Essay On High Context Culture

In 1977 Hall came up with the theory of high and low context cultures to comprehend how cultures are oriented in different and divergent ways. He discovered that in cultures that he termed “low-context” the promotional communication must be overt and obvious; conversely, in cultures that he termed “high-context” the oral message of promotion could be less loaded with content and could be more subtle. For instance, in low-context cultures such as Scandinavian countries, promises given by individuals cannot be set store by and everything must be written down and signed legally to hold good. Conversely, in high-context nations such as Korea or Japan, what a person verbally commits to is as good as a signed bond with trust being the main criterion

For instance, in Malaysia, the population is made up of local Malays, Chinese immigrants, as well immigrants predominantly from the south of India. Thus, segmentation in Malaysia could make use of these categories for segmentation. o Religious sensitivity: Marketers must understand religious diversity of a given culture before promoting products there. This could also be an opportunity, as in predominantly Christian or Western countries, Christmas is a great time to market products and come out with schemes and incentives as consumption patterns in the holiday season are extremely high.

• Attitudes and cultural values are two concomitant features of culture. The former affects economic activity and the latter impacts religious orientation. Finding out what the attitude towards a promotional activity will be and whether it conforms to the cultural values of a society can make all the difference. For instance, in India the global chain McDonalds does not offer beef-based products as it will offend the value of preserving the cow, which is revered by a majority of Indians that are Hindu. Similarly, in Islamic nations, porcine or alcoholic products cannot be