effective two-way intra as well as intercultural communication, there has to be a sender and a receiver, who provides a feedback.³⁹ Usually, the sender encodes the message and sends it via a channel to the receiver, who is able to decode it be- cause they share the same cultural background.⁴⁰ However, the problem in cross- cultural communication occurs between the step of encoding and decoding the message. As one can see from figure 2, the message is sent through a filter of the different elements by which culture is defined, here referred to as cultural noise. Noise in cross-cultural communication is described as “impediments to communi- cation that occur when people from different cultures interact.”⁴¹ Thus, “both the encoding and decoding are done in reference to one’s own culture.”⁴² These ver- bal or non-verbal messages are misunderstood because two different cultures are communicating. Thus, in the example in figure 2 the actual meaning of the mes- sage turns from green to red.

This can be caused on a superficial basis by language barriers, but to a greater de- gree by the different cultural backgrounds. This process leads to “misperceptions, misinterpretations, and misevaluations. (…) [Thus,] the greater the differences be- tween the sender’s and the receiver’s cultures, the greater the chance for cross- cultural miscommunication.”⁴³ Therefore, Edward T. Hall developed his model resulting in the dimensions of high and low context, space, time and speed of in- formation. All of the dimensions cover parts of the above-mentioned process re- garding verbal and non-verbal communication between different cultures and can be used to become aware of these differences.

3.2.2. Cross-cultural communication dimensions

3.2.2.1. Context

There are several different ways human beings communicate with each other, for example by using language, but also with gestures and facial expressions. Howev- er, according to Hall’s high and low context dimension there is more to be added to this aspect. According to Hall, “context is the information that surrounds an event. (…) events and context - are in different proportions depending on the cul- ture.”⁴⁴ Therefore, he introduced a scale on which cultures can be compared by their use of direct or indirect communication, which could lead to cultural misun- derstandings.⁴⁵ This “continuum”⁴⁶ describes cultures from high to low context characteristics. Figure 3 shows a scale of country examples according to their characteristics in communication. However, one has to keep in mind that these characteristics are cross-border; thus it is more appropriate to say that the two ar- rows provide indications that some cultures tend to show more elements of either high or low context.⁴⁷

illustration not visible in this excerpt

Figure 3: The context factor in cross-cultural communication (source: Ferraro, G., The Cultural Di- mension of International Business).

A high-context environment tends to transport the meaning of the conversation by context.⁴⁸ Thus, “most of the information is either in the physical context or inter- nalised in the person, while very little is in the coded, explicit, transmitted part of the message.”⁴⁹ People from high-context countries “often rely on unspoken un- derstandings, hints, social rituals, and nonverbal cues.”⁵⁰ In contrast, low-context communication is defined by the fact that “the mass of the information is vested in the explicit code.”⁵¹ They do not expect others to have the same background in- formation, thus their communication is “simple, explicit, precise, and direct.”⁵² In conclusion, if people from different context dimensions want to avoid communi- cation issues, the low context population has to gain more “background data”⁵³ to understand people from high-context countries. In contrast, people from high- context countries have to be as precise as possible when communicating with people from countries on the lower part of the scale.

As another example, one can take the languages that are spoken in those countries. By comparing Chinese and French one can see that for Chinese people, consid- ered as high-context, it is important to know the pronunciation to understand each other, whereas French, considered rather low-context, understand without recog- nising the exact pronunciation.⁵⁴ Thus, French people who want to learn or speak Chinese have to internalise the pronunciation as well as the words, whereas Chi- nese to a certain degree only need to learn the French words to communicate intel- ligibly.

3.2.2.2. Space

Hall introduced the concept of space for his cross-cultural communication pro- cess. He argues that every human being has a visible border to the outside world, namely his skin. In addition there are other frontiers that surround every human being which he refers to as personal space and territoriality.⁵⁵ Personal space as it is defined in Hall’s research is a “bubble of space, which expands and contracts depending on (…) the relationship to the people nearby, the person’s emotional state, cultural background, and the activity being performed.”⁵⁶ People from different cultures therefore have different feelings about whether they feel comfortable or not when people from different cultures approach. Thus, it is all about the distance between two people.⁵⁷

Territoriality relates to feelings and distinction about and of places. People try to assign to different spaces a high degree of importance, which in different cultures can lead to misunderstandings.⁵⁸ Hall uses the example of Germany and a car, which is classified as a certain space directly connected to a single individual. Thus, intrusion by others is not accepted. The concept of territoriality is also asso- ciated with a method to show distribution of power. The size and location of of- fices in an office building have differing meanings in a cross-cultural world.⁵⁹

