research paper on cultural communication

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• Published: 23 March 2022

Communication competencies, culture and SDGs: effective processes to cross-cultural communication

• Stella Aririguzoh 1  

Humanities and Social Sciences Communications volume  9 , Article number:  96 ( 2022 ) Cite this article

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• Business and management
• Cultural and media studies

Globalization has made it necessary for people from different cultures and nations to interact and work together. Effective cross-cultural communication seeks to change how messages are packaged and sent to people from diverse cultural backgrounds. Cross-cultural communication competencies make it crucial to appreciate and respect noticeable cultural differences between senders and receivers of information, especially in line with the United Nations’ (UN) recognition of culture as an agent of sustainable development. Miscommunication and misunderstanding can result from poorly encrypted messages that the receiver may not correctly interpret. A culture-literate communicator can reduce miscommunication arising from a low appreciation of cultural differences so that a clement communication environment is created and sustained. This paper looks at the United Nations’ recognition of culture and how cultural differences shape interpersonal communication. It then proposes strategies to enhance cross-cultural communication at every communication step. It advocates that for the senders and receivers of messages to improve communication efficiency, they must be culture and media literates.

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The United Nations has recognized culture as a causal agent of sustainability and integrated it into the SDG goals. Culture reinforces the economic, social, and communal fabrics that regulate social cohesion. Communication helps to maintain social order. The message’s sender and the receiver’s culture significantly influence how they communicate and relate with other people outside their tribal communities. Globalization has compelled people from widely divergent cultural backgrounds to work together.

People unconsciously carry their cultural peculiarities and biases into their communication processes. Naturally, there have been miscommunications and misunderstandings because people judge others based on their cultural values. Our cultures influence our behaviour and expectations from other people.

Irrespective of our ethnicities, people want to communicate, understand, appreciate, and be respected by others. Culture literate communicators can help clear some of these challenges, create more tolerant communicators, and contribute to achieving global sustainable goals.

Introduction

The United Nations established 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) in 2015 to transform the world by 2030 through simultaneously promoting prosperity and protecting the earth. The global body recognizes that culture directly influences development. Thus, SDG Goal 4.7 promotes “… a culture of peace and non-violence, global citizenship and appreciation of cultural diversity and of culture’s contribution to sustainable development.” Culture really matters (Seymour, 2007 ). Significantly, cultural cognition influences how people process information from different sources and suggests policies they may support or oppose (Rachlinski, 2021 ). Culture can drive sustainable development (United Nations, 2015 ; De Beukelaer and Freita, 2015 ; Kangas et al., 2017 ; Heckler, 2014 ; Dessein et al., 2015 ; and Hosagrahar, 2017 ).

UNESCO ( 2013 , p.iii ; 2017 , p.16; 2013a , p. 30) unequivocally states that “culture is a driver of development,” an “enabler of sustainable development and essential for achieving the 2030 Agenda” and as “an essential pillar for sustainable development.” These bold declarations have led to the growth of the cultural sector. The culture industry encourages economic growth through cultural tourism, handicraft production, creative industries, agriculture, food, medicine, and fisheries. Culture is learned social values, beliefs, and customs that some people accept and share collectively. It includes all the broad knowledge, beliefs, art, morals, law, customs, and other experiences and habits acquired by man as a member of a particular society. This seems to support Guiso, Paola and Luigi ( 2006 , p. 23) view of culture as “those customary beliefs and values that ethnic, religious, and social groups transmit fairly unchanged from generation to generation.” They assert that there is a causality between culture and economic outcomes. Bokova ( 2010 ) claims that “the links between culture and development are so strong that development cannot dispense with culture” and “that these links cannot be separated.” Culture includes customs and social behaviour. Causadias ( 2020 ) claims that culture is a structure that connects people, places, and practices. Ruane and Todd ( 2004 ) write that these connections are everyday matters like language, rituals, kingship, economic way of life, general lifestyle, and labour division. Field ( 2008 ) notes that even though all cultural identities are historically constructed, they still undergo changes, transformation, and mutation with time. Although Barth ( 1969 ) affirms that ethnicity is not culture, he points out that it helps define a group and its cultural stuff . The shared cultural stuff provides the basis for ethnic enclosure or exclusion.

The cultural identities of all men will never be the same because they come from distinctive social groups. Cultural identification sorts interactions into two compartments: individual or self-identification and identification with other people. Thus, Jenkins ( 2014 ) sees social identity as the interface between similarities and differences, the classification of others, and self-identification. He argues that people would not relate to each other in meaningful ways without it. People relate both as individuals and as members of society. Ethnicity is the “world of personal identity collectively ratified and publicly expressed” and “socially ratified personal identity‟ (Geertz, 1973 , p. 268, 309). However, the future of ethnicity has been questioned because culture is now seen as a commodity. Many tribal communities are packaging some aspects of their cultural inheritances to sell to other people who are not from their communities (Comaroff and Comaroff, 2009 ).

There is a relationship between culture and communication. People show others their identities through communication. Communication uses symbols, for example, words, to send messages to recipients. According to Kurylo ( 2013 ), symbols allow culture to be represented or constructed through verbal and nonverbal communication. Message receivers may come from different cultural backgrounds. They try to create meaning by interpreting the symbols used in communication. Miscommunication and misunderstanding may arise because symbols may not have the same meaning for both the sender and receiver of messages. If these are not efficiently handled, they may lead to stereotyping, prejudice, and discrimination. Monaghan ( 2020 ), Zhu ( 2016 ), Holmes ( 2017 ), Merkin ( 2017 ), and Samovar et al. ( 2012 ) observe that inter-cultural communication occurs between people from different cultural groups. It shows how people from different cultural backgrounds can effectively communicate by comparing, contrasting, and examining the consequences of the differences in their communication patterns. However, communicating with others from different cultural backgrounds can be full of challenges, surprises, and re-learning because languages, values, and protocols differ. Barriers, like language and noise, impede communication by distorting, blocking, or altering the meaning.

Communication patterns change from one nation to the next. It is not uncommon, for example, for an American, a Nigerian, a Japanese national, or citizens of other countries to work together on a single project in today’s multi-cultural workplace. These men and women represent different cultural heritages. Martinovski ( 2018 ) remarks that both humans and virtual agents interact in cross-cultural environments and need to correctly behave as demanded by their environment. Possibly too, they may learn how to avoid conflicts and live together. Indeed, García-Carbonell and Rising ( 2006 , p. 2) remark that “as the world becomes more integrated, bridging the gap in cultural conflicts through real communication is increasingly important to people in all realms of society.” Communication is used to co-ordinate the activities in an organization for it to achieve its goals. It is also used to signal and order those involved in the work process.

This paper argues that barriers to cross-cultural communication can be overcome or significantly reduced if the actors in the communication processes become culture literates and competent communicators.

Statement of the problem

The importance of creating and maintaining good communication in human society cannot be overemphasized. Effective communication binds and sustains the community. Cross-cultural communication problems usually arise from confusion caused by misconstruction, misperception, misunderstanding, and misvaluation of messages from different standpoints arising from differences in the cultures of the senders and receivers of messages. Divergences in cultural backgrounds result in miscommunication that negatively limits effective encrypting, transmission, reception, and information decoding. It also hinders effective feedback.

With the rapid spread of communication technologies, no community is completely isolated from the rest of the world. Present-day realities, such as new job opportunities and globalization, compel some people to move far away from their local communities and even their countries of origin to other places where the cultures are different. Globalization minimizes the importance of national borders. The world is no longer seen as a globe of many countries but as a borderless entity (Ohmae, 1999 ) and many markets (Levitt, 1983 ) in different countries with different cultures. As a matter of necessity, people from other countries must communicate.

The United Nations ( 2015 ) recognizes culture’s contribution to sustainable development and promotes local cultures in development programmes to increase local population involvement. Despite the United Nations’ lofty ideals of integrating culture into development, culture has hindered development at different levels. Interventions meant to enhance development are sometimes met with opposition from some people who feel that such programmes are against their own culture.

Gumperz ( 2001 , p. 216) argues that “all communication is intentional and grounded in inferences that depend upon the assumption of mutual good faith. Culturally specific presuppositions play a key role in inferring what is intended.” Cross-border communications reflect the kaleidoscope of the diverse colours of many cultures, meeting, clashing, and fusing. Like Adler ( 1991 , p. 64) observes, “foreigners see, interpret, and evaluate things differently, and consequently act upon them differently.” Diversities in culture shape interpersonal communication. Yet the basic communication process is the same everywhere. It is in these processes that challenges arise. Therefore, this study seeks to examine how each of these steps can be adapted to enhance cross-cultural communication, especially in today’s digitized era of collapsing cultural boundaries. Barriers to cross-cultural communication can be significantly reduced if the actors in the communication processes become culture literates and competent communicators.

Study objectives

The objectives of this study are

To examine United Nations efforts to integrate culture into sustainable development.

To suggest modifications to each communication process step to improve effective cross-cultural communication.

Literature review

Some authors have tried to link culture, communication, and sustainable goals.

The need to know about people’s culture

There are compelling reasons to learn about other people’s cultures.

Cultural literacies: Difficulties in cross-cultural communication can be reduced when senders of messages understand that the world is broader than their ethnocentric circles. It demands that senders of messages know that what they believe may not always be correct when communicating with receivers of these messages who are from different cultures. Logical reasoning will expect increased exposure to different cultures to increase understanding. When people of different groups communicate frequently, it is anticipated that they should understand each other better. This is what Hirsch ( 1987 ) labels as cultural literacy . In the ordinary course of things, common knowledge destroys mutual suspicion and misinterpretation that often generate conflicts.

To protect the earth: It is essential to point out that at “the most global level, the fate of all people, indeed the fate of the earth, depends upon negotiations among representatives of governments with different cultural assumptions and ways of communicating” (Tannen, 1985 , p. 203). If the world is to be protected, it is necessary to understand other peoples’ cultures who live and interact with us at different fronts and in this same world. The world is still our haven. Nevertheless, Vassiliou et al. ( 1972 ) find that increased exposure can increase people’s mutual negative stereotyping. Tannen ( 1985 , p. 211) remarks that stereotypes of ethnic groups partly develop from the poor impressions that people from other cultures have about the natives because they hold different meanings for both parties. Stereotyping is detrimental to cross-cultural communication, and its dismissal is necessary for any successful cross-cultural exchange.

Spin-offs from globalization: Bokova ( 2013 ) observes that globalization transforms all societies and brings culture to the front. She remarks that communities are increasingly growing diverse and yet interconnected. The spin-offs from globalization open great doors for exchanges, mutual enrichment of persons from different cultures, and pictures of new worlds.

The dynamics of cross-cultural communication

Different cultures emphasize different values. The emphasis on one value by one culture may lead to difficulties in cross-cultural communication with another person who does not see that particular value in the same light, for example, timeliness. It is crucial to note Sapir’s ( 1956 , p. 104) insistence that “every cultural pattern and every single act of social behaviour involves communication in either an explicit or implicit sense.” Even though Hofstede ( 2005 , p. 1) comments that “cultural differences are nuisance at best and often a disaster,” UNESCO ( 1998 , 1999 ) recognizes cultural diversity as an “essential factor of development” and an issue that matters. This makes cultural diversity a blessing rather than a disaster. The various shades of cultural values influence how we behave and communicate with others outside our cultural environment. Our ideals and biases also influence communication.

Trompenaars and Hampden-Turner ( 1997 ) developed a culture model with seven dimensions. They are universalism versus particularism (rules versus relationships); individualism versus communitarianism (the individual versus the group); specific versus diffuse (how far people get involved); neutral versus emotional (how people express emotions) ; achievement versus ascription (how people view status); sequential time versus synchronous time (how people manage time); and internal direction versus outer direction (how people relate to their environment). These cultural models signify how people from these areas communicate. People from different backgrounds may have difficulties communicating as their values may be significantly different. A good communicator must take note of this distinctiveness in values because they impact the communication processes. For example, a person who is particular about upholding written rules may not be interested in knowing who the culprit is before administering sanctions. But the other person interested in maintaining a good relationship with others may re-consider this approach.

Hofstede ( 1980 ) identifies five significant values that may influence cross-cultural communication:

Power distance: This is the gap between the most and the least influential members of society. People from different cultures perceive equality in various ways. The social hierarchy or status determines where individuals are placed. Status is conferred by inheritance or by personal achievement. Some cling to societal classification and its hierarchy of power. Others value and cherish the equality of all people. Yet, other cultures see other people as dependents and somehow inferior beings. A king in an African community is seen as far more powerful and important than his servants, who are expected to pay obeisance to him. Most countries in Europe are egalitarian. Arabic and Asian countries are high on the power index.

Individualism versus collectivism: This explains the extent to which members of a particular culture value being seen first, as individuals or as members of a community. As individuals, they are entirely held accountable for their errors. They are also rewarded as individuals for their exploits. However, in some cultures, the wider community is involved. Suppose a person makes an inglorious error. The whole community where that individual comes from shares in it. The same goes if he wins laurels and awards. The individual does not exist primarily for himself. African, Japanese, Indian, and most Asiatic nations follow the collective approach. A Chinese man has his Guanxi or Guanshi. This is his network of influential and significant contacts that smoothen his business and other activities (Yeung and Tung, 1996 ). He succeeds or fails based on his personal relationships. In other words, the basis of business is friendship. This is clear evidence of collectivism. Most people from America and Europe are individualistic. It must be pointed out that personal values mediate both community and individualistic spirit. Trompenaars and Hampden-Turner’s communitarianism vs. individualism appears very similar to this Hofstede’s individualism/collectivism orientation. The information receiver who values his individuality will be offended if he is seen as just a group member or if his negative performance on the job is discussed openly. The message sender who appreciates his subordinates would send personalized messages and expect their feedback.

Uncertainty avoidance: This shows the degree to which a particular culture is uncomfortable with uncertainties and ambiguities. Some cultures avoid or create worries about how much they disclose to other people. A culture with high uncertainty avoidance scores wants to avoid doubts by telling and knowing the absolute truth in everything. For them, everything should be plainly stated. When situations are not like this, they are offended, worried, and intolerant of other people or groups they feel are hiding facts by not being plain enough. Hofstede and Bond ( 1988 ) write that this trait is very peculiar to western Europeans. This means that people from countries like Greece, Turkey, and Spain are very high on uncertainty avoidance. Communication between people with high or low uncertainties may be hindered. Some people may appear rude and uncouth because of their straightforward ways of talking. Some Africans may see some Americans and people from Europe as too wide-mouthed because they feel they do not use discretion in talking. They say things they may prefer to keep silent about and hide from the public’s ears. On the other hand, some Americans may see some Africans as unnecessarily secretive. Trompenaars and Hampden-Turner’s ( 1997 ) universalism/particularism explains why some cultures insist on applying the rule of law no matter who the offender is.

Masculinity/feminity roles : Hofstede ( 2001 ) defines masculinity as society’s preference for success, heroism, assertiveness, and material rewards for success. Conversely, femininity is seen as the preference for co-operation, diffidence, caring for the weak and quality of life. The male-female contradiction affects communication. Females are expected to be meek homemakers that tend and nurture their family members. Like Sweden and Norway, cultures that favour females do not discriminate between the sexes. Japan and Nigeria have cultures that are predominantly masculine in orientation. Competitive and aggressive females are frowned at and seen as social deviants. In the other cultures where females are more favoured, a man may land in court and face public condemnation for domestic violence. Hofstede ( 1998 ) believes that how different cultures see the male/female roles influence how they treat gender, sexuality, and religion.

Long-time orientations: A particular society accepts some degree of long or short associations. Japanese culture scores high in long-term orientation values, commitments, and loyalty. They respect tradition, and therefore, changes in their society take a longer time to happen. Cultures with low long-term orientation do not value tradition much, nor do they go out of their way to nurture long-standing relationships. Literally, changes occur in rapid succession. There appears to be more attachment to the pursuit of immediate self-satisfaction and simple-minded well-being. Baumeister and Wilson ( 1996 , pp. 322–325) say that meaning comes from a sense of purpose, efficacy, value, and a sense of positive self-worth. Thus, if you communicate with somebody with a short-term orientation, you may think that he is too hasty and intemperate, while he may feel that you are too sluggish and not ready to take immediate action.

Hall ( 1983 ) introduces two other factors:

Time usage: Some cultures are monochronic, while others are polychronic. Monochronic cultures are known for doing one thing at a time. Western Europe is monochronic in time orientation, as illustrated by the familiar adage that says, “There is a time and place for everything!” Persons from this cultural background are very punctual and strictly adhere to plans. They are task-oriented. Polychronic cultures schedule multiple tasks simultaneously, even though there may be distractions and interruptions while completing them. Plans may often change at short notice. Such different time management and usage may constrict effective communication. A London business entrepreneur will find it difficult to understand why his business partner from Nigeria may be thirty minutes late for a scheduled meeting. The answer is in their perception of time. Some Nigerians observe what is referred to as African time , where punctuality is tacitly ignored.

Low and high context: This refers to how much a culture depends on direct or indirect verbal communication. According to Hall ( 1976 ), low context cultures explicitly refer to the topic of discussion. The speaker and his audience know that the words mean exactly what they say. In high context cultures, the meanings of words are drawn from the context of the communication process. The words may never mean what they say. For example, the sentence: I have heard . In the low context culture, it merely means that the listener has used his ears to listen to what the speaker is saying. In the high context culture, the listener knows more than what the speaker is saying and may be planning something unpleasant. Europeans and North Americans have low contexts. African and Asian nations have high contexts.

Vaknin ( 2005 ) brings in another value:

Exogenic and endogenic: This shows how people relate to their environment. Deeply exogenic cultures look outside themselves to make sense of life. Hence, they believe in God and His power to intervene in the affairs of men. Endogenic cultures draw on themselves when searching for the meaning of life. They think they can generate solutions to tackle the problems facing them. While the endogenic person may exert himself to find a solution to a challenge, his exogenic partner may believe that supernatural help will come from somewhere and refuses to do what is needed. Of course, this provides a problematic platform for effective communication.

The United Nations’ sustainable development goals and culture

The United Nations recognizes that culture is implicitly crucial to the achievement of the SDGs. No meaningful development can occur outside any cultural context because every person is born into a culture. To a large extent, our cultural foundations determine what we do and how we see things. Therefore, culture must be integrated into sustainable development strategies. Some specific goals’ targets acknowledge that culture drives development. Sustainable development revolves around economic, social, and environmental objectives for people. These goals are implicitly or explicitly dependent on culture because culture impacts people.

There are 17 Sustainable Development Goals. However, there are four specific ones that refer to culture are:

SDG 4 focuses on quality education

By 2030, ensure that all learners acquire the knowledge and skills needed to promote sustainable development, including, among others, through education for sustainable development and sustainable lifestyles, human rights, gender equality, promotion of a culture of peace and non-violence, global citizenship and appreciation of cultural diversity and of culture’s contribution to sustainable development

In other words, quality education is most effective if it responds to a place and the community’s cultural context and exactitudes. This target hinges on education promoting peace, non-violence, and cultural diversity as precursors to sustainable development. Encouraging respect for cultural diversity within acceptable standards facilitates cultural understanding and peace.

SDG 8 focuses on decent work and economic growth

By 2030, devise and implement policies to promote sustainable tourism that creates jobs and promotes local culture and products

Strengthening trade in cultural goods and services will provide growth impetus for local, national, and international markets. These will create employment opportunities for people whose work revolves around cultural goods. Cultural tourism generates revenues that improve the economy. In this sense, culture facilitates the community’s well-being and sustainability.

SDG 11 focuses on sustainable cities and communities

Target 11.4

Strengthen efforts to protect and safeguard the world’s cultural and natural heritage

When our cultural heritage is carefully managed, it attracts sustainable investments in tourism. The local people living where this heritage is domiciled ensure that it is not destroyed and that they themselves will not damage the heritage areas.

SDG 12 focuses on responsible consumption and production

Develop and implement tools to monitor sustainable development impacts for sustainable tourism that creates jobs and promotes local culture and products

Several indigenous livelihoods and crafts are built on local knowledge and management of the ecosystem, natural resources, and local materials. If natural resources are depleted, production will be endangered. Local livelihoods that utilize low technology and energy generate less waste and keep their environment free from pollution. In other words, proper management of the ecosystem prevents biodiversity loss, reduces land degradation, and moderates adverse climate change effects. Where there are natural disasters, traditional knowledge already embedded in the people’s culture helps them become resilient.

Theoretical framework

The social construction of reality is hinged on the belief that people make sense of their social world by assembling their knowledge. Scheler ( 1960 ) labels this assemblage the Sociology of Knowledge . Berger and Luckmann ( 1966 , p.15) contend that this “knowledge is concerned with the analysis of the social construction of reality.” Social construction theory builds on peoples’ comprehension of their own life experiences. From there, people make assumptions about what they think life is or should be. Young and Collin ( 2004 ) present that social constructionism pays more attention to society than individuals. Communities determine what they feel is acceptable. What is widely accepted by a particular community may be unacceptable to other people who are not members of this group. Therefore, people see an issue as good or bad based on their group’s description. Thus, what is a reality in Society A may be seen as illegal in Society B . Berger and Luckmann ( 1966 ) claim that people create their own social and cultural worlds and vice versa. According to them, common sense or basic knowledge is sustained through social interactions. These, in turn, reinforce already existing perceptions of reality, leading to routinization and habitualization. Berger and Luckmann ( 1991 ) say that dialogue is the most important means of maintaining, modifying, and reconstructing subjective reality.

Burr ( 2006 ) writes that the four fundamental tenets of social constructionism are: a critical instance towards taken-for-granted knowledge, historical and cultural specificity; knowledge sustained by social processes; and that knowledge and social action go together. This taken-for-granted knowledge is a basic common-sense approach to daily interactions. Historical and cultural specificities look at the peculiar but past monuments that have shaped the particular society. Knowledge is created and sustained by socialization. Good knowledge improves the common good. However, whoever applies the knowledge he has acquired wrongly incurs sanctions. This is why convicted criminals are placed behind bars.

Social constructions exist because people tacitly agree to act as if they do (Pinker, 2002 ). Whatever people see as realities are actually what they have learnt, over long periods, through their interactions with their society’s socialization agents such as the family, schools and churches. Cultural realities are conveyed through a language: the vehicle for communication. Language communicates culture by telling about what is seen, spoken of, or written about. However, groups construct realities based on their cultures. The media construct realities through the production, reproduction, and distribution of messages from which their consumers give meaning to their worlds and model their behaviours.

The method of study

The discourse analysis method of study is adopted for this work. Foucault ( 1971 ) developed the ‘discursive field’ to understand the relationships between language, social institutions, subjectivity, and power. Foucault writes that discourses relate to verbalization at the most basic level. The discursive method explores the construction of meanings in human communication by offering a meaningful interpretation of messages to enhance purposeful communication. Discourse analysis examines how written, or spoken language is used in real-life situations or in the society. Language use affects the creation of meaning; and, therefore, defines the context of communication. Kamalu and Isisanwo ( 2015 ) posit that discourse analysis considers how language is used in social and cultural contexts by examining the relationship between written and spoken words. Discourse analysis aims to understand how and why people use language to achieve the desired effect. The discursive method explores the construction of meanings in human communication by offering a meaningful interpretation of messages to enhance purposeful communication. Gale ( 2010 ) says that meaning is constructed moment by moment. Garfinkel ( 1967 ) explains this construction as the common-sense actions of ordinary people based on their practical considerations and judgments of what they feel are intelligible and accountable to others. According to Keller ( 2011 ), a peoples’ sense of reality combines their routinized interactions and the meanings they attach to objects, actions, and events. It is in this understanding of the natural use of language that some barriers to effective cross-cultural communication can be reduced.

Messages may assume different meanings in different situations for other people. These meanings affect social interactions. They either encourage or discourage further human communication. As Katz ( 1959 ) has written, interpersonal relationships influence communication. To make meaning out of messages and improve human relationships, it is necessary to understand that content and context may not represent the same thing to people in different situations. Waever ( 2004 , p. 198) states that “things do not have meaning in and of themselves, they only become meaningful in discourse.” Since people’s perspectives are different, it becomes extremely difficult to form a rigid basis on specific ideas. Ideas are discussed on their merits. Discursive analysis inspects the ways individuals construct events by evaluating language usage in writing, speech, conversation, or symbolic communication (Edwards, 1997 ; Harre and Gillet, 1994 ). Language is the carrier of culture. According to Van Dijk ( 1995 , p. 12), this approach is used to study descriptive, explanatory, and practical issues in “the attempt to uncover, reveal or disclose what is implicit, hidden or otherwise not immediately obvious in relations of discursively enacted dominance or their underlying ideologies.” The media play fundamental roles in the processes of constructing or reconstructing reality. They can do these because of Aririguzoh’s ( 2004 ) observation that the press impacts the political and socio-cultural sub-systems.

Culture at the international galleries

The affairs of culture came into international prominence at the UNESCO’s World Conference on Cultural Policies held in Mexico in 1982. This conference gave a broad definition of culture to include “the whole complex of distinctive spiritual, material, intellectual and emotional features that characterize a society or social group. It includes not only the arts and letters but also modes of life, the fundamental rights of the human being, value systems, traditions and beliefs” (UNESCO, 1982 , p. 1).

The United Nations World Commission on Culture and Development, led by J. Perez de Cuellar, published our Creative Diversity’s Landmark Report (UNESCO, 1995 ). This report points out the great importance of incorporating culture into development. Although the Commission recognizes cultural diversities, it sees them as the actual vehicles driving creativity and innovation. During the World Decade on Culture and Development (1988–1998), UNESCO stepped up again to campaign for greater recognition of culture’s contribution to national and international development policies. In 1998, Stockholm hosted an Inter-governmental Conference on Cultural Policies for Development. Its Action Plan on Cultural Policies for Development reaffirmed the correlation between culture and development (UNESCO, 1998 ). In 1999, UNESCO and the World Bank held the Inter-governmental Conference, Culture Counts , in Florence. Here, ‘cultural capital’ was emphasized as the tool for sustainable development and economic growth (UNESCO, 1999 ).

The United Nations General Assembly adopted the 2005 World Summit Outcome Document . Here, cultural diversity was explicitly admitted as a contributor to the enrichment of humankind. The United Nations General Assembly Resolutions on Culture and Development adopted in 2010 and 2011 (65/166 and 66/208) recognize culture as an “essential component of human development” and “an important factor in the fight against poverty, providing for economic growth and ownership of the development processes.” These resolutions called for the mainstreaming of culture into development policies at all levels. The UN System Task Team on the Post 2015 Development Agenda issued a report, Realizing the Future We Want for All ( 2012 , p. ii), with a direct charge that culture has a clear role to play in the “transformative change needed for a rights-based, equitable and sustainable process of global development.” Paragraph 71 of the report declares:

It is critical to promote equitable change that ensures people’s ability to choose their value systems in peace, thereby allowing for full participation and empowerment. Communities and individuals must be able to create and practice their own culture and enjoy that of others free from fear. This will require, inter alia, respect for cultural diversity, safeguarding cultural and natural heritage, fostering cultural institutions, strengthening cultural and creative industries, and promoting cultural tourism (p. 33).

