Cross-Cultural Behaviour in Tourism

Yvette Reisinger, PhD, Lindsay Turner

• Publisher: Routledge
• Year: 2012
• eBook ISBN: 9781136412844
• Edition: 1
• Topic: Business
• Subtopic: Hospitality, Travel & Tourism Industry
• Index: Business

Cross-Cultural Behaviour in Tourism: Concepts and Analysis is important reading for those in the following areas of industry: * Tourism: illustrates the importance of cultural background in the tourist experience and how it is a major determinant in repeat visitation
* Marketing: provides an understanding of the cultural background of a destination that is vital when formulating successful marketing strategies
* Management: provides valuable examples on how cultures influence tourist behaviour and decision-making, helping managers to develop cross-cultural skills and deal with tourists from diverse cultural backgrounds Tourism is a service industry where people from different nationalities meet. In today's international marketplace it is imperative that those in the industry understand the influence of national cultures on their consumers in order to compete successfully for a market share. The book is accompanied by online resources which can be found at www.bh.com/companions/0750656689. These resources include an account of Hypothesis Testing, together with a detailed glossary and a comprehensive reference list of relevant materials.

Part 1

Concepts of Cross-Cultural
Behaviour in Tourism

This part discusses the main general concepts in cross-cultural tourism behaviour that were identified on the basis of a very extensive and broad literature review. It has six chapters, as follows:

• Chapter 1, entitled Culture, has been designed to specify clearly what is meant by the concept of culture and subculture. This chapter introduces the notion of cultural differences and dimensions, and introduces the intercultural interaction model. It presents the concepts of cultural differences and, subsequently, discusses cultural differences between Asian, European, US and Australian societies.
• Chapter 2 explores the concept of social interaction. The specific emphasis is on cultural factors and the impact of cultural differences on tourist–host interaction. This chapter discusses interaction difficulties in inter- and cross-cultural tourist–host interaction. It also introduces the concept of culture shock and methods of measuring tourist–host contact. The intent is to demonstrate and emphasize that tourist–host social interaction is a cultural phenomenon.
• Chapter 3 provides insights into the nature of cultural values. The purpose is to demonstrate the ways in which values differentiate cultures and the role they play in cross-cultural interaction. Different types of values are discussed and their classification presented. Various cultural dimensions are presented as identified by various researchers. A measurement of values is also evaluated. The major literature findings on the differences in cultural value patterns between Asian, European, US and Australian societies are illustrated as an example of the differences between various cultures. Concepts related to cultural values such as behaviour, rules, norms and attitudes are also briefly discussed and their interrelationships shown.
• Chapter 4 provides an explanation of the concept of rules of social interaction. The cross-cultural differences in rules of social interaction are presented.
• Chapter 5 examines the concept of perceptions, and their relationship to the concept of culture and social interaction. Methods of perception measurement are introduced and the literature on tourists’ and hosts’ perceptions for Asia, Europe, the US and Australia discussed, along with cultural stereotyping and ethnocentrism.
• Chapter 6 of the book focuses on satisfaction. This chapter deals with various aspects of satisfaction in relation to tourist holiday experiences, including satisfaction with interpersonal relations with hosts and the service provided by hosts. Methods of satisfaction measurement are presented.

	Culture
	Objectives
	After completing this chapter the reader should be able to: ▪ define culture, its purpose and characteristics ▪ identify elements of culture ▪ understand subculture ▪ identify major cultural differences and cultural dimensions ▪ describe the intercultural model and the influence of cultural differences on an individual and social interaction ▪ understand the importance of cultural differences in behaviour.

Introduction

What is the influence of culture on social interaction? The first step is to determine what is meant by the concept of culture and how it can be defined. Various definitions of culture will be discussed and a final definition written for the purposes of general research use, and the specific analysis of culture in this book. We will then look at the relationships between culture and social interaction through the various dimensions modelled in current literature that define and explain the differences between various cultures. It is the differences that make the study of culture both interesting and rewarding so we will look at the essential nature of these differences, with a close focus upon the major cultural dichotomy – the difference between the East and the West.