3.2.2.3. Time

As with definitions of culture, several different systems of time exist. However, according to Hall two of them are especially important in the business world. He provides a model which categorises people according to their preference for more polychronic (p-time) or monochronic (m-time) behaviour.⁶⁰ Accordingly, “Hall examines the conscious and unconscious ways people, because of their cultural backgrounds, perceive and employ these two orientations towards time.”⁶¹ Typical characteristics of p-time cultures are people who “tend to do many things simulta- neously.”⁶² They do not split their workday into small parts⁶³ and do not take schedules as absolute but rather easily adjust them.⁶⁴ Conversely, m-time cultures do only one thing at a time and are more schedule-orientated.⁶⁵ Within such cul- tures time is also seen as tangible, for example compared to money, which can be wasted or saved. It is further seen as a way to prioritise tasks, by pointing out that someone does not have time to do something.

Table 1 provides several characteristics of p-time cultures and m-time cultures. It also emphasises that the concepts of p-time and m-time are constructed antitheti- cally⁶⁶ ; thus, it is clear that not both orientations can be used at the same time.⁶⁷

illustration not visible in this excerpt

Table 1: Characteristics of m-time vs. p-time cultures (source: Hall, E., Hall, M. (1990), Understanding Cultural Differences, p. 5).

3.2.2.4. Speed of Information

Communication can also be measured by the velocity with which somebody encodes, transmits and decodes a message. There are cultures which tend to be faster than other cultures.⁶⁸ Hall provides some examples of messages which are either slow or fast-paced (see table 2).

illustration not visible in this excerpt

Table 2: Fast vs. slow messages (source: Hall, E., Hall, M. (1990), p. 5).

For example, friendship is a slow message because it takes time to discover and develop it. Cultural communication problems can occur between cultures that have a different message speed. As a result, misunderstandings occur within communication. It is further important to stress that people are often not able to realise that other cultures have a different speed of messages.⁶⁹

3.3. Hofstede’s 5 dimensions model

3.3.1. Scope of Hofstede’s 5 dimensions model

Hofstede started his research during his time as a coordinator for personnel research at IBM⁷⁰, one of the largest MNCs for software development and consultancy in the world. Due to IBM’s very international business Hofstede got the chance to identify differences in cultures among its subsidiaries all over the world. With the help of over 100,000 interviews⁷¹ he tried to visualise these differences for up to 50 different countries and 3 regions.⁷²

[...]

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¹ Levitt, T. (1983), p. 11.

² Trompenaars, F., Hampden-Turner, C. (1995).

³ Cf. Oxford Dictionary (n.y.), http://oxforddictionaries.com/definition/culture?q=Culture, accessed 04.04.2012.

⁴ Hofstede, G. (2003), p. 5.

⁵ Cf. Kroeber, A.L, Kluckhohn, C. (1952).

⁶ Hofstede, G. (2003), p.5.

⁷ Kroeber, A.L, Kluckhohn, C. (1952) p. 105.

⁸ Hofstede, G. (2003), p. 5.

⁹ Itim International (n.y.), http://geert-hofstede.com/national-culture.html, accessed 04.04.2012.

¹⁰ Hofstede, G. http://www.geerthofstede.eu/culture.aspx, accessed 04.04.2012.

¹¹ Wederspahn, G. (2000), p. 19.

¹² Hall, E. (1976), p. 16.

¹³ Hofstede, G. (2003), p. 5.

¹⁴ Trompenaars, F., Hampden-Turner, C. (1995), p. 6.

¹⁵ Cf. Centre for Intercultural Learning (n.y.), http://www.international.gc.ca/cfsi-icse/cil- cai/magazine/v02n01/doc3-eng.pdf, accessed 06.07.2012.

¹⁶ Cf. Hofstede, G. (2003), p. 9.

¹⁷ Trompenaars, F. (1995), p. 8.

¹⁸ Sela-Sheffy, R., Shlesinger, M. (2011), p. 194.

¹⁹ Cf. Bradley, F. (2002), Cateora, P.R, Graham, J.L. (2002), Hall, E.T., Hall, M. (1990).

²⁰ Cf. Soares, A.M, Farhangmehr, M., Shoham, A. (2007), p. 280.

²¹ Hofstede,G. (2011), http://www.international.gc.ca/cfsi-icse/cil-cai/magazine/v02n03/1-3-eng.asp, accessed 07.04.2012.