In 2005, the Convention on the Protection and Promotion of the Diversity of Cultural Expressions member states agreed that cultural diversity “increases the range of choices and nurtures human capacities and values. Therefore, it is a mainspring for sustainable development for communities, peoples and nations” (UNESCO, 2005 , p. 1). The Convention reiterated the importance of the link between culture and development. UNESCO also steers an International Fund for Cultural Diversity to promote sustainable development and poverty reduction among the developing and least developed countries that are parties to the Convention.

UN Resolution 2347 of 2017 focuses exclusively on protecting cultural heritage and its necessity for peace and security. This Resolution brings a thorough awareness of culture’s role as a source of stability, inclusion, driver of reconciliation, and resilience. This Resolution reinforces Resolution 2199, adopted in February 2015, partly to fight against international terrorism financing and prohibit the illicit trafficking of cultural goods from Iraq and Syria.

Communication processes for overcoming difficulties in cross-cultural communication

The primary risk in cross-cultural communication is distortion, which creates misunderstanding or even misrepresentation of the conveyed information. Baumgratz ( 1990 , pp. 161–168) shares the opinion that relevant cultural dimensions of what he calls a social communication situation should be mapped out for individuals or groups who are from different nations or cultural origins but who have realized the need to contribute to the achievement of social, institutional, organizational, group, and personal aims. The tactics to overcome difficulties in cross-cultural communication lie in the communication processes. Any of the steps can become a barrier since culture influences the behaviour of both senders and receivers of messages. Barriers impede communication by distorting, blocking, or creating misunderstandings. Hence, it is necessary to create an enabling environment that will make communicating easier. Each of the communication steps can be strategized to enhance communication.

He is the source or initiator of the message. He can be a person or an organization. If the sender is a person, Malec ( 2018 ) refers to him as the carrier of intangible culture and the creator of the tangible ones. Messages are conveyed through spoken or written words. Nevertheless, messages can also be non-verbal. The encoding includes selecting words, symbols, or gestures in composing a message. The sender should encrypt, transfer meaning, or package his messages in ways that the receivers can access them. He should use symbols that the receiver would comprehend. The first thing he should do is use a language that his receiver understands. For example, it is useless to send a message written in English to another person who only understands French. Not only is the effort wasted, but it might also generate hostility. In Nigeria, Mexican soaps are freely watched. However, their producers avoided the obvious language challenge by dubbing in English voice-overs.

Words mean different things in different languages. For example, a British boss would answer yes to a question. However, his American subordinate would answer, yeah . The boss would think that he is disrespectful and impolite. Meanwhile, the American employee would be bewildered by the boss’s apparent coldness. British people use words that have different meanings from their American counterparts. For example, the word, pant , means underwear to a Briton but a pair of trousers to an American. The Englishman may still run into trouble with other nationals because his words have different meanings to these listeners. For example, the English phrase fart means a different thing among the Danish. For them, the word means speed ! The English word gift means poison in German. If an Englishman calls somebody a brat , his Russian friend will conclude that he is calling him his brother , which is what the word means in his language. Igbo children of south-eastern Nigeria call the hawk leke . But for the Yorubas in the southwest, this is the name given to a male child.

The sender, too, must know that even body language may mean different things. He should not assume that non-verbal messages mean the same in every part of the world. In Japan, nodding the head up and down means disagreement. In Nigeria, it means the opposite. Even though his own culture invariably influences the message’s sender, he should understand that his message is intended for a cross-cultural audience. He must also realize that the contents are no longer meant for ethnic communities defined by geographical locations but for an audience connected by frequent interactions that are not necessarily in the same physical place. A message sender that values esprit de corps will incorporate this into his messages by telling them that the laurel does not go to any person in particular but to the winning team. He thus encourages everybody to join in to win, not as individuals but as members of a group. If he is high on doubt avoidance, he makes his messages very direct and unambiguous and leaves no room for misinterpretation. However, a male sender who wants to assert his masculinity may wish to sound harsh. The sender who regularly attends church services may unconsciously put some words of Scripture in his messages because of his exogenic roots. The sender with monochronic orientation will send one message and expect the task to be completed as scheduled. His linear cultural background will be offended if the result is the contrary. Similarly, the sender who places a high value on rules and regulations would send messages of punishment to those who break them but reward those who keep them without minding his relationships with them. An effective sender of messages to a cross-cultural society should state his ideas clearly, offer explanations when needed, or even repeat the whole communication process if he does not get the appropriate feedback.

This is the information content the sender wants to share with his receivers. These include stories, pictures, or advertisements. He should carefully avoid lurid and offensive content. A French man may see nothing wrong in his wife wearing a very skimpy bikini and other men ogling at her at a public beach. His counterpart from Saudi Arabia will be upset if other men leer at his wife. In addition, the wife would be sanctioned for dressing improperly and appearing in public. If a person has a message to share with others from a different cultural background, he should be careful. His listeners may not isolate his statement as being distinct from his personality.

Societies with high context culture usually consider the messages they send or receive before interpreting them. Messages are hardly delivered straightforwardly. The message is in the associated meanings attached to the pictures and symbols. Thus, those outside that community find it very difficult to understand the meaning of the messages. In low-context communication, the message is the information in words. The words mean what they say. However, a corporate sender of messages, for example, the head of the Human Resources Department of a multi-cultural company interested in building team spirit, may organize informal chit-chats and get-togethers to break the proverbial ice as well as create a convivial atmosphere where people can relate. The message he is passing across is simple: let colleagues relax, relate, and work together as team members irrespective of where they come from. All of these are communicative actions.

The channel’s work is to provide a passage for the sender to guide his message to the receiver. While face-to-face communication is ideal for intimate and close group conversations, it is impossible to talk to everybody simultaneously. Different channels of passing across the same message may be used. For example, the same message may be passed through radio, adapted for television, put online, or printed in newsletters, newspapers, and magazines. The hope is that people who missed the message on one channel may see it on another somewhere else. A pronounced media culture will hasten cross-cultural communication. Many people consume media content. However, these consumers are expected to be media literates. Aririguzoh ( 2007 , p. 144) writes that:

media literacy is the systematic study of the media and their operations in our socio-political systems as well as their contributions to the development and maintenance of culture. It is the information and communication skill that is needed to make citizens more competent. It is the ability to read what the print media offer, see what the visual media present, and hear what the aural media announce. It is a response to the changing nature of information in our modern society.

Official messages should be passed through defined routes and are best written. This would close avenues of possible denials by others if the same message were passed across verbally. It could be difficult to misinterpret the contents of a written document. Written documents have archival values. As much as possible, rumours should be stamped out. A good manager should single out regular gossips in a multi-cultural organization for special attention. Equally, an effective manager heading widely dispersed employees can co-ordinate their activities using communication technologies with teleconferencing features. Aririguzoh ( 2007 , p. 45) notes, “information and communication technologies have transformed the range and speed of dispersing information and of communicating. Today, the whole world lies a click away!”

The media of communication are shaped by the culture of the people who produce them. What they carry as contents and the form they assume are defined by the culture of the sender. In low-context societies, it is common for messages to be written. In high context societies, it is common for statements to be verbal. Importantly, Aririguzoh ( 2013 , pp. 119–120) points out that “… the mass media can effectively be deployed to provide pieces of information that enhance communication, build understanding and strengthen relationships in our rapidly changing environment dictated by the current pace of globalization. The mass media assiduously homogenize tastes, styles, and points of view among many consumers of its products across the globe. They have effectively helped in fading away national distinctions and growing mass uniformity as they create, distribute and transmit the same entertainment, news, and information to millions of people in different nations.”

The receiver is the person the sender directs his message to. In a workplace, the receiver needs the message or information to do his job. The receiver decodes or tries to understand the meaning of the sender’s message by breaking it down into symbols to give the proper feedback. If the message is verbal, the receiver has to listen actively. The message receiver must understand a message based on his existing orientations shaped by his own culture. Even the messages that he picks are selected to conform to his existing preconceptions.

Oyserman et al. ( 2002 ) make an interesting discovery: that receivers from different cultures interpret the message senders’ mannerisms. For an American, a speaker talking very quickly is seen as telling the uncensored truth. In other words, the speaker who talks too slowly implicates himself as a liar! However, for the Koreans, slow speech denotes careful consideration of others. In some cultures, particularly in Asia, the receiver is responsible for effective communication. Kobayashi and Noguchi ( 2001 ) claim that he must become an expert at “understanding without words.” Miyahara ( 2004 , p. 286) emphasizes that even children literarily learn to read other people’s minds by evaluating the subtle cues in their messages and then improvising to display the expected and appropriate social behaviour and communication. Gestures involve the movements of the hands and head of the sender. The receiver clearly understands these body movements. As painted by Sapir ( 1927 , p. 556), “we respond to gestures with an extreme alertness and, one might almost say, in accordance with an elaborate and secret code that is written nowhere, known by none, and understood by all.”

Receivers who value individualism appreciate personal freedom, believe that they can make their own decisions, and respect their performance. Those who prefer communitarianism would prefer group applause and loyalty. A monochromatic receiver would start and finish a task before starting another one. He would be offended when colleagues do not meet deadlines, are late to appointments, and do not keep rigid schedules. His co-worker, who synchronizes his time, develops a flexible working schedule to work at two or more tasks.

This is the final process. Ordinarily, the sender wants a response to determine if the message he sent out has been received and understood. Acknowledging a message does not indicate a clear understanding of its contents. Feedback can be positive or negative. Positive feedback arises when the receiver interprets the message correctly and does what the sender wants. Negative feedback comes when messages are incorrectly interpreted, and the receiver does not do what the sender of the information has intended him to do. Cross-cultural communication recognizes that people come from different backgrounds. Therefore, feedback on diverse messages would be different. A sensitive communicator would be careful how he designs his messages for a heterogeneous audience so that he can elicit the desired feedback.

It must be emphasized that no culture is superior to another as each culture meets the needs of those who subscribe to it. To a large extent, our culture influences our behaviours and expectations from other people. Although there are noticeable similarities and differences, what separates one culture from another is its emphasis on specific values. As the United Nations has affirmed, there is diversity in cultures. These diversities add colour and meaning to human existence. This suggests that particular policies should be carved out to attend to specific locations and supports Satterthwaite’s ( 2014 ) proposition that local actors should be empowered to help achieve the SDGs. What the local populace in one community may appreciate may be frowned upon and even be fought against by residents in another place. As Hossain and Ali ( 2014 ) point out, individuals constitute the societies where they live and work. While Bevir ( 1996 ) describes this relationship as that of mutual dependence, he recognizes that people are influenced by their particular social structures and therefore do not go against them. Bevir believes that social systems exist for individuals.

Societies are built on shared values, norms and beliefs. These, in turn, have profound effects on individuals. Society’s culture affects individuals while the individuals create and shape the society, including initiating sustainable development. Development rests on the shoulders of men. Thus, culture influences the ways individuals behave and communicate. The effective communicator must actively recognize these elements and work them into communication practices. As Renn et al. ( 1997 , p. 218) point out, “sustainable practices can be initiated or encouraged by governmental regulation and economic incentives. A major element to promote sustainability will be, however, the exploration and organization of discursive processes between and among different actors.”

To achieve the United Nations sustainable goals, the competent communicator has to recognize that the culture of the actors in a communication process is the basic foundation for effective communication. For example, while one individual may discuss issues face-to-face and is not afraid to express his feelings candidly, another person may not be so direct. He may even involve third parties to mediate in solving a problem. Either way, their approaches are defined by their cultural backgrounds. It may be counterproductive to assume that either of these approaches is the best. This assertion is supported by the study of Stanton ( 2020 ), who explored intercultural communication between African American managers and Hispanic workers who speak English as a second language. He finds managers that follow culturally sensitive communication strategies getting more work done. Cartwright ( 2020 ) also observes that intercultural competence and recognition of cultural differences in East and Central Europe are foundation pillars for business success. This lends credence to Ruben and Gigliotti ( 2016 ) observation that communication with people from different cultures reduces the barriers associated with intercultural communication and enhances the communication process.

Irrespective of our ethnicities, people want to communicate, understand, appreciate, and be respected by others. Effective communication is the foundation of good human relationships among team members, whether their cultural backgrounds differ or not. Good feedback is achieved when both the sender and receiver of messages create common meanings. This is what discourse is all about. Messages must be meaningful, meaningfully constructed and meaningfully interpreted. Georgiou ( 2011 ) labels this the communicative competence : acknowledgement of the intercultural dimension of foreign language education and successful intercultural interactions that assume non-prejudiced attitudes, tolerance and understanding of other cultures, and cultural self-awareness of the person communicating. An efficient communicator must understand that culture shapes people, and the people then shape society. In other words, communication shapes the world. Therefore, appropriately chosen communication strategies help blend the different cultures.

According to Bokova ( 2013 ), there is “renewed aspirations for equality and respect, for tolerance and mutual understanding, especially between peoples of different cultures.” This means that if all parties respect other team members’ cultures, a clement work environment is inevitable. Cultural literacy creates more tolerant and peaceful work environments. Achieving this starts with a re-examination of the whole communication process. The crux of cross-cultural communication is developing effective ways to appreciate the culture of others involved in the acts of communication. Understanding these differences provides the context for an enhanced understanding of the values and behaviours of others. Reconciling these differences confers competitive advantages to those who communicate effectively. The media must provide the links between senders and receivers of messages in the context of their socio-cultural environments.

The United Nations appreciates the distinctiveness in cultures and has incorporated it as a significant factor in achieving sustainable development goals. This global body has produced different documents championing this. Every development takes place in an environment of culture. The heart of sustainable development is the man. The SDGs will be more meaningful and easily achievable by recognizing that actions should be both locally and culturally relevant. Cultural differences can be effectively managed if senders and receivers of messages understand that culture shapes how people communicate and, by extension, the relationship with other people who may not necessarily be from their tribal communities. Breaking down the barriers to cross-cultural communication lies in understanding these distinct differences and consciously incorporating them into the communication processes to enhance communication competencies.

Data availability

All data analysed are contained in the paper.

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Acknowledgements

I acknowledge: Dr. Emmanuel Mogaji of Greenwich University for reading and pointing out helpful corrections; Professors Innocent Chiluwa, Abiodun Gesinde, David Imhonopi and Dr Evaristus Adesina of Covenant University, who went through the manuscript, suggested corrections and encouraged me not to give upe and my daughter, Victoria-Grace Onyekachi Miracle Aririguzoh, who proofread this manuscript and brought in sunshine when the clouds were grey.

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Aririguzoh, S. Communication competencies, culture and SDGs: effective processes to cross-cultural communication. Humanit Soc Sci Commun 9 , 96 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1057/s41599-022-01109-4

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ORIGINAL RESEARCH

Towards a theory and practice of cultural communication.

• The Groningen Research Institute for the Study of Culture (ICOG), Rijksuniversiteit Groningen, Groningen, Netherlands

This paper tentatively introduces the concept of cultural communication, exploring new theoretical and practical perspectives on culture and cultural policy. Notably, it presents a theoretical model for cultural communication as a dedicated, common, widespread communication “mode,” thematising ambiguity. This concept of cultural communication may provide new footholds for the legitimisation of public cultural policy—positioning the arts firmly within the context of cultural communication—and for the practical, heuristic application in a structured practice of arranging cultural encounters, carried out in Netherlands.

Introduction

In the past decades, the legitimisation of cultural policy in Western Europe has been shaken by, for example, sociological deconstruction, post-colonialism, diversification, neoliberal strands in government and populist rhetoric—in combination with societal changes such as digitalisation, globalisation, segregation and austerity. Urgent calls are sounding for new, more encompassing views on the meaning and value of culture as well as for practical policy goals and outcome evaluation tools (e.g., Holden, 2006 ; Stevenson, 2016 ; Wilson, 2017 ; Hadley and Belfiore, 2018 ). Clearly, a wider dissatisfaction with—or contention of—the “deficit model” of cultural policy is growing in strength and a new “democratic” case for the meaning and value of culture, inclusiveness, new audiences, multiculturality, cultural capabilities and local ecosystems is emerging (e.g., Ahmed, 2012 ; Gielen et al., 2014 ; Holden 2015 ; UCLG, 2020 ; EU, 2021 ).

This may be seen against the backdrop of the emergence of culture as a designated theme for global democracy and sustainability (e.g., Kagan, 2011 ; UNESCO, 2022 ), while the rise of social media and networked societies adds further urgency and depth to the discourse on what it entails to live together—and the role “culture as a public good” ( UNESCO, 2022 ) may play in both the local and the global, in (post-)pandemic times.

In this transitional policy-landscape the key concepts (culture, the arts, democracy, policy) have started drifting. Loosely scanning policy documents, 1 the term “culture” may, for example, mean: way of life, civilisation, identity-set, value-set, heritage, expressions, the arts or a combination of those. “The arts” may indicate: artifacts, disciplines, artistic practice, expressions, creativity, creative industry. Democracy (in a cultural context) 2 may refer to: representation, deliberation, participation, pluriformity, diversity, inclusiveness, or cultural struggle. “Policy” may indicate the dimensions of politics, policy or governance. To complicate things further, arguments tend to switch back and forth between individual, group and societal perspectives, between local, regional, national, international and supra-national perspectives; between intrinsic and instrumental (economic, social, wellbeing, education, creativity, sustainability) perspectives, and between legitimisation, strategy and effectiveness dimensions. 3

There are practical reasons for these entanglements to persist: within day-to-day realpolitik , culture is typically a “weak” portfolio, charged with contested images; the pragmatics of “making the case” usually prevail over the muddy waters of conceptual discourse. These pragmatics occur in local politics, but also in national and European policy arenas—each with their specific vocabulary. 4 Moreover, the concept of culture itself has been (and indeed, increasingly is) a tool for purposeful and powerful ideological rhetorics (ranging from populist nationalists, to neo-conservatives, to neo-Marxists) that seem to feed on political, market and sector interests and ideologies. Conceptions of culture have thus become entangled in ideological and political discourse and positioning.

But there is also a deeper issue at work. This has to do with circularities that have irreversibly become part of any cultural policy debate, since sociology and multi-cultural society have established the awareness that any judgement on cultural expressions, values or identities is inextricably bound to cultural bias. 5 “Who is talking?” is now the first question that is put forward in any debate on cultural policy. With this rhetorical “axe” the debate on cultural policy is irreversibly split along cultural fault lines, instrumentalising the discourse on cultural policy. 6

In the face of these challenges, this paper develops the idea that culture may be conceptualized as a communicative process, i.e., as imaginative or performative communication. The guiding hypothesis of this paper is that by building this new process-framework for the conception of culture, the debate on culture, cultural policy and the arts may find a new point of orientation, and some of the circularities and tensions in the debate ( Drion, 2023 ) may be resolved or reframed.

Exploring this hypothesis, the paper takes off with a short introduction to the work of Niklas Luhmann on communication—as one of two possible avenues for grounding a new theory of cultural communication (to be distinguished from communication about culture or communication of culture). 7 It finds that at the heart of Luhmann’s grand theoretical construction, an opening for the concept of a specific communication mode may be found, facilitating ambiguous communications. From this, the concept of cultural communication is drawn up. Annotating on Luhmann, the paper will then illustrate that this concept of cultural communication sits well with real-life observations on play ( Schechner and Schuman, 1976 ), performative and subjunctive interactions ( Fisher-Lichte, 2009 ; McConachie, 2015 ) and a societal “third space” where societal binaries may be left open or tried ( Bhabha, 1994 ; Soja, 1996 ; Baecker, 2012 ). This specific domain of practice of suspended meaning 8 is also the locus—albeit not the exclusive prerogative—of the arts.

Switching to a more practical perspective, the concept of cultural communication is then brought to bear to explore new perspectives for real-life policy development, circumventing the circularities embedded in de rhetorics of cultural policy, A short Practical frame is dedicated to the reflective framework of cultural encounter, putting cultural communication into practice for (arts-, culture- and social-) professionals, cultural organisations and policymakers – as recently carried out in Netherlands ( Drion, 2018 ; Drion, 2022 ).

Over all, this paper may best be considered a tentative exploration. It covers a lot of ground, conceptually positioning a new concept. As such, it has its limitations, which will be discussed at the end of the paper, by confronting some alternative theories and concepts.

Theoretical frame

Systems and semiotics.

Looking for descriptive (value-free) frameworks 9 to scaffold a theory of cultural communication as process between people, two options immediately come to mind: semiotics (Charles Sanders Peirce) 10 and systems theory (Niklas Luhmann). There are connections between the two frameworks (as indicated by (e.g.,): Maturana and Varela (1984) , Bateson (2002) , Hoffmeyer (2008) , Deacon (1998) and Bausch (2001) . 11 Another study ( Drion, 2023 ) will research these similarities in the context of cultural communication. This current paper is directed at the systems theory of Niklas Luhmann, whose work is of profound and still growing influence on sociology—and offers interesting applications in the theorising of cultural policy as well. Moreover, Luhmann’s work comprises a foundational meta-theory of societal communication, as such, any trial at conceptualizing culture as communication must, in one way or other, relate to it.

Society as communication

Luhmann’s work is focused on one thing: the construction of an all-encompassing theory of society as communication. Or, to put it more precisely: society as an amalgam of self-regulating systems with one single operator: communication. Loosely paraphrasing from his dense prose, two fundamental notions (as a sort of “truisms”) stand out at the heart of his theory. The first truism is that humans are “thrown” into the world equipped with mental faculties (psychic systems) that can never connect directly: we can never know for certain what other psychic systems think or feel: all we can ever do is: try to communicate—and try again. The second truism is that every imperfect trial of communication consists of selections as temporal events : we say this, not that. Luhmann then shows how these two simple facts spawn the most intricate and complex set of functionally stratified communication systems creating their own boundaries and rules: society.

Luhmann builds his encompassing systems theory by oscillating between the microlevel (of communication between psychic systems) and the macro level of social systems (society). He argues that both psychic systems and social systems must make temporal selections when they communicate, or more precisely: that communication is temporal selection. 12

This notion of communication-as-selection entails that both psychic and social systems organise themselves in functional (selection-driven) ways: patterns of selections grow into functional social (or cognitive) units. Social systems (sociologist Luhmann does not say much on psychic systems, but emphasizes that they are indeed systems) are formed by the use of functional binaries. These binaries drive the formation of subsystems, like the binary “true-untrue” for the science system or the binary “legal-illegal” for the justice system. Society for Luhmann is the grand total of all of these self-regulating binary communication subsystems which he describes meticulously in several major works. 13

Selection as distinction

Luhmann underpins his key-concept of binary selection with George Spencer-Brown’s Logic of Form ( Spencer-Brown, 1969 ). Here his work does become very abstract, it requires exaination, as it is a central part of Luhmann’s reasoning to which this paper wants to annotate.

Spencer-Brown postulates that at the heart of any (temporal) act of selection lies a unity of distinction and indication, that spawns a form. For Luhmann this means that any communicative selection is at the same time both a distinction and an indication: by saying “this” and not “that,” both a distinction (between this and that) and an indication (this, not that) spring to life, are made simultaneously manifest—as a “unity of selection.” Spencer-Brown names this unity of selection: form .

For Luhmann this is a crucial notion, as it depicts that every selection forms a “cut out” shape that not only indicates what is selected, but also indicates what is not selected (out of the range of alternatives at hand). In other words, the form spawned by selection exists as a shape that marks the difference between the selected and the not-selected ( Figures 1 , 2 ).

FIGURE 1 . Selection (Spencer-Brown): “Marker” (unity of distinction and indication) Selects “Marked State,” creating form. (Source: author’s elaboration).

FIGURE 2 . Form as Boundary. (Open source).

What is of importance here, is the notion that in Luhmann’s world communication is the basic operator of any social system, and selection (in the Spencer-Brownian sense of form) is the basic element of every communication. This means that any communication (and indeed any communication system) is a reduction to form, which allows for the unselected (out)side to be observed and remembered.

Structures and media

Observation, expectation and remembering are a key part in Luhmann’s social theory. Because communications are events that only exist in time, communications must be tried again and again. That is why, Luhmann says, grand structures and “media” continuously arise to facilitate effective communication and remembering: to make pre-selections, so to speak, that streamline communication. Luhmann positions these structures and media in society.

Luhmann does not claim that observation, expectation and remembering would not, also, be situated in psychic systems. As a sociologist, his focus is on society, that is: on communications, that weave patterns, forming societal processes of a specific kind (social systems) that in turn find ways that help to observe, expect and remember. 14

How do culture and the arts fit into this grand concept of society? As for culture, Luhmann is quite clear that the societal organisation of observation, expectation and remembering cannot be a social system in and of itself (as it is not communication in Luhmann’s definition). 15 Instead Luhmann introduces the term medium, which may here be taken to refer to a set of communication pre-sets or configurations (including language, values, structures) that provide the preconditions for enduring and effective communications within society. A medium is built up over time by the communications within a system, without being “seen” by the systems that use it. Although with much (uncharacteristic) hesitancy, Luhmann says this invisible medium is what may be called “culture” ( Burkart and Runkel, 2004 ).

There is much to say about this, but it is clear that Luhmann does not thoroughly theorise culture as such and this leaves room for interpretation and amendments. Baecker (2012) , Baecker (2013) , Laermans (2002) , Laermans (2007) and others have done just that, and commented that culture in Luhmann may be seen as a sort of reservoir on which all communications draw to facilitate the ongoing process of meaning construction. Indeed, this is more or less in line with what the common, anthropological definition of culture entails (see: Geertz 1973 ; Keesing 1990 ).

Art as a social system

In his conception of art as a social system Luhmann (2000) works “outward,” starting from the practice of creation. In accordance with his theory, Luhmann argues that every step in the formation of an artwork designates a temporal selection by the artist: “Here and now, I do this, not that”. 16 Luhmann then states that every selection by the artist refers to the work itself. The binary that drives this selection in relation to the work is the distinction “fitting/not fitting.” The “selection process” (the conception of the work) goes on until the work is “done” – the point when there are no further selections left to improve the work. 17

Luhmann then projects the same binary “fitting–not fitting” operating at the functional level of the social system of the arts: art as a social system “autopoieticly” reproduces itself by selecting fitting/non-fitting works. This must be taken in a paradoxical sense: what “fits” in the social system of art, fits because it does not quite fit, or in other words, in the social system of the arts, innovation “fits” (leads to continuation of the system) and imitation does not fit (is rejected, ignored or forgotten by the system). 18

It is significant to note that Luhmann does not see the artwork itself as a dedicated communication. The work however does communicate by referring to itself as a product of selections by the artist. Each of these selections yield form in the sense that they also indicate the non-selected options in relation to the work.

Luhmann mentions (in passing) that a particular prerequisite must be fulfilled for the artwork to communicate (in the Lumannian sense): it must, first of all, be introduced as artwork so that it may be interpreted as such (and not, e.g., as an “ordinary” soapbox or a pissoir). 19, 20 This is important for where this paper is going, because it leaves some space within systems theory to think of communication modes . I will come back to this in relation to play.

The second note is that Luhmann separates the “communication of the artwork” from the communication about art, which he designates as the “social system of art.” This is important because it leaves some space within systems theory to think of communication modes on the level of societal phenomena.

