Read the text. Put the infinitives in brackets into the proper form.

Culture affects everything we do. This applies to all areas of human life from personal relationships to (to conduct) business abroad. When interacting within our native cultures, culture acts as a framework of understanding. However, when interacting with different cultures this framework no longer applies due to cross cultural differences.

Cross cultural communication aims to help minimise the negative impact of cross cultural differences through building common frameworks for people of different cultures (to interact) within. In business, cross cultural solutions are applied in areas such as HR, team building, foreign trade, negotiations and website design. The importance of culture has become more and more recognized within the field of marketing during the past decade. If this is the case, advertising as a marketing tool has to pay special attention to the cultures of consumers.

Cross cultural communication solutions are also critical to effective cross cultural advertising. Services and products are usually ( to market) at a domestic audience. When a product is then marketed at an international audience the same domestic advertising campaign abroad will in most cases be ineffective.

The essence of successful advertising is convincing people that a product is meant for them. By purchasing it, they will receive some benefit, whether it be lifestyle, status, convenience or financial. However, when an advertising campaign is taken abroad different values and perceptions as to what enhances status or gives convenience ( to exist). These differences make the original advertising campaign defunct. Why?

Society consists of various cultures and sub-cultures, bound by ethnic, religious or language similarities. The individual is defined by her/his culture; no single person exists in a void. The person might belong to one culture or more (for instance where the parents of a child belong to different cultures). The individual’s cultural identity anchors him/her psychologically and within society. The individuals are always linked to their nation, their race and their species. This forms a connection to sociality, which is understood by means of language. Objects, ideas and concepts are created in a cultural context and conveyed by linguistic or non-linguistic signs. As culture in some way can be defined as recurring patterns of behaviours we see these patterns ( to vary) from one cultural community to another.

It is therefore critical to any cross cultural advertising campaign that an understanding of a particular culture is acquired. By way of highlighting areas of cross cultural differences in advertising a few examples shall be examined.

It may seem somewhat obvious to state that language is key to effective cross cultural advertising. However, the fact that companies persistently fail to check linguistic implications of company or product names and slogans demonstrates that such issues are not properly addressed.

The advertising world is littered with examples of linguistic cross cultural blunders. Language must also be analysed for its cultural suitability. For example, the slogan (to employ) by the computer games manufacturer, EA Sports, "Challenge Everything" raises grumbles of disapproval in religious or hierarchical societies where harmonious relationships are maintained through the values of respect and non-confrontation. It is imperative therefore that language be examined carefully in any cross cultural advertising campaign.

Understanding the way in which other cultures communicate allows the advertising campaign to speak to the potential customer in a way they understand and appreciate. For example, communication styles can be explicit or implicit. An explicit communicator (e.g. USA) assumes the listener is unaware of background information or related issues to the topic of discussion and therefore provides it themselves. Implicit communicators (e.g. Japan) assume the listener is well informed on the subject and minimises information relayed on the premise that the listener will understand from implication. An explicit communicator would find an implicit communication style vague, whereas an implicit communicator would find an explicit communication style (to exaggerate).

Even the simplest and most taken for granted aspects of advertising need (to inspect) under a cross cultural microscope. Colours, numbers, symbols and images do not all translate well across cultures.

In some cultures there are lucky colours, such as red in China and unlucky colours, such as black in Japan. Some colours have certain significance; green is considered a special colour in Islam and some colours have tribal associations in parts of Africa.

Many hotels in the USA or UK do not have a room 13 or a 13th floor. Similarly, Nippon Airways in Japan do not have the seat numbers 4 or 9. If there are numbers with negative connotations abroad, presenting or packaging products in those numbers when advertising should be avoided.

Images are also culturally sensitive. Whereas it is common to see pictures of women in bikinis on advertising posters on the streets of London, such images would cause outrage in the Middle East.

When (to advertise) abroad, the cultural values underpinning the society must be analysed carefully. Is there a religion that is practised by the majority of the people? Is the society collectivist or individualist? Is it family orientated? Is it hierarchical? Is there a dominant political or economic ideology? All of these will impact an advertising campaign if left unexamined. For example, advertising that focuses on individual success, independence and stressing the word "I" would be received negatively in countries where teamwork is considered a positive quality. Rebelliousness or lack of respect for authority should always be avoided in family orientated or hierarchical societies.

By way of conclusion, we can see that the principles of advertising run through to cross cultural advertising, too. That is - know your market, what is attractive to them and what their aspirations are. Cross cultural advertising is simply about using common sense and analysing how the different elements of an advertising campaign are impacted by culture and (to modify) them to best speak to the target audience.

(By Neil Payne,http://www.sideroad.com/Cross_Cultural_Communication/cross-cultural-communication.html)