Chapter 2 Intercultural Theories
Learning Objectives
By the end of this chapter,you are supposed to understand Kluckhohn and Strodtbeck’s Value Orientations,Hofstede’s Cultural Dimensions and Edward Hall’s Dimensions.
Opening Case
Born in 1959,Barbie perhaps is the most famous girl over the past 40 years or so.As a profitable toy doll manufactured by Mattel,two Barbie dolls are being sold every second all over the world.Being blonde,tall,slim,buxom,leggy and beautiful with her trendy,swinging,independently wealthy lifestyle,Barbie is admired by hundreds of thousands of girls in different countries.To appeal to customers with different cultural backgrounds in different countries,nowadays Mattel Company designs Barbie with cosmetic changes and variable subjects according to local tastes.
For example,domestically Mattel introduced the black Barbie to cater to the segment of African-American market and later Hispanic and Asian-American Barbie to meet the needs of these ethnic markets.In Central and Eastern Europe,Mattel came up with an idea called “friendship Barbie”,which was less elaborated than its Western European counterparts,with only sports clothes and accessories,which reflected the more basic lifestyle of children in this area.In India Barbie girl was painted with a forehead spot and dressed in a sari while the core image was unchanged.
However,in the Middle-East countries,because of the totally diverse culture values,Barbie is seriously in trouble.
In Iran,the government condemned the forever young and childless-by-choice Barbie(and her long-time boy friend Ken.No plans for marriage,ever.)as a threat to traditional culture.Barbie doesn’t define herself in relation to children or families as Iranian women supposedly do.Then,the Iranian Ministry of Education marketed the twin dolls Sara and Dara as the national dolls.Unlike the Barbie Doll,Sara and her twin brother Dara are on a mission to help others,and when the need rises,they consult their parents for guidance.That’s the spirit behind the making of the modestly dressed twins.Meanwhile,Barbie dolls openly sell for $700 in Teheran stores.$700 is seven times the average monthly salary in Iran.
In Saudi Arabia,Saudi religious police were raiding toy stores and gift shops to seize Barbie dolls.One reason for banning Barbie is a belief that Jews own the American company,Mattel that makes them.Jews and Christians are not normally welcome in the kingdom.All potential visitors have to state their religion on their application forms and Christians are forbidden from holding services.Also,the Saudis feared an American presence there would stir up more Islamic radicalism.
In the past year or so,Barbie dolls have almost disappeared from the shelves of many toy stores in the Middle East.In their place is Fulla,a dark-eyed doll.It was created by New Boy Design Studio,which is based in Syria,Fulla roughly shares Barbie’s size and proportions,but steps out of her shiny pink box wearing a black abaya and a matching head scarf.Although she has an extensive and beautiful wardrobe(sold separately,of course),Fulla is usually displayed wearing her modest “outdoor fashion”.Young girls in the Middle East are obsessed with Fulla,and conservative parents who would not dream of buying Barbies for their daughters seem happy to shell out for a modest doll that has her own tiny prayer rug,rendered in pink felt.Children who want to dress like their dolls can buy matching,girl-sized prayer rug and cotton scarf sets,all in pink.Fulla is not the first doll to wear the hijab.Mattel has ever marketed a group of collectors’dolls that includes a Moroccan Barbie and a doll called Leila.But Fulla is the most popular doll in the Middle East because she has a character that parents and children will want to relate to.The advertising is full of positive messages about Fulla’s character.She’s honest,loving and caring,and she respects her father and mother.Fulla also has two respected careers for women,a doctor and a teacher,that small gifts can be encouraged to follow in the Middle East.On the children’s satellite channels popular in the Arab world,Fulla advertising is incessant.In Damascus,a Fulla doll sells for 825 Syrian Lira,or about $16.The average per capita income hovers around $100 per month there.
Questions:
(1)Why was Barbie banned by the governments in the Middle East?
(2)What values does Barbie contradict with in the Middle East?
(3)What can Barbie do if it still wants to compete with its rival Fulla and regain the market?
The conflict here in this case is quite obvious.Barbie was restricted in the Middle-East countries.Firstly,the reason is Barbie represents American individualistic value which is different from the Middle-East collectivistic value.
Secondly,religion is also a very important factor.
Thirdly,women equality is understood variously around the world.
In sum,people not only eat and dress differently,but also they think and behave differently.How to understand the differences among cultures?
Many scholars pay great efforts to study culture from various perspectives.In particular,as the core of culture,values have been explored by scholars extensively,and thus many intercultural theories have been established.Typical intercultural theories include Kluckhohn and Strodtbeck’s value orientation,Trompenaars and Hampden-Turner’s cultural factors,Hofstede’s cultural dimensions,Hall’s dimensions,Triandis’s individualism and Collectivism,Schwartz value survey,Leaptrott’s world culture map,etc.