Luhmann’s social systems theory may be seen as an ultimate description of the systemic necessities of the process of communication. As such it may provide a strong and credible framework for a theory of cultural communication. There are however, as noted, some major issues to be addressed. The first is that Luhmann’s theory does not provide any clear definition of culture-as-process: Luhmann seems strikingly hesitant on the subject of culture ( Burkart and Runkel, 2004 ). The second is that his description of the process of creation of the art work (as communicative artefact) does mention “a special kind of communication” 21 in relation to the arts, but this “special kind of communication” is not theoretically developed in relation to culture. Thirdly, Luhmann seems to describe the social system of the arts in terms of communication about art and not primarily in terms of communication through (or with) art. Finally, although not mentioned above—but mentioned by others—the work of Luhmann leaves some gaps when it comes to embodiment and emotions as locus or driver of (inter)personal and societal processes, actions and experiences ( Ciompi, 2004 ; Ciompi and Endert, 2011 ; Damasio, 2018 ). These issues may be addressed if the description of culture is more precisely taken apart, in particular in relation to ambiguous communication.

Exploration

New territory: the process of culture, culture as process.

A deep and significant (but often hidden) aspect of the use and definition of the term “culture” is the distinction between the process of culture (i.e., the way “culture” influences or determines the interactions in society) and culture as process (i.e., as properties of communication). Put in other words: the difference between the process definition of a noun or a verb.

The use of culture as a noun in a process-definition of culture focusses on what culture is through what it does, i.e., the way culture as a set of (e.g.,) values, behaviours or artefacts (or as “reservoir of symbolic meaning” ( Laermans, 2002 )) mutually interacts with the processes that happen within and between people (or within and between structures or organisations). This use of the term culture is very well developed albeit contested and stratified in different schools of thought. 22

With the use of culture as a verb, a process-definition of culture shifts focus to what it entails to culturally communicate. This use of the term culture (as process-distinction of communication) has not yet been theorised. It does however resonate with Luhmann’s description of the creation-process of artworks, as well as with the concepts of bio-systems and cybernetics ( Deacon, 1998 ; Bateson 2000 ) and with some stands in sociology ( Laermans, 1997 ; Baecker, 2012 ), art-theory ( Van Maanen, 2005 ) and play-theory (e.g., McConachie, 2015 ). It is my aim to bring these strands—in a provisional way at least—together within the basic framework of communication theory, extending on Luhmann’s suggestions on a special “kind of communication” that comes with the creation and interpretation of art. I will develop this by connecting the everyday practice of ambiguous communication with subjunction (such as in play, storytelling, irony and the arts).

Communication mode

The suggestion I am making then, is that cultural communication may be conceptualised and theorised as a designated mode of communication. Let me illustrate this with an example, elaborating on Luhmann’s suggestion that for any artwork to function communicatively (as an artwork), it must be introduced and recognized as such. The communicative “mode” that designates such a switch from “reality” to the space of purposeful “non-reality” is playfully thematised by Magritte in his famous painting Ceçi n’est pas une pipe, which points to the self-evident difference between literal and imaginative interpretation. Ever since the arrival of abstract and conceptual art (like the ready-mades of Duchamp or Warhol’s Brillo Box) this distinction between the real and the imaginary has been irreversibly established—and consequently been thematised (“re-entered”) in art ( Figure 3 ).

FIGURE 3 . La trahison des images (René Magritte, 1928–1929). (Open source).

The point I would like to make is that this obvious communicative switch from reality to an imaginative non-reality mode is not confined to the arts and is indeed much more widely practiced in everyday communication than we perhaps might realise. To illustrate this, I will turn to the work of Bateson and McConachie on play and storytelling—and tie these back to culture and the arts.

There are two interesting parallels between the “artistic” mode of interpretation (this is not a pipe, this is not a Brillo box) with other, quite common communicative settings: social play and storytelling.

Gregory Bateson famously stated that for any social play (human or animal alike) to take off, a meta-communicative signal “this is play” is required ( Schechner and Schuman, 1976 ; Mitchell, 1991 ). Only if the signal is picked up, a playful communication mode (my term) may be established and playing may progress unimpeded by any misunderstandings that what takes place is actually “for real.”

It is obvious that there are many sorts of play and many definitions of play, 23 but for me it is significant these all have in common that some form of open-endedness is essential to playing: playing is, in a deep evolutionary sense, always a designated, staged form of trying. 24

Bruce McConachie (2015) , Erika Fischer-Lichte (2008) , Fischer-Lichte (2009) and others have suggested that play and storytelling (or more general: performance) are closely related 25 as both presume (and establish) a specific mode of communication: subjunction. Subjunction is the communicative transfer of “is” to “were” (or in other words, from a reference to reality to an imagined “as if” or “once upon a time”). This transfer opens a specific mode of communication: a playful performance and interpretation of a “reality” that is not-real, which of course is the hallmark of all art—but, as I just now put forward, not limited to art.

These switches from the real to the not-real are similar between play and performative acts, but the question remains whether they may indeed be the same in terms of communication?

Back to Spencer-Brown: The re-entry of form into communication

What happens “communication-wise” when we switch into this subjunctive mode of communication? How could this be reconciled with the concept of selection (i.e., reduction to form) as the basic unit of communication? I would like to suggest that the imaginative communication modes of subjunction and play have in common that they both thematise ambiguity. Put in the language of Spencer-Brown: an ambiguous communication mode is the re-entry of the form (i.e., the shape between the indicated and the not-indicated) into the marked state, as a thematised ambiguity . 26 ( Figure 4 ).

FIGURE 4 . Re-entry of form into the marked side of selection (The operation of re-entry is indicated by the outer hook; see also Figure 1 .). (Source: author. See also: Baecker, 1993 ).

This may seem very abstract or theoretical, but it may also be seen in an everyday perspective. When communication switches to an ambiguous mode, the difference of what is indicated and what is not indicated (the Form) becomes part of the communication as ambiguous meaning. As such, it “lives” on for as long as the ambiguous communication mode is continued. A “flippety image” or “Kippbild” ( Vilc, 2017 ) is an example of this oscillating meaning ( Figure 5 ).

FIGURE 5 . Form as ambiguous meaning. (Open source).

Proposition

This brings me to the centre of my argument. It is my proposition that an actual, distinct (and widespread) open ended communication mode exists in society, between people, distinguished by the selection of thematised ambiguousness. Annotating to McConachie I would suggest that from the “root” of this common ambiguous communication several different practices “branch off”: play, playful ambiguous communications (such as humour and irony), storytelling, all expressive performances—and art.

Looping back to Baecker’s and Laermans’ (noun-)definition of culture as a reservoir of shared meaning, I propose to call this imaginative, ambiguous communication mode: cultural communication , because it is, per saldo, thematising the playful “what-if” in the domain of shared meaning. Or put differently: seeing culture (as a noun!) as a reservoir of shared meaning (Sinn) ( Laermans, 1999 ; Laermans, 2002 ; Baecker, 2012 ), ambiguous communication may be the way this reservoir is continuously, playfully opened for association, reflection, subversion and growth.

Positioning

Culture, communication, otherness, play and space.

Among his many other interpretations of and reflections on Luhmann’s work, Baecker (2012) , Baecker (2013) puts forward that culture may be placed in systems theory as a Tertium Datur: a societal “third space” where the “opposition” to the functional binary way Luhmannian communication systems operate, resides. For Baecker then, culture produces the “third values” that facilitate a vocabulary that the differentiated social systems may share. Although Baecker’s elaborations of Luhmann’s theory suggest a similar direction as the one that I am proposing, his reasoning seems “tied” to the process of culture (as a noun). Although this obviously deserves much more attention (see also: Discussion ), I will now simply suggest that the concept of cultural communication may provide an explanation of how this societal “third space” is linked to the process of communicating.

It is interesting to note that, although formulated in a completely different context, the concept of playful undecidedness has parallels with Homi Bhabha’s Third Space ( Bhabha, 1994 ) as a space where (in a colonial context of cultural domination), dominant cultural expressions, identities and clichés are paraphrased, ridiculed and transformed. This in turn has strong relations with Victor Turner’s concept of liminality as a phase of becoming, between an old and a new equilibrium, state or identity ( Turner, 1982 ). And last—but not least—it may be associated with Edward Soja’s (urban) theory of Thirdspace, as a space of limitless options, radically open to otherness ( Soja, 1996 ).

These conceptions of space have in common that they envision a communicative mode of imagining, undecidedness, openness and creativity: when binaries lose their urgency and conflicts and identities are liquified through imaginative interactions. They also have in common that the term “space” is not used in any physical sense (although place as physical space may be an important context), but as a locus created by an associative and communicative interaction, as communications (including embodied behaviours) set themselves in a mode of ambiguity and performativity, opening new horizons for shared meaning and sense-making.

In Netherlands, Hans van Maanen (Theatre Studies) has suggested that artistic experience can only come about when the interpretation “schemata” of the subject are sufficiently challenged, i.e., when the confrontation with an artwork sparks interpretive surprise, wonder or (as Pascal Gielen later put it) dis-measure ( Gielen et al., 2014 ). This notion too, comes close to my propositions on cultural communication, although Van Maanen (2005) seems to speak mainly in relation to the arts. 27 In addition, I would suggest that the experience of dis-measure that Van Maanen–I think justifiably so–puts central to artistic experience, may find its pendant in a specific communication mode that is of a much wider practice than the arts as such.

This short positioning would not be complete without Johan Huizinga. In his seminal work Homo Ludens, Huizinga (1938) famously places play at the root of all culture. “Behind any expression of the abstract lies a metaphor and within any metaphor there is a wordplay,” Huizinga writes. In this way, humanity “continuously creates a second, imagined world alongside that of nature” (…) “Great activities of cultural life” (including religion, law, economy and science) are rooted in a “soil of playful activity” (sic). Huizinga does not theorise his thesis, but richly illustrates it with an abundance of examples from history and anthropology. Annotating, I would suggest a theory of cultural communication may help to fill in Huizinga’s thesis.

In the field of cognition and evolution strong clues can be found that cultural communication (in the sense of the playful thematisation of the what-if in the domain of shared meaning) may be an important factor in the evolutionary development of humans and society. We need ambiguous ways to try meaning , on both the interpersonal and the societal level. Vygotsky (1996) , Damasio (2018) , Donald (1991) , Tomasello (2000) , Dissanayake (1974 , 2012) , Van Heusden (2009) , Van Heusden (2010) and many others have theorised, researched and documented this convincingly in the context of human development, cognition, interaction, cooperation and evolution.

To round this short positioning off, it is worthwhile to reiterate that inspiring connections may be found between systems theory and semiosis (the production and comprehension of signs). The concepts of Eco (1978) , Eco (1988) and Lotman (2011) on sign systems, media and the “semiosphere” are strongly related to the process of sense-making, imagining, culture and the arts ( Machado, 2011 ; Tarasti, 2015 ; Thibault, 2016 ; Zerubavel, 2018 ).

(A short discussion of culture, power-reproduction and ‘blind spots’ can be found in paragraph Discussion and limitations.)

Policy perspectives

The guiding hypothesis of this paper is that a process-conception of culture may offer a new point of orientation for cultural policy and may resolve some of the circularities and tensions in the current (identity driven) debate. Annotating on Luhmann’s theory of society as communication, this paper presented a process-conception of culture as a playful ambiguous communication mode (designated as cultural communication or “culture as verb”). It then associated this concept with performative interaction, undecidedness and societal “third space,” and pointed to related strands of thought on art, culture, cognition and semiosis. So, what changes does this bring to the table for cultural policy?

The first (and most obvious) change would be that a policy directed towards cultural communication will no longer to be grounded in, or (primarily) aimed at the conservation, dissemination or production of specific values, identities or artefacts—as traditional cultural policy is. Instead, it will be grounded in, and aiming at the interactional processes by which values, identities or artefacts come to life. In that sense, such a policy is democratic in the deep layer that it is not (primarily) directed at representation of solidified identities, values or artefacts in the public sphere, but at the (imaginative) processes by which identities, values and artefacts mediate, liquify and change ; essential for an open society ( Ignatieff and Roch 2018 ; Zerubavel, 2018 ). By grounding in this deeper democratic layer, cultural policy may find a way out of the circular “legitimacy stalemate” pointed out above (see: Introduction ), because it can no longer be instrumentalized or “hijacked” by identity rhetorics. (See also: Discussion and Limitations .)

Elaborating on this, it is interesting to note that it was Gregory Bateson (who published extensively on systems, cognition, cybernetics and play) that coined the term “schismogenesis” for the mechanism of cultural opposition: although culture may remain “invisible” for anyone “inside” it, cultural awareness will urgently come to the surface when confronted with other cultures: every culture will define itself in terms of otherness. Bateson (in Schechner and Schuman, 1976 ) sees the dynamics of this cultural “schism” as a natural function of human society. However, feelings of fear and resentment lie close to the surface and can easily be manipulated by populists and activists ( Ciompi and Endert, 2011 ). Needless to say, these mechanisms have since Bateson’s time (he wrote on schismogenesis in 1935) become exponentially more virulent with the rise of social media and online tribalism. 28

In these polarized times then, it seems of importance that other ways of cultural awareness and growth (other than through cultural opposition) are at the disposal of society. It is at this point that a new cultural policy, directed at cultural communication, may play a role. 29

A second change that a process-directed cultural policy may bring about, concerns the role of artists and the arts. It has often been said that artists or the arts should not claim exclusivity for the societal enhancement of creativity and imagination (or, for that matter, for cultural participation, or for social “bonding” and “bridging”), 30 as there are many other processes in society that may bring about these qualities in people’s lives. The concept of cultural communication may help to put the issues concerning the role and surplus of artists and the arts in a wider and deeper perspective.

If we see cultural communication as a mode of deliberate ambiguous communication (thematising the playful subjunctive “what-if” in the domain of shared meaning), the role of arts and artists may come to light as a specific depth in this communication mode. Artists and artworks renew and update the expressive vocabulary (“form-languages”) 31 in and of society, creating inspiring, provocative or wonderous signposts in the “third space” of cultural communication. To be able to do so, artists must also be the keepers and disseminators of the specialist vocabulary of their discipline and the sets (passed down and continuously developing) of integrated skills that may bring that vocabulary to life.

From this vantage point artists can confidently unfold their role and position in society (in the Luhmannian sense of a communication system), and transparently balance the necessity of their artistic skills and autonomy with the necessity of their communicative embeddedness; proudly conscious of the fact that their work will find full significance in the playful context 32 of cultural communication and cultural encounter (see also: Practical frame ).

Combining these two observations, cultural policy design may gain new perspective. Two dimensions can then be functionally distinguished: the dimension of the width and the dimension of depth of cultural communication.

• For the maintenance and facilitation of the width of cultural communication, policy can be directed towards the capability 33 in and of society to arrange cultural encounters past the cultural “walls” of schismogenesis and power reproduction.

• For the maintenance and facilitation of the depth of cultural communication, policy can be directed towards the capability in and of society to arrange cultural encounters beyond the vested vocabularies (form-languages).

This “third way” of policy formation may have far-reaching implications, to be discussed and explored.

In the Practical frame (below) a trial set-up in Netherlands is presented, serving as a prelude to such explorations and discussions. In anticipation, a key finding of this trial may be of interest here: a policy directed at the arrangement of cultural encounters would have to be adaptive in a deep democratic sense, as cultural communication only springs to life in a free setting. Traditional policy elements (input, output, outcome) will have to be re-designed in a process-vocabulary for the facilitation, collaboration, and evaluation of cultural encounter. In a midsized “new-town” in Netherlands this policy re-design was democratically rolled out with the participation of the broad cultural field, triggered by the collectively shared challenge to facilitate cultural encounters for everyone . 34 This yielded a new collective vision for cultural policy for a period of 8 years, and major revisions of funding and collaboration. In the Practical frame (below) some further remarks are made on the development of specific tools for policy design and collaboration.

Discussion and limitations

As pointed out in the Introduction , this study is a tentative exploration of new territory, and as such is limited in its scope and reference. Below, these limitations will be discussed in the context of the tensions between Luhmann’s theory and the conceptualisation of cultural communication as a basis for new cultural policy.

Luhmann’s grand theory of society as communication is as huge as it is dense, and it develops a radical ( Moeller, 2006 , Moeller, 2011 ), highly specialized and completely original vocabulary. Moreover, Luhmann’s theory is highly consistent: it does not tolerate “cherry picking“ or ad-hoc changes ( Blom, 1997 ; Laermans, 1999 ). How does this relate to the propositions developed in this paper?

By connecting and annotating to this central point of Luhmann’s theory (i.e., Spencer-Browns unity of indication and selection) this article suggests an opening for conceptualizing an ongoing selection of ambiguity as a dedicated communication mode. As such, it does not dispute Luhmann’s grand theory or any of its implications; it sits beside, and in dialogue with, Luhmann’s great framework. The paper explores this position and is, needless to say, very much open for further discourse.

That said, as stated at the end of Theoretical Frame , there are tensions that need to be addressed when referring to Luhmann’s system theory in the context of cultural policy. The first tension addressed in this paper is that Luhmann is hesitant about the definition of “culture” within his grand theory. Several authors ( Burkart and Runkel, (2004) , Baecker, 2012 ; Burkart and Runkel, (2004) ; Laermans 2007 ) have pointed to Luhmann’s hesitancy, and have made suggestions for elaboration. This paper hooks on to these elaborations from the angle of cultural communication, drawing the preliminary conclusion that the concept of cultural space may perhaps form an interesting and viable bridge. However, the positioning of cultural communication in relation to cultural space on the one hand and system theory on the other, definitely deserves further exploration.

The second tension addressed in this paper is that Luhmann has a very specific view on the way art functions as a social system in society. In Luhmann’s view, artworks communicate in a functional system, driven by the paradoxical binary “fitting—not-fitting”. The theory of cultural communication presented in this paper places at the heart of cultural communication (which includes artworks but is not limited to art) a non-binary (!) ambiguous communication mode. In Luhmann’s world this mode would have to be theorised back into a binary fashion (ambiguous—not-ambiguous?). This also, deserves further reflection.

The third tension is that Luhmann’s world is, at first glance, not very “physical” or “immediate.” Psychic systems and the body are in Luhmann’s view “structurally coupled” and “irritate” each other, but there seems to be little room for direct physical interaction or immediacy, which seems intuitively essential for play (e.g., Winnicott, 1971 ; Sutton-Smith, 1997 ), performativity (e.g., Fischer-Lichte 2008 ) and cultural communication as presented here. This tension has not been addressed directly in this paper; I plan to study this further in relation to semiosis and living systems.

A fourth tension, mentioned here for the first time, may be that Luhmann actually does speak of a “doubling” of meaning, but does so specifically in relation to mass-media. Mass-media construct reality, or explore possible realities, e.g., in a story or a sit-com ( Luhmann 1997 ). Through mass-media, “realities can be constructed and constructions can become realities” ( Luhmann 1997 ). However, Luhmann makes these remarks in the light of a Luhmannian system (of mass-media), driven by the binary “new information—old information.” In contrast, the theory of cultural communication presented in this paper draws on the selection of ambiguity in a dedicated communication mode. The relation between these two concepts of “doubling” needs further reflection.

Blind spots

Any choice of frame creates its own blind spots, as Luhmann famously theorises. From the point of view of this article it is important to note that the framework of ambiguous communication (as indeed in Luhmann’s system theory) does not see power-relations as communication. It states that cultural communication is tied to a communication mode that may bring values, identities and artefacts into play between people. Cultural policy should then be directed at the width (i.e., past the walls of power relations) and the depth (i.e., renewal of form-languages) of cultural communication. In other words: the theory of cultural communication presented here does not deny the existence or importance of power-reproduction or exclusion in relation to cultural policy; it sees this as circumstance to be addressed by flanking policies. (See also below.)

Power and power reproduction

In that regard, the work of (e.g.,) Bourdieu (1984) , Bourdieu and Passeron (1990) , Ranciere (2000 ), Ranciere (2010) , Braidotti (2005) and Gielen et al. (2014) must be mentioned. Although mutually different in many aspects, these and other authors have in common that they place the reproduction of power-relations through the cultural reproduction of meaning and value central in their work. This leads them to a specific analysis of society and culture, and consequently to specific (although quite divers) analysis and (perhaps idealistic) design of cultural policy. These analyses are, no doubt, of significance in the debate on cultural policy (where indeed they find growing influence and support). I would not want to oppose their inclusive objectives in any way, although elsewhere ( Drion, 2023 ) I do propose that cultural policy on the basis of identity may well be fundamentally flawed. At the current point in time I would however suggest (1) that a theory of cultural communication may explain the dynamics and evolution of culture on a deeper communicative level, and (2) that a theory of cultural communication may crucially show the fluidity of cultural communication as an intrinsic dimension of society (in the Luhmannian sense), which interacts with the structural and power-reproductive mechanisms of society, and must therefore be included in, and be the deeper goal of, any cultural policy.

Ecosystems, cultural democracy, capability and commoning

Cultural ecosystems are currently at the forefront of the discourse on cultural policy, governance, participation and democracy. 35 It is important to note that the term appears in two conceptually different strands: a representational and a participatory strand.

In the representational variant, cultural ecosystems are conceptualised at the institutional level, as a set of more or less formal facilities that need to be opened for democratic representation of all cultural groups, both formally (as diversity) as in their programming and modus operandi (as inclusiveness) ( Hadley and Belfiore, 2018 ; EU, 2021 ; Hadley, 2021 ), In the participatory strand, cultural ecosystems are seen as a democratic process-approach to inequality and exclusion. It is interesting to note that two variants of this particular strand are emerging: cultural commons ( Volont et al., 2022 ) and cultural capability ( Wilson, 2017 ). Although there may be comments on the theoretical underpinning ( Drion 2023 ), both of these participatory strands relate well to a frame of cultural communication: commoning as a strategy for facilitating cultural communication and encounter (see Practical frame ); cultural capability as a participatory strategy for talent-development and supported cultural autonomy ( Wilson and Gross, 2018 ).

Further study

As may be clear from the above, further study is beckoning on a whole range of subjects. For the further development of a full-blown theory of cultural communication, critical analysis from system theory is very welcome, as well as corroboration by a further study of semiotics in relation to meaning, systems and ambiguity. Some promising leads may be found at the crossroads between the work of Lotman (2011) , Eco (1978 ), Eco (1988) and Fischer-Lichte (2008) , Fischer-Lichte (2009) on culture, the arts and semiotics, and in the work of Vygotsky (1996) , Donald (1991) , Damasio (2018) , Van Heusden (2009) , Wheeler (2015) and others on the relation between biosemiotics, semiosis, cognition, culture and evolution.

On the practical side, fruitful crosslinks may be found in the actual discourse on cultural capability, cultural ecosystems, cultural democracy, Thirdspace, arts education, social resilience and inclusiveness. The reflective framework presented in the Practical frame (below) may serve as a perspective for arranging cultural encounters —as basic unit of cultural practice, organisation and policy. Extensive research is needed to follow the actual impact of the method, and the way a shared vocabulary may work to arrange and align practices, organisations and policies. Nonetheless, the framework seems (as such) a step forward, as a heuristic operationalisation of what actually happens in cultural encounters has, so far, been missing.

Practical frame

How can we arrange cultural encounters past the ‘walls’ of power reproduction and schismogenesis? Or put differently: how can we open the concept of cultural communication to the real-world practice of actual activities, organisations and policy?

In the Netherlands a two-year trial was set up, aiming to find a practical approach for cultural communication, by heuristically modelling cultural encounters. The trial was made possible by FCP (the Dutch national fund for cultural participation) and was supervised and hosted by LKCA (the Dutch national centre for expertise on cultural education and participation); six professional organisations were involved in nine separate set-ups.

Key notions

The trial was built around the tentative hypothesis that in a cultural communication mode four heuristic elements (cultural nouns) may be in play: cultural self, cultural other, cultural form and cultural context. The reasoning behind this is straightforward: if cultural communication is indeed a specific communication mode happening between people, a cultural self and a cultural other must be brought into play, spawning form that can only makes sense (Luhmannian “Sinn”) in context .

It is crucial to emphasize that this model is not referring to “actors” or “agency” in any way. It heuristically models a mode of communication (as such, between people) as a self-generating process. The heuristic modelling has the specific purpose of opening cultural encounters for professional observation and evaluation.

The term “cultural” in this model may need some clarification. In this paper, a distinction was made between ‘culture as noun’ and ‘culture as verb’. In the model presented above, the process of cultural communication (i.e. the point where culture becomes a verb) is represented by the “infinity sign” (or lemniscate) in the middle. The heuristic elements surrounding the process may be seen as “bearers” of symbolic meaning, identity or values, that are brought into play when a cultural communication mode is present ( Figure 6 ).

FIGURE 6 . The heuristic model of cultural encounter. (Source: author)

In the context of this trial the term cultural capability was adapted in the Netherlands from the seminal work in the UK ( Wilson, 2017 ; Wilson and Gross, 2018 ; Gross and Wilson, 2020 ) and consequently developed in the specific direction of Cultureel Vermogen 36 ( Drion, 2018 , 2022 ): the capability in and of society to culturally communicate . Cultureel Vermogen (CV) proposes a dedicated model for opening cultural encounter to professional, organisational and policy design and evaluation. The model is a tentative proposition, developed over a series of dialogues with specialists in the field of cultural education, participation and policy. 37

The working hypothesis of CV is: cultural encounters may be arranged by connecting the four heuristic elements into “strong” practical arrangements - that touch on both the depth and the width of cultural communication.

Levels of arrangements

Three levels of operation can work together to bring these arrangements about: professionals (arranging encounters), organisation (arranging programmes), policy (arranging coherence).

For each of these levels, dedicated proto-tools were developed helping practitioners, organisations and policymakers to collaborate – using a shared vocabulary. The tools will become available in the summer of 2023 ( Figure 7 ).

FIGURE 7 . Three levels of operation. (Source: author)

Remarks on future developments

The findings of trial setup of Cultureel Vermogen were presented in a conference in May 2022 in the Netherlands. A platform for further development is under construction. (More information: https://www.lkca.nl/categorie/thema/cultureelvermogen/ ).

Data availability statement

The original contributions presented in the study are included in the article/Supplementary Material, further inquiries can be directed to the corresponding author.

Author contributions

The author confirms being the sole contributor of this work and has approved it for publication.

Conflict of interest

The author declares that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest.

Acknowledgments

I would like to thank everyone who in the past years have contributed to the ideas expressed in this paper, especially the many friendly co-readers and my PhD supervisors at the University of Groningen. This paper could not have been written without their support.

1 Listed here as ad hoc findings by the author.

2 The current discourse on cultural democracy (or views on the democratisation of culture) will not be explicitly discussed in this article. See also: Drion 2023 (forthcoming).

3 See, e.g., Belfiore and Bennet (2008) , Belfiore (2014) .

4 See, e.g., Drion 2023 (forthcoming).

5 See, e.g., Eagleton (2000) or Bauman (1999) , Bauman (2011) .

6 See Drion 2023 (forthcoming).

7 See Carbaugh (2012) for a short overview of four ways in which culture may be theorised as communication.

8 In this paper the term “meaning” indicates the Dutch “betekenen” or the German “bezeignen” which translates roughly to “signs that make sense.”

