AIB 2012 Conference Proceedings - Academy of International ...

TUESDAY
Session: 3.1.13 - Interactive
Track: 9 - Cross-cultural Management and HRM
Cross-Cultural Communication, Negotiation and Leadership
Presented On: July 3, 2012 - 09:00-10:15
Chair: Davina Vora, SUNY New Paltz
Does Culture Affect How People Receive and Resist Persuasive Messages Research Proposals about Resistance
to Persuasion in Cultural Groups
Renata Kolodziej-Smith, Wayne State University
Daniel Friesen, Wayne State University
Atilla Yaprak, Wayne State University
Even though persuasion has been a widely researched topic in consumer behavior, the great majority of these
studies have involved American consumers and focused on persuasion itself, with very few addressing
resistance to persuasive attempts. None has addressed resistance to persuasion in a cross-cultural context. We
aim to contribute to closing this gap in the literature with this paper. Specifically, we aim to expand knowledge
of the persuasive process by applying the cultural dimensions of self-construal and identity negotiation theories
to Gopinath and Nyer's (2009) work conducted on American consumers about the effect of public commitment
on resistance to persuasion. Our research focus is on why people from different ethnic/cultural backgrounds will
receive or resist persuasive messages differently. We anchor this notion in identity negotiation theory (Ting-
Toomey, 2005). This perspective addresses different stages of an individual's cultural assimilation in a
multicultural environment, thus shedding light on processes underlying persuasion and resistance to persuasion
mechanisms as influenced by culture. Understanding the effects of cultural differences on a person's reception
of, or resistance to, counter-attitudinal persuasion should be valuable to managers who make decisions about
cultural adaptations and target audience changes. (For more information, please contact: Renata Kolodziej-
Smith, Wayne State University, USA: rksmith@wayne.edu)
Communication Style as Extensions of Internalized Cultural Values: Behavioral Consistency and Inconsistency in
Intercultural Encounters
Andre Pekerti, University of Queensland
Empirical evidence supported the notion that communication behaviors during intercultural encounter are
effectively extensions of internalized cultural values. Study 1 established that communication behaviors of
Asians and New Zealanders (NZs) are consistent with vertical-collectivism and horizontal-individualism,
respectively. In particular, argumentativeness is positively related to the independent self-construal and
negatively related to the interdependent self-construal. This supports Markus and Kitayama's (1991)
independent and interdependent self-construal theory. Study 2 showed that NZs exhibited more idiocentric and
argumentative behavior while Asians displayed more sociocentric and less argumentative behavior during two
actual interactions demonstrating that in intercultural interactions, participants diverged in their communication
styles to be more consistent with their cultural values. Finally, analysis of decision outcomes showed that
culture moderates cognitive consistency behaviors, such that NZs exhibited inconsistency-reduction behaviors,
whereas Asians exhibited inconsistency-support behaviors. (For more information, please contact: Andre
Pekerti, University of Queensland, Australia: a.pekerti@uq.edu.au)
Cross-Cultural Voice: Effects of Manager/Subordinate Communication Styles
Anna-Katherine Ward, University of South Carolina
Elizabeth C. Ravlin, University of South Carolina
Nancy R. Buchan, University of South Carolina
Brian S. Klaas, University of South Carolina
AIB 2012 Conference Proceedings
Page 203