Intercultural Communication and Nonverbal Communication

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Hall (as cited in Würtz, 2006) defined high context cultures have a preference for Nonverbal communication (p. 55). High context culture website uses implicit information, in which it is important to have related news information and some signs. Nonverbal communication mainly the emphasis on visual effects which are images, animation, links, buttons, music, video, symbols and messages related to particular topics (p. 274). A Nonverbal communication is one in which most of the information is in the physical forms, while very little is in the text. Singh, Zhao & Hu’s (as cited in Ahmed, Mouratidis & Preston, 2009) demonstrated that "the use of symbols and icons is more important, in Nonverbal communication" (p. 55). For instance, Indian websites regularly use Color, symbolism, animations, images and sometimes video clip and music also. According to Evers (as cited in Ahmed, Mouratidis & Preston, 2009) found that the 86.5 % of Asians strongly liked sound effects (Evers, 2001). In short, the high context culture country uses nonverbal communication which is India, China, Mexico, Brazil and Japan.

Würtz (2006) emphasized on message speed, time attitude, navigation and transparency. Hall and Hall (as cited in Würtz, 1990) defined that in a high context culture, the most of the people takes heaps of time to understand the message. (1990, p.5). The high context Asian website gives user to different types of navigation which will be appearing on top of the page and at the bottom of the page as well. Furthermore, it could be in the form of link and that would be open in new window or might be open in same window. Moreover, high context culture contains more images, graphical representation and less text compare to low context culture. Transparency is processed in such a form that is easy for users to see what actions are performed in website. In addition, sometimes a high context website gives a less transparent overview of the content compared to low context sites (p. 291).

Hofstede and hall (as cited in Ahmed, Mouratidis & Preston, 2009) reported that in the high context culture power distance and collectivism is high. In high power distance cultures, countries, most probably they will give more respect to their seniors. According to Singh & Pereira (as cited in Ahmad, 2006), the Mexican websites emphasize the professional degree of person because it is important to highlight the titles of people while designing a website in a high power distance culture (p.

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