9 Value free as in neutral process-theory.

10 See: Peirce and Fisch (1986) .

11 Notably in the perception that difference is a basic condition for information to “appear” and to be handled between (or within) systems. As Bateson famously put it: “information is a difference that makes a difference.” Systems can only perceive differences; systems operate on differences.

12 Luhmann famously defines communication as a three-fold selection: selection of utterance, selection of information, selection of understanding.

13 In particular, ten systems can be enumerated: political systems, economy, science, art, religion, legal systems, sport, health systems, education and mass media ( Roth and Schütz, 2015 ). These are autopoietic systems, operationally closed, and each has a specific binary code that includes or excludes an operation ( Appignanesi 2018 ).

14 This part of Luhmann’s theory has deep philosophical and methodical implications, such as his systemic “blind spots” which we must leave aside here (see paragraph: Discussion and Limitations).

15 Luhmann opposes Parsons’ action theory. See Luhmann (2013) .

16 Of course, these selections are not per se “conscious” or “rational”; they will, at least in part, be embodied and intuitive. See, e.g., McConachie (2015) and Johnson (2007) .

17 There will obviously be different manifestations of this in material and performative art-forms.

18 See Luhmann (2000) 118. Cf Gielen et al. (2014) ; Van Maanen (2005) .

19 See Luhmann (1987 : 105) on “registering form as medium.”

20 Here Luhmann seems to introduce some form of meta-communication into the communication of art. I will elaborate on that when I introduce the term communication mode .

21 Luhmann (2000) 26.

22 See: e.g., Eagleton (2000) .

23 See: e.g., Huizinga (1938) , Caillois (2001) , Sutton-Smith (1997) , Henricks (2015) , Gadamer (1993) .

24 A significant difference between play and game should be highlighted here: a game will usually have an ending related to rules, play may not; a game needs to be played, but playing does not need a set of a priori rules per se . See also: Upton (2021) . See also: Baricco (2020) on games, digitization and culture.

25 Indeed, for all of these forms the word “play” is used.

26 For an comprehensive introduction to Spencer-Brown in relation to Luhmann, see: Baecker (1993) , (in German). For a lighter form, see: Baraldy (2021) .

27 Although in this context challenges may also reside in new information, revelation of identity, emotional content or new context/place. See: Van Maanen & Van den Hoogen in: DeBruyne and Gielen (2011) .

28 See also: Burkart and Runkel (2004) and Baecker (2012) on culture, opposition and middle ground (Tertium Datur).

29 There are, of course, many other valuable approaches to this problem: the claim that art and artists act as “mirror” or “consciousness” of society is obviously one; another may be the growing interest in the education in culture (see, e.g., Van Heusden 2010 ); a third may be the growing attention to inclusion, cultural rights and participatory practices.

30 See, e.g., Otte (2015) .

31 Drion, forthcoming.

32 See also: Gadamer (1993) .

33 See: Nussbaum (2013) . Nussbaum’s capability approach relates to the freedom people have to do and be what one has reason to value. In relation to culture and democracy this has been adapted by Wilson & Gross towards cultural capability: the freedom people have to recognize and explore what they have reason to value. For Drion et al. cultural capability relates to the capability in and of society to culturally communicate. See also: Practical frame .

34 Gemeente Zoetermeer (2019–2020).

35 See, e.g., Drion (2022) .

36 “Cultureel Vermogen” (CV) is not easily translatable into English (just as “Cultural capability” is not adequately translatable into Dutch). “Vermogen” points to a combination of ability and opportunity, but it also has the connotation “potential power” as in the physics equation W = V x A (capability = difference x connectivity). The phrase “in and of society” indicates that the societal and individual aspects of CV are at the same time distinguishable ánd intertwined.)

37 As such, it may provide a way to explore the specific ‘operational gap’ in the capabilities approach. ( Gross & Wilson, 2020 ).

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Keywords: cultural communication, cultural policy, cultural democracy, cultural capability, systems theory

Citation: Drion GJ (2022) Towards a theory and practice of cultural communication. Eur. J. Cult. Manag. Polic. 12:11085. doi: 10.3389/ejcmp.2022.11085

Received: 15 May 2022; Accepted: 01 December 2022; Published: 30 December 2022.

Copyright © 2022 Drion. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) and the copyright owner(s) are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.

*Correspondence: Geert J. Drion, [email protected]

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Cultural communication.

• Patricia Olivia Covarrubias Patricia Olivia Covarrubias Department of Communication and Journalism; Department of Chicana and Chicano Studies, University of New Mexico
• https://doi.org/10.1093/acrefore/9780190228613.013.172
• Published online: 28 March 2018

An enduring problem for all people is the universal call for figuring out how to live together. This problem, which requires some measure of organization, quintessentially is responded to and managed in and through communication. That is, humans coordinate their daily meaningful actions via situated webs of linguistic and nonlinguistic means during the course of daily social interactions. These situated webs can be interpreted as cultural codes about communication. Further, and importantly, these codes vary across social groupings—and the codes are distinctive. This distinctiveness arises from the reality that societies shape their respective codes according to their local means and meanings; that is, to their own sets of beliefs, values, and rules for managing their lives individually and collectively.

The communicative means and meanings in and by which humans create meaningful lives are the central concern of cultural communication, which is defined as follows: the social enactment of learned systems of symbolic resources, premises, rules, emotions, spatial orientations, and notions of time that groups of people use to shape distinctive and meaningful communal identities, relationships, and ways of living and being. Indeed, cultural communication pertains to the use of language and other communicative means to carry out the activities and commitments of their particular communities in and through the use of symbolic resources. These resources include verbal and nonverbal means, as well as the rules for using and interpreting them.

This paper is inspired by a number of scholars of cultural communication, including Dell Hymes, who conceptualized the ethnography of communication (EOC); Gerry Philipsen and his notion of codes of communication; and the many scholars who have followed their leads.

The definition of cultural communication requires some fleshing out—and in particular, the tension between the individual and the communal that exists within the concept of cultural communication needs attention. Empirically accessed, real-life examples of locations where communication can be seen, heard, felt, and experienced help to explicate cultural communication. Such examples include cultural terms, silence practices, terms of address, rituals, and social dramas. Indeed, cultural communication treats culture and people, not with wide brushstrokes where the features of daily life occur uniformly and generically, but rather as unique sets of social actors whose lives are composed of intricate webs of nuanced expressions and attendant meanings, wherein each enactor plays a part in animating the symbolic resources that comprise their richly diverse schemes of life.

• cultural communication
• ethnography of communication
• communication codes
• cultural codes of communication
• discourse and society
• language and social interaction

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16 Culture and Communication

Suraj Sharma, Postdoctoral Fellow, California State University, Northridge, USA

Leigh Anne Liu, Professor and Director of the Institute of International Business, Georgia State University, USA

• Published: 23 January 2024
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Human cultural values and norms are developed and maintained through communication between and within individuals and between and within groups. The relationship between culture and communication is complex and challenging to study. On one hand, communication is the carrier of human interaction and culture, as values and norms are shared among its members through communication. On the other hand, culture may dictate how we communicate, since values and norms may prescribe our thinking and communication styles. In this chapter, we review the extant literature on culture and communication and explore how they influence and coevolve over time. We then propose new directions of research with theoretical and practical implications.

It is extraordinary the way people, music and cultures develop. The paths and experiences that guide them are unpredictable. Shaped by our families, neighborhoods, cultures and countries, each of us ultimately goes through this process of incorporating what we learn with who we are and who we seek to become. As we struggle to find our individual voices, I believe we must look beyond the voice we’ve been assigned and find our place among the tones and timbre of human expression. —Yo-Yo Ma

This quote by Yo-Yo Ma illustrates the ever-complex dynamics between culture and communication within individuals, interpersonally, and across social groups. The relationship between culture and communication is a compelling part of social life that infiltrates every aspect of our being. Although it is challenging to disentangle the interactions between culture and communication, we explore these mechanisms in the literature in order to offer insights to advance the field forward. In this chapter, we first analyze the literature on culture and communication from two perspectives: how culture affects communication and how communication affects culture. We then offer ideas on future research, before summarizing the takeaways of this chapter.

The evolution of culture phenomenology in communication research.

How Culture Affects Communication

Research on how culture influences communication has evolved from simple comparisons of two cultural styles in communication (e.g., Hall, 1959 , 1976 ) to a more sophisticated treatment of dynamic interactions among intra- versus intercultural interactions in various settings (e.g., Adair et al., 2015 ; Liu et al., 2010 ). Figure 16.1 depicts the progression of the role culture plays in communication research, evolving from static, negative barriers to be overcome in communication to dynamic processes to be understood and to potentially positive and multiple levels of influence on communication. Although the purpose of communication is to understand and be understood, earlier studies on culture and communication necessarily focused on deciphering the differences across cultures.

Cultural Differences as Barriers of Communication

The first stage of culture and communication research started with Edward Hall’s ( 1959 , 1976 ) anthropology work on culture, perception of time and space, and high- or low-context communication styles. Hall explains that members of different cultures vary in their orientations toward time. Some focus on the past, whereas others anchor communications on the present or future. Regarding perception of space, proxemics suggests that comfortable personal space differs across cultures. Hall also described that members of high-context cultures communicate with implicit and indirect messages that heavily emphasize the situation for interpretation while those in low-context cultures communicate with direct and explicit messages that are less sensitive to the specific situation.

Another early theoretical foundation of cultural differences was holistic versus analytical thinking styles. Holistic thinking style, on the one hand, refers to a systematic consideration of both internal attributes and external situations, as well as overall patterns, contexts, and relationships. Analytical thinking style, on the other hand, is characterized by focusing on ascribed factors and disentangling internal and external elements in phenomena ( Nisbett, 2003 ; Nisbett et al., 2001 ). A case in point can be found in the different approaches of Eastern and Western medicine. For example, when a person has stomach issues, Eastern medicine addresses the cause holistically and may view it as an imbalance of the person’s energy and will use experience-based treatments, such as acupuncture, which aim to rebalance these energies. The Western approach to the same problem would be a much more focused analysis of the stomach and use of treatments consistent with an empirically backed, scientific lens with stomach-specific medications or surgery. Applied to communication situations, Kim (2002) examined the relationships between talking and thinking among European Americans and East Asians and found that “thinking out loud” or talking helps European Americans resolve reasoning problems but doesn’t necessarily make East Asians better problem solvers. These examples highlight the effects of culture on cognitive reasoning, which then subsequently affect individuals from these culture’s communicative processes. These kinds of fundamental differences between cultures have become sources of miscommunication and misunderstanding, which are reflected in the studies of how culture influences communication at this stage.

Scholars focused on the subjective perceptions of cultural differences, which were then assumed to be negative barriers to effective communication. For example, Adler and Graham (1989) found that American, Canadian, and Japanese individuals differ when they are facing challenges of language, nonverbal behaviors, values, and patterns of thought while communicating with each other. They noted that American negotiators behave similarly regardless of whether the opponents were Japanese or American, while Japanese negotiators seem to be more tuned in to changing contexts, and thus adjust their behaviors accordingly. Similarly, Brett and Okumura (1998) found that intercultural negotiators achieve fewer desirable outcomes than intracultural negotiators, possibly because intercultural dyads encounter more difficulties to cooperation ( Matsumoto & Hwang, 2011 ; Tse et al., 1994 ). Based on an ethnographic study in global teams, Hinds et al. (2014) found that, as an important proxy of culture, language, especially language asymmetry in global teams, amplified power differences and geographic distribution among team members and triggered negative tensions. Therefore, cultural differences were viewed as a barrier due to challenges associated with decoding language, nonverbal cues, and/or intentions of cooperation.

Research on cultural values also offered implications for communication. For example, collectivism might influence how collaborative a communicator is and how likely one is to share information with others ( Cai et al., 2000 ). Cultural norms of implicit rules and guidelines may also predict tactics and strategies for interactions. For example, Adair et al. (2001) found that Japanese negotiators use positional strategies, such as pointing out limitations of alternatives to engage and influence their counterparts, while U.S. negotiators use more direct strategies to share information. Face negotiation theory ( Oetzel & Ting-Toomey, 2003 ; Ting-Toomey & Dorjee, 2018 ; Zhang et al., 2019 ) links individual identity, relationship with others, and conflict management styles to propose different patterns of communication, depending on the need to defend, protect, or accommodate one’s own and the other party’s face, or socially embedded identity. Consequently, individuals need to adjust their communicating behaviors in order to be more effective in intercultural interactions (e.g., Adair et al., 2001 ; Kim, 1988 ; Weiss, 1994 ). In sum, studies in this stage focused on cultural comparisons in communication and have generally found relatively stable and static cultural influences on communication ( Oyserman et al., 2002 ; Morling & Lamoreaux, 2008 ).

Culture as a Dynamic Process in Communication

In the second stage of culture and communication research, researchers started to look beyond values or simplified norms to study how internalized norms ( Liu, Friedman, & Chi, 2005 ; Brett et al., 2007 ), experience and cognitive mental networks (Liu et al., 2010 , 2012 ), and motivations ( De Drue & Carnevale, 2003 ; Liu et al., 2012 ) influenced patterns of communication and interpersonal dynamics. These communication patterns and dynamics include temporal sequences ( Adair & Brett, 2005 ), consensus building ( Liu et al., 2012 ), multiparty communication ( Adair & Liu, 2011 ), social distance bridging ( Kern et al., 2012 ), information exchange strategies ( Gunia et al., 2011 ), and nonverbal communication ( Semnani-Azad & Adair, 2011 ). These studies began to treat the phenomenology of culture as a dynamic and contextualized process , considering multiple interaction effects among culture, motivations, and behaviors. A few studies used culture priming, or situational variation and flexibility ( Trafimow, Triandis, & Goto, 1991 , Brewer & Gardner, 1996 ; Hong et al., 2000 ; Oyserman et al., 2009 ; Oyserman & Lee, 2008 ), to explore the dynamic and contextualized nature of culture and cultural cognitive frames. One of the most notable examples is Hong et al.’s (2000) dynamic constructivist view of cultural influence in which individual interpretation of the meaning of a message flexibly depends on the variation of the context or situation. The same person may interpret a message in culturally different ways if they are primed by a typical American or Chinese cultural image.

Following the dynamic constructivist view of cultural influence on behavior, this group of studies found that depending on individual attributes (e.g., cognitive or social motivations) or situational factors (e.g., inter- or intracultural partners), how individuals communicate to reach agreements takes different patterns ( Liu et al., 2012 ). In intracultural situations, reaching consensus is a necessary pathway for joint gains in two-party negotiations, while in intercultural negotiations, individual cognitive adaptation has a stronger effect on joint gains ( Liu et al., 2012 ). Similarly, Adair and Liu (2011) suggested that in multiparty communication, the consensus-building process evolves through phases of information accumulation, examination, and accommodation, depending on cultural heterogeneity, group size, and individuals’ integrative and distributive mindsets.

To summarize, while the first stage of studies on culture and communication merely acknowledged the significance of negative contextual influence, this cluster of studies fully considered cultural influence on communication as situational, flexible, and varied, as evident in the multiple interaction patterns found in these papers. The next stage of research on culture’s influence of communication not only builds on the complexity of these relationships but also explores culture’s positive effects on individual communicators.

Culture’s Positive and Multiplicity Influence on Communication

In the most recent stage of culture and communication research, scholars continue to explore the multiplicity of culture and have so far discovered even more sophisticated mechanisms of culture’s influence on communication. For example, Imai and Gelfand (2010) examined cultural intelligence, the capability of knowing and behaving in culturally complex situations, in intra- and intercultural negotiations. The role of culture or cultural phenomenology in communication research has evolved from culture being treated as a barrier to be overcome by communicators to culture now offering opportunities for personal competency development and pluralistic influences (e.g., Liu & Adair, 2017 ; Liu et al., 2018 ). For example, Erez et al. (2013) found that communication in global virtual teams increased cultural intelligence and global identity over a 4-week time period and that these effects were retained 6 months later. Liu et al. (2013) suggested that multicultural experience and a communicator’s global identity versus local identity may also make a difference in the process and outcomes of interpersonal communication, especially while interacting with culturally different others. Specifically, they found that broad (but not deep) multicultural experience is associated with a higher degree of local identity, which can lead such individuals to achieve better outcomes in intracultural negotiations. On the other hand, deep, and both deep and broad multicultural experience is linked to higher global identity, which is beneficial for intercultural negotiations.

Adair et al. (2015) expanded the notions of high- and low-context communication by examining the patterns of communication tendencies with a more sophisticated study design and measures. They showed that understanding nonverbal cues in message, relationship, time, and space is especially beneficial for intercultural communications. In global virtual teams, Glikson and Erez (2020) investigated communication messages of participants and found that self-disclosure of relational messages, rather than task messages, helped create a psychologically safe communication climate for the team, which is positively related to team performance. By coding the content of early asynchronous text messages among members of 60 global virtual teams, Glikson and Erez (2020) linked communication to relationship building in intercultural settings. Their findings suggest that in virtual intercultural communications, where relationship building might be extra challenging, sharing relational messages at the beginning of interactions may be especially conducive for a positive communication climate and, ultimately, more productive team outcomes.

Researchers also examined the impact of communication media, such as email, on communication strategies and processes ( Rosett et al., 2011 ). Rosett and colleagues (2011) examined the emails of intra- and intercultural negotiations by Hong Kong Chinese and Americans. They found that in distributive situations, reduced social awareness by media may lead Hong Kong Chinese email negotiators to be more competitive than Americans and more effective than face-to-face situations. They concluded that culture’s nuanced influence on media use is of utter importance in the digital age.

Other studies explored the dynamics between specific communication properties, such as quality of communication experience in intra- versus intercultural contexts ( Liu et al., 2010 ). These authors found that quality of communication experience , measured by the degree of clarity, responsiveness, and comfort encountered by individuals, interacts with communication context in predicting outcomes. For example, in intercultural negotiations between Americans and Chinese, there was an asymmetrical experience between the two parties where Americans reported more comfort and Chinese reported more clarity. Although higher degrees of clarity, responsiveness, and comfort predicted better outcomes in all situations, the effects were much stronger in intercultural settings.

This group of studies has advanced from previous stages and has begun appreciating culture as a source of individual development, such as the potential for building cultural intelligence or multicultural experience. Cultural intelligence and multicultural experience are, in turn, constructive for communication outcomes, including producing a higher degree of satisfaction and creating both economic and subjective values. To summarize, although the research on culture’s influence on communication has evolved from simply mapping out cultural differences in behavioral patterns to a more sophisticated treatment of cultural influence with significant consideration of contextual factors, they remain fragmented, the studies are largely comparative, and as a result there is considerable potential for future research.

How Communication Affects Culture

While culture has clear impacts on the communication process and outcomes of participants involved, it is also reproduced, contested, and changed through the communicative events of the participants within a culture as well. In this sense, culture affects communication but is also affected and changed by communication, leading culture to be constantly evolving at various levels. For example, at the individual level, Lau, Chiu, and Lee (2001) proposed a reciprocal relationship between communication and shared reality in social knowledge and representation. Social knowledge and interpretation by communication partners evolve from a joint propagation of the communicative process and context. In other words, when individuals communicate, they simultaneously construct a common ground in their messages and responses through a psychologically parallel process.

Kashima (2000) reviewed and “recovered” legendary psychologist Fredric C. Bartlett’s metatheory of culture as a “universal configurationist,” treating culture as a configuration of universal components with culturally specific patterns and dynamic interactions within contexts. In other words, social interactions significantly affect culture. In this view, culture is and can be shaped and transmitted through communication within and between groups. Analyzing an example of a football player’s story in multiple communication chains, Lyons and Kashima (2001) described the process of how individual communication activities enforced stereotype-consistent storylines, which collectively produced meaning. This dynamic process of meaning production, reproduction, and convergence formed the foundation of culture as a meaning system. Kashima, Lyons, and Clark (2013) further demonstrated that interpersonal conversations are important venues that maintain cultural stereotypes. In two experiments, Kashima and colleagues found that although stereotype-inconsistent information may attract attention, stereotype-consistent information is more likely to be emphasized, narrated, and discussed. Together, Kashima and colleagues have expanded Bartlett’s metatheory of culture and offered specific empirical evidence on how communication affects cultural processes.

At a social collective level, Kashima and colleagues (2021) report that communication driven by political ideology entrenches and exacerbates polarization in societies through collective cognition. By examining political discourses through ideological commitment to an opinion, ideologically filtered interpretation, and communication in social networks, they found that polarizing opinions and interpretations are accelerated and amplified by communication and social networks, especially when disagreeable ties were cut off ( Kashima et al., 2021 ).

In international joint ventures, Brannen and Salk (2000) found that organizational work culture evolves through a negotiated process between individuals’ sense-making and the structure of organizational events based on ranges of cultural assumptions and normative orientations. A negotiated work culture emerges over time as the result of compromises in human resource management, meeting in the middle in operations, innovating new ideas for both partner groups, and dividing labor ( Brannen & Salk, 2000 ).

Digging deeper into the social cognitive mechanisms of how communication interacts with culture, there seem to be three key mediums through which communication interacts and shapes culture: (1) language, (2) nonverbal communication and emotions/emotional expression, and (3) music. Here we elaborate on how these mediums of communication both influence and are influenced by culture and how these effects apply to organizational contexts.

Holtgraves and Kashima (2008) define language as a “semiotic tool for meaning making and exchange” (p. 73). Language provides a systematic means of communicating highly abstract ideas and represents one of the principal ways that humans communicate with each other. Humans use language to enable interactions for social coordination and survival ( Ko, 2016 ). As a culturally transmitted system, language evolves together with cultural change ( Tallerman, 2005 ), and at the same time, culture evolves as a result of language use (Chomsky, 1965 , 2010 ). Language and culture are thus dynamically coupled, perpetually shaping each other. While language is a powerful medium for the creation, maintenance and transmission of culture, research shows that language systems of a particular culture may also affect the cognitions of the participants within that culture ( Ji et al., 2004 ; Hamers & Blanc, 2000 ; Markman & Hutchinson, 1984 ; Whorf, 1956 ; Logan, 1986 ). The language(s) one learns within their culture appears to have a profound impact on shaping how they perceive, order, and categorize the many diverse stimuli within any given environment or context ( Vygotsky, 1962 , Hamers & Blanc, 2000 ; Ji et al., 2004 ).

This provocative idea is not without debate within the literature. At the center of this debate is the Sapir–Whorf linguistic relativity hypothesis , whose main theme is that culture, through language, has the ability to influence how an individual thinks ( Ji et al., 2004 ). The two views originating from this hypothesis are linguistic determinism and linguistic relativity, with each contending a different degree of power that language exerts on the cognitive processes of its speakers ( Huang & Tse, 2017 ; Hardin & Banaji, 1993 ; Hunt & Agnoli, 1991 ; Kay & Kempton, 1984 ). Linguistic determinism refers to “the view that the structure of language strongly influences or fully determines the way its native speakers perceive the world” ( Huang & Tse, 2017 , p. 4). While this powerfully deterministic view has been largely disconfirmed (e.g., Berlin & Kay, 1969 ; Heider, 1972 ; Heider & Olivier, 1972 ), the linguistic relativity view, which differs in the magnitude of influence language exerts on cognition, remains a fruitful topic for language researchers. Linguistic relativity “postulates that the structural differences between languages are generally paralleled by nonlinguistic cognitive differences in the native speakers of the two languages” ( Huang & Tse, 2017 , p. 4). Overall, the question boils down to whether or not people think in language, and if they do, how it shapes thought.

Early debates on this hypothesis looked at physically perceptive domains such as “color, number, space, time and musical pitch” ( Huang & Tse, 2017 , p. 4). A popular example of debate in this field looks at the differing perceptions of colors in languages that differ in the number of words they use to differentiate different colors. While some languages, such as Dugum Dani, may only have two basic color terms to differentiate between black and white ( Heider, 1972 ), other languages, such as Russian and Turkish, have up to 12 basic color terms ( Ozgen & Davies, 1998 ; Huang & Tse, 2017 ). Universalists are researchers that hold that color-perceptive capabilities are universal and innate (e.g., Berlin & Kay, 1969 ; Franklin & Davies, 2004 ), while linguistic relativity hypothesis supporters contend that language plays a role in an individual’s ability to cognitively differentiate and categorize colors ( Roberson et al., 2000 ; Winawer et al., 2007 ). For example, Winawer et al. (2007) found that Russians, whose language differentiates between lighter blue and darker blue, were faster at differentiating these colors than individuals from English-speaking countries who have just one broad word for these two colors.

Another example of the impact of language on cognition would be Kashima and Kashima’s study (1998) on the differences between individuals who use languages that allow for pronoun dropping compared to languages that do not. Languages differ in the use of person-indexing pronouns, which are called deixis . Examples of deixis within the English language are “I” and “you.” In some languages, such as Chinese and Japanese, linguistic rules allow for the dropping of pronouns, “despite the absence of verb inflections and the grammatical rule of subject–verb agreement” ( Kashima & Kashima, 1998 , p. 464; Hinds, 1982 ; Huang, 1984 ; Li & Thompson, 1976 ). Reasons for why this pronoun dropping occurs is not without extensive debate (e.g., Berman, 1990 , 1992 ; Bloom, 1990 ; Valian, 1990 ).

The cognitive grammar view ( Langacker, 1987 ) contends that “a deictic expression indexes elements in the particular situation where the speech takes place … [and] describes a relationship between the speaker and the speech context, that is, the manner in which the speaker relates to the social context of the speech” ( Kashima & Kashima, 1998 , p. 465; Langacker, 1987 , pp. 128–132). This construal relationship then causes a perceptive shift in the focal point of what is being expressed. For example, expressions with explicit first-person singular pronouns (1PS) such as I, and second-person singular (2PS) pronouns, explicitly cause individuals to become the salient focus of the expression. Languages that then allow for the dropping of these pronouns allow the speakers to emphasize or deemphasize the self or other and the contextual environment in communicative events ( Kashima & Kashima, 1998 ). Kashima and Kashima (1998) found evidence of coinciding cultural differences with these linguistic differences, such as finding lower levels of individualism in cultures whose languages allow for pronoun dropping.

In organizational settings, Liu et al. (2015) found that relational metaphors used by international joint venture partners to describe their relationships, whether it is equal or hierarchical, will interact with equity structures of the joint venture in shaping the quality of the relationship and their achievement of strategic goals over time. In other words, the use of an equal relational metaphor, such as a “modern marriage,” rather than a hierarchical one, such as a “patriarchal family,” would contribute to higher-quality relationships and a more productive work culture in joint ventures. Additionally, in an extensive case study of a Japanese multinational enterprise, Neeley (2017) showed that an intentional mandate of a common language not only changed individual employees’ values and identities, but also transformed the organizational culture into a more global one. Therefore, although rooted in cultures, common languages and strategic use of language can facilitate the construction of or reshaping of new organizational cultures.

