Arab - American communications... not too late? but at least something...

*Draft, final appeared in Public Relations Review, 21 (1995), 241-255.

Bridging Cultural Differences:

American Public Relations Practices & Arab Communication Patterns*

R.S. Zaharna, Ed.D.

School of Communication

American University

Washington, DC 20016

phone: (202) 885-3995

e-mail: Zaharna@American.edu

Abstract

This study focuses on how public relations practitioners and scholars can incorporate the dynamics of intercultural communication into their work. The study examines how two cultures -- the Arab and the American culture -- have two distinct perspectives for viewing language and, as a result, two differing preferences for structuring persuasive and appealing messages. Several frameworks for viewing cultural variations were used to develop a chart on "cultural communication preference" for Americans and Arabs. For the Arab culture, emphasis is on form over function, affect over accuracy, and image over meaning. An awareness of these cultural differences can help facilitate client relations, media training, and message appeals.

International public relations is one of the fastest growing specialties within the field of public relations (Botan, 1992; and Modoux, 1989). However, while the area itself is growing, very little research has been conducted (Pavlik, 1987, p. 64). Most of the material available is anecdotal and lacks a theoretical base.

This study focuses on how public relations practitioners can incorporate the dynamics of intercultural communication into their practice. The study specifically examines how two cultures -- the Arab and the American culture -- have two distinct preferences for structuring persuasive and appealing messages.

While the two styles are very different, most cultural differences tend to lie below the surface of one's awareness. Without a conscious awareness of how another culture is different from one's own, there is a tendency to see the differences of another through the prism of one's culture. This is how the phenomenon of ethnocentrism occurs. When ethnocentrism occurs, cultural differences are no longer neutral, but rather negative. As Norman Daniels (1975) said that when differences aren't perceived as differences, they are perceived as right and wrong.

This study, based on a cross-cultural rhetorical analysis (Zaharna, 1994), seeks to bring the cultural differences of the Arab and American rhetorical styles into conscious awareness. An awareness of these cultural differences can help facilitate client relations, media training, and the design of persuasive appeals.

The study first explores the various cultural frameworks for visualizing how the two cultures differ. These cultural frameworks are based on the theoretical works of intercultural scholars. The second section of the study specifically outlines what these cultural differences mean in terms of the role of language and designing persuasive appeals. The final section briefly discusses the implications of these cultural differences for American public relations professionals who provide counsel to peoples from the Arab culture. In light of the recent developments in the Middle East, learning about the Arab and American communication differences may be a timely prerequisite.