Cultural differences

Not only language is a key ingredient when going abroad on business. Being aware of cultural differences might contribute to the success of negotiations and the ignorance of them may lead to many misunderstandings or even to the end of a meeting.

Firstly, according to anthropologist Edward T. Hall, there are mainly two types of cultures: the high-context culture and low-context culture. People in high-context cultures rely less on the explicit content of a message than on the context of the message, for example, South America,  while low-context culture rely more on message content than on message context when communicating, for instance, North America and Western Europe[1]. Therefore, do not be surprised if Chileans (a high-context culture people) communicate with you in a way that is too informal for you or if we use a lot of body language or start talking about our families. We are just trying to be friendly but without missing the purpose of the message, because interpersonal relationships are really important for us. 

Secondly, Chileans are not as straightforward and concise in telling what they want as you might be used to, so you should be aware of that in order to get the message without getting bored or lost. Like I said, that does not mean that we lack of a clear objective or intention.

Another cultural difference you should bear in mind is that your personal space might be quite different than ours. 50 centimeters of distance between the interlocutors can be enough for us, but for you this might seem as an invasion of your private space.

Finally, to prevent other awkward situations it could come in handy to know that here, at least in informal situations, we say hello with only ONE kiss on the cheek (not two as French) if a woman is involved, and among men with a handshake or a hug. In formal situations, we usually limit ourselves to give only a handshake. 

All these are just a few of the many cultural differences you may come across. Keep visiting our blog if you want to know more!

By Cristina Zavala Osorio

[1] Boveé, C.; Thill, J. Business Communication Essentials