Nonverbal Communication and Emotions

While linguistic communication represents an extraordinary human capability for abstract communication, verbal communication is not the only way that humans are able to communicate. In fact, it is estimated that nonverbal behavior accounts for around 60 to 90% of human communication ( Mehrabian, 2017 ). Nonverbal mechanisms of communication involve body language, gesture, and emotional expression, all of which are anchored on the capacity for empathy. The literature on these nonverbal communicative capabilities can provide additional insight into cultural differences and similarities of communication. Emotion, emotional expression, and empathy provide a foundational ability for tuning into reading both nonverbal behaviors and verbal behaviors to maximize the accurate deciphering of what it is another individual is trying to communicate (and even may not be consciously trying to communicate).

Emotions serve as a powerful device for effective nonverbal communication. They are complex feelings that are deeply social in nature. Social systems benefit from the capacity of individuals to experience and express emotions ( Keltner & Haidt, 1999 ), so collective emotional expressions may become normative in a culture. In this sense, display rules for how emotions are conveyed and interpreted in a certain culture are likely passed on to future generations and solidify the cultural norm of emotional expression. There must exist a physiological mechanism, or a form of body language, for expressing emotions in order for them to be read by others. Answers to the questions “What are emotions” and “where do they come from” remain a hot topic of debate within the literature, with deep implications for the culture and communication field. To understand the interaction between culture and communication, specifically related to emotions and emotional expression, it is necessary to understand the current debate within the literature regarding the nature versus nurture origin of emotions.

Different researchers from different emotional theory camps differ in the universality versus cultural specificity of felt emotion and emotional expression. For example, basic emotion theorists believe, for the most part, that felt and expressed emotion is largely universal, whereas social construction theorists believe the other extreme, that felt and expressed emotion is largely culturally specific. The basic emotions perspective views emotions as an innate and universal process that serves as “motivational amplifiers” ( Tomkins, 1962 ). In this view, emotions serve to cause a certain reaction “to tasks that require change in some way” ( Warrenburg, 2020 , p. 4). Basic emotion theorists believe that emotions are innate and present at or shortly after birth and are thus universal. Sadness, for example, is a functional state with a specific and shared coinciding feeling, activated physiologies and expressions that serve to communicate that feeling, or the awareness of that feeling to another individual ( Ekman, 1992 ; Tomkins, 1962 ). Similarly, the emotion of disgust, together with its associated nonverbal body cues, also seems to be produced universally in reaction to something offensive or revolting, perhaps to communicate to another individual that something is potentially dangerous ( Trompenaars & Turner, 1997 ). It would make sense for feelings and expressions of sadness and disgust to be universally felt and recognized given their evolutionary importance to survival.

Social construction theorists view emotions as entirely a social artifact that is the product of the cultural context in which they exist and that aid in the performance of culturally specific tasks ( Mesquita et al., 2016 ). How one emotionally reacts to any given stimulus, to social construction theorists, is largely dependent on the social consequences of this emotional experience and the normativity of what emotion other individuals from that culture typically feel ( Warrenburg, 2020 ; Mesquita et al., 2016 ). For these theorists, each culture has specific emotions that aid in the success of that individual. For example, the independent versus collective cultural differences between Western and Eastern cultures, respectively, have an impact on what emotions will be felt in any given situation ( Mesquita et al., 2016 ). Individuals learn through constant exposure within their environment and are thus “a ‘social reality’ [that] depend[s] on the collective intentionality of a group of people” ( Warrenburg, 2020 , p. 32; Barrett, 2017 ; Mesquita et al., 2016 ) and are ultimately heavily informed and impacted by the norms and values of the cultural context. Therefore, when individuals from one culture enter into another culture, emotional acculturation occurs, where the individual begins to learn and experience new emotional states consistent with this new cultural context ( Barrett, 2017 ).

Research into determining cultural differences regarding the ability to read emotional expressions from cultures that are the same and different from one’s own culture has posed two conflicting models: the cultural equivalence model and the cultural advantage model of emotion recognition . On the one hand, the c ultural equivalence model of emotion recognition aligns more closely with basic emotion theorists, who contend that because emotional communication is largely rooted physiologically in making individuals more evolutionarily equipped for survival, individuals will be able to equally evaluate the emotional expressions of both ingroup and outgroup members regardless of what culture they belong to ( Darwin, 1872 ; Preston & de Waal, 2002 ). On the other hand, the cultural advantage model of emotion recognition believes that individuals are more evolutionarily equipped for survival through the ability of individuals from the same ingroup to be better at reading the emotional expressions of other individuals from the ingroup compared to the outgroup ( Anderson & Keltner, 2002 ; Thibault et al., 2006 ). In organizational life, although emotions are reactions to happenings within a context, collective emotions are also building blocks for organizational actions that eventually form norms and construct culture over time.

An early review of culture and emotions by Mesquita and Frijda (1992) situated cultural variations in emotions within a framework of the cognitive-process model of emotions . In this view, “whether cultural differences or similarities are found depends to an important degree on the level of description of the emotional phenomena” (p. 179). This model breaks the emotional response of an individual into a process of elicitation and manifestation containing various stages that allow for a deeper dive into each and show whether differences or similarities between cultures exist within them. These stages are, first, the antecedent events , which may differ across cultures, thus affecting what individuals within each culture expect and are sensitive to. The second stage, event coding, explains that individuals from within a culture will code and categorize events in a schematic way facilitated by their culture, thus affecting how the event will be emotionally appraised. In the third stage, or the appraisal stage , events are “appraised with respect to their implications for the subject’s well-being and his or her possibilities for coping with the event” ( Mesquita & Frijda, 1992 , p. 180). The fourth stage would be the physiological reaction patterns that explain how an emotional response is both due to and affected by physiological responses to a stimulus. The fifth stage is described as action readiness , where “emotional states involve changes in action readiness” ( Mesquita & Frijda, 1992 , p. 180). For example, the emotional state of fear may elicit a survival instinct composed of cognitions that aid self-protection. The sixth stage is emotional behavior . Once an emotional state is generated, behaviors are generated by the individual, depending on the “availability and expected effectiveness of the various behavior patterns” ( Mesquita & Frijda, 1992 , p. 180). Lastly, the seventh stage is regulation , which “refers to both inhibitory control and voluntary enhancement” ( Mesquita & Frijda, 1992 , p. 180). Thus, by adding more nuance to the particular stages involved in an individual’s emotional state, research into culture and emotions is better able to dissect and understand cultural similarities and differences. While culture provides a framework vital to how an individual learns to organize their reality and what expectations of behavior are deemed acceptable for that given context, there still appears to be a shared, biologically based innate emotional expression system across all humans.

Matsumoto and Hwang (2019) have elaborated on this model and proposed the biocultural model of emotion . This model reconciles the differences and similarities across cultures through the idea that a “biologically-based, core emotion system is calibrated, regulated, and elaborated by culture and culture learning” (p. 501). These researchers conducted a study comparing the spontaneous emotional expression of blind and sighted Judo athletes and found evidence for universal facial expressions of emotions based on a core biological system. Because blind individuals who were unable to learn what facial expressions are associated with what emotions in the context of their cultures exhibited the same facial expressions as those sighted, there is evidence for this basic emotional system. This substantiates the idea that, at least some emotional expressions, served an evolutionary, phylogenetic advantage to communicate with and be understood by others. At the same time, this does not deny cultural specificities; “the interaction between biology and culture in human emotions allows for complex social networks and relationships, and enhances the meaning of normal, daily activities” (p. 512). With emotions and emotional expressions being explicated as a key human tool for nonverbal communication, it is thus vital to explore the importance of an important communication tool that seems able to convey deep, nonverbal messages and to evoke powerful emotional responses in nearly every culture around the world, music ( Wallmark et al., 2018 ; Vuoskoski & Eerola, 2017 ).

Music is a powerful, almost magical tool important in conveying highly abstract ideas and emotions, but it is ultimately social in nature. As Wallmark et al. (2018) state, “by disclosing the affective and cognitive states of actual or imagined human actors, musical engagement can function as a mediated form of social encounter, even when listening by ourselves” (p. 1). Although music is an intense manifestation of cultural variations, we believe that musical practice is a particularly insightful domain to investigate the mechanisms of how this communication medium ultimately shapes and advances the cultural setting it exists in.

While the capacity to create, utilize, and enjoy music as a communicative medium for meaning and emotion appears to be universal, the musical practice, both in how and what meaning is communicated, is deeply entrenched within its cultural context. A national anthem both reflects and projects the salient features of the country’s characters. Iconic musicians such as the Beatles and the Grateful Dead both lead and symbolize the spirit of the time, with widespread resonance of the messages carried through their melodies, harmonies, rhythms, and lyrics. Organizations often choose music in advertising, company websites, or lobbies to aid the expression of their products’ properties and shape organizational climate for consumers, employees, and business associates. In this sense, as an integral part of cultural expression, music coevolves with culture. Additionally, there is ample evidence of how music and musical practice have affected and shaped the culture in which it exists, such as the musical event Woodstock ( Lovesey, 2020 ). Woodstock was a music and arts festival that epitomized, affected, and was affected by the cultural context in which it existed. As Lovesey (2020) states, Woodstock “registered a paradigm shift in cultural, intellectual, and musicological history” (p. 121).

Evidence for further communicative implications of music come from Wallmark et al. (2018) in their study of the neurophysiological effects of trait empathy and music. Recent studies have suggested that empathy “is related to emotional identification and feelings of intimacy or social connectedness” ( Leman, 2007 , p. 122; Berthoz & Jorland, 2004 ). Leman (2007) states that “listening to music can be seen as a socializing activity in the sense that it may train the listener’s self in social attuning at empathic relationships” (p. 126). While empathy is a vital mechanism central to all communicative mediums, within this study, empathy was hypothesized to be a key mechanism in how music is perceived and processed. Wallmark et al. (2018) conducted a study that examined the fMRIs of individuals differing on cognitive and affective trait empathy levels and found physiological evidence for a link between empathy and music, explicating music as a potentially fruitful avenue for further investigating and understanding cultural similarities and differences in communication.

Evolutionarily, it would make sense for acculturation and socialization processes to include musical practices for groups and organizations to have a mechanism for enhancing cohesion and coordination. As Sun Tzu (2012) states in The Art of War , “Gongs and drums and banners and flags make the army hear with the same ear and see with the same eye” (p. 45). Embodied listening of a group of people may cause the harmonization of movement among the individuals, in turn causing an “increased liking between interaction partners” ( Leman, 2007 , p. 126), in what Lakin et al. (2003) refer to as the chameleon effect of nonconscious mimicry . A group with strong cohesion and effective communication capabilities could, at least historically, engage in more complex and collective coordinated action, positioning groups that leverage these capabilities as more adept for survival. In this sense, music serves as a form of nonverbal communication that promotes a “sense of groupishness” that enables conflict management, bonding, and collective survival of the group ( Brown, 2000 ; Cross & Morley, 2010 ; Cross, 2007 ).

To summarize, music has been an unsung communication tool in shaping, maintaining, and creating cultural norms and taste, ranging from national anthems to cultural icons. Visionary organizations have already started strategic manipulation of sound in workspace for senses of community and creativity (e.g., Krukowski, 2019 ). Together, language, nonverbal communication, emotion, and music not only dynamically influence and interact with culture, but also offer new and fertile avenues of studying culture and communication.

Future Research for Culture and Communication

Although communication is an essential activity in human and organization life across cultures, research on culture and communication has largely taken a static, fragmented, and de-contextualized view. Szkudlarek et al. (2020) offer a comprehensive critique on communication in international business and point out that the existing literature does not address the dynamic and contextualized nature of communication. For example, they note that the extant works in the field tend to overly rely on etic dimensions that do not capture within-culture dynamics, or the situational complexity of communication, and may cause superficial and even misleading findings. One of the reasons, we speculate, is that the field of communication has been dominated by the Western analytical thinking style that focuses on decontextualized and discrete inquiries ( Nisbett et al., 2001 ). Moving forward, processual, relational, and contextual perspectives of research on culture and communication promise to provide a more holistic inquiry of the field ( Szkudlarek et al., 2020 ; Liu et al., 2021 ; Corner et al., 2021 ). Specifically, Liu et al. (2021) suggest that communicators in multicultural relationships might switch, expand, and fuse their culturally typical communal or exchange schemata of relationships. As an important aspect of intercultural competency, Corner et al. (2021) maintain that when communicating with foreign counterparts, especially those based in emerging markets, individuals need to consider the perspectives and uncertainties embedded within the context, as well as initiating and cultivating relationships. Future empirical research is needed to fill these gaps and test the propositions of studying culture and communication in processual, embedded relationships, and contextualized situations that can provide dynamic, holistic findings on the interactions between culture and communication.

Research in culture and communication has gradually shifted from a static, compartmentalized understanding into one that is more dynamic, context dependent, and process oriented whereby individuals iteratively negotiate meaning. For future research, we propose that research on culture and communication could be oriented more holistically, specifically, (1) temporally, (2) spatially, (3) inter- and intrapersonally, and (4) inter- and intraculturally.

By temporally , we refer to an increased emphasis being placed on the chronical conditions that gave rise to the circumstances and environments in which communicative events exist. Culture and communicative capabilities, mediums, and meanings are the result of thousands of years of constant evolution and still continue to evolve dynamically. A shift from a view that treats communication and culture as a static cross section to one that is processual would yield fruitful avenues for future research ( Szkudlarek et al., 2020 ; Cramton et al., 2021 ). Past research in culture and communication that views communicative events as static and isolated snapshots miss out on the richness of the “interactive, evolving, and complex” nature of communication processes in reality ( Szkudlarek et al., 2020 , p. 6). Both the capabilities for communication and the implied meaning of communicative tools are the result of constant iterative sense-making processes negotiated by the many different participants across many different mediums. Future research should investigate how “past experiences, individual predispositions and situational contingencies affect the communication process” ( Szkudlarek et al., 2020 p. 6). Methodologies that utilize longitudinal data may yield prolific insights for the study of culture and communication.

By spatially , we refer to an increased emphasis on the specific contextual and environmental circumstances where communication occurs. Past research has been largely decontextualized, overlooking the specific contexts in which communication events occur and the effects these contexts may have on communication. Varner (2000) argues that “the multiplicity of contexts is crucial for making sense of communicative processes” ( Szkudlarek et al., 2020 , p. 3). An example of such a context is the tight versus loose norms in societies, which in a way dictated the communication of responses and actions by countries in coping with the COVID-19 pandemic (e.g., Gelfand et al., 2021 ).

Additionally, many scholars have shown that media types and mediums play a role in communicative interactions and outcomes (e.g., Klitmøller & Lauring, 2013 ; Daft & Lengel, 1986 ) and called for research to include a more diverse range of media platforms ( Ishii, Lyons, & Carr, 2019 ). Future research should investigate how different mediums yield different communicative outcomes, such as across digital platforms, musical formats, or in-person communicative events and what the variables within these mediums contribute, culturally, emotionally, and cognitively to these outcomes. Further, Keller and Tian (2021) advocate for studying the interconnected paradoxes between linguistic tensions embedded in organizational paradoxes. An example is that linguistic tensions such as explicit versus implicit messages can complicate organizational management paradoxes, such as control versus autonomy. Therefore, the multiplicity of contextual influence holds the promise of sophisticated inquiries in future research on culture and communication.

By calling for research to be more interpersonal and intrapersonal , we refer to an increased emphasis being placed on communicative events that occur between individuals and even within individuals. Interpersonal communication involves negotiations of meaning. Much of the past literature on communication has focused on the organizational or group level, such as investigating “knowledge characteristics, organizational culture, and the perceived importance of sender and receiver attitudes, motivation or communication skills” ( Szkudlarek et al., 2020 , p. 4; Minbaeva, 2007 ; Morgulis-Yakushev et al., 2018 ). Focusing on the integration of organizational level and individual level and viewing communicative events and processes from a multilevel perspective presents an avenue that may probe at the deep nuance involved in communicative events.

Within the individual level, a focus on intrapersonal communication may also help generate novel and exciting insights into the study of communication and culture. Interfacing an individual’s many identities and changing the salience and availability of self-construal schemas and its impact on culture and communication provide a fruitful avenue for research. Intrapersonal negotiation may occur through introspective avenues such as meditation but may also be facilitated through altered states of consciousness such as through music, mind altering substances and one’s environmental context. Researchers have begun investigating and elaborating on the “multiple selves” theory. Angyal (1965) proposed that “the mind is made up of subsystems which interact, resulting in setting and shifting sets” ( Lester, 2012 , p. 1). Thus, individuals may simultaneously have many “selves” that hold different priorities, which contribute to an inner dialogue in the process of decision making. Different selves have different goals, different priorities, and ultimately different cognitions that are most saliently accessible, especially for individuals with multiple cultural identities and experiences. These selves may be primed by cultural artifacts within the environment, emotional states, or the salient identities of their peers. Thus, it is important to understand different selves and states of consciousness for a more holistic understanding of communication. This view emphasizes the need to understand communicative events within the environments and contexts in which they exist, as well as the cognitive and emotional states of the individual, whether primed by existing stimuli within their environment, and the effects on communicative processes and outcomes.

Lastly, we propose that research in culture and communication be expanded more to investigate intercultural and intracultural communication . Both communication and communication competence are the result of a relational exchange between two individuals. As discussed earlier, no communicative event between individuals happens in a vacuum, and each of these individuals will bring to the table a set of existing predispositions and preexisting assigned meanings, which may heavily impact communication. For example, although intercultural communication has been studied (e.g., Imai & Gelfand, 2010 ; Liu et al., 2010 , 2012 ), a more dialectical approach is needed to recognize the dynamic and interactive nature in complex situations ( Corner et al., 2021 ; Martin, 2015 ; Szkudlarek et al., 2020 ). Thus, further research should infuse more culturally diverse views in understanding, holistically, what individuals bring from their own culture and how that, in turn, affects the communicative events.

Existing literature, however, on cross-cultural perspectives has seemingly missed out on the dynamic nature and complexity of intercultural communication, especially in complex temporal and special situations. While previous studies have been insightful in their own way, with a few exceptions of qualitative studies (e.g., Brannen & Salk, 2000 ), almost all intercultural communication studies (e.g., Brett & Okumura, 1998 ; Imai & Gelfand, 2010 ; Liu et al., 2010 , 2012 ) used lab studies with single or repeated negotiation simulations. Longitudinal, contextualized, and both qualitative and quantitative field experiments might better capture the evolving forces in inter- and intracultural interactions ( Brannen et al., 2017 ; Lee et al., 2020 ; Casrnir, 1999 ; Nardon, 2017 ). In order to better understand the dynamic and fluid nature of intercultural and intracultural communicative events, moving from comparative methodologies such as surveys, to diverse and rich methodologies such as “narrative analysis (e.g., Gertsen & Søderberg’s, 2011 ), ethnographic field studies (e.g., Moore & Mahadevan, 2020 ), in-depth cases (e.g., Piekkari et al., 2020 ), critical analysis (e.g., Romani et al., 2020 ) or even experimental designs ( Fischer & Karl, 2020 )” may be better suited ( Szkudlarek et al., 2020 , p. 2).

We summarize main takeaways on Table 16.1 and below.

Five Key Takeaways

  Dynamic Constructivist View—Individuals are composed of various overlapping and interwoven cultures with different associated norms and values that may become more or less cognitively salient depending on the context. Contexts are composed of various cues, which are then associated with existing cultural frames within an individual ( Hong et al., 2000 ). Accordingly, different contexts will prime different cultural identities by causing a cultural frame and its associated cognitions to become more salient and enacted, affecting subsequent communicative events. Future research should remain highly sensitive to cues within a context and its effects on an individual’s cognitive frame.

  Holistic Thinking—Previous research on culture and communication, dominated by Western theories and research norms, focus more on the analytical traditions and perspectives. Krukowski (2019) showed that an integration of space and sound communicates to both the conscious and the unconscious mind and created a new kind of work culture at WeWork and the Yard in New York. Future research should consider a more holistic perspective that better integrates elements of communication such as language, emotion, music, and contexts into organization studies.

  Social Cognitive Theory—Culture and communication research should further deploy the use of a social cognitive theory ( Fiske & Taylor, 1991 ) that examines mental models before and after communicative events and the valence and arousal of emotions associated with certain cognitions for a more nuanced understanding of communicative processes and outcomes. Felt emotions will determine how individuals engage in sensemaking ( Maitlis et al., 2013 ), that is, how cues are extracted into existing frames, largely effecting how information will be communicated and understood by both parties in a communicative event.

  Cultural Evolution Perspective—Cultural identities, within both individuals and societies are not a static monolith but are instead composed of a constellation of subparts that are constantly changing and evolving (e.g., Wilson, 2002 ). Cultures are composed of many subcultures that are constantly interacting, causing them to gradually evolve. Individuals within these cultures are constantly negotiating and co-constructing realities with each other, within and between their cultures and communities. Individuals are then also composed of various interconnected identities that are dynamically interacting as an individual constructs their identity. Future research should examine how cultures change and evolve due to the interactions of the subcultures that compose them, as well as how individuals constantly change and evolve as they gradually negotiate a sense of self through the many cultures and subcultures they belong to. Doing so would require examining cross and intracultural communication at both the group and individual level for a more detailed understanding of culture and communication.

  Communication Mediums—Different mediums of communication may offer different insights into cultural differences and similarities. By grounding each medium into its given context and exploring each, a more thorough analysis of culture and communication can be conducted. Language, nonverbal body language, emotions and emotional expression, music, and other cultural artifacts provide fruitful and incredibly interesting avenues for future investigation. These different mediums consist of different psychological and physiological mechanisms that are interwoven and that should be holistically taken into consideration to further understand communicative similarities and differences of the capabilities of individuals from both different and the same cultures.

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Language and communication in international students’ adaptation: a bibliometric and content analysis review

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• Michał Wilczewski   ORCID: orcid.org/0000-0001-7650-5759 1 &
• Ilan Alon   ORCID: orcid.org/0000-0002-6927-593X 2 , 3  

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This article systematically reviews the literature (313 articles) on language and communication in international students’ cross-cultural adaptation in institutions of higher education for 1994–2021. We used bibliometric analysis to identify the most impactful journals and articles, and the intellectual structure of the field. We used content analysis to synthesize the results within each research stream and suggest future research directions. We established two major research streams: second-language proficiency and interactions in the host country. We found inconclusive results about the role of communication with co-nationals in students’ adaptation, which contradicts the major adaptation theories. New contextualized research and the use of other theories could help explain the contradictory results and develop the existing theories. Our review suggests the need to theoretically refine the interrelationships between the interactional variables and different adaptation domains. Moreover, to create a better fit between the empirical data and the adaptation models, research should test the mediating effects of second-language proficiency and the willingness to communicate with locals. Finally, research should focus on students in non-Anglophone countries and explore the effects of remote communication in online learning on students’ adaptation. We document the intellectual structure of the research on the role of language and communication in international students’ adaptation and suggest a future research agenda.

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Introduction

One of the consequences of globalization is the changing landscape of international higher education. Over the past two decades, there has been a major increase in the number of international students, that is, those who have crossed borders for the purpose of study (OECD, 2021a ), from 1.9 million in 1997 to over 6.1 million in 2019 (UIS Statistics, 2021 ). Even students who are motivated to develop intercultural competence by studying abroad (Jackson, 2015 ) face several challenges that prevent them from benefitting fully from that experience. Examples of these challenges include language and communication difficulties, cultural and educational obstacles affecting their adaptation, socialization, and learning experiences (Andrade, 2006 ), psychological distress (Smith & Khawaja, 2011 ), or social isolation and immigration and visa extension issues caused by Covid-19 travel restrictions (Hope, 2020 ).

Cross-cultural adaptation theories and empirical research (for reviews, see Andrade, 2006 ; Smith & Khawaja, 2011 ) confirm the critical importance of foreign-language and communication skills and transitioning to the host culture for a successful academic and social life. Improving our understanding of the role of foreign-language proficiency and communication in students’ adaptation is important as the number of international students in higher education worldwide is on the rise. This increase has been accompanied by a growing number of publications on this topic over the last decade (see Fig.  1 ). Previous reviews of the literature have identified foreign-language proficiency and communication as predictors of students’ adaptation and well-being in various countries (Smith & Khawaja, 2011 ). The most recent reviews (Jing et al., 2020 ) list second-language acquisition and cross-cultural adaptation as among the most commonly studied topics in international student research. However, to date, there are no studies specifically examining the role of language and communication in international students’ adaptation (henceforth “language and communication in student adaptation”). This gap is especially important given recent research promoting students’ self-formation (Marginson, 2014 ) and reciprocity between international and domestic students (Volet & Jones, 2012 ). The results challenge the traditional “adjustment to the host culture” paradigm whereby international students are treated as being out of sync with the host country’s norms (Marginson, 2014 ). Thus, this article differs from prior research by offering a systematic and in-depth review of the literature on language and communication in student adaptation using bibliometric co-citation analysis and qualitative content analysis. Our research has a methodological advantage in using various bibliometric tools, which should improve the validity of the results.

Source: HistCite). Note . TLC, total local citations received; TGC, total global citations received; Articles, number of articles published in the field; International Students, number (in millions) of international students worldwide (UIS Statistics, 2021 )

Yearly publication of articles on language and communication in student adaptation (

We focus on several questions:

What are the most impactful journals and articles about the role of language and communication in student adaptation?

What is the thematic structure of the research in the field?

What are the leading research streams investigating language and communication in student adaptation?

What are the effects of language and communication on student adaptation?

What are the future research directions?

After introducing the major concepts related to language and communication in student adaptation and the theoretical underpinnings of the field, we present our methodology. Using bibliometric and content analysis, we track the development of the field and identify the major themes, research streams, and studies that have shaped the state-of-the art and our current knowledge about the role of language and communication in student adaptation. Finally, we suggest avenues for future research.

Defining the concepts and theories related to language and communication in student adaptation

Concepts related to language and communication.

Culture is a socially constructed reality in which language and social practices interact to construct meanings (Burr, 2006 ). In this social constructionist perspective, language is viewed as a form of social action. Intertwined with culture, it allows individuals to communicate their knowledge about the world, as well as the assumptions, opinions, and viewpoints they share with other people (Kramsch, 1998 ). In this sense, people identify themselves and others through the use of language, which allows them to communicate their social and cultural identity (Kramsch, 1998 ).

Intercultural communication refers to the process of constructing shared meaning among individuals with diverse cultural backgrounds (Piller, 2007 ). Based on the research traditions in the language and communication in student adaptation research, we view foreign or second-language proficiency , that is, the skill allowing an individual to manage communication interactions in a second language successfully (Gallagher, 2013 ), as complementary to communication (Benzie, 2010 ).

Cross-cultural adaptation

The term adaptation is used in the literature interchangeably with acculturation , adjustment , assimilation , or integration . Understood as a state, cultural adaptation refers to the degree to which people fit into a new cultural environment (Gudykunst and Hammer, 1988 ), which is reflected in their psychological and emotional response to that environment (Black, 1990 ). In processual terms, adaptation is the process of responding to the new environment and developing the ability to function in it (Kim, 2001 ).

The literature on language and communication in student adaptation distinguishes between psychological, sociocultural, and academic adaptation. Psychological adaptation refers to people’s psychological well-being, reflected in their satisfaction with relationships with host nationals and their functioning in the new environment. Sociocultural adaptation is the individual’s ability to fit into the interactive aspects of the new cultural environment (Searle and Ward, 1990 ). Finally, academic adaptation refers to the ability to function in the new academic environment (Anderson, 1994 ). We will discuss the results of the research on language and communication in student adaptation with reference to these adaptation domains.

