Analysis of the impact of cultural differences on international trade and countermeasures

When carrying out international trade exchanges, the role and influence of cultural differences cannot be ignored. Cultural differences are specifically expressed in values, customs, language differences, thinking patterns and many other aspects, and if the elimination of cultural differences between countries will threaten the development of international trade and affect the scientific implementation of international trade.

In order to reduce the threat of cultural differences on international trade, it is necessary to take appropriate measures to deal with them, in order to ensure the efficiency of international trade, and thus provide conditions for the improvement of our overall economic strength and international influence.

The impact of cultural differences on international trade

(A) Language

Language is an important tool for communication and exchange between people, which symbolizes the culture of a country.

If you want to fully understand and grasp the culture of a country, you must be familiar with the language of the country, and then to grasp the depth of cultural elements. The language used varies from country to country and region to region, and the world’s languages are diverse.

If some countries use the same language, but there are some differences in the application of the language due to customs, region, etc.

If there are differences in language, will have a great impact on the development of international trade, if the use of improper language or cultural differences, it is easy to make international trade collapse.

(B) Religious beliefs

Different countries, different nationalities, different regions, there are differences in their religious beliefs. Religious belief is a cultural element, which is a supernatural phenomenon and is the sublimation of people’s thoughts, ideas and ideals.

In China, people mostly believe in Buddhism, the Arab faith in Islam, most Western countries believe in Christianity.

Therefore, when carrying out international trade activities, but also fully consider the important element of religious beliefs, if you are not careful to violate the other party’s religious beliefs, ignoring the religious factor, it is easy to make the entire trade activity is damaged, or even fizzled.

For example, when a well-known international company went to Qatar for negotiation, due to improper consideration of religious factors, the head of the company brought a bottle of brandy to celebrate with his colleagues at the ceremony in order to succeed, and based on a pious attitude, a man from Qatar drove the personnel of the international company away, making the relevant personnel in Qatar feel disrespected and eventually unable to reach a cooperation agreement.

(C) Values

The so-called values are the ideas and evaluations that people have about various things in the social environment, which exist in their minds and have a great influence on their choice of behavior.

In view of the different development history of each country and region, the perception of wealth, time, risk, etc. is different, which will eventually have an impact on people’s consumption behavior and way.

For example, in developed countries, instant coffee, fast food, etc. are most environmental, however, in less developed countries and countries with a weak sense of time, people are not very accustomed to consuming fast food, and people spend more time on eating and drinking.

In addition, developed countries in Europe and the United States attach great importance to time, so it is necessary to be punctual and on time when conducting business trade, but Africans do not agree very much with the strict regulation of meeting time and feel that the other party does not exist in good faith.

If there are differences in values, this will threaten people’s consumption tendencies. Westerners seek to enjoy the present, to have fun in time, and follow the concept of over-consumption, while Easterners emphasize frugality and saving for future development and life.

(D) Customs and traditions

Custom refers to the habits, rituals, culture, customs, etc. produced by collective organizations or individuals, and is the historical culture and historical behavior habits followed by people in a particular region. Country customs are different, there are differences in customs, which in turn will also have a great impact on international trade.

Specific countermeasures for the impact of cultural differences on international trade

(a) Focus on international cultural exchanges

In order to reduce the impact of cultural differences on national trade activities, we must pay attention to international cultural exchanges, the implementation of a variety of forms, multi-level cultural exchanges and industrial exhibition, and thus eliminate cultural differences to the maximum extent possible, in order to avoid it becoming an important factor affecting the development of international trade. Through the international cultural exchange of friendship, can make different regions, different countries between the language, concepts, art thinking and customs and so on mutual integration, so that each other understand each other’s culture, can moderately eliminate the cultural differences in the obstacles to trade.

In recent years, in order to carry out international trade work in depth, China has held cultural years with Russia, Australia, Italy, etc., and in 2012, Turkey held the Year of Chinese Culture. Through national cultural exchanges, it can provide conditions for the development of international trade activities, which is conducive to the further development of modern international trade economy.

(B) emphasize the integration of trade and local culture

When carrying out cross-border trade, and to develop a matching trade implementation plan, it is necessary to consider three cultural elements, respectively, their own national culture, the other country’s culture and corporate culture. The close integration of trade with local culture, the selection of appropriate products for export, the scientific design, pricing and promotion of products, and the selection of products more suitable for the actual needs of the sales country.

For example, KFC has fully integrated Chinese culture to design the Old Beijing Chicken Roll, a product with shredded green onion, sweet noodle sauce and other ingredients, a design that is loved by our people.

Conclusion

In summary, the creation of national cultural differences, which can have a great impact on consumption patterns, demand, etc., which in turn can threaten the development of international trade activities.

Therefore, in order to ensure the success of international trade, we must fully consider the cultural differences and understand the impact of cultural differences on the country’s trade activities, to start from the perspective of product packaging, design, publicity and sales, which can make the country’s local people happy to accept, can greatly improve the success rate of international trade.

If you want to deal with a series of cultural differences, you must emphasize cultural communication and cultural integration, and then contribute to the continuous improvement of the world economy and trade level.