Sometime back, I attended a lecture on Marketing and the lecturer mentioned a really interesting situation on cross cultural advertising. The story goes like this:
An outdoor advertising campaign on laundry detergent was launched in some Middle Eastern country because the company wished to increase the sales of the detergent in that area. The advertisement came in three parts, all placed side by side outside a building.
On the left, the giant poster showed a dirty piece of clothing. In the centre, another poster showed the same dirty piece of clothing was dipped into a pail of water with the company’s laundry detergent. On the right, the other poster showed a clean piece of clothing after taking out from the pail. The ad was designed such that it was very simple and easy to understand.
However after a month, the sales of the company dropped even further. Feeling puzzled, the advertising department went to survey the public why they did not choose to buy their detergent. After getting the public' s feedback, the company realized that the people of that country read the posters from right to left instead. Hence, they interpret the detergent as "making their clothes dirty" instead of "making their clothes cleaner". After changing the posters the other way round, the sales of the detergent increases.
Although this example sounds a bit extreme, it still informed us about the importance of cultural awareness due to the differences in cultural behaviour. We might assume that basic communication and norms, like the direction of reading text, should be same throughout the world. However, some cultural contexts are just different from what we think.
Hence, understanding intercultural behaviour is relatively important if you were to manage business in other countries. Even giving personal gifts might be seen as a bribe in certain countries but not in others. Therefore, we have to overcome prejudice, stereotyping and ethnocentrism so that we can become better intercultural communicators!
An outdoor advertising campaign on laundry detergent was launched in some Middle Eastern country because the company wished to increase the sales of the detergent in that area. The advertisement came in three parts, all placed side by side outside a building.
On the left, the giant poster showed a dirty piece of clothing. In the centre, another poster showed the same dirty piece of clothing was dipped into a pail of water with the company’s laundry detergent. On the right, the other poster showed a clean piece of clothing after taking out from the pail. The ad was designed such that it was very simple and easy to understand.
However after a month, the sales of the company dropped even further. Feeling puzzled, the advertising department went to survey the public why they did not choose to buy their detergent. After getting the public' s feedback, the company realized that the people of that country read the posters from right to left instead. Hence, they interpret the detergent as "making their clothes dirty" instead of "making their clothes cleaner". After changing the posters the other way round, the sales of the detergent increases.
Although this example sounds a bit extreme, it still informed us about the importance of cultural awareness due to the differences in cultural behaviour. We might assume that basic communication and norms, like the direction of reading text, should be same throughout the world. However, some cultural contexts are just different from what we think.
Hence, understanding intercultural behaviour is relatively important if you were to manage business in other countries. Even giving personal gifts might be seen as a bribe in certain countries but not in others. Therefore, we have to overcome prejudice, stereotyping and ethnocentrism so that we can become better intercultural communicators!
Hey Yuan,
ReplyDeleteThis is an interesting example! I know that sometimes Chinese words are read from right to left too.
I agreed that we need to overcome the things that you had mentioned. Often one feels that his/her own beliefs are correct and expect what he/she thinks are the same as what other people think. However this is not true, thus we need to compromise and stand in another person point of view to think, especially when it comes to sensitive issues like cultural beliefs. :)
Hi Jane,
ReplyDeleteI absolutely agree with you. I shall first understand other's cultures and belief instead of assuming any.
Wow. That is really something that shocks me. I like your last sentence "Therefore, we have to overcome prejudice, stereotyping and ethnocentrism so that we can become better intercultural communicators!"
ReplyDeleteHow true that sentence is.
In order to fit into a foreign culture, effective communication is so important. Otherwise, you may stand out like a sore thumb and yet you won't know it.
Just like this company won't know what had gone wrong with their advertisement if they had not done a public survey. Effective communication involves two-way feedback.
I want to add on. In order to overcome prejudice, stereotyping and ethnocentrism, I agree with Jane that one needs keep an open mind and learn about the culture. After gaining an understanding of the culture, then we have to stand in the other person's shoes and think in his or her perspectives.
ReplyDeleteHere comes in the element of mutual discovery with no judgment. >_<
Hi Yuanyuan,
ReplyDeleteThe post teach us that to avoid intercultural differences one has to know the traditional cultures that was practised by the people we intend to reach. Arabians normally read the words right to left and it would be no surprise that the posters are read in the same way.
Hi yuan yuan,
ReplyDeleteI think the example which you gave is effective and funny. As what HSBC's tag line goes, "The world's local bank", it seemed like many companies now aim to be a global MNC with a strong local understanding.
Coupled with the example cited in your post, I think they can clearly show the importance of understanding different cultures, before one can do business effectively in a foreign place.