Theoretical underpinnings of language and communication in student adaptation

We will outline the major theories used in the research on international students and other sojourners, which has recognized foreign-language skills and interactions in the host country as critical for an individual’s adaptation and successful international experience.

The sojourner adjustment framework (Church, 1982 ) states that host-language proficiency allows one to establish and maintain interactions with host nationals, which contributes to one’s adaptation to the host country. In turn, social connectedness with host nationals protects one from psychological distress and facilitates cultural learning.

The cultural learning approach to acculturation (Ward et al., 2001 ) states that learning culture-specific skills allows people to handle sociocultural problems. The theory identifies foreign-language proficiency (including nonverbal communication), communication competence, and awareness of cultural differences as prerequisites for successful intercultural interactions and sociocultural adaptation (Ward et al., 2001 ). According to this approach, greater intercultural contact results in fewer sociocultural difficulties (Ward and Kennedy, 1993 ).

Acculturation theory (Berry, 1997 , 2005 ; Ward et al., 2001 ) identifies four acculturation practices when interacting with host nationals: assimilation (seeking interactions with hosts and not maintaining one’s cultural identity), integration (maintaining one’s home culture and seeking interactions with hosts), separation (maintaining one’s home culture and avoiding interactions with hosts), and marginalization (showing little interest in both maintaining one’s culture and interactions with others) (Berry, 1997 ). Acculturation theory postulates that host-language skills help establish supportive social and interpersonal relationships with host nationals and, thus, improve intercultural communication and sociocultural adjustment (Ward and Kennedy, 1993 ).

The anxiety/uncertainty management (AUM) theory (Gudykunst, 2005 ; Gudykunst and Hammer, 1988 ) states that intercultural adjustment is a function of one’s ability to cope with anxiety and uncertainty caused by interactions with hosts and situational processes. People’s ability to communicate effectively depends on their cognitive resources (e.g., cultural knowledge), which helps them respond to environmental demands and ease their anxiety.

The integrative theory of communication and cross-cultural adaptation (Kim, 2001 ) posits that people’s cultural adaptation is reflected in their functional fitness, meaning, the degree to which they have internalized the host culture’s meanings and communication symbols, their psychological well-being, and the development of a cultural identity (Kim, 2001 ). Communication with host nationals improves cultural adaptation by providing opportunities to learn about the host country’s society and culture, and developing intercultural communication competence that includes the ability to receive and interpret comprehensible messages in the host environment.

The intergroup contact theory (Allport, 1954 ; Pettigrew, 2008 ) states that contact between two distinct groups reduces mutual prejudice under certain conditions: when groups have common goals and equal status in the social interaction, exhibit intergroup cooperation, and have opportunities to become friends. Intercultural contact reduces prejudice toward and stereotypical views of the cultural other and provides opportunities for cultural learning (Allport, 1954 ).

These theories provide the theoretical framework guiding the discussion of the results synthesized through the content analysis of the most impactful articles in the field.

Methodology

Bibliometric and content analysis methods.

We used a mixed-method approach to review the research on language and communication in student adaptation for all of 1994–2021. This timeframe was informed by the data extraction process described in the next section. Specifically, we conducted quantitative bibliometric analyses such as co-citation analysis, keyword co-occurrence analysis, and conceptual thematic mapping, as well as qualitative content analysis to explore the research questions (Bretas & Alon, 2021 ).

Bibliometric methods use bibliographic data to identify the structures of scientific fields (Zupic and Čater, 2015 ). Using these methods, we can create an objective view of the literature by making the search and review process transparent and reproducible (Bretas and Alon, 2021 ). First, we measured the impact of the journals and articles by retrieving data from HistCite concerning the number of articles per journal and citations per article. We analyzed the number of total local citations (TLC) per year, that is, the number of times an article has been cited by other articles in the same literature (313 articles in our sample). We then analyzed the total global citations (TGC) each article received in the entire Web of Science (WoS) database. We also identified the trending articles in HistCite by calculating the total citation score (TLCe) at the end of the year covered in the study (mid-2021). This score rewards articles that received more citations within the last three years (i.e., up to the beginning of 2018). Using this technique, we can determine the emerging topics in the field because it considers not only articles with the highest number of citations received over a fixed period of time, but also those that have been cited most frequently in recent times (Alon et al., 2018 ).

Second, to establish a general conceptual structure of the field, we analyzed the co-occurrence of authors’ keywords using VOS software. Next, based on the authors’ keywords, we plotted a conceptual map using Biblioshiny (a tool for scientific mapping analysis that is part of the R bibliometrix-package) to identify motor, basic, niche, and emerging/declining themes in the field (Bretas and Alon, 2021 ).

Third, to determine specific research streams and map patterns within the field (Alon et al., 2018 ), we used the co-citation mapping techniques in HistCite that analyze and visualize citation linkages between articles (Garfield et al., 2006 ) over time.

Next, we used content analysis to synthesize the results from the 31 most impactful articles in the field. We analyzed the results within each research stream and discussed them in light of the major adaptation theories to suggest future research directions and trends within each research stream (Alon et al., 2018 ). Content analysis allows the researcher to identify the relatively objective characteristics of messages (Neuendorf, 2002 ). Thus, this technique enabled us to verify and refine the results produced by the bibliometric analysis, with the goal of improving their validity.

Data extraction

We extracted the bibliographic data from Clarivate Analytics’ WoS database that includes over 21,000 high-quality, peer-reviewed scholarly journals (as of July 2020 from clarivate.libguides.com). We adopted a two-stage data extraction approach (Alon et al., 2018 ; Bretas and Alon, 2021 ). Table 1 describes the data search and extraction processes.

First, in June 2021, we used keywords that would best cover the researched topic by searching for the following combinations of terms: (a) “international student*” OR “foreign student*” OR “overseas student*” OR “study* abroad” OR “international education”—to cover international students as a specific sojourner group; (b) “language*” and “communicat*”—to cover research on foreign-language proficiency as well as communication issues; and (c) “adapt*” OR “adjust*” OR “integrat*” OR “acculturat*”—to cover the adaptation aspects of the international students’ experience. However, given that cross-cultural adaptation is reflected in an individual’s functional fitness, psychological well-being, and development of a cultural identity (Kim, 2001 ), we included two additional terms in the search: “identit*” OR “satisf*”—to cover the literature on the students’ identity issues and satisfaction in the host country. Finally, based on a frequency analysis of our data extracted in step 2, we added “cultur* shock” in step 3 to cover important studies on culture shock as one of critical aspects of cross-cultural adaptation (Gudykunst, 2005 ; Pettigrew, 2008 ; Ward et al., 2001 ). After refining the search by limiting the data to articles published in English, the extraction process yielded 921 sources in WoS.

In the second stage, we refined the extraction further through a detailed examination of all 921 sources. We carefully read the articles’ abstracts to identify those suitable for further analysis. If the abstracts did not contain one or more of the three major aspects specified in the keyword search (i.e., international student, language and communication, adaptation), we studied the whole article to either include or exclude it. We did not identify any duplicates, but we removed book chapters and reviews of prior literature that were not filtered out by the search in WoS. Moreover, we excluded articles that (a) reported on students’ experiences outside of higher education contexts; (b) dealt with teaching portfolios, authors’ reflective inquiries, or anecdotal studies lacking a method section; (c) focused on the students’ experience outside the host country or on the experience of other stakeholders (e.g., students’ spouses, expatriate academics); (d) used the terms “adaptation,” “integration,” or “identity” in a sense different from cultural adaptation (e.g., adaptation of a syllabus/method/language instruction; integration of research/teaching methods/technology; “professional” but not “cultural” identity); or (e) used language/communication as a dependent rather than an independent variable. This process yielded 313 articles relevant to the topic. From them, we extracted the article’s title, author(s) names and affiliations, journal name, number, volume, page range, date of publication, abstract, and cited references for bibliometric analysis.

In a bibliometric analysis, the article is the unit of analysis. The goal of the analysis is to demonstrate interconnections among articles and research areas by measuring how many times the article is (co)cited by other articles (Bretas & Alon, 2021 ).

• Bibliometric analysis

Most relevant journals and articles

We addressed research question 1 regarding the most impactful journals and articles about the role of language and communication in student adaptation by identifying the most relevant journals and articles. Figure  2 lists the top 20 journals publishing in the field. The five most influential journals in terms of the number of local and global citations are as follows: International Journal of Intercultural Relations (79 and 695 citations, respectively), Journal of Studies in International Education (28 and 343 citations, respectively), Journal of Multilingual and Multicultural Development (14 and 105 citations, respectively), Journal of Cross-Cultural Psychology (13 and 302 citations, respectively), and Higher Education (11 and 114 citations, respectively),

Source: HistCite). Note . TLC, total local citations received; TLC/t, total local citations received per year; TGC, total global citations received; Articles, number of articles published in the field

Top 20 journals publishing on language and communication in student adaptation (

Table 2  lists the 20 most influential and trending articles as measured by, respectively, local citations (TLC) and trending local citations at the end of the period covered (TLCe), that is, mid-2021. The most locally cited article was a qualitative study of Asian students’ experiences in New Zealand by Campbell and Li ( 2008 ) (TLC = 12). That study, which linked host-language proficiency with student satisfaction and effective communication in academic contexts, also received the highest number of global citations per year (TGC/t = 7.86). The most influential article in terms of total local citations per year was a quantitative study by Akhtar and Kröner-Herwig ( 2015 ) (TLC/t = 1.00) who linked students’ host-language proficiency, prior international experience, and age with acculturative stress among students in Germany. Finally, Sam’s ( 2001 ) quantitative study, which found no relationship between host-language and English proficiency and having a local friend on students’ satisfaction with life in Norway, received the most global citations (TGC = 115).

The most trending article (TLCe = 7) was a quantitative study by Duru and Poyrazli ( 2011 ) who considered the role of social connectedness, perceived discrimination, and communication with locals and co-nationals in the sociocultural adaptation of Turkish students in the USA. The second article with the most trending local citations (TLCe = 5) was a qualitative study by Sawir et al. ( 2012 ) who focused on host-language proficiency as a barrier to sociocultural adaptation and communication in the experience of students in Anglophone countries.

Keyword co-occurrence analysis

We addressed research question 2 regarding the thematic structure of the research in the field by analyzing the authors’ keyword co-occurrences to establish the thematic structure of the field (Bretas and Alon, 2021 ; Donthu et al., 2020 ). Figure  3 depicts the network of keywords that occurred together in at least five articles between 1994 and 2021. The nodes represent keywords, the edges represent linkages among the keywords, and the proximity of the nodes and the thickness of the edges represent how frequently the keywords co-occurred (Donthu et al., 2020 ). The analysis yielded two even clusters with 17 keywords each. Cluster 1 represents the primary focus on the role of language proficiency in student adaptation. It includes keywords such as “language proficiency,” “adaptation,” “acculturative stress,” “culture shock,” and “challenges.” Cluster 2 represents the focus on the role of intercultural communication and competence in student adaptation. It includes keywords such as “intercultural communication,” “intercultural competence,” “academic/psychological/sociocultural adaptation,” and “transition.”

Source: VOS)

Authors’ keyword co-occurrence analysis (

Conceptual thematic map

Based on the authors’ keywords, we plotted a conceptual map (see Fig.  4 ) using two dimensions. The first is density , which indicates the degree of development of the themes as measured by the internal associations among the keywords. The second is centrality , which indicates the relevance of the themes as measured by the external associations among the keywords. The map shows four quadrants: (a) motor themes (high density and centrality), (b) basic themes (low density and high centrality), (c) niche themes (high density and low centrality), and (d) emerging/declining themes (low density and centrality) (Bretas & Alon, 2021 ). The analysis revealed that motor themes in the field are studies of Chinese students’ experiences and student integration. Unsurprisingly, the basic themes encompass most topics related to language in student adaptation. Research examining the perspective of the students’ parents with regard to their children’s overseas experience exemplifies a niche theme. Finally, “international medical students” and “learning environment” unfold as emerging/declining themes. To determine if the theme is emerging or declining, we analyzed bibliometric data on articles relating to medical students’ adaptation and students’ learning environment. We found that out of 19 articles on medical students published in 13 journals (10 medicine/public health-related), 15 (79%) articles were published over the last five years (2016–2021), which clearly suggests an emerging trend. The analysis of authors’ keywords yielded only three occurrences of the keyword “learning environment” in articles published in 2012, 2016, and 2020, which may suggest an emerging trend. To further validate this result, we searched for this keyword in titles and abstracts and identified eight relevant articles published between 2016 and 2020, which supports the emerging trend.

Source: Biblioshiny)

Conceptual thematic map (

Citation mapping: research streams

We addressed research question 3 regarding the leading research streams investigating language and communication in student adaptation by using co-citation mapping techniques to reveal how the articles in our dataset are co-cited over time. To produce meaningful results that would not trade depth for breadth in our large dataset (313 articles), we limited the search to articles with TGC ≥ 10 and TLC ≥ 3. These thresholds yielded the 31 articles (10% of the dataset) that are most frequently cited within and outside the dataset, indicating their driving force in the field. We analyzed these 31 articles further because their number corresponds with the suggested range of the most-cited core articles for mapping in HistCite (Garfield et al., 2006 ).

Figure  5 presents the citation mapping of these 31 articles. The vertical axis shows how the articles have been co-cited over time. Each node represents an article, the number in the box represents the location of the article in the entire dataset, and the size of the box indicates the article’s impact in terms of TLCs. The arrows indicate the citing direction between two articles. A closer distance between two nodes/articles indicates their similarity. Ten isolated articles in Fig.  5 have not been co-cited by other articles in the subsample of 31 articles.

Source: HistCite)

Citation mapping of articles on language and communication in student adaptation (

A content analysis of these 31 articles points to two major and quite even streams in the field: (a) “ second-language proficiency ” (16 articles) and (b) “ interactions in the host country ” involving second-language proficiency, communication competence, intercultural communication, and other factors (15 articles). We clustered the articles based on similar conceptualizations of language and communication and their role in student adaptation. As Fig.  5 illustrates, the articles formed distinct but interrelated clusters. The vertical axis indicates that while studies focusing solely on second-language proficiency and host-country interactions have developed relatively concurrently throughout the entire timespan, a particular interest in host-country interactions occurred in the second decade of research within the field (between 2009 and 2013). The ensuing sections present the results of the content analysis of the studies in each research stream, discussing the results in light of the major theories outlined before.

Content analysis

We sought to answer research question 4 regarding the effects of language and communication on student adaptation by synthesizing the literature within the previously established two research streams. The concept map in Fig.  6 illustrates the predictive effects of second-language proficiency and host-country interactions on various adaptation domains. Table 4 in the Appendix presents a detailed description of the synthesis and lists studies reporting these effects, underscoring inconclusive results.

A concept map synthesizing research on language and communication in student adaptation

Second-language proficiency

This research stream focuses on language barriers and the role of foreign-language proficiency in student adaptation. Having host-language proficiency predicts less acculturative stress (Akhtar and Kröner-Herwig, 2015 ), while limited host-language proficiency inhibits communication with locals and academic integration (Cao et al., 2016 ). These results are in line with the acculturation theory (Berry, 1997 , 2005 ; Ward et al., 2001 ) and the communication and cross-cultural adaptation theory (Kim, 2001 ). Cross ( 1995 ) suggested that social skills predict sociocultural rather than psychological (perceived stress, well-being) adaptation (Searle and Ward, 1990 ). Indeed, several qualitative studies have explained that the language barrier affects sociocultural adaptation by preventing students from establishing contacts with host nationals (Wang and Hannes, 2014 ), developing meaningful relationships (Sawir et al., 2012 ), and limiting occasions for cultural learning (Trentman, 2013 ), supporting the acculturation theory (Anderson, 1994 ; Church, 1982 ; Searle and Ward, 1990 ).

Moreover, insufficient host-language proficiency reduces students’ satisfaction by hampering their communication, socialization, and understanding of lectures in academic contexts (Campbell and Li, 2008 ). Similarly, language affects academic adaptation in students who have difficulty communicating with domestic students (Young and Schartner, 2014 ) or when used as a tool in power struggles, limiting students’ opportunities to speak up in class and participate in discussions or decision-making (Shi, 2011 ). Students who have limited host-language proficiency tend to interact with other international students, which exacerbates their separation from domestic students (Sawir et al., 2012 ). These findings again confirm the theories of acculturation (Berry, 1997 ; Ward et al., 2001 ) and communication and cross-cultural adaptation (Kim, 2001 ).

With regard to the acculturation theory (Berry, 1997 ; Ward and Kennedy, 1999 ), we found inconclusive results concerning the impact of foreign-language skills on students’ satisfaction and adaptation. Specifically, some studies (e.g., Sam, 2001 ; Ying and Liese, 1994 ) found this effect to be non-significant when tested in regression models. One explanation for this result might be the indirect effect of language on adaptation. For instance, Yang et al. ( 2006 ) established that host-language proficiency mediated the relationship between contact with host nationals and the psychological and sociocultural adjustment of students in Canada. Swami et al. ( 2010 ) reported that better host-language skills among Asian students in Britain predicted their adaptation partly because they had more contacts with host nationals. In turn, Meng et al. ( 2018 ) found that the relationship between foreign-language proficiency and social and academic adaptation was fully mediated by global competence (understood as “intercultural competence” or “global mindset”) in Chinese students in Belgium.

Interactions in the host country

The second research stream comprises studies taking a broader look at language and communication in student adaptation by considering both individual and social interaction contexts: second-language (host-language and English) proficiency; willingness to communicate in the second language; communication interactions with domestic and international students, host nationals, and co-nationals; social connectedness (i.e., a subjective awareness of being in a close relationship with the social world; Lee and Robbins, 1998 ; and integrative motivation (i.e., a positive affective disposition towards the host community; Yu, 2013 .

Host-language proficiency predicts academic (Hirai et al., 2015 ; Yu, 2013 ), psychological (Hirai et al., 2015 ; Rui and Wang, 2015 ), and sociocultural adaptation (Brown, 2009 ; Duru and Poyrazli, 2011 ), confirming the acculturation theory (Ward et al., 2001 ). However, although some studies (Hirai et al., 2015 ; Yu, 2013 ) confirmed the impact of host-language proficiency on academic adaptation, they found no such impact on sociocultural adaptation. Yu’s ( 2013 ) study reported that sociocultural adaptation depends on academic adaptation rather than on host-language proficiency. Moreover, host-language proficiency increases the students’ knowledge of the host culture, reduces their uncertainty, and promotes intercultural communication (Gallagher, 2013 ; Rui and Wang, 2015 ), supporting the central aspects of the AUM theory (Gudykunst, 2005 ).

In turn, by enabling communication with academics and peers, second-language proficiency promotes academic (Yu and Shen, 2012 ) and sociocultural adaptation, as well as social satisfaction (Perrucci and Hu, 1995 ). It also increases the students’ willingness to communicate in non-academic contexts. This willingness mediates the relationship between second-language proficiency and cross-cultural difficulties among Asian students in England (Gallagher, 2013 ). This finding may explain inconclusive results concerning the relationship between second-language proficiency and cultural adaptation. It appears that second-language proficiency alone is insufficient for successful adaptation. This proficiency should be coupled with the students’ willingness to initiate intercultural communication to cope with communication and cultural difficulties, which is compatible with both the AUM theory and Kim’s ( 2001 ) communication and cross-cultural adaptation theory.

As mentioned before, host-language proficiency facilitates adaptation through social interactions. Research demonstrates that communication with domestic students predicts academic satisfaction (Perrucci and Hu, 1995 ) and academic adaptation (Yu and Shen, 2012 ), confirming Kim’s ( 2001 ) theory. Moreover, the frequency of interaction (Zimmermann, 1995 ) and direct communication with host nationals (Rui and Wang, 2015 ) predict adaptation and reduce uncertainty, supporting the AUM theory. Zhang and Goodson ( 2011 ) found that social interactions with host nationals mediate the relationship between adherence to the host culture and sociocultural adaptation difficulties, confirming the acculturation theory (Berry, 1997 ), the intergroup contact theory (Allport, 1954 ; Pettigrew, 2008 ), and the culture learning approach in acculturation theory (Ward et al., 2001 ).

In line with the intergroup contact theory, social connectedness with host nationals predicts psychological and sociocultural adaptation (e.g., Hirai et al., 2015 ; Zhang and Goodson, 2011 ), confirming the sojourner adjustment framework (Church, 1982 ) and extending the acculturation framework (Ward and Kennedy, 1999 ) that recognizes the relevance of social connectedness for sociocultural adaptation only.

Research on interactions with co-nationals has produced inconclusive results. Some qualitative studies (Pitts, 2009 ) revealed that communication with co-nationals enhances students’ sociocultural adaptation and psychological and functional fitness for interacting with host nationals. Consistent with Kim’s ( 2001 ) theory, such communication may be a source of instrumental and emotional support for students when locals are not interested in contacts with them (Brown, 2009 ). Nonetheless, Pedersen et al. ( 2011 ) found that social interactions with co-nationals may cause psychological adjustment problems (e.g., homesickness), contradicting the acculturation theory (Ward and Kennedy, 1994 ), or increase their uncertainty (Rui and Wang, 2015 ), supporting the AUM theory.

Avenues for future research

We addressed research question 5 regarding future research directions through a content analysis of the 31 most impactful articles in the field. Importantly, all 20 trending articles listed in Table 1 were contained in the set of 31 articles. This outcome confirms the relevance of the results of the content analysis. We used these results as the basis for formulating the research questions we believe should be addressed within each of the two research streams. These questions are listed in Table 3 .

Research has focused primarily on the experience of Asian students in Anglophone countries (16 out of 31 most impactful articles), with Chinese students’ integration being the motor theme. This is not surprising given that Asian students account for 58% of all international students worldwide (OECD, 2021b ). In addition, Anglophone countries have been the top host destinations for the last two decades. The USA, the UK, and Australia hosted 49% of international students in 2000, while the USA, the UK, Canada, and Australia hosted 47% of international students in 2020 (Project Atlas, 2020 ). This fact raises the question of the generalizability of the research results across cultural contexts, especially given the previously identified cultural variation in student adaptation (Fritz et al., 2008 ). Thus, it is important to study the experiences of students in underexplored non-Anglophone host destinations that are currently gaining in popularity, such as China, hosting 9% of international students worldwide in 2019, France, Japan, or Spain (Project Atlas, 2020 ). Furthermore, future research in various non-Anglophone countries could precisely define the role of English as a lingua franca vs. host-language proficiency in international students’ experience.

The inconsistent results concerning the effects of communication with co-nationals on student adaptation (e.g., Pedersen et al., 2011 ; Pitts, 2009 ) indicate that more contextualized research is needed to determine if such communication is a product of or a precursor to adaptation difficulties (Pedersen et al., 2011 ). Given the lack of confirmation of the acculturation theory (Ward and Kennedy, 1994 ) or the communication and cross-cultural adaptation theory (Kim, 2001 ) in this regard, future research could cross-check the formation of students’ social networks with their adaptation trajectories, potentially using other theories such as social network theory to explain the contradictory results of empirical research.

Zhang and Goodson ( 2011 ) showed that social connectedness and social interaction with host nationals predict both psychological and sociocultural adaptation. In contrast, the sojourner adjustment framework (Ward and Kennedy, 1999 ) considered their impact on sociocultural adaptation only. Thus, future research should conceptualize the interrelationships among social interactions in the host country and various adaptation domains (psychological, sociocultural, and academic) more precisely.

Some studies (Brown, 2009 ; Gallagher, 2013 ; Rui and Wang, 2015 ) confirm all of the major adaptation theories in that host-language proficiency increases cultural knowledge and the acquisition of social skills, reduces uncertainty and facilitates intercultural communication. Nevertheless, the impact of language on sociocultural adaptation appears to be a complex issue. Our content analysis indicated that sociocultural adaptation may be impacted by academic adaptation (Yu, 2013 ) or does not occur when students do not engage in meaningful interactions with host nationals (Ortaçtepe, 2013 ). To better capture the positive sociocultural adaptation outcomes, researchers should take into account students’ communication motivations, together with other types of adaptation that may determine sociocultural adaptation.

Next, in view of some research suggesting the mediating role of second-language proficiency (Yang et al., 2006 ), contacts with host nationals (Swami et al., 2010 ), and students’ global competence (Meng et al., 2018 ) in their adaptation, future research should consider other non-language-related factors such as demographic, sociocultural, and personality characteristics in student adaptation models.

Finally, the conceptual map of the field established the experiences of medical students and the learning environment as an emerging research agenda. We expect that future research will focus on the experience of other types of students such as management or tourism students who combine studies with gaining professional experience in their fields. In terms of the learning environment and given the development and growing importance of online learning as a result of the Covid-19 pandemic, future research should explore the effects of remote communication, both synchronous and asynchronous, in online learning on students’ adaptation and well-being.

This article offers an objective approach to reviewing the current state of the literature on language and communication in student adaptation by conducting a bibliometric analysis of 313 articles and a content analysis of 31 articles identified as the driving force in the field. Only articles in English were included due to the authors’ inability to read the identified articles in Russian, Spanish, or Chinese. Future research could extend the data search to other languages.

This review found support for the effects of language of communication on student adaptation, confirming major adaptation theories. Nevertheless, it also identified inconsistent results concerning communication with co-nationals and the complex effects of communication with host nationals. Thus, we suggested that future research better captures the adaptation outcomes by conducting contextualized research in various cultural contexts, tracking the formation of students’ social networks, and precisely conceptualizing interrelations among social interactions in the host country and different adaptation domains. Researchers should also consider students’ communication motivations and the mediating role of non-language-related factors in student adaptation models.

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We thank the anonymous reviewers for their insightful comments and suggestions.

This research is supported by the Polish National Agency for Academic Exchange grant “Exploring international students’ experiences across European and non-European contexts” [grant number PPN/BEK/2019/1/00448/U/00001] to Michał Wilczewski.

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Wilczewski, M., Alon, I. Language and communication in international students’ adaptation: a bibliometric and content analysis review. High Educ 85 , 1235–1256 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10734-022-00888-8

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Cross-cultural communication on social media: review from the perspective of cultural psychology and neuroscience.

• 1 School of International Economics and Management, Beijing Technology and Business University, Beijing, China
• 2 School of Economics, Beijing Technology and Business University, Beijing, China
• 3 Institute of the Americas, University College London, London, United Kingdom

Introduction: In recent years, with the popularity of many social media platforms worldwide, the role of “virtual social network platforms” in the field of cross-cultural communication has become increasingly important. Scholars in psychology and neuroscience, and cross-disciplines, are attracted to research on the motivation, mechanisms, and effects of communication on social media across cultures.

Methods and Analysis: This paper collects the co-citation of keywords in “cultural psychology,” “cross-culture communication,” “neuroscience,” and “social media” from the database of web of science and analyzes the hotspots of the literature in word cloud.