Concept and definitions

Culture is a complex multidimensional phenomenon that is difficult to define, and the hundreds of different definitions presented in the literature reflect this. For example, Kroeber and Kluckhohn (1985) documented that there are over 160 definitions of culture. Because culture is broad in its scope, theorists have had difficulties in arriving at one central definition of culture and have had different views about what constitutes the meaning of culture. Several scientific fields such as sociology, psychology, anthropology and intercultural communication have their own definitions of culture. These definitions range from viewing culture as an all-inclusive phenomenon (‘it is everything’), to those that take a narrow view of the concept. However, despite the vast range of definitions of culture, it has been generally agreed in the literature that culture is a ‘theory’ (Kluckhohn, 1944), an ‘abstraction’ or a ‘name’ for a very large category of phenomena (Moore and Lewis, 1952). It has also been accepted that defining culture is diffcult or even impossible (Edelstein et al., 1989). ‘Culture is like a black box which we know is there but not what it contains’ (Hofstede, 1980, p. 13).

Let us present some definitions of culture. We choose to focus on those features of culture that contribute most to culture’s influence on social interaction and to emphasize culture’s multifaceted nature.

Classic definition of culture

The classic definition of culture is:

that complex whole which includes knowledge, beliefs, art, morals, law, customs, and any other capabilities and habits acquired by man as a member of society (Tylor, 1924, p. 1).

This definition emphasizes the inclusive nature of the concept of culture under which many variables are included in ‘a complex whole’.

Human origin of culture

Since Tylor (1924), many anthropologists have redefined the concept of culture (Kroeber and Kluckhohn, 1952; Kroeber and Parsons, 1958; Mair, 1972; Piddington, 1960; Schneider and Bonjean, 1973). All definitions commonly point to the same feature of culture: its human origin (Moore and Lewis, 1952). It was agreed that humans have created culture. Culture is broadly viewed as ‘the human-made part of the environment’ (Herskovits, 1948, p. 17; 1955), as holding human groups together (Benedict, cited in Kluckhohn, 1944), and ‘the most complete human groups’ (Hofstede, 1980, p. 26). Culture is also viewed as a way of life of a particular group of people (Harris, 1968; Harris and Moran, 1979; Kluckhohn, 1951a), a ‘design for living’ (Kluckhohn and Kelly, 1945), ‘standards for deciding what is ... what can be ... what one feels about it, what to do about it, and ... how to go about doing it’ (Goodenough, 1961, p. 522).

Behavioural anthropologists

The definitions of behavioural anthropologists indicate that culture is about human behaviour (Schusky and Culbert, 1987). Culture manifests itself in observable patterns of behaviour associated with particular groups of people (Bagby, 1953; Barnlund and Araki, 1985; Lundberg et al., 1968; Merrill, 1965; Spradley, 1972). Culture determines human behaviour (Barnlund and Araki, 1985; Parsons and Shils, 1951; Peterson, 1979; Potter, 1989), is ‘indispensable to any understanding of human behavior’ (Nisbett, 1970, p. 223), it guides behaviour in interaction (Parsons, 1951), indicates a pattern of social interaction (Harris, 1983), and it ‘guides behavior and interprets others’ behavior’ (Kim and Gudykunst, 1988, p. 127). However, the behavioural anthropologists’ definitions of culture have been criticized for not distinguishing between patterns for behaviour and patterns of behaviour (Goodenough, 1957, 1961).

Behaviouralists argued that cultural behaviour is learned, not inherited. Culture is a collection of beliefs, habits and traditions, shared by a group of people and learned by people who enter the society (Mead, 1951). It is possible to learn new cultural behaviour and unlearn old behaviour. This means that it is possible to learn cultural traits and integrate them when generating strategic marketing (Darlington in Joynt and Warner, 1996).

Functionalists

On the other hand, the definitions of functionalists emphasize the role of culture in understanding the reasons and rules for certain behaviour. Functionalists refer to culture as a set of rules for ‘fitting human beings together into a social system’ (Radcliffe-Brown, 1957, p. 102). These rules allow us to better understand and predict how others will behave and why. Culture is seen as something that ‘gives directions for the actors and how the actors should play their parts on the stage’ (Schneider, 1972, p. 38). Some definitions restrict the concept of culture to mental rules (Harris, 1983). Others stress that culture is the socially acquired ways of feeling and thinking (Harris, 1988; Nisbett, 1970; Radcliffe-Brown, 1957), and ways of doing (Sapir, 1921). Some functionalists see culture as the means through which human needs are met (Malinowski, 1939), and values are communicated (Dodd et al., 1990).

