Seven Factor of Non-verbal communications

Time
The meaning of time varies between different cultures in terms of perspective and orientation. Most Western cultures have mono-chronic time perspective and view it as inescapable, linear and fixed in nature. In most Asian cultures time perspective is different. For instance, Indians tend to view time as less subject to scheduling. They view being involved in many activities simultaneously as something natural. This orientation is called poly-chronic time perspective.
Time perspective would have a direct influence on personal selling styles and also on many advertising themes. If convenience foods are positioned in terms of time saving in poly-chronic cultures, the strategy will most likely fail because time saving is not part of the cultural thought process. Contests with deadlines are more likely to be effective in mono-chronic cultures.

Space
The nearest that others can come to individuals during various formal situations in certain cultures, without making them uncomfortable, is referred to as the personal space. The implication of this is that people from cultures where personal space is short will tend to advance closer, such as South Americans and Arabs. However, if the other person happens to be from a culture where personal space is wider, then she/he would consider the other person as being pushy. The person from shorter personal space culture would consider the other person to be cold, as she/he would try to maintain distance. For example, North Americans consider South Americans to be pushy and aggressive and South Americans view North Americans as cold, snobbish and aloof.

Symbols
The colours of dresses that people wear on different occasions carry a meaning. If a child is wearing a pink dress, it is quite likely that we would think the child is female. Such assumptions may be correct in most cultures but not in Holland. Colours, numbers, shapes and animals carry a different meaning in various cultures. According to N M Murray and S B Murray, even music has varying meanings across cultures.
In Japan four is a symbol of death, Malaysians associate green with jungle and illness, in some South-east Asian countries light blue is associated with death and mourning and in China white is a symbol of death.
Box 9.5: The Meaning of Colours, Numbers and Other Symbols


Friendship
Friendship is a non-verbal cultural variable and imposes rights and obligations. Typically, North Americans make friends quickly and also drop them easily. To most Asians and South Americans, good personal relationship and feelings are very important in long-term agreement and once personal trust is established, cooperation increases. Social contacts developed between negotiating parties are far more important than price or technical specifications. Japanese negotiate a relationship and Americans believe in negotiating a contract. In India, consumers’ personal relationship with salespeople and retail stores is often more important to be successful in the long run.

Agreements
In certain cultures, there is extensive reliance on written agreements to ensure that business obligations are honoured and any disagreements are resolved. USA is an example of such a culture. In many other cultures such as China, there is more reliance on friendship and kinship, local moral principles, or informal customs to guide business conduct. Chinese would examine the character of a potential business partner closely rather than the written contract. They would want to know and understand a person before buying from her/him.

Things
Many things carry a symbolic meaning in different cultures. The knowledge of this becomes particularly important while offering gifts. The social and business situations that present occasions to present gifts and the items that are suitable gifts, differ in different cultures. In India, Diwali is an appropriate gift-giving occasion to government, banking and corporate executives. In Arab countries, gifts should be given in the presence of others, while in China, gifts should be presented in private.

Etiquette
Etiquette is the generally accepted way of behaving in social situations. Most Western cultures view noisy eating and belching as unacceptable social behaviour. Eating meals using fingers and not the knife and fork is a common behaviour in India. In most Western cultures using fingers instead of knife and fork is considered obnoxious. American males habitually sit cross-legged while showing soles in front is considered quite insulting in many Eastern cultures. Normal voice pitch and gestures differ across cultures.