User:Victoria Ronga/sandbox

Mexico and the U.S.
This study is a result of a cross-cultural examination between students from the United States, low-context, and Mexico, high context, to discover the reasons people communicate in each culture. There were 225 Mexican participants from three different undergraduate universities in Mexico City and 447 participants from Kent State University in the U.S. The case study looked into the realms of culture shock for Mexicans studying in the U.S. The hypotheses tested indicated the low-context culture in Mexico would provide different motives for communication when compared with the high-context culture of the U.S.

The results found that U.S. participants used communication for pleasure more often than Mexican participants. Pleasure, affection and inclusion were the highest motives for communication in both cultures, and control was the lowest for both cultures.

Denotation and Connotation
High-context cultures are related to connotation. People within high-context cultures tend to be more aware and observant of facial expressions, body language, changes in tone, and other aspects of communication that are not directly spoken. Denotation tends to be attributed to low-context culture. People in low-context cultures communicate in a more direct way, with explicitly speaking what they want to communicate.

Interpersonal Relationships
Individualism and collectivism are related to low-context and high-context cultures, respectively. Within high-context cultures, people rely on their networks of friends and family, viewing their relationships as part of one large community. In low-context cultures, relationships are not viewed as important figures to identity. People within low-context cultures see their relationships much looser and the lines between networks of people are more flexibly drawn.

Crest Toothpaste Advertisements
Two different advertisements, catered to differing context cultures, were analyzed by He Bai with the English Teaching Institute in Beijing.

The first advertisement
"Now there is something more dentists can recommend for your gums that’s proven to help get them healthier. Crest Plus Gum is the only cavity fighting toothpaste that’s so effective, and it’s clinically proven to help reserve the gum disease-gingivitis. Just what the dentists ordered."

This advertisement, meant for people within low-context cultures, is direct and informative. The information about cavity protection, clinical studies and dentist recommendations is all in the three sentences. People within low-context cultures, because they tend to enjoy direct communication, will find this advertisement helpful.

The second advertisement
"Behind that healthy smile, there’s a Crest kid."

The second advertisement, meant for high-context cultures is less directly informative. Because information is implied, the advertisement appeals to people within high-context cultures.

Website Communication
Website design among cross-cultural barriers include factoring in decisions about culture-sensitive color meanings, layout preferences, animation and sounds. In a case study conducted by the IT University of Copenhagen, it was found that websites catering to high-context cultures ended to have more detailed and advanced designs, including various images and animations. Low-context websites had less animation and more stagnant images, with more details on information. The images found on the websites used in the study promoted individualistic and collectivist characteristics within the low-context and high-context websites, respectively. The low-context websites had multiple images of individuals, while the high-context websites contained images and animations of groups and communities.