Behaviouralists and functionalists

The behaviouralists and functionalists agree that culture and behaviour are inseparable because culture not only dictates how we behave, it also helps to determine the conditions and circumstances under which the various behaviours occur; it helps to interpret and predict behaviour. In this way, interactional behaviour is largely dependent upon the culture in which the interactants have been raised. Consequently, culture is the foundation of interaction. So we can say that when cultures vary, interaction patterns also vary.

Criticism of behaviouralists and functionalists

The behaviouralist and functionalist definitions of culture have been criticized for not explaining cultural behaviour sufficiently.

• Firstly, different observers may perceive and interpret the same behaviour differently.
• Secondly, behaviour may change over time across individuals and within individuals, and may depend on situations.
• Thirdly, there may be discrepancies between what people say, what they would do and what they actually do.
• Fourthly, the interpretation of behaviour may be influenced by stereotypes.

Cognitive anthropologists

The cognitive anthropologists refer to culture as cognitive knowledge, classifications and categories, existing in the minds of people (Goodenough, 1964; Merrill, 1965; Schmidt, 1939). Hofstede (1991, p. 5) described culture as ‘the collective programming of the mind, which distinguishes the members of one group or category of people from another’. This definition stresses the mental conditions that cultural experiences impose. Keesing (1974) argued that culture is a ‘system of knowledge, shaped by ... the human brain’ (p. 89). He criticized Schneider (1972) for comparing culture to rules indicating how the actors should play on the stage. According to Keesing (1974) rules are created by a culturally patterned mind. Hofstede (1980) argued that culture includes systems of values; and values build blocks of culture. The cognitive anthropologists have been criticized for limiting the concept of culture to knowledge, and excluding people and their emotions from the concept, whereas in fact, many other senses contribute to peoples’ experiences. For instance, Cole and Scribner (1974) noted that peoples’ experiences are shaped by culturally and socially defined meanings and emotions.

Symbolists

The symbolists refer to culture as a system of symbols and meanings (Kim and Gudykunst, 1988; Radcliffe-Brown, 1957; Schneider, 1976) that influence experiences. Symbols help to communicate and develop attitudes toward life (Geertz, 1973) and allow for interaction in a socially accepted manner that is understood by the group (Foster, 1962). Although meanings cannot be observed, counted or measured (Geertz, 1973), they help to understand others’ behaviour. The symbolic definition of culture has also been criticized. Levi-Strauss (1971) argued that symbols do not create culture because they are created by a culturally patterned human mind.

Culture as perceptions

Many definitions of culture indicate that culture is ‘the sum of people’s perceptions of themselves and of the world ...’ (Urriola, 1989, p. 66). The similarity in people’s perceptions indicates the existence of similar cultures and sharing and understanding of meanings (Samovar et al., 1981).

Subjective culture

Triandis (1972) referred to a ‘subjective culture’ as a cultural characteristic way of perceiving the environment. The main elements of subjective culture are values, role perceptions, attitudes, stereotypes, beliefs, categorizations, evaluations, expectations, memories and opinions. The similarity in perceived subjective culture means similarity in perceiving all these elements. Members of a similar subjective culture have similar values, conform to similar rules and norms, develop similar perceptions, attitudes and stereotypes, use common language, or participate in similar activities (Samovar et al., 1981; Triandis, 1972). Triandis (1972) emphasized the importance of understanding how the elements of subjective culture affect interpersonal interactions. He reported that the similarities in subjective culture lead to frequent interaction among members of similar cultural groups. Triandis (1972, p. 9) also noted ‘when the similar behavior patterns obtained in one culture differ from the similar patterns obtained in another, we infer the existence of some differences in subjective culture’. According to Landis and Brislin (1983, p. 187), differences in subjective cultures ‘are more likely to occur ... because of the differences in norms, roles, attitudes, and values between the ... cultures’ that infer that ‘individuals belong to different cultures’.

Culture as differences between people

Culture is about differences and cultural differences are obvious (Wallerstein, 1990). Culture can be referred to as differences between groups of people who do things differently and perceive the world differently (Potter, 1989). These differences indicate the exis...

Table of contents

• Frontcover
• Halftitle
• Titlepage
• Copyright
• Contents
• Foreword
• Preface
• List of tables
• List of figures
• Introduction
• Part 1 Concepts of Cross-Cultural Behaviour in Tourism
• Part 2 Methods for Cross-Cultural Analysis in Tourism
• Part 3 Applications of Cultural Analysis in Tourism
• Part 4 Conclusion
• References
• Index