Results: Based on our inclusion criteria, 85 relevant studies were extracted from a database of 842 papers. There were 44 articles on cultural communication on social media, of which 26 were from the perspective of psychology and five from the perspective of neuroscience. There are 27 articles that focus on the integration of psychology and neuroscience, but only a few are related to cross-cultural communication on social media.

Conclusion: Scholars have mainly studied the reasons and implications of cultural communication on social media from the perspectives of cultural psychology and neuroscience separately. Keywords “culture” and “social media” generate more links in the hot map, and a large number of keywords of cultural psychology and neuroscience also gather in the hot map, which reflects the trend of integration in academic research. While cultural characteristics have changed with the development of new media and virtual communities, more research is needed to integrate the disciplines of culture, psychology, and neuroscience.

Introduction

Cross-cultural communication refers to communication and interaction among different cultures, involving information dissemination and interpersonal communication as well as the flow, sharing, infiltration, and transfer of various cultural elements in the world ( Carey, 2009 ; Del Giudice et al., 2016 ). With more than half of the world’s population using social media, such as Facebook, Twitter, and WeChat, communication across culture has become smoother and more frequently ( Boamah, 2018 ; Chin et al., 2021 ). Subsequently, cultural exchanges, collisions, conflicts, and integration among various nationalities, races, and countries on these platforms have become obvious, and related research articles by scholars in different disciplines have increased ( Papa et al., 2020 ). In traditional cross-cultural research, experts often divide different cultures based on their boundaries, such as countries, races, languages, and so on. However, with the development of digitalization, new cultural relationships have been formed both within and outside geopolitical boundaries, and new understanding and theories are needed to explain the motivation, process, and implications of cross-cultural communications in the digital era ( Chin et al., 2020 ). Research in this field is an emerging area, and scholars are studying from different perspectives ( Xu et al., 2016 ; Santoro et al., 2021 ). Cultural psychology and neuroscience are two main base theories, and they show a trend of integration, such as cultural neuroscience and cultural neuropsychology. In this case, it is important to highlight the important achievements of this field and identify potential research gaps to provide potential directions for further research. This review aims to provide an overview of cross-cultural communication research from the perspective of cultural psychology and neuroscience and identify the integrating trend and potential directions.

Method and Source

We used the Web of Science (WoS) database to select relevant articles published between January 2010 and December 2021. The following inclusion criteria were used:

1. The document types should be articles rather than proceedings papers or book reviews. And the articles should be included in the Web of Science Core Collection.

2. When searching for articles, the topic should include at least two keywords: “cultural psychology,” “neuroscience,” “social media.”

3. Articles must be published after 2010 to ensure the content of the literature is forward.

4. This study should investigate the integration of cultural psychology and neuroscience or explore cultural issues in social media from the perspective of cultural psychology or neuroscience. The content could be cultural conflict and integration on social platforms, explanations of cultural conflict and integration on social platforms, or integration of neuroscience and cultural psychology.

Based on the above inclusion criteria, 85 relevant studies were searched, analyzed, and evaluated. These documents were identified according to the procedure illustrated in Figure 1 . The following combinations of keywords were used: (cultural psychology AND social media), (neuroscience AND social media), (cultural psychology AND neuroscience), [social media AND (cross-cultural communication OR cultural conflict OR cultural integration)], and (neuroscience, cultural psychology, and cross-cultural). The number of studies was further reduced by limiting the document type and time range. Consequently, we obtained an initial pool of 544 articles. To ensure the relevance of the literature in the initial pool, we reviewed the titles and abstracts of these articles. Articles targeting pure neuroscience and information technology were excluded and 72 articles were retained. We selected 65 articles after reviewing the full text. For most papers excluded from the initial pool, cultural issues on social media were not the main topic but digital media or culture itself. The most typical example of irrelevant articles was that culture or cultural psychology was only briefly mentioned in the abstracts. Moreover, 20 additional relevant articles were identified via full-text review of citations and first author searches. Using the above steps, 85 articles were selected for the literature review.

Figure 1 . Schematic representation of literature search and selection procedure.

Overview of Selected Articles

Here, frequency refers to the percentage of occurrences of an item in the total number of studies. The keywords “acculturation,” “cultural evolution” occurred frequently together with “social media,” “culture,” and “neuroscience.” This is as expected because psychologists and economists have long known that human decision-making is influenced by the behavior of others and that public information could improve acculturation and lead to cultural evolution. The popularity of social media clearly gives public information an opportunity to spread widely, which has caused an increase in research on the cross-cultural communication of social media. In the last decade, the link between cultural issues and social media research has grown. This is reflected in the knowledge graph ( Figure 2 ). Keywords “culture” and “social media” generate lots of links with “social media” and “mass media,” which is shown in blue node groups and white node groups. “Social media” and “cultural globalization,” “biculturalism,” “acculturation” also form node convergences. The integration of neuroscience and cultural psychology is also represented in Figure 2 as an orange node group. These integration trends can also be verified in the time dimension. As time passes, keyword frequencies have changed from a single component of “social media” or “culture” to a multi-component of “social media,” “culture,” “acculturation,” “neuroscience,” “cultural evolution.” The frequency of all keywords is presented through the overall word cloud.

Figure 2 . Keywords knowledge graph.

We identified three different research topics from the 85 selected articles: cross-cultural communication on social platforms, explanation of cultural conflict and integration on social platforms, and the integration of neuroscience and cultural psychology. Existing literature has analyzed and studied the interaction between cross-cultural users, enterprises, and countries on social media. For instance, some scholars have found that social media play a significant role in negotiating and managing the identity of transient migrants relating to the home and host culture during the acculturation process ( Cleveland, 2016 ; Yau et al., 2019 ). Social media usage by expatriates also promotes cultural identity and creativity ( Hu et al., 2020 ). In addition to the discussion of existing phenomena, many articles have discussed the causes of social media cultural transmission. A new research field, cultural neuroscience, indicates the integration of neuroscience and cultural psychology. These issues are reviewed in the following sections.

There were 44 articles on cultural communication on social media, which accounted for 51.76% of the 85 selected papers. Among these, there were 26 studies on cultural communication on social media from the perspective of psychology, five articles from the perspective of neurology, four articles about enterprises using social media for cross-cultural operations, and nine articles about how governments use social media for cross-cultural communication. Although there are 27 articles that discuss the trend of integration of psychology and neuroscience, few use integrated methods to analyze the behavior of cross-cultural communication.

From Perspective of Cultural Psychology

Cultural psychology researchers have focused on why information is shared. Some scholars have divided the reasons into individual and network levels ( Wang et al., 2021 ). Studies have explored information sharing within a specific domain, such as health information and news dissemination ( Hodgson, 2018 ; Li et al., 2018 ; Wang and Chin, 2020 ). Cultural psychology provides a rich explanation for the factors that influence cultural communication. Cultural background affects the process of cultural communication, such as self-construal, which the host country may alter it ( Huang and Park, 2013 ; Thomas et al., 2019 ). This may influence communication behaviors, such as people’s intention to use social media applications, attitudes toward social capital, social media commerce, and sharing behavior itself ( Chu and Choi, 2010 ; Han and Kim, 2018 ; Li et al., 2018 ).

Factors other than culture cannot be ignored: public broadcast firms and fans promote communication, controversial comments may draw more attention, the sociality of the social media capsule expands the scope of information communication, and how news is portrayed has changed ( Meza and Park, 2014 ; Jin and Yoon, 2016 ; Hodgson, 2018 ). Demographic factors, such as sex and age, are not ineffective ( Xu et al., 2015 ). The experiential aspects have also been noted ( Wang et al., 2021 ). Scholars have also noted the importance of cultural intelligence ( Hu et al., 2017 ).

The topic that researchers are most interested in is the relationship between society and individuals. Many studies have focused on the influence of collectivist and individualist cultures, such as social media users’ activity differences, attentional tendencies, and self-concept ( Chu and Choi, 2010 ; Thomas et al., 2019 ). There are some other interesting topics, such as the relationship among multicultural experiences, cultural intelligence, and creativity, the evaluation of the validity of the two measures, the changing status of crucial elements in the social system, and the government effect in risk communication ( Hu et al., 2017 ; Ji and Bates, 2020 ). Extending to the practical level, mobile device application usability and social media commerce were evaluated ( Hoehle et al., 2015 ; Han and Kim, 2018 ).

At the methodological level, researchers have bridged the gap between reality and online behaviors, and the feasibility of social media dataset analysis has been proven ( Huang and Park, 2013 ; Thomas et al., 2019 ). Some new concepts have been examined and some models have been developed ( Hoehle et al., 2015 ; Li et al., 2018 ). The most common method is to quantify questionnaire information ( Chu and Choi, 2010 ; Hu et al., 2017 ; Han and Kim, 2018 ; Li et al., 2018 ; Wang et al., 2021 ). The online survey accounted for a large proportion of respondents. Exploratory factor analysis (EFA) is used to evaluate other measures ( Ji and Bates, 2020 ). Researchers are particularly interested in the metric approach ( Meza and Park, 2014 ). Some combine other methods, such as profile and social network analyses ( Xu et al., 2015 ). Scholars have used qualitative research to obtain detailed feedback from respondents ( Jin and Yoon, 2016 ; Hodgson, 2018 ). Content analysis was also used ( Yang and Xu, 2018 ).

From Perspective of Neuroscience

Neuroscientific explanations focus on understanding the mechanisms of cultural conflict and integration. Neuroscience researchers are concerned about the effects of the brain on cultural communication and the possible consequences of cultural communication on human behavior and rely on the study of the brain as a tool. Neuroscience can be used to study how people behave in reality. Given the similarity between offline and online behaviors, neuroscience can study online behaviors and link them to cultural communication ( Meshi et al., 2015 ). Cross-sectional and longitudinal studies, both inside and outside the laboratory, have become the subject of neuroscience studies. One example of long-term studies outside the laboratory is the study of natural Facebook behavior that was recorded for weeks ( Montag et al., 2017 ).

Motivation research is a well-documented topic. The reason for using social media, motivation to share information, and neural factors related to sharing behavior have been discussed ( Fischer et al., 2018 ). Many scholars have connected motivation with social life based on the inseparable relationship between online behaviors and social life. Some academics hope to provide predictions of real life, such as forecasting marketing results, while some warned of the risks, in which tremendous attention has been paid to the situation of adolescents ( Motoki et al., 2020 ). They are susceptible to acceptance and rejection ( Crone and Konijn, 2018 ). Behavioral addiction and peer influence in the context of risky behaviors also lead to public concern ( Meshi et al., 2015 ; Sherman et al., 2018 ).

On a practical level, neuroscience studies have made predictions possible through the findings of activity in brain regions linked to mentalizing ( Motoki et al., 2020 ). Judgments of social behavior are also warranted, and peer endorsement is a consideration ( Sherman et al., 2018 ). Thus, the dangers of cultural communication can be alleviated.

At the methodological level, the feasibility of linking directly recorded variables to neuroscientific data has been proven, which provides a methodological basis for further studies linking neuroscience and cultural communication ( Montag et al., 2017 ). Neuroscience researchers have shown a preference for magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) methods, which include functional and structural MRI scans ( Montag et al., 2017 ; Sherman et al., 2018 ). Although some scholars have pointed out the shortcomings of MRI research and attempted to use the electroencephalographic (EEG) method, most scholars still use MRI and combine it with other methods, such as neuroimaging ( Motoki et al., 2020 ). Despite the similarities in the methods used, there were differences in the scanned areas. Some researchers scan multiple regions, such as the ventral striatum ( VS ) and ventromedial prefrontal cortex (VMPFC), while others focus on analyzing the content of a single region, such as the nucleus accumbens (NAcc; Baek et al., 2017 ). Related characteristics have been discussed, such as theta amplitudes that affect information sharing ( Fischer et al., 2018 ). Some inquire whether the different properties of brain regions can lead to different results ( Montag et al., 2017 ).

Integration of Neuroscience and Cultural Psychology

Of the 85 papers we selected, 27 discussed the integrated development of psychology and neuroscience, and the number of articles in this discipline increased. Cultural psychology has made remarkable progress in identifying various cultural traits that can influence human psychology and behavior on social media. Cultural neuroscience as a cross-subject of the rise in recent years, through the integration of psychology, anthropology, genetics, neuroscience, and other disciplines, explains the interaction of culture and the human brain, and how they jointly affect the neural mechanism of cognitive function. At an early stage, scholars presented the interactive dynamic evolutionary relationship between the brain and culture from multiple perspectives ( Moffittet et al., 2006 ). However, with technological improvements in brain imaging, it is possible to solve and explore interactions between the human brain, psychology, and cultural networks using an empirical approach.

Cultural characteristics have dramatically changed during the last half-century with the development of new media and new virtual ways of communication ( Kotik-Friedgut and Ardila, 2019 ). Existing research has shown that the neural resources of the brain are always adapted to the ever-increasing complexity and scale of social interaction to ensure that individuals are not marginalized by society ( Dunbar and Shultz, 2007 ). The interaction between biological evolution and cultural inheritance is a process full of unknowns and variables. Therefore, research on the relationships between culture, psychology, and neuroscience will progress together.

At the methodological level, communication on social media by users from different backgrounds provides a new research environment and massive data for cross-disciplinary research. Big data on social media and AI technology can analyze not only the reactions, emotions, and expressions of an individual but also the relevant information of an ethnic group or a cultural group. A number of neurological and psychological studies are beginning to leverage AI and social media data, and the two disciplines are intertwined with each other ( Pang, 2020 ; Wang et al., 2021 ). This quantitative analysis also helps enterprises and government departments to understand and affect cultural conflicts and integration ( Bond and Goldstein, 2015 ).

Different Schools of Thoughts

Social media provides platforms for communication and facilitates communication across cultures; however, the specific content exchanged is considered from the perspective of cultural proximity. Although some scholars think that social media can significantly promote mutual acceptance and understanding across cultures, others have realized that digital platforms actually strengthen the recognition and identity of their respective cultures ( Hopkins, 2009 ). To study the motivations, results, and implications of cross-cultural communication in virtual communities and conduct an empirical analysis, psychologists and neuroscientists provide their grounds and explanations.

Current Research Gaps

Although there are many articles discussing the trend of integration of psychology and neuroscience, few of them use integrated methods to analyze the behavior and implications of cross-cultural communication, mainly on cultural evolution and social effects. There are both practical and theoretical needs to be addressed to promote deep integration. For example, both private and public departments urgently need to learn scientific strategies to avoid cultural conflicts and promote integration. Further, a systematic and legal theory is also needed for scholars to conduct research in the sensitive field, which may be related to privacy protection and related issues.

Potential Future Development

For the research object, the classification of culture in emerging research is general, while with the development of big data methods on social media, cross-cultural communication among more detailed groups will be a potential direction. For the research framework, although cultural neuroscience is already a multidisciplinary topic, the ternary interaction among the brain, psychology, and culture in a virtual community will be very important. For the research method, brain imaging technology-related data and social media data may cause issues, such as privacy protection, personal security, informed consent, and individual autonomy. These legal and ethical issues require special attention in the development process of future research.

Cross-cultural communication research in the digital era not only needs to respond to urgent practical needs to provide scientific strategies to solve cultural differences and cultural conflicts, but also to promote the emergence of more vigorous theoretical frameworks and methods. Existing articles have mainly studied the reasons and implications of cultural communication on social media from the perspectives of cultural psychology and neuroscience separately. The CiteSpace-based hot topic map also shows the clustering trend of keywords related to cultural psychology and neuroscience, reflecting the intersection of the two fields. At the same time, there are many links between the two keyword nodes of “culture” and “social media,” which indicates that there is no lack of studies on cultural communication on social media from the perspective of cultural psychology. While cultural characteristics have changed with the development of new media and big data and related technologies have improved significantly, more research is needed to integrate the disciplines of culture, psychology, and neuroscience both in theory and methods.

Author Contributions

All authors listed have made a substantial, direct, and intellectual contribution to the work and approved it for publication.

This paper was funded by the Beijing Social Science Fund, China (Project No. 21JCC060).

Conflict of Interest

The authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest.

Publisher’s Note

All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article, or claim that may be made by its manufacturer, is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.

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Keywords: cross-culture communication, social media, cultural psychology, neuroscience, cultural neuropsychology, social neuroscience

Citation: Yuna D, Xiaokun L, Jianing L and Lu H (2022) Cross-Cultural Communication on Social Media: Review From the Perspective of Cultural Psychology and Neuroscience. Front. Psychol . 13:858900. doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2022.858900

Received: 20 January 2022; Accepted: 14 February 2022; Published: 08 March 2022.

Reviewed by:

Copyright © 2022 Yuna, Xiaokun, Jianing and Lu. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY) . The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) and the copyright owner(s) are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.

*Correspondence: Han Lu, [email protected]

Disclaimer: All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article or claim that may be made by its manufacturer is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.

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Peer-reviewed

Research Article

Cultural communication in museums: A perspective of the visitors experience

Roles Conceptualization, Data curation, Formal analysis, Funding acquisition, Investigation, Methodology, Writing – original draft, Writing – review & editing

* E-mail: [email protected]

Affiliation Department of Shiliangcai Journalism and Communication School, Zhejiang Sci-Tech University, Hangzhou, Zhejiang, China

• Pengpeng Li

• Published: May 9, 2024
• https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0303026
• Reader Comments

As museums shift their responsibilities and functions towards audience-centered approaches, research on exploring museum cultural communication strategies through visitor experiences has gained increasing attention from both academia and industry. This study focuses on the newly opened Nan Song Deshou Palace Relics Site Museum in Hangzhou, China, completed at the end of 2022, and its visitors. Data were collected through on-site surveys and in-depth interviews. The research findings indicate that the current motivations of museum visitors manifest primarily in three forms: knowledge exploration, social interaction, and psychological restoration. After evaluating the existing museum service quality based on the field of experiential value in marketing management, two main issues and features were identified. The issues include sub-optimal visitor pathways and layout, dissatisfaction with staff services, and shortcomings in promotion and communication. The overall cultural learning and interactive experience for the entire visitor base also require improvement. The features are characterized by differentiated cultural and creative consumption in the museum and the emergence of interrelated consumer demands. Based on these findings, the study provides targeted recommendations for future museum construction and communication strategies.

Citation: Li P (2024) Cultural communication in museums: A perspective of the visitors experience. PLoS ONE 19(5): e0303026. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0303026

Editor: Vanessa Carels, PLoS ONE, UNITED STATES

Received: July 6, 2023; Accepted: April 17, 2024; Published: May 9, 2024

Copyright: © 2024 Pengpeng Li. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License , which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.

Data Availability: All relevant data are within the manuscript and its Supporting Information files.

Funding: We gratefully acknowledge the Scientific Research Staring Foundation of Zhejiang Sci-Tech University (22252283-Y) and the project of the Publicity Department of Hangzhou Municipal Party Committee and Zhejiang Sci-Tech University to build the School of Journalism. The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript.

Competing interests: The authors have declared that no competing interests exist.

Introduction

Museums initially took the form of libraries, primarily serving the functions of collecting, researching, and preserving knowledge. In the mid-nineteenth century, the International Council of Museums was established in Paris, defining museums as "non-profit permanent institutions serving society and its development, open to the public, and dedicated to the collection, preservation, research, communication, and display of tangible and intangible assets related to humanity and its environment." [ 1 ] Following the impact of social movements such as the civil rights movement, women’s movement, and counterculture movement on democratic and multicultural values in the 1970s, the United States began considering audience diversity and the social and multicultural landscape in museums, actively enhancing museums’ accessibility to visitors [ 2 ]. Since then, museums have shifted from being perceived as "temples" inaccessible to the common people to becoming "public forums" [ 3 ]. Their management philosophy has gradually transitioned from focusing primarily on "things" (collection, exhibition, research, etc.) to centering on "people" (experience, learning, leisure, entertainment, etc.) [ 4 ]. In 2022, the International Council of Museums updated its definition of museums, placing significant emphasis on museums’ crucial responsibilities and missions in satisfying diverse public experiences and promoting cultural exchange [ 5 ]. Against this background and development trend, the focus of museum research has shifted from the attention on collections, environmental arrangements, and the intrinsic value of objects to how museum facilities and setups can meet the diverse needs of visitors and enhance their service experiences.

This study posits that the shifts in the concept, functions, and research focus of museums indicate an increasing awareness that visitors’ motivations, experiential encounters, autonomous dissemination intentions, and behavioral practices can influence the operational management of museums and the effectiveness of cultural dissemination at the regional level to varying degrees. Therefore, a more detailed exploration of museum functions, service development, and the external communication pathways of culture from the perspective of audience experience is crucial for enhancing museum management efficiency and fostering broader cultural communication and understanding among the general public. In contemporary society, where the contest for international discourse increasingly relies on each country’s cultural soft power, the preservation and exhibition of cultural heritage hold significant value for socio-economic, political, and international communication [ 6 , 7 ]. Museums, as domains of cultural heritage preservation, have garnered widespread attention for their role in cultural construction and communicative value. They are considered influential in shaping public will, cultural identity formation, fostering national cultural confidence, and serving as important mediums for intercultural communication [ 8 – 10 ]. In the era of globalization, modern museums simultaneously bear multiple social functions, including the inheritance of national and urban culture, cultural brand construction, image presentation, improvement of people’s livelihood, and international exchange [ 11 , 12 ]. They play a crucial role in educating people to shape national identity, showcasing and protecting cultural heritage, promoting cultural research, and facilitating international exchange and cooperation [ 13 ]. With the support of government policies and funding in China, the number of museums has seen significant growth since 2007, reflecting the recognition by national and municipal administrators of the vital value of local cultural heritage preservation, inheritance, dissemination, and the role of museums in national cultural soft power construction. Goode (1891) emphasized that museums should serve as sources for public cultural exchange, intellectual stimulation, and the genesis of new social ideas, thereby achieving their cultural exchange and dissemination objectives [ 14 ]. However, discussions regarding Chinese museums, both domestically and internationally, are still in their infancy [ 13 ]. Moreover, in the limited research available, there is a notable lack of discussion on aspects such as cultural perceptions, acceptance, service experiences, and dissemination behaviors of museum visitors [ 15 ].

Scholars have provided comprehensive discussions on various aspects of museums, including their public communication functions [ 16 ], educational functions [ 17 ], the maintenance and dissemination of national memory [ 18 ], technological usage [ 19 ], media image presentation [ 20 , 21 ], and cultural narrative forms [ 15 , 22 ]. These discussions primarily rely on qualitative discourse analysis as the main research method. In contrast, this study differs in its approach and methodology from discussions that primarily focus on the cultural functionalities of museums. Instead, it explores how museum construction, functional zoning, service support, and cultural narratives create, satisfy, and present spaces and needs within the context of the audience experience. The research focuses on investigating the motivations and types of museum visitors. It aims to explore the ways in which museum construction, in actuality, creates space and conditions for public communication, cultural inheritance or dissemination, and economic development. Additionally, the study delves into how visitors perceive and accept the cultural information conveyed by museums and examines the factors influencing their autonomous dissemination intentions regarding the museum and the culture displayed within it.

To better address the aforementioned questions, this study has chosen a local museum that prominently showcases specific historical and urban cultural aspects—the Nan Song Deshou Palace Relics Site Museum in Hangzhou, China. The primary rationale for this selection lies in the recent strong advocacy by the Chinese government to promote traditional culture, establish distinctive cultural brands for cities, and narrate Chinese stories from a Chinese perspective and voice. Under such policy directives, cities are committed to exploring and developing local cultures, actively creating innovative forms of communication to enhance urban cultural visibility and dissemination effectiveness. Museums, as crucial mediums for concentrating the exhibition and preservation of culture and promoting cultural dissemination [ 23 ], have garnered attention from urban administrators and relevant cultural and tourism authorities. Over the past twenty years, China has constructed thousands of museums [ 24 ]. Zhang & Courty (2022) posit that museums are typically invested in and constructed as part of significant urban or regional infrastructure. These infrastructures often include other cultural facilities such as libraries, theaters, cultural centers, and tourism-related infrastructure, and may belong to more extensive urban revitalization and historical archaeological site restoration projects [ 25 ]. Hangzhou, being a traditional cultural tourism city, has been actively seeking to stimulate local economic development by expanding the tourism industry, promoting museums, and their cultural heritage as crucial tourist attractions [ 26 ].

Among the rapidly growing various types of local museums, a notable cultural project, the Nan Song Deshou Palace Relics Site Museum, has garnered widespread attention from media and the public in Hangzhou over the past two years. Officially opened to the public at the end of 2022, the museum serves as a representative of local culture, focusing on showcasing the architecture and aesthetic lifestyle of the Nan Song period in China. It has not only gained attention from local residents and sparked lively discussions within social groups in Hangzhou, but has also been recognized by the Chinese government and media as a significant project showcasing China’s "harmony" culture, the cultural temperament of Hangzhou, and its cultural traditions. However, since the museum is still in the early stages of operation, there is a lack of research on its operational and cultural dissemination effectiveness. This study contends that, as the first concentrated display of Nan Song culture in China, discussions on its operational philosophy, cultural communication strategies, and effects can provide immediate practical insights for the museum’s sustained development. Additionally, it can extend discussions on the operational management and cultural dissemination pathways of other local museums. Simultaneously, the study aims to provide insights for cross-cultural exchange and cooperation.

Subsequently, this study conducted a detailed literature review on museum visitor research and museum experiences. The aim was to explore and establish the theoretical foundation and analytical framework for this research. Following that, a more in-depth analysis of museum visitors and their experiences was undertaken. Firstly, the study examined the types of visitors currently attracted to the museum, their primary motivations for visiting, and whether there are differences compared to previous literature or other types of museum visitors. This is crucial for a comprehensive understanding of the diverse profiles of museum visitors. Secondly, the study evaluated whether the current construction and services of the museum meet the expectations and needs of its visitors. It delved into how the museum achieves or encounters obstacles in its roles of public communication, cultural inheritance or dissemination, and economic promotion. This analysis is of significant importance for gaining insights into the current operational management status of the museum, making targeted improvements to museum operations and communication strategies, and enhancing its effectiveness in cultural dissemination.

Literature review

Visitors’ studies.

Museum visitor studies can be traced back to as early as 1884 when the Liverpool Museum in the United Kingdom first observed the exhibition behavior of museum visitors. In the early 20th century, museum visitor research took a significant turn with Benjamin Gilman’s exploration of the visitor experience at the Boston Museum of Fine Arts in 1916 [ 27 ]. Following this, Melton’s research on museum visitors in the United States brought attention to the phenomenon and issues of "museum fatigue" among visitors [ 28 ]. Since then, the psychological and behavioral study of museum visitors has gained widespread attention from scholars across various fields.

As the study of museum visitors gradually gained attention in academia, its definition has been continuously updated and refined. In 1974, the American Association of Museums (AAM) formally established the "Committee of Audience Research and Evaluation" (CARE), interpreting "visitor studies" as the "systematic collection of information from actual and potential visitors to museums, and the use of this information in the planning and execution of activities related to the public to enhance the public’s experiences [ 29 ]."

