Love Your Audience as Yourself

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Intercultural communication, as a way to bridge different cultures and foster meaningful connections in our increasingly globalised world, plays a pivotal role in promoting understanding, empathy, trust and collaboration across diverse cultures. People who are familiar with it and can master it proficiently can gain more resources and trust from their audiences, while people who cannot handle it are burdened with the possibility of facing a large crisis if they make a mistake. This article uses the Inter Miami fiasco in Hong Kong as the main example. It delves into explaining how a deeper understanding of cultural differences will make people better intercultural communicators. By exploring key dimensions such as individualism and collectivism, power dynamics, future and present orientation, uncertainty and creativity tolerance, this article unravels the complexities and opportunities in understanding cultural diversity.

1️⃣

What is most easily observed in the Inter Miami fiasco is the conflict between individualism and collectivism. Inter Miami's behaviour, typical of individualism, prioritised its own interests and decision-making autonomy with less emphasis on social harmony. In this case, Inter Miami prioritised the health (or the mood) of its star player, Lionel Messi, over the expectations of the fans in Hong Kong. What’s more, it made decisions without extensive consultation with the Hong Kong government (or more local stakeholders like the audiences) and sufficient consideration for the collective sentiments.

On the other hand, the Hong Kong government's aim is to maintain social harmony and stability by catering for its people’s interests and preferences. The government had allocated resources for the event with the expectation that it would benefit the community as a whole and expressed disappointment on behalf of the community after the contract was torn up, reflecting the collective sentiment of the fans. The different expectations of both sides towards each other indirectly led to the breakdown of negotiations.

Although the exchange between collectivism and individualism failed this time, there are still some successful examples that demonstrate a well-designed balance between collectivism and individualism, like the development and implementation of the Kyoto Protocol in the field of environmental policy. While the Kyoto Protocol promotes collective goals, it also allows flexibility for individual nations to develop and implement strategies tailored to their unique circumstances and priorities. This shows that in order to achieve successful intercultural communication, an inclusive and transparent approach that allows for diverse perspectives to be considered is indispensable; it can foster approval and support for an objective from all sides.

2️⃣

Next, let's consider how power dynamics can be applied in intercultural communication. The power imbalances between Inter Miami, a global sports brand with significant resources, and local stakeholders in Hong Kong influenced their interactions.

Inter Miami's perceived power and influence may have led to overconfidence and a lack of sensitivity towards local concerns. Inter Miami, as a prominent global sports brand associated with high-profile figures such as David Beckham, holds significant influence and power in the sports and entertainment industry. Also, by prioritising the health of their star player, Lionel Messi, over the expectations of the fans, Inter Miami demonstrated an understanding of the power and influence that key players hold within a team. These considerations might be the main reason they made the decision to rest the star player despite the backlash (which also suggests that they valued the long-term performance and health of the player).

As for the Hong Kong government, its efforts to assert control and protect local interests were driven by a desire to promote the development of the tourism industry and uphold sovereignty. When the development of this event was different from expectations, the Hong Kong government expressed their ‘extreme disappointment’ and stated that the organisers owed all football fans an explanation. This demonstrates their role as a regulatory body and their power to demand accountability from the organisers.

It is worth noticing that the media from Hong Kong and Western countries had different perspectives. Hong Kong media focused on the efforts and disappointment of the fans and the government, while Western media provided more context on Inter Miami’s decision. From such a perspective, we can assume that the power and influence of Inter Miami on a global scale is higher than that of the Hong Kong government, which gave them the confidence to behave “arrogantly”.

The collaboration between Microsoft and Alibaba is a successful case for these dynamics. Microsoft is a leading global software company, while Alibaba is the largest e-commerce platform in China. Despite all the cultural and power differences, Microsoft and Alibaba have successfully established a partnership. This collaboration not only enables Microsoft to enter a completely new market but also enables Alibaba to provide higher-quality cloud services to its users. In this case, the conclusion is that only by all stakeholders satisfying each other's interests and working together can successful intercultural communication be achieved.

3️⃣

Moving to the future and present orientation, as mentioned before, Inter Miami’s decision to rest its star player suggests they valued the long-term performance and health of its player over short-term gains, which shows that Inter Miami is future-oriented. Also, acknowledging the disappointment and taking steps to compensate shows that they take their future reputation and relationship with fans seriously.

On the other hand, the fans’ immediate reaction shows that they tend to express their dissatisfaction currently, while this sentiment heavily influenced the government's response, which demanded an immediate explanation from the organisers. This present-oriented approach prioritises the current mood and experience of the community.

Future-oriented and present-oriented can exist at the same time, which will lead to a healthy environment. A practical example is the collaboration between Nintendo in Japan and Microsoft in the United States. The two companies come from different cultural backgrounds with different orientations. However, with the same goal and technology integration, they signed a ten-year cooperation agreement and provided players with high-quality games.

4️⃣

Last but not least, another crucial part of intercultural communication is the perspective of uncertainty and creativity tolerance.

Inter Miami and the Hong Kong government have completely opposite attitudes towards this event. Despite knowing it could lead to a backlash, Inter Miami demonstrated a high tolerance for uncertainty by making the decision to rest their star player. This decision demonstrates that they are willing to take uncertain risks for the benefit of their player’s health. However, the Hong Kong government's response for an immediate explanation shows a low tolerance for uncertainty and solutions that deviate from expectations.

The collaboration between Apple and Foxconn can serve as an example of how companies with different tolerances of uncertainty handle a corporation well. With strict product planning and design requirements, Apple is more inclined towards certainty, while with variables on the production line and uncertainty in the supply chain, Foxconn Group is more inclined towards uncertainty. The reasons for the success of this collaboration include clear and strict cooperation agreements and flexibility.

One such quote from the Bible states, "Love your neighbour as yourself." Similarly, during the process of intercultural communication, we should love our audience as we love ourselves. We should understand them, know what they want (and even want what they want) and eventually build trust with them. Ultimately, with the understanding of cultural differences, we will become better intercultural communicators.

Ruoyao CHEN