Even though communication or documents including enough clear contents are favored in business contexts, the writers of different cultures will change their styles of communication in order to create congruence between their purposes and the context, leading to effective impacts. It seems that high and low context communications are identified in both APAs and VPAs. The table 4 presents detailed number of appearances of all the implicit and explicit attributes in the print advertisements from the perspective of the headline, body copy and brand name.
Table 4: Average count of explicit and implicit messages in APAs and VPAs
Messages Amount Average
Vietnamese American Vietnamese American
Explicit 166 177 3.9 4.1
Implicit 16 25 0.4 0.6
First, we must acknowledge that the total count of explicit messages was much higher than those of the implicit categories in both countries. Besides, the numbers of explicit messages in both countries are quite similar, and that of implicit messages are very little different too. To be more specific, while 166 explicit messages are used in 43 VPAs, APAs employ 177 explicit messages that are only 11 messages more than VPAs. The difference of implicit messages in both countries is only 9 messages (16 in Vietnam; 25 in the U.S). When studying the category of
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product messages separately it was shown that the subcategories of contact details and ingredients/description were most significant. There are only 5 Vietnamese advertisements (1.1, 1.6, 1.9, 1.11 and 1.22) and 4 American advertisements (2.18, 2.20, 2.29 and 2.33) without contact details. It is obvious that the explicit messages are dominant in each print advertising, their average account is 3.9 messages per Vietnamese commercial and 4.1 messages per American commercial. By contrast, the average accounts of implicit messages in each country are very low (0.4 in Vietnam and 0.6 in the U.S).
To be more specific, I will take some typical examples from collected data in order to make the findings clearer. High context communication is ambiguous, indirect and connotative. Most of the meaning in this kind of communication is transmitted based on the readers‟ background knowledge, social distance, cultural norms, interpersonal relationship, social roles, etc. and not expressed through the exact words. For example, in advertising No.1.2, the reader could make sense of the meaning of the advertising in general based on the written text. However, in order to fully understand this advertising as well as the intentions of writers, the reader should have background knowledge about “tỉ lệ vàng Fibonacci” and its applications and effects on the different fields in our life, especially in architecture.
Tuyệt tác thiết kế trường tồn cùng thời gian, ứng dụng tỉ lệ vàng Fibonacci.
Mở bán duy nhất 205 căn, riêng tư tuyệt đối (6-8 căn/tầng). (Exhibit 1.2)
In general, “tỉ lệ vàng Fibonacci” - the golden ratio is a number that‟s equal to approximately 1.618. Fibonacci sequence is a sequence of numbers by dividing each number by the previous number in the sequence: 0,1, 1, 2, 3, 5, 8, 13, 21, 34, 55, 89, 144, ... it is a connection between sciences and arts. The golden ratio is not just for mathematicians, it is applied by many artists and architectures when creating works of art or unique architectures such as the Great Pyramid of Giza, Notre Dame in Paris, France, the Gothic Cathedral, the current headquarters for the United Nations, etc. From this common knowledge, the readers are able to
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understand what the writer really means in the text. Similarly, in another American print advertising, implicit message is employed
You don’t have to be Michael Phelps to train like Michael Phelps (Exhibit 2.11)
The advertisers of this commercial may presuppose that the readers all know that Michael Phelps is the most successful competitive swimmer. However, with the headline “You don‟t have to be Michael Phelps to train like Michael Phelps”, if someone does not know who Michael Phelps is, it is difficult to understand right after the first headline.
In addition to implicit messages, high context communication is supported by many other factors like body language, facial expression, voices, power distance, social status and interpersonal relationship between the addressers and the addressees. Nevertheless, under the form of written document, and the relationship of the readers and the writer, the non-verbal factors such as background knowledge, social distance, interpersonal relationship might be considered. The data shows that in commercial advertisement context, the relationship between the readers and the writers represents the interpersonal relationship between customers who are persuaded and companies who have to persuade customers. Therefore, in many situations the writers had better to understand their position to adapt their writing styles that suitable for persuading the readers. For instance,
Our immense gratitude to our wonderful guests and our incredible people who take care of them. (Exhibit 2.26)
In this advertising, the writer not only introduces his/ her service but also express the grate thanks to customers and his/ her employees. The way the writer use words
“immense gratitude”, “wonderful guests” and “incredible people” presents his/her respect to them. Another example shows the effect of the interpersonal relationship on writing style despite of which culture the writer belongs to
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D’. Palais Louis sẽ mang đến cho các Quý Chủ Nhân danh giá một không gian sống đậm chất Hoàng gia… trân trọng từng cảm xúc của các Chủ Nhân trong mỗi giây phút quý giá của cuộc sống…” (Exhibit 1.24)
By addressing forms as “Quý Chủ Nhân” , “Chủ Nhân” , the writer indirectly show that his/her position is lower than the position of the readers , and express the enormous respect to them. This is also an effective way to make the readers satisfied with services/ products, and willing to cooperate.
By contrast, in low-context communication, people use low context messages in their communication, and opposite to high context cultures, the message‟s meanings are clear, direct and denotative. Advertisement No. 1.13 is an example to illustrate low-context communication. In this advertisement, the writer gives details of the service
Bảo mật kép
Giao dịch đơn giản, mọi lúc mọi nơi
Chuyển khoản nhanh 24/7
Thanh toán hóa đơn của hơn 70 nhà cung cấp
Tiêu dùng và sử dụng điểm trong hệ sinh thái Vingroup Trung tâm dịch vụ khách hàng 24/7
1900 5454 26- 024 3767 4050
www.mbbank.com.vn” ( Exhibit 1.13)
The readers can understand all information in this advertising clearly due to writer‟s explicit writing style. All types of information such as service name, descriptions, and contact details are also performed distinctly, so that the readers find it easy to follow and remember. The readers do not have to depend on background knowledge to understand the content of the commercial. The message contains most of the information provided. Very little is expected to be coded by the sender or interpreted by the receiver. Apart from the main function of persuading readers, advertisements are required to be easy to remember, so a succinct style with direct message is completely suitable. Congruence with this presupposition, explicit attributes are prominent in all collected advertisements.
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In summary, the survey on explicit and implicit messages in print advertisements in Vietnam and the U.S explores that high and low-context communication can be found in both VPAs and APAs. However, both of these advertisements are gravitated towards low context communication that is embedded in individualistic cultures.