The impact of technology on the Arab communication style and culture: Implications for marketing

Abstract

‘Culture is communication and communication is culture,’ as Hall (1976, Beyond culture, Garden City, NY: Anchor Books, Doubleday) reminds us. The main purpose of this paper was to assess the impact of technology on the Arab communication style. The Internet is a unique environment with particular characteristics that might cause shifts in people's communication styles. The setting/context of online communication is very different from face-to-face communication and thus assumptions about communication styles need to be reexamined. The data analysis indicates that significant changes to the Arab culture are taking place and these changes are likely to have an impact on marketing practices in the region.

Keywords::

• Arab
• culture
• communication
• marketing

Notes

¹ Email: [email protected]

² Email: [email protected]

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Salma Ghanem

Salma Ghanem is Professor and Dean of the College of Communication and Fine Arts at Central Michigan University. She holds a Ph.D. in Journalism from the University of Texas at Austin. Her research interests include political communication with particular emphasis on the first and second level of agenda setting and framing. She also conducts research on advertising in the Middle East as well as intercultural communication. Dr. Ghanem has experience in health and international public relations. She held the position of communication specialist with Scott and White Memorial Hospital and Clinic in Temple Texas and served as an information officer for the Press Office of the Egyptian Mission to the United Nations in New York.

Morris Kalliny

Morris Kalliny is Assistant Professor of Marketing at Saint Louis University. Dr. Kalliny holds a Ph.D. in International Business and Marketing from The University of Texas-Pan American. Dr. Kalliny's research focuses on cross cultural marketing with a special focus on the Middle East region and the United States. Professor Kalliny's research has appeared in more than 50 academic journals, book chapters and proceedings in addition to several other publications. His research has been presented at more than 20 academic conferences.

Siham Elgoul

Siham Elghoul is an Associate Professor of Sociology at Ain Shams University, Cairo, Egypt. She is currently working in the Faculty of Education at Tabouk University in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. She holds a Ph.D. from Ain Shams University. Her research focuses on aging, family development and the impact of the media on juveniles. She is currently working on a project examining the impact of the internet on the revolution in Egypt.