Marketing Communications

234 CHAPTER 7 ADVERTISING

Space

Asian and Arab people tend to stand very close to one another, Western and American people

leave more space and fi nd it rather threatening when people stand close to them. According

to Hall’s ‘proxemics’, Western countries are characterised by three primary zones of space:

the intimate zone (0–45 cm), the personal zone (45 cm–1 m) and the social zone (1–2 m).

However, within Europe diff erences concerning optimal space also appear: the further south

you go, the smaller the distance gets. Northern Europeans, the English and Americans are said

to have a low-touch culture, demonstrating low contact in public, while Southern Europeans,

Arabs and Eastern Europeans are said to have a high-touch culture. However, although a

country may belong to a high-touch culture, one should keep in mind subtleties in touching

rules in advertising. Touching a woman is usually a more sensitive area and, especially in

Arab countries, this may cause problems.^135 Moreover, who touches who also depends on the

culture. In Europe it is usual to see people of the opposite sex (a couple) walking hand in hand

on the street. Th is is not the case for many Asian and Arab countries. Here you would rather

see people of the same sex (not a couple, but just acquaintances) holding hands.

Colours

Colours have diff erent meanings in diff erent cultures. For instance, in the USA and Europe,

green is oft en associated with freshness and good health, but in countries with dense green

jungles it is associated with disease instead. Red suggests good fortune in China but means

death in Turkey. White stands for purity and cleanliness in many European countries, but

suggests death in many Asian countries. Black has negative connotations in Japan, India and

Europe, but is perceived positively in the Middle East.^136

Gestures

Cultures diff er in the way they greet each other: shaking hands, bowing, kissing, etc. Further-

more, moving the head back and forth is an affi rmative sign in most Western countries, but

means ‘no’ in Greece and Bulgaria. Patting a child on the head is a sign of aff ection in Western

cultures, but an insult in Islamic countries. Raising three fi ngers when ordering a drink

means you want three drinks in Western countries, but in Japan you would be ordering two

drinks since Japanese count the number of fi ngers that are down instead of up.

Eye contact

Looking someone straight in the eye is regarded positively by Europeans and Americans

because it is perceived as a sign of honesty. However, in Japan you show respect by lowering

your eyes.

Despite the fact that translators usually know the foreign language quite well, translation errors frequently occur.

One way to avoid such errors is to translate and back-translate, which should result in the same words or

sentence(s) as the original one(s). Some examples of translation errors are:^137

BUSINESS INSIGHT

Slogan translation mistakes

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