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Contrastive Analysis on Intercultural Business Communicationbetween China and United States

  1200905301 !iao"ia #uan$  109053A

%ers&ective o' communication

• In western cultures, communication is studied as the means of transmitting ideas. Western

cultures emphasize the instrumental function of communication; that is, effectiveness is

evaluated in terms of success in the manipulation of others to achieve one’s personal

goal.

• Definitions of communication from many Asian countries stress harmony, which is most

notable in cultures with a Confucian tradition.

(alues

• %ast )rientation vs* +uture )rientation

 ast orientation is a typical value orientation in Chinese culture. China is a country with a

long history, a resplendent civilization and tradition. Chinese people are very proud of their 

five!thousand!year civilization and their intelligent and diligent ancestors who created such a

splendid culture.

"here is a strong belief that the #past$ should be the guide of ma%ing decisions and

discovering truths. Correspondingly the word &old& usually symbolizes e'perience and

authority. "herefore, in Chinese advertising, advertisers usually prefer to emphasize that their 

companies and their products have some history, such as (百年老店) *a shop with a history of 

a hundred years+. (老字号) *age!old brand+, (老干爹& *old nominal father+,(历史悠久) *with

a long history+ and (传统方法 *a traditional recipe handed down from generation to

generation+.

-n the contrary, future orientation prevails in the western culture. Western people tend to

 believe that future should be grander and nicer than the present. "he word &old& is associated

with &letting behind& and &uselessness&, while the word &new& is related to progress, change

and challenge. o the word“new” is often employed in /nglish advertising. According to

0eech‘s statistic, “the word $new# is the word most fre1uently used in /nglish

advertisements.) （ 2334546!44+ Almost everything that is &new& is valued and thus

acceptable by westerners.

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• Individualism (ersus Collectivism

America

Individual oriented society：a loosely %nit social framewor%; individuals are supposed to ta%e

care of themselves. *I Culture+

China

7roup oriented society ： a tightly %nit social framewor%; individuals can e'pect their 

relatives, or other in group to loo% after them. *We Culture或 I!less Culture +

In the individual culture, the interest of the individual prevails over the interests of the group

-n the collectivist side, we find societies in which people from birth onwards are integrated

into strong, cohesive in!groups.

uch a difference usually reflects in the oriental and the western advertisements. 8or e'ample,

as Chinese have the tendency of following suit; the Chinese advertisements ta%e advantage of 

such %ind of psychology. Advertisements tend to focus on group behavior because Chinese

consumers always believe the more people buy a product, the better 1uality it will have. "o be

e'act, they try to persuade consumers into purchasing the advertised with the masses.

9owever, it is :ust e contrary with the Western advertisements because individualism is firmly

established in western culture and in westerners mind. Words such as (independence

independent) ,)uni1ueness uni1ue&, &own&, &individual&, &different difference& spread out

 products or services‘ features that match with ones distinction. 

• ,ar$e versus Small %ower -istance

• Stron$ Uncertainty Avoidance (ersus .ea/ Uncertainty Avoidance

China

A．0arge ower Distance countries5 accept a hierarchical order.

 <．=ncomfortable with uncertainty and ambiguity, intolerant with deviance.

America

A. mall ower Distance countries5 strive for e1ualization.

<. ractice counts more than principles; deviance is more easily tolerated.

Com&rehendin$ (erbal Communication Word differences are obvious in various languages. "he relation between word and its

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meaning is arbitrary. Corresponding Chinese words cannot waylays e'plain the /nglish

words.

a.Words with different associated meaning

 b. Words without counterpart in another language In business doing Chinese businessmen hope to ma%e a good beginning *开门! . When

 business is in prosperity the investors can share the profit bonus （"#! ."o the staff 

member who ma%es remar%able achievements in the wor% the employer would give him or 

her a red paper envelop containing money as a gift（$%!. It is obvious that the same

color may lead to different co notational meanings in the minds of peoples of different cultural

 bac%grounds, which might result in misunderstanding in intercultural communication.

An American agriculturalist, while visiting northern China, carried with him green caps

 bearing his company’s logo and passed them out to helpful Chinese. >ot %nowing the

connotation of“green hat” in Chinese culture, which implies one’s wife has an affair with

another man, he was puzzled to see no one put on the cap he gave.

 

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