International Marketing : Sample Assignment

Running head: INTERNATIONAL MARKETING
International Marketing
Name of the Student
Name of the University
Author Note

1INTERNATIONAL MARKETING
Question: Discuss whether you come from a high or a low context communication culture.
Personally, do you think your own communication is mostly high or low context? Thinking of
your own communication patterns, do you agree with Hall’s theory of high and low context
communication?
The culture I belong to is a low context communication culture. According to personal
insight, the pattern of the communication of my culture is low context. The concept of the low
and high context was established by Edward T. Hall. In his book Beyond Culture of 1976, he
states different ways the cultures in the world initiate communication (Burgoon, Guerrero and
Floyd 2016). According to his concepts, the high context communication culture includes
implicit communication practices. In this culture, the value of context and relationships are far
higher than effective communication practice, hence the exchange of words in this culture is
comparatively low. On the other hand, in case of low context cultures, the practice of effective
communication is far more valued and practiced and messages are conveyed only by the means
of words and communication. Hence it needs to be explicit in nature. Hall’s theory states that the
internal data that is used to interpret is termed as B, whereas the original message of
communication is termed as A (Barkema et al. 2015). In his theory, he states that the high
context cultures depend on intimate personal relationships, traditions, and established
hierarchies. The low context cultures do not necessarily have the same traditional depth and
include more short-term relationships and shallower connection. To summarize, the high context
cultures includes physical context and internalization by an individual in the culture, whereas it
is just the opposite in case of low context cultures (Kittler, Rygl and Mackinnon 2011).
Considering my own communication patterns, the Halls theory totally justifies the concept and
factors of low communication culture. In our cultural communication practice, the mass of data