In cultures were being or relationality has a greater emphasis, human relations are at the forefront of most individual's concerns. It might even be considered rude to ask what someone does for a living in a social setting, at least before taking in some of the hospitality of the host in the form of food and drink. Social and emotional perceptions of value are of great importance. One example of how this might affect commerce is that in the United States, how much something costs may have great significance in determining people's purchasing decisions. However, in France, where there may be a greater stress upon relationality, buying from a local market owned by someone who lives near a consumer's home may have equal impact upon a consumer's choice of store as the store's price or time-saving and convenient location.
How can an understanding of the difference between "high-context" and "low-context" cultures help in communicating between members of each culture?
Mean what you say!' To the ears of an American, such an assertion seems like a truth one should almost take for granted. However, this belief that the surface meaning should convey the literal meaning of what someone says is simply an example of our low-context culture of communication. In a low-context culture, meaning does not vary very much depending on who someone is speaking to,...
In America, 'no' means 'no' whether one is speaking to a toddler or the CEO of a major corporation. But in Japan, a high-context culture, 'no' is never said. Rather 'maybe' often means 'no,' at least when sealing with business associates. How one says something, and to whom one says something, is of supreme importance in a high-context culture. In other words, the context makes the meaning.
High-context cultures can seem very difficult to interpret when someone is a visitor from a low-context culture. For example, in Japan, the degree to which one bows to a superior, or the fact that a superior must never be openly contradicted or challenged in public, is an unspoken social rule. An outsider may not understand this and commit an unwitting breach of social etiquette. A visitor from a high-context culture to a low-context land may be taken aback by the directness with which people speak. Also, his or her lack of willingness to challenge authority may be read as weakness or timidity. And at worse, when the individual from a high-context culture uses the same cultural signifiers such as 'maybe' to mean the same things they do back home, low-context individuals may simply assume that 'maybe' means 'maybe' and take the person at his or her word. An awareness of these differences, however, can prevent such transgressions of protocol and meaning.
