This paper aims to present an approach to intercultural training (IT) in which course participants are informed about various approaches to differences between peoples. Pitfalls…
Abstract
Purpose
This paper aims to present an approach to intercultural training (IT) in which course participants are informed about various approaches to differences between peoples. Pitfalls in communication are identified that are due to overgeneralization of incidental observations of behavior and to psychological mechanisms such as stereotyping, ethnocentrism and attribution. Effects of poor command of a second language and paralinguistic factors are also included.
Design/methodology/approach
Intercultural communication training or IT programs often over-generalize incidental observations and make attributions about broad differences between “us” and “others”. An approach to IT is described that challenges the way in which notions about “culture” and “cultures” tend to be used.
Findings
A training module based on the principles mentioned is described that was originally developed for military officers preparing for international peace-keeping and peace-building missions and later has been administered in various settings and countries.
Research limitations/implications
An exit questionnaire and postmission interviews have suggested positive effects of the training, but more systematic evaluation research is needed.
Practical implications
Cross-cultural communication (3C) training is mostly about how other people differ from “us”. Better understanding may be gained with an approach that emphasizes how much humans everywhere are alike and that perceived differences can also be in the eye of the beholder.
Social implications
Mutual understanding is critical to positive interaction. The approach to 3C training taken here explains how much humans everywhere are alike and puts manifest differences into perspective.
Originality/value
The training module builds on available knowledge, notably from cross-cultural psychology. Except for a questionnaire to demonstrate ethnocentrism, there is hardly new information. However, the approach arranges available knowledge in a way that is rather novel for the field of 3C training.
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Hester van Herk, Ype H. Poortinga and Theo M.M. Verhallen
The paper presents a framework for establishing equivalence of international marketing data. The framework is meant to reduce confusion about equivalence issues, and guide the…
Abstract
Purpose
The paper presents a framework for establishing equivalence of international marketing data. The framework is meant to reduce confusion about equivalence issues, and guide the design of international studies and data analysis.
Design/methodology/approach
A short overview is given of the two main approaches to equivalence in the literature. These are integrated and used to distinguish sources of cultural bias in the various stages of the research process.
Findings
The highest levels of equivalence most often established are construct equivalence and partial measurement equivalence, implying that distributions of scores obtained in various countries cannot be interpreted at face value. To understand cross‐cultural differences better, researchers should investigate why higher levels of equivalence could not be established; this can be done best by including elements from both the conceptual and the measurement approach to equivalence.
Practical implications
This study can help marketing managers to establish the extent to which consumer perceptions can be considered equal across countries. Moreover, it helps researchers to determine causes of unequivalence and relate these to concrete stages in the research process.
Originality/value
Integration of the two main approaches to equivalence will lead to a better understanding of the validity of cross‐cultural differences and similarities. This should lead to improved decision making in international marketing.
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Jessica Strübel and Monica Sklar
In 1930s Britain, tennis champion Fred Perry was a household name. However, the name Fred Perry is more commonly associated with striped-collar polo shirts featuring a laurel…
Abstract
In 1930s Britain, tennis champion Fred Perry was a household name. However, the name Fred Perry is more commonly associated with striped-collar polo shirts featuring a laurel wreath logo. In the late 1960s, Fred Perry polo shirts were standard mod and Skinhead dress. When worn by working-class youth the shirt became subversive commentary on English elitism because it had originally been designed for the tennis courts. Many punks also aligned with the brand in dual demonstration of association with working-class ethics as well as an alternative to t-shirts. In the 1980s and onward, this sartorial style was appropriated by right-wing white nationalists, which stripped it of its subcultural spirit. Patriot groups, such as neo-Nazis and the alt-right have continued to co-opt the subcultural style, simultaneously turning the Fred Perry polo into a symbol of racism and bigotry. The multi-use of the Fred Perry brand creates a challenge in how to interpret visual cues when one garment has competing perceptions that at times can be completely opposing. This study examines the history of the Fred Perry brand through the lens of symbolic interactionism, specifically how the shirt evolved from a rather innocuous, yet subversive, form of merchandize repurposed from the tennis world to youth subcultures where the polo communicated group identity. As the brand has moved through fashion cycles, the association of the Fred Perry polo with deviant groups has reduced the brand to representations of hate and separation, which has impacted sales and brand image with its intended consumers.
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This article examines the existing body of knowledge on acculturation, identifies the gaps, discusses its potential consequences for theory and proposes a possible way forward for…
Abstract
Purpose
This article examines the existing body of knowledge on acculturation, identifies the gaps, discusses its potential consequences for theory and proposes a possible way forward for educational policy and practice in the globalised world.
Design/methodology/approach
The body of knowledge on acculturation has developed tremendously during the last century. However, some scholars are critical of its impact on acculturating people, particularly in the societies of settlement. This paper adopted an integrative literature review approach to critique and synthesise the published text on acculturation and education in the era of globalisation.
Findings
Despite phenomenal growth in acculturation research and theory, the dominant perspectives and research methodologies hardly help to respond to the emerging trends in intercultural contact and its associated issues in education. A culture learning approach to the study of acculturation can help address the existing gaps, extend the theory, draw contextualised conclusions and take appropriate steps in education to prepare younger generations for an interconnected and interdependent world.
Research limitations/implications
Researchers and practitioners in education may need to be sensitive to the sociopolitical realities in a given context and contextualise their educational endeavours in preparing younger generations for an ever-changing social world.
Practical implications
This narrative review suggests that an intercultural learning approach to education in contemporary times may better facilitate acculturation processes amongst immigrants and non-immigrants alike. Educational systems in multicultural societies may need to undertake context-specific interventions for immigrant children and adolescents in helping them acculturate to the societies of their settlement.
Social implications
An intercultural approach to education in general and social studies education, in particular, can help younger generations better respond to the emerging trends of acculturation in the multicultural societies of their residence.
Originality/value
Given that young people follow diverse trajectories of acculturation, irrespective of their status of immigration, researchers in cross-cultural studies may need to reflect on existing theories, approaches, frameworks and methodologies with greater sensitiveness to the ecological context, cultural distance hypothesis and the nature of intercultural contact for a deeper understanding of immigrants' acculturation in plural societies.