Contrastive Analysis on Intercultural Business Communication

between China and United States

12009053018 Xiaoxia Huang
109053A
Perspective of 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 ones personal
goal.
Definitions of communication from many Asian countries stress harmony, which is most
notable in cultures with a Confucian tradition.
Values
Past Orientation vs. Future Orientation
Past 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.
There is a strong belief that the past should be the guide of making decisions and
discovering truths. Correspondingly the word "old" usually symbolizes experience and
authority. Therefore, in Chinese advertising, advertisers usually prefer to emphasize that their
companies and their products have some history, such as (a shop with a history of
a hundred years). (age-old brand), " (old nominal father), (with
a long history) and '' (a traditional recipe handed down from generation to
generation).
On the contrary, future orientation prevails in the western culture. Western people tend to
believe that future should be grander and nicer than the present. The word "old" is associated
with "letting behind" and "uselessness", while the word "new" is related to progress, change
and challenge. So the word new is often employed in English advertising. According to
Leechs statistic, the word new is the word most frequently used in English
advertisements.

1993:32-33) Almost everything that is "new" is valued and thus

acceptable by westerners.

 Individualism Versus Collectivism

America
Individual oriented societya loosely knit social framework; individuals are supposed to take
care of themselves. (I Culture)
China
Group oriented society a tightly knit social framework; individuals can expect their
relatives, or other in group to look after them. (We Culture I-less Culture )
In the individual culture, the interest of the individual prevails over the interests of the group
On the collectivist side, we find societies in which people from birth onwards are integrated
into strong, cohesive in-groups.
Such a difference usually reflects in the oriental and the western advertisements. For example,
as Chinese have the tendency of following suit; the Chinese advertisements take advantage of
such kind of psychology. Advertisements tend to focus on group behavior because Chinese
consumers always believe the more people buy a product, the better quality it will have. To be
exact, they try to persuade consumers into purchasing the advertised with the masses.
However, it is just e contrary with the Western advertisements because individualism is firmly
established in western culture and in westerner's mind. Words such as independence/
independent ,uniqueness/ unique", "own", "individual", "different / difference" spread out
products' or services features that match with one's distinction.
Large versus Small Power Distance
Strong Uncertainty Avoidance Versus Weak Uncertainty Avoidance
China
ALarge Power Distance countries: accept a hierarchical order.
BUncomfortable with uncertainty and ambiguity, intolerant with deviance.
America
A. Small Power Distance countries: strive for equalization.
B. Practice counts more than principles; deviance is more easily tolerated.
Comprehending Verbal Communication
Word differences are obvious in various languages. The relation between word and its

meaning is arbitrary. Corresponding Chinese words cannot waylays explain the English
words.

a.

Words with different associated meaning

b.

Words without counterpart in another language

In business doing Chinese businessmen hope to make a good beginning ( . When

business is in prosperity the investors can share the profit bonus .To the staff
member who makes remarkable achievements in the work 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
backgrounds, which might result in misunderstanding in intercultural communication.
An American agriculturalist, while visiting northern China, carried with him green caps
bearing his companys logo and passed them out to helpful Chinese. Not knowing the
connotation of green hat in Chinese culture, which implies ones wife has an affair with
another man, he was puzzled to see no one put on the cap he gave.