Cultural Differences

Dr. Schwartz presents a theory amd methods for characterizing cultures in terms of value priorities. Schwartz and Ros come to the conclusion that even if we think that the West has the same values there are still a lot of differences between West Europe and US ( even that much as between Western nations and East Asian Nations). These values are:
- Conservatism (social order, respect for tradition, family security, self-diacipline)
vs
Autonomy ( preferences, traits, feelings, motives)
Intellectual: curiosity, broadmindedness, creativity and Affective: pleasure, exciting and varied life
- Hierarchy (social power, authority, humility wealth)
vs
Egalitarianism (equality, social justice, freedom, responsibility, honesty)
- Harmony (unity with nature, protecting the environment, world of beauty)
vs
- Mastery (ambition, success, daring, competence)

Just came across a very interesting and handy website and papers to understand cultural differences. It also helps to build a strategy for new markets penetration: www.oecd.org
And more interesting are the ITCS papers, statistics and databases

http://geert-hofstede.com/national-culture.html
http://geert-hofstede.com/countries.html GENIUS

Proxemics is the study of measurable distances between people as they interact.

• Intimate distance for embracing, touching or whispering
  • Close phase – less than 6 inches (15 cm)
  • Far phase – 6 to 18 inches (15 to 46 cm)
• Personal distance for interactions among good friends or family members
  • Close phase – 1.5 to 2.5 feet (46 to 76 cm)
  • Far phase – 2.5 to 4 feet (76 to 120 cm)
• Social distance for interactions among acquaintances
  • Close phase – 4 to 7 feet (1.2 to 2.1 m)
  • Far phase – 7 to 12 feet (2.1 to 3.7 m)
• Public distance used for public speaking
  • Close phase – 12 to 25 feet (3.7 to 7.6 m)
  • Far phase – 25 feet (7.6 m) or more

Unbelievable interesting....
http://www.censydiam.com/ModelExplained.asp
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Synovate

Positioning of countries on cultural dimensions
	Countries scoring high on left dimension attributes	Countries scoring average	Countries scoring high on right dimension attributes
Collectivism	East & West Africa, Latin America, Portugal	Arab countries, Greece, Japan, Spain, Turkey	Australia, Switzerland, Scandinavia, France, UK, US, Germany, The Netherlands, Belgium	Individualism
Low Power	Scandinavia, Austria, Switzerland, Germany, Ireland, US, UK, The Netherlands	Spain, Taiwan, Greece, Japan, Italy, Portugal	Malaysia, Guatemala, Arab countries, West African countries, Philippines	High Power
Feminine	Scandinavia, Portugal, The Netherlands, Turkey	Belgium, France, Greece, Spain, Arab countries	Austria, Canada, UK, Ireland, Italy, Kjapan, Switzerland, US	Masculine
Uncertainty tolerant	Scandinavia, UK, US, Ireland, Canada, India	Arab countries, Austria, Switzerland, Germany	Belgium, France, Greece, Japan, Portugal, Spain	Uncertainty Avoidance
Short-term Orientation	Pakistan, Nigeria, Canada, UK, US, Australia, Germany, Poland, Sweden	India, Thailand, Hungary, Singapore, The Netherlands	China, Hong Kong, Taiwan, Japan, South Korea	Long-term Orientation
High Context	Japan, China, Arab countries, Latin America	Italy, Spain, France UK	North America, Scandinavia, Germany, Switzerland	Low Context
pg 250, Chapter 7: advertising

Different Cultures -different space meanings

• Asian and Arab people tend to stand very close to one another. 
• Western and American people leave more space and find it rather threatening when people stand to close to them.

According to Hall's proxemics:
Western countries are characterised by three primary zones of space

• The intimate zone (0-45 cm)
• The personal zone (45 -100 cm)
• The social zone (1-2 m)

Within Europe differences concerning optimal space also appear:

• The further south you go, the smaller the distance gets.
• Northern Europeans, the English and Americans are said to have a low-touch culture, demonstrating low contact in public.
• Southern Europeans, Arabs and Eastern Europeans are said to have a high-touch culture.

It's not because a culture has a high-touch culture, theire are some subtleties in touching rules in advertising.
Touching a woman is usually a more sensitive area. In Arab countries this may cause problems.

Who touches whoe also depends on the culture.
In Europe it is usual to see people of the opposite sex (a couple) walking hand in hand on the street.
This is not the case for many Asian and Arab countries. Here you would rather see people of the same sex (not a couple, but acquaintances) holding hands.