Culture and Cognition LisaAllisonAronya HarperMenjivar Waller
Outline Introduction Background research Social and business implications Design considerations (mock-up) Take-aways
Introduction
Culture Culture: A dominant symbolic meaning system (e.g., worldview) sustained and transmitted over generations by members of a given society, which then shape the members psychological processes. Masuda, 2005
Analytic vs Holistic Cognition “Cognitive practices may be highly stable because of their embeddedness in larger systems of beliefs and social practices” Nisbett, Peng, Choi, & Norenzayan, 2001 Worldview: Things exist by themselves and can be defined by their attributes (context independent, object-oriented). Worldview: Things are inter-related. Various factors are involved in an event (context dependent, context- sensitive Father Self Mother Sibling Friend Co-worker Friend Self Mother Sibling Friend Co-worker Friend Father
Coca-Cola United States Japan
Systematic Cultural Variability? Graphic from: LOW HIGH Germany Scandinavia Latin America Asia Africa United States Greece France Italy Spain Middle East
Importance Perception / Attention Semantic and pragmatic meaning Trust and credibility Esthetics
Background Research
Hall’s Theory of “Contexting”
Hofstede’s Cultural Framework 1.Power Distance 2.Individualism vs. Collectivism 3.Masculinity vs. Femininity 4.Uncertainty Avoidance 5.Long Term Orientation
Cultural Variation in Socio-Cognitive Processes North Americans East Asians Concept of Self Markus & Kitayama, 1991 Independent – self is detached from others and context Interdependent – relational and contextual existence Thinking Style & Emotion Nisbett, Choi, Peng, Norenzayan, 2001; Nisbett 2003 Analytic – centric Holistic – influenced by changes in context and background Esthetics Masuda, Gonzalez, Kwan, Nisbett, 2008 Object-Oriented (Western Perspectives, Portraits)Context-Oriented (East Asian Perspectives, Portraits with context) Causal Attribution Nisbett & Masuda, 2003 Focus on internal factors Focus on both internal and external factors
We “think” differently across cultures Hall “contexting” Hofstede values Hall “contexting” Kitayama & Park, 2010
Social and Business Implications
Our Study Web site homepage for a multi-national corporation Three localized versions – North American – Latin American (Mexican) – East Asian (Chinese)
Cultural Characteristics North AmericaLatin AmericaAsia Communication Direct Eye contact Organized/Analytical Indirect Holistic view, context important Harmonious, non- confrontational Holistic view Harmonious, non- confrontational Motivation Individualistic Independent Comfortable with uncertainty Respect is earned Family/group oriented Teamwork Uncomfortable with uncertainty Respect very important Minimize social friction Desire to maintain harmonious relations
Cultural Characteristics (cont.) North AmericaLatin AmericaAsia View of Authority Equal Unequal Expected to be knowledgeable Collectivist; complex, hierarchical View of Time Deadline-driven (monochronic) Things happen when they are supposed to (polychronic) Cyclic (polychronic) Imagery & Color Less important to the message Often considered decorative Integral part of the context Some preference to imagery over text. Background context important to meaning
Translation by “someone who speaks the language” is not enough Need native speaker with knowledge of cultural nuances Research local users Test with local users Task completion and observation important Reluctance to criticize Travel expenses and time Remote testing Hire locals Benefits Increased acceptance Increased usage Business Implications
Design Considerations
Take-Aways