²² Cf. Hofstede, G. (2011), http://www.international.gc.ca/cfsi-icse/cil-cai/magazine/v02n03/1-3-eng.asp, accessed 07.04.2012.

²³ Lee, J.A. (1966), p. 106.

²⁴ Shankarmahesh, M. (2006), p. 149.

²⁵ Sumner, G.A. (1906), p. 13.

²⁶ Shimp, A, Sharma, S. (1987), p. 280.

²⁷ Cf. Shimp, A, Sharma, S. (1987), p. 280.

²⁸ Shimp, A, Sharma, S. (1987), p. 280.

²⁹ Frericks, R. (n.y.), http://lehrerfortbildung-bw.de/bs/bsa/bgym/kompcult/culpat/hall.htm, accessed

17.04.2012.

³⁰ Cf. Hall, E. (1976), p. 13.

³¹ Hall, E. (1967) p. 14.

³² Cf. Oxford Dictionary, http://oxforddictionaries.com/definition/dimension?q=dimensions, accessed 17.04.2012.

³³ The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (2003), http://www.thefreedictionary.com/dimension, accessed 17.04.2012.

³⁴ Cf. Maurer, H. http://www.mahag.com/allg/dimens.php, accessed 17.04.2012.

³⁵ Appadurai, A. (2003), p. 12.

³⁶ Cf. Hofstede, G. (2003), p. 14.

³⁷ Cf. Hall, E. (1976), p. xiii.

³⁸ Cf. Wederspahn, G. (2000), p. 46.

³⁹ Cf. Xie, A., et. al. (2008), p. 3.

⁴⁰ Cf. Wederspahn, G. (2000), p. 46.

⁴¹ O’Connell, J. (1997), p. 60.

⁴² Wederspahn, G. (2000), p. 47.

⁴³ Adler, N.J. (2004), p. 2.

⁴⁴ Hall, E., Hall, M. (1990), p. 6.

⁴⁵ Cf. Ford, D., Moore III, J, Milner, R. (2005), p. 101.

⁴⁶ Wederspahn, G. (2000), p. 48.

⁴⁷ Cf. Pistillo, G. (2003), http://www.immi.se/jicc/index.php/jicc/article/view/135/103and, accessed 24.04.2012.

⁴⁸ Cf. Wederspahn, G. (2000), p. 48.

⁴⁹ Hall, E. (1976), p. 91.

⁵⁰ Wederspahn, G. (2000), p. 48.

⁵¹ Hall, E. (1976), p. 91.

⁵² Wederspahn, G. (2000), p. 48.

⁵³ Hall, E. (1990), p. 7.

⁵⁴ Cf. Hall, E. (1976), p. 91-92.

⁵⁵ Cf. Hall, E., Hall, M. (1990), p.10.

⁵⁶ Hall, E., Hall, M. (1990), p.11.

⁵⁷ Cf. Hall, E., Hall, M. (1990), p. 11.

⁵⁸ Cf. Hall, E. (1981), p. 158 ff.

⁵⁹ Cf. Hall, E., Hall, M. (1990), p. 10f.

⁶⁰ Ibid, p. 13.

⁶¹ Samovar, L., Porter, R, McDaniel, E. (2012), p. 313.

⁶² de Mooij, M. (2010), p.73.

⁶³ Ibid. p.73.

⁶⁴ Cf. Usanier, J-C., Lee, J.A. (2009), p. 20.

⁶⁵ Ibid, p. 20.

⁶⁶ Cf. Hall, E., Hall, M. (1990), p. 13ff.

⁶⁷ Cf. Hall, E. (1981), p. 152.

⁶⁸ Cf. Müller, S., Gelbrich, K. (2004), p. 369f.

⁶⁹ Cf. Emrich, Ch. (2009), p. 62.

⁷⁰ Cf. Schmidt, P. (2010), p. 5.

⁷¹ Cf. Hofstede, G. (1980), p. 11.

⁷² Cf. Itim International (n.y.), http://geert-hofstede.com/national-culture.html, accessed 23.04.2012.

• College: University of Applied Sciences Essen
• Course: Analysis of Cultural Differences and their Effects on Marketing Products in the United States of America and Germany with a Focus on Cultural Theories of Hall and Hofstede
• Grade: 1.7
• Author: Matthias Boeing (Author)
• Publication Year: 2012
• Pages: 77
• Catalog Number: V199863
• ISBN (eBook): 9783656284581
• ISBN (Book): 9783656284727
• Language: English
• Tags: analysis, cultural, differences, effects, marketing, products, united, states, america, germany, focus, theories, hall, hofstede