In 2006, Ellen Giusti, an expert in museum evaluation, emphasized at the annual meeting of the American Association of Museums that museum visitor studies had not received the attention it deserved from academia and museum management. She called for placing visitor studies at the core of exhibition and activity planning, stating that such studies could directly impact the museum’s operations, services, education, and exhibitions. Giusti urged a more focused and systematic analysis of visitor descriptive, contextual, and psychological characteristics, aiming to facilitate effective management and external promotion [ 30 ]. In terms of the importance of visitor studies for museum development and marketing, it is considered a crucial type of social research. It can assist museum decision-makers, public service providers, exhibition planners, and event organizers in breaking away from the constraints of tradition, common knowledge, media opinion, and personal experience, thereby enabling a more logical and systematic approach to comprehensively understanding visitor psychological and behavioral characteristics, leading to precise positioning, planning, and communication. Looking into the future of museum visitor studies, considerations should include the uniqueness of each museum, exploring the diversity of museum learning paths, investigating the similarities and differences in short-term and long-term learning effects of museum visits, analyzing the role of museum learning in social life, discerning the differences in the learning processes and effects among different groups (such as students, families, and seniors), examining the variations in research methods and tools at different levels of museum execution, and enhancing interdisciplinary dialogue and research exchange [ 31 ].

In recent years, as management and researchers have increasingly focused on museum visitors, museums have shifted their operational strategies from being primarily focused on "objects" (collection, exhibition, research, etc.) to emphasizing strategies centered around "people" (experience, learning, leisure, and entertainment) and their effects [ 4 ]. Annis proposed that visitors in the museum environment typically exhibit three levels of engagement: the "dream space" of communication at the sensory and semi-rational level, the "reality space" of physical activities, and the "cognitive space" where they respond to their own rational thinking within the museum’s established programs [ 32 ]. Building on this, Graburn suggested that visitors in the museum environment can experience reverence, association, and educational experiences [ 33 ]. Kaplan and other scholars emphasized visitors’ needs for "relieving psychological stress" and "gaining energy" during their visits [ 34 ]. Falk & Dierking introduced a multidisciplinary approach, presenting the Museum Visitor Interactive Experience Model. This model explores visitors’ motivations, exhibition behaviors, post-visit responses, and social impact effects from three dimensions: personal context (interests, perceptions, knowledge, motivation, values, etc.), environmental context (architecture, exhibits, atmosphere, interpretive materials, etc.), and social context (peers, other visitors, museum staff, etc.) [ 35 ]. Subsequently, Falk published "The Museum Experience Revisited," using visitors’ "motivation to visit" as a starting point and focusing on the role of "identity" in the museum visitor experience. Falk criticized two prevailing perspectives in existing research on the museum visitor experience. The first perspective is institution-centered, suggesting that visitors’ reasons for visiting, the visiting process, and the construction of meaning all depend on the content and exhibits of the museum. The second perspective, although starting from the visitor, attempts to describe museum visitors solely through quantitative research methods based on demographic categories, visit frequencies, and social arrangements [ 36 ]. Falk argued that both of these research perspectives are limited, either based on simplistic stereotypes or relying on easily measurable indicators, and cannot comprehensively explain the deeper issues of the museum visitor experience. He chose to approach the study from the visitors’ perspective, conducting a type analysis based on the identity motive and delving into the roles of identity in pre-visit motivations, preset trajectories during visits, and post-visit satisfaction and memory [ 36 ]. In his exploration of the connection between identity and visitor learning, memory, and satisfaction, Falk’s research identified seven types of visitors and motivations based on identity: Explorers, Facilitators, Experience Seekers, Professional/Hobbyists, Rechargers, Respectful Pilgrims, and Affinity Seekers.

Falk’s relevant research was conducted against the backdrop of a decline in the number of museum visitors in the early 21st century in the United States, and was influenced by the theories and social context of North American leisure studies. As the definition of museums varies across countries, Falk particularly concentrated his investigation in the context of museum research in the United States. The study included not only art, history, children’s, and natural history museums, but also institutions like zoos, botanical gardens, and science centers. In contrast, China’s definition of museum domains does not necessarily include zoos, aquariums, or botanical gardens, but includes other types, such as red memorial museums and ethnic museums. This divergence makes the audience motivation types he proposed not universally applicable. Moreover, the widespread use of the internet, smartphones, social media, and changes in interpersonal communication may influence visitor motivations and types, prompting a continuous exploration of potential new scenarios. Simultaneously, it is essential to observe whether there are noteworthy differences in visitor types in Chinese museums compared to those abroad.

The research on museum visitor motivation in China commenced relatively late, and although it has gradually garnered attention in recent years, substantial research outcomes remain limited. According to Song Xiangguang, visitor motivations are primarily rooted in individual leisure values, lifestyle habits, and the specific needs associated with visiting particular museums and exhibitions [ 37 ]. Liu Yang’s study indicates that observing, peeping, and emotional needs are the primary motivations for visitors engaging in photography in museums [ 38 ]. Through questionnaire analysis, He Qijun and Gu Jing found that visitors’ motivations, such as pleasure, performance expectations, and effort expectations, exhibit strong explanatory power for their willingness to visit and behavior [ 39 ]. However, the aforementioned studies typically employed online questionnaires to investigate visitor motivations and behaviors, without distinguishing or delving into motivations based on different levels of museums and their audiences. This limitation provides the foundation and discussion space for the current study.

Museum experience

The above-mentioned literature extensively reviewed the progress of museum visitor studies, exploring key conclusions and limitations in literature related to museum visitor types and motivations. While foreign researchers, exemplified by Falk, have conducted detailed and comprehensive studies on visitor motivations and behaviors, Chinese scholars have gradually recognized the significance of adopting a visitor-centric perspective in museum research. However, a critical issue remains. Theories and conclusions from foreign studies may not entirely represent or explain the specific circumstances in China. Moreover, due to significant differences between Chinese government policies on museum management, definitions, and classifications compared to foreign counterparts, and the influence of local culture and interpersonal communication patterns on visitors, there may be variations in audience behavior. Nevertheless, existing Chinese research has not thoroughly addressed these distinctions, nor has it adequately recognized their importance in cultural dissemination.

This study posits that museums, on the one hand, actively create diverse learning programs and environments for visitors. On the other hand, there is an increased emphasis on fostering interactivity, participation, emotional engagement, learning, and the development of experiential facilities. However, the effectiveness of these measures in meeting the diverse needs of visitors, further stimulating their active perception, imagination, understanding, and identification with the significance and cultural content of museum exhibits, as well as fostering national cultural confidence and cultural dissemination, has become a focal point in museum management and research. This issue involves the roles of museum visitor identities, exhibition perspectives, and experiential processes, accompanied by complex psychological and behavioral engagement in activities related to emotions, perceptions, and social interactions. In recent years, influenced by the societal background of the "experience economy" and related concepts and research, the assessment of "experiential value" has provided an essential research and measurement perspective for evaluating the perception and behavior of museum visitors.

The experience economy refers to the essence of customer consumption behavior, wherein customers spend money to engage in a series of non-material activities implemented according to their own preferences, or invest time in enjoying a sequence of memorable events provided by businesses [ 40 ]. In other words, "experience" emphasizes the incorporation of experiential details in the customer consumption process, rendering products or services more interactive, personalized, and considerate. This facilitates the comprehensive diffusion of the concept of the product, infecting the target audience in terms of both communication intensity and depth, establishing a more intuitive communicative interaction with the target audience [ 41 ]. In the measurement of experience, the fields of tourism and management often utilize the metric of experience value. Mathwick, Malhotra, & Rigdon (2001) posit that experience value is the customer’s perception and preference for the attributes or performance of a product, and the consumption of the product or the experience of the service itself also carries intrinsic value. This implies that individuals can derive experiential value from the actual use or distant appreciation of products and services [ 42 ]. Gallarza & Saura (2006) further confirm that experience value can directly influence customer experience satisfaction and subsequent behavior. Creating experiences that satisfy customers and evoke emotional perceptions is a key factor in gaining their acceptance and stimulating expected behaviors [ 43 ]. Specifically, customer endorsement of a particular product or service stems from the ability of that product or service to create value for them, and this value is a result of the interactive dynamics between the customer and the product or service. On the one hand, value involves the evaluation and comparison of two items or services, encompassing the benefits gained and the costs incurred during consumption with each individual’s assessment being subjective. On the other hand, value originates from the experiential aspects of the consumption process, rather than solely from the purchased product. Thus, value emerges in tandem with the overall experience [ 44 ]. In essence, the value customers derive from a product or service represents an elevation of the perceived service value or service quality. It manifests as a sense of spiritual satisfaction and gives rise to emotional, memory, and behavioral dimensions of identification. Additionally, the diverse experiential values that individuals derive from a product or service can influence their attitudes and actual behaviors toward that product or service. Furthermore, individual feedback on a product or service can impact the subsequent management of the product or service.

There is currently a considerable body of research on "museum experiences" that tends to focus on deconstructing visitors’ pre-visit expectations and on-site experiential dimensions. As illustrated by Sheng & Chen (2012), five types of visitor expectations were identified through a survey: relaxation and enjoyment, cultural entertainment, personal identity, historical reminiscence, and escapism from reality [ 45 ]. In other words, visitors’ motivations may stem from their relevant knowledge and professional background, interests, and the pursuit of specific information [ 46 ]. Participation in activities is equally crucial for enhancing the visitor experience [ 47 ]. Factors encountered by visitors before and after entering a museum, such as ticketing methods, reservation/queue times, transportation routes/convenience, indoor temperature/air quality, lighting, exhibition layout, exhibition area guidance, restroom location/quantity/quality, and the attitude/expertise of service personnel, can directly or indirectly impact visitors’ museum experiences. Jin et al. concluded that the museum experience is a process created collaboratively by multiple factors, including visitors, guides, and the environment [ 48 ]. Perceptions of museum content quality and emotional reactions are positively correlated with visitors’ satisfaction with their experience [ 49 ].

Based on these factors, this study posits that museum experiences encompass not only sensory aspects such as seeing, hearing, touching, and smelling, but also involve multiple psychological sensations such as communication and exploration. In other words, the visitor’s experience is influenced by the context, and their perspective is not confined to individual exhibits. Starting from the decision to visit, factors such as transportation, dining, companions, museum staff, and various situational aspects all contribute to shaping the overall experience [ 50 ]. Therefore, this study considers the museum as a comprehensive field for the generation of visitor experiences and utilizes experience value obtained by visitors before and after entering the museum as a metric to assess their sense of experience.

Bolton & Drew argue that using a single dimension to measure experience value is overly simplistic and suggest employing multiple dimensions for measurement [ 51 ]. Mathwick et al., summarizing past literature, identified four dimensions for measuring the experience value of products or services: service excellence, return on investment, aesthetics, and hedonics [ 42 ]. Additionally, referencing Rowley’s ten indicators for examining the quality of product or service experiences from a management perspective [ 52 ], this study categorizes six dimensions for measuring the value of museum experiences: (1) service quality (including ticketing/reservation channels, information inquiry channels, real-time exhibition activity information retrieval, and in-house service efficiency); (2) convenience (covering transportation, opening hours, and in-house public facility arrangements); (3) demographic positioning (considering inclusivity across age groups, social strata, and various demographics); (4) added value (beyond traditional exhibition and educational functions, encompassing leisure, mental and physical well-being, and social aspects); (5) interactivity (incorporating the use of digital technology); and (6) discount programs (including ticket prices, in-house creative products, and related goods or services). These dimensions are identified as focal points for research.

This study adopts the perspectives of museum visitor patterns, motivations, and experience value, focusing on the Nan Song Deshou Palace Relics Site Museum in Hangzhou. Through case studies, participant observation, and in-depth interviews, the primary objective is to construct a profile of visitors to the museum in its current state. The aim is to provide empirical references for the museum’s subsequent service, marketing directions, and cultural communication. Additionally, the study intends to offer forward-looking and innovative strategic suggestions for Chinese museums to enhance service experience value and external communication.

Deshou Palace is located to the southwest of Lin’an Fu, the capital of the Nan Song Dynasty (present-day Hangzhou, Zhejiang Province). It stands out as one of the highest-ranking architectural structures in terms of ceremonial specifications during the Nan Song period. Traditional palace architecture and elements of garden aesthetics are widespread within, making it a masterpiece of Jiangnan gardens. It served as the residence for historical figures such as Emperor Gaozong, Empress Wu, Emperor Xiaozong, and Empress Xie. Over the past two decades, archaeological research has revealed that the Deshou Palace site covers an area of nearly 7000 square meters, including the foundations of large palaces, brick-paved roads, artificial hill foundations, drainage facilities, and various other relics. The protection and effective utilization of this site not only contribute to further exploration of contemporary values such as traditional architecture, Nan Song rituals, spiritual concepts, aesthetic life, and societal aspects, but also help enhance modern understanding and recognition of our country’s outstanding traditional culture. It plays a role in boosting internal cultural identity and external influence in the dissemination of Chinese culture.

The construction project of the Nan Song Deshou Palace Relics Site Museum in Hangzhou officially commenced in December 2020 and was formally opened to the public on November 19, 2022. Currently, the museum primarily operates on a reservation system, offering free admission to the public. Citizens and tourists can make advance reservations for visits through the official public account, with a booking window of one to three days. Additionally, individuals aged 70 and above may make on-site reservations by presenting their identification cards or senior citizen cards. The museum’s opening hours are from 9:30 AM to 5:00 PM every Tuesday through Sunday, with regular closure on Mondays.

This museum, leveraging archaeological remains, employs indoor exhibitions, digital artifacts, and simulated displays of archaeological sites to comprehensively present the historical and cultural panorama of the Nan Song Dynasty. After undergoing trial operations, observing the Spring Festival, and navigating through phases affected by pandemic-related policy adjustments, the daily visitor capacity of the museum increased from 500 to 1500 individuals. By the end of February 2023, the museum accommodated over 100,000 visitors, demonstrating the enthusiasm and engagement of residents in exploring the museum. Therefore, this study aims to use this museum as its focal point, seeking to uncover the current profile of visitors and their experiential perceptions. The findings will serve as a reference for the enhancement of service experience value and external communication for this museum and potentially other museums across the country.

This study employs an exploratory case study approach due to its status as a research method that involves "in-depth investigation of contemporary social phenomena based on real-life situations." This method not only facilitates the exploration of research questions, but also enhances the reliability and validity of research outcomes [ 53 ]. Data collection for the section on visitor experiences primarily adopts a "semi-structured, in-depth interview" approach. The initial interview outline is formulated based on the aforementioned literature and is further elaborated upon through in-depth questioning guided by the interviewee’s narratives. Formal interviews took place from February 10 to February 28 and from April 9 to April 21, 2023. Museum visitors were invited to participate in interviews through a "random sampling" method, and interviewee information was coded.

Prior to the formal interviews, the researcher conducted pre-tests with seven participants to assess the appropriateness of the interview outline. Following the pre-tests and subsequent revisions, the final interview content included: (1) personal basic information; (2) motivations for visiting the museum; (3) experiences during museum visits; (4) evaluation of museum facilities and services; (5) overall satisfaction with the museum; (6) willingness to communicate the museum experience; and (7) willingness to revisit the museum. The interviews lasted approximately one hour. As ethical review requirements and independent review units for studies using the in-depth interview method are not yet mandated in mainland China, the researcher, to ensure ethical legitimacy, informed participants of their identity, the purpose of the interview, and privacy protection measures before the pre-tests and the commencement of formal interviews. Consent for the use of participant information, interview data, and recordings was obtained orally or in writing. Ultimately, the study included thirty-four participants (14 males, 41%; 20 females, 59%), with ages primarily ranging from 19 to 45. Occupational distribution was diverse, and the majority of participants had been residing in Hangzhou or other cities and counties in Zhejiang Province for over two years.

In addition to the interview method, this study employed participatory observation and direct observation methods for data collection. This diversified approach is advantageous in overcoming the primary limitation of the case study method, which may lack generalizability in its conclusions [ 54 ]. Participatory observation was conducted concurrently with interview sessions, while direct observation was primarily concentrated in December 2022, January to April 2023, and other instances when the researcher visited the museum incidentally to obtain observational data. The purpose of direct observation was to collect information on the interactions of museum stakeholders, marketing activities, and their outcomes by recording observational insights, capturing on-site photographs, and documenting social interactions. These data serve as a supplement to the analysis and discussion sections of the interview results.

Results and analysis

The data analysis in this study was conducted in two stages. In the first stage, which encompasses interview records, observation notes, on-site photographs, and descriptions, the raw data was coded based on visitor motivations and patterns. To enhance the objectivity of data processing and reduce errors, a "researcher triangulation verification" approach was employed. Two researchers were simultaneously involved in the data coding process to classify the current visitor patterns and motivational characteristics of the case museum.

In the second stage, building on the foundation of museum visitor experiences, perceptions, and behaviors, and referencing the concept of experience value and its measurement indicators, the interview data was aggregated and deeply analyzed. This aimed to synthesize and summarize the overall situations and issues related to museum visitor experiences, as well as the impact of these experiences on their perceptions and behaviors within the museum. By systematically analyzing museum construction, services, and existing cultural communication dynamics through these two perspectives, this study aimed to propose innovative paths and effective methods for continuous research and practical value in museum cultural communication.

The motivations and profiles of the audience

The first stage comprised three steps. In the open coding phase, researchers (including investigators and two assisting coders) initially conducted a comprehensive analysis of all raw data. Subsequently, they integrated concepts that were identical or closely related, eliminated invalid concepts occurring less than twice, and focused on category formation based on the inherent relationships among concepts, ultimately resulting in the identification of thirty subcategories. In the axial coding phase, researchers analyzed and synthesized the thirty subcategories derived from open coding, consolidating relatively independent categories and distilling primary categories. This process revealed the interrelationships among different sections of interview data. Finally, selective coding was employed to refine core themes that were most pertinent to the research question and objectives, encompassing other related concepts. These core themes constituted the concepts and issues to be elaborated upon in subsequent research analysis, as outlined in Table 1 .

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Knowledge exploration.

The desire for knowledge expresses itself in an interest in abstract thinking, complex thought processes, and philosophical discussions, as well as curiosity about various things [ 55 ]. Therefore, the desire for knowledge is often associated with museum visits [ 56 ]. As shown in Table 1 , the "knowledge exploration" motivation/need was mentioned most frequently among the surveyed audience (62 occurrences). Furthermore, this study found that this motivation can be further subdivided into memory carriers, professional needs, and exploration needs. Firstly, visitors engaged in museum visits and photographing for the purpose of personal cultural knowledge and memory, interest, past experiences and perceived memories of museum visits [ 45 , 46 ], life records, and establishing memory cues [ 57 ], as well as self-reflection to re-understand society and oneself [ 45 , 57 ]. This is considered a space field for personal memory extraction, storage, and construction. In contrast to previous research, this study categorizes such needs as the memory-oriented, knowledge exploration type, mainly due to the audience’s invocation and construction of personal memory. Such needs were mostly mentioned by interviewees aged 35–50 and housewives.

Secondly, visitors may engage in museum visits due to their personal professional background or work requirements, aiming to collect relevant data, compare and contrast existing knowledge with real-world observations, identify problems, and contemplate solutions. Previous research has found that museums, as crucial institutions for informal learning, bear the responsibility of lifelong learning for the public. Museum visitors are generally considered individuals who prioritize learning, regardless of their identity, age, or profession, and learning is their primary motivation for visiting museums [ 58 ]. The results of this study further indicate that visitors going to museums for learning imply both active knowledge collection and argumentation and passive acquisition of work-related resources. For example, "I have been studying and appreciating artistic works from the Nan Song Dynasty, and I want to come to the museum to experience or test related knowledge. Perhaps it can provide inspiration for my research and creation" (Interviewee 21, female, 22 years old, college student, Hangzhou). Another example is, "To be honest, although I am not very accustomed to museums, which are relatively serious places, I work in this field and have to come here to take some materials" (Interviewee 13, female, 27 years old, self-media—travel blogger, Anhui).

Finally, visitors may engage in museum visits out of curiosity about attractions, from guidance from related sites, and to seek opportunities for resources and business. Research consistently confirms that curiosity is a vital intrinsic factor that triggers individuals to seek information and engage in behaviors [ 59 – 64 ], and similar results are found in studies related to museum visitor behavior [ 56 , 65 , 66 ]. Berlyne conceptualized curiosity as a response to novel stimuli, involving feelings of attractiveness and uncertainty [ 67 ]. Once individuals become curious about something, they experience anxiety, influencing their desire to acquire new knowledge and exploration strategies, with the goal of reducing their curiosity [ 62 ]. For instance, "I am curious about how Deshou Palace reproduces the architecture and palace furnishings of the Nan Song Dynasty…" (Interviewee 6, male, 30 years old, interior designer, Hangzhou).

This study also found that approximately 24% of the interviewees mentioned that they were attracted to visit Deshou Palace after visiting the "Hu Xueyan’s Former Residence" (located just across the street, less than a hundred meters away) due to the striking red exterior walls of Deshou Palace. Additionally, seeking "business opportunities" is an audience type identified in this study that distinguishes itself from previous research findings. Interviewees mentioning such needs include teachers, cultural and tourism workers, entrepreneurs, and business professionals. They believe that museums, especially newly established ones, may have untapped and potential spaces for development. Seizing these resources serves as a significant motivator for their visitation. This suggests that the motivation for museum visits is significantly influenced by personal professions or values. For example, "Looking for venues for organizing extracurricular activities and learning for students…" (Interviewee 3, male, 35 years old, middle school Chinese teacher, Hangzhou), and "Deshou Palace is part of a new cultural project, and there must be many resources that can be further developed and utilized, such as cultural and technological experiences…" (Interviewee 19, female, 31 years old, jewelry and cultural innovation entrepreneur, Beijing). In other words, driven by specific values and professional attitudes, visitors perceive museums as spaces necessary for exploring and obtaining personal work resources or capital. This also reflects the increasingly complex and diverse expectations and visitation demands of visitors to museums.

Social interaction.

From the interview data, it can be inferred that this type of audience exhibits two types of motivational and behavioral states: passive social conformity and active contextual consumption. On the one hand, visitors engage in passive visitation behavior due to recommendations or persuasion from friends, fear of social relationship breakdown, and perception of peer capital. Moreover, these social factors to some extent create pressure for the audience to engage in "sharing and communication" and "capital comparison." The "social interaction" type of audience, as previously identified in domestic and international literature, tends to lean towards active willingness and behavior, lacking the capture and analysis of the motivation for visitors to museums based on "social pressure."

For example, "My mentor asked me to visit" (Interviewee 23, female, 31 years old, master’s student, Suzhou); "I’m not particularly interested in places like museums. This time in Hangzhou, a friend insisted on bringing me here to take a look" (Interviewee 17, female, 26 years old, film and television planner, Suzhou); "I saw Deshou Palace dominating my friends’ social media recently, and I heard it’s hard to make reservations. It seems to have become a hot topic. I feel like if I don’t come and experience it, I won’t be able to join in their conversations" (Interviewee 11, female, 19 years old, Hangzhou),; "I’ve never been here, so I can’t discuss it with my friends" (Interviewee 4, male, 39 years old, photographer, Hangzhou); "The comments on Deshou Palace made by my classmates were praised by the teachers" (Interviewee 11), "My classmate found a research direction here" (Interviewee 23); At the same time, visitors’ passive visitation behavior and perceived evaluations based on pressure will further influence their psychological and behavioral aspects of dissemination, for instance, "Avoiding self-exposure" (Interviewee 9, female, 60 years old, retired, Hangzhou; Interviewee 23); "Pressure on photography skills and retouching" (Interviewee 22, male, 23 years old, college student, Hangzhou); "No special feelings" (Interviewee 7, male, 24 years old, college student, Shanghai), all of which can affect the subsequent sharing and dissemination behavior of museum information by the audience.

On the other hand, visitors may also have an active willingness and behavior to visit museums for the purpose of establishing social topics, sharing experiences, breaking through existing circles, and enhancing relationships. Some interviewees indicated that visiting museums provides them with valuable social topics, such as "I usually don’t have much to post on my social media, but I feel like visiting Deshou Palace is worth sharing" (Interviewee 29, female, 32 years old, elementary school teacher, Ningbo). Knowledge and experiences gained from the museum can be shared with people around them, as mentioned by an interviewee: "Share the Nan Song culture and my visiting experiences with my students" (Interviewee 28, male, 38 years old, university teacher, Ningbo). Additionally, visiting museums can provide a space for establishing new social relationships, as stated by an interviewee: "Museums often organize various social activities such as lectures, workshops, exhibitions, etc., which gives me more opportunities to meet new friends and expand my social circle" (Interviewee 14, female, 34 years old, homemaker, Jinhua). It is worth noting that the establishment of such social relationships can indirectly bring positive impacts on their work efficiency and development, transforming the audience’s social interaction needs into knowledge exploration needs, such as seeking business opportunities." For example, "I think visiting museums is helpful for expanding interpersonal relationships. In the museum, I can interact and communicate with other visitors, make new friends, and the friends I meet here are likely to share similar interests with me. Like this Deshou Palace, I think people who come here should have some interest in Song culture like me. Perhaps there will be future collaboration in work" (Interviewee 19, female, 31 years old, jewelry and cultural innovation entrepreneur, Beijing).

In addition, previous research has confirmed that museums are places for "relaxation and fun" [ 45 ], "parent-child interaction" [ 68 – 70 ], and "relationship enhancement" [ 71 ], and this study also reached consistent conclusions. Approximately 32% of the interviewees visited with children, and they considered museums as places with cultural infectiousness (Interviewee 34, female, homemaker, Hangzhou), and educational significance (Interviewee 29; Interviewee 31, female, 60 years old, retired, Hangzhou; Interviewee 32, female, 58 years old, retired, Beijing). Museums provide space and opportunities for parent-child interaction (Interviewee 14, 34; Interviewee 25, female, 47 years old, freelancer, Suzhou), and contribute to enhancing mutual emotional communication (Interviewee 24, male, 37 years old, graphic designer, Hangzhou; Interviewee 29).

Another noteworthy phenomenon is that museum visitors driven by "friend recommendations," in addition to showing passive social conformity psychology, also exhibit some active adherence to social norms or behaviors. For example, "Seeing the photos recommended and shared by friends, it feels great, and I also want to come and take a look" (Interviewee 16, female, 34 years old, elementary school art teacher, Hangzhou); "I wanted to come here to take some photos to share on my social media, and I also want to buy some cultural and creative products to give to friends" (Interviewee 11). Along with their visiting behavior, environmental perception, and psychological changes, passive visitors may also transform into active contextual consumers, as stated by an interviewee: "Since I’m already here, buying some cultural and creative products as a souvenir or to give to friends is also a good idea" (Interviewee 23). This reflects that descriptions or photos about museums on social media, the acquisition and gifting of museum souvenirs, as well as discussions about museums in real life, are increasingly becoming media that influence the strength of social connections among audiences. Audiences are paying more attention to maintaining their personal social networks.

Additionally, this study found that social interaction is also influenced by the educational background and profession of museum visitors. This means that visitors with higher cultural knowledge reserves are more willing to share their visiting experiences with depth or personal unique insights with surrounding visitors or on social media. They may also exhibit motivations such as documenting personal experiences, using them for life experience reminiscence, and seeking recognition and interaction. For example, "I think visiting museums is a meaningful thing. I often share my experiences of visiting museums on Weibo. It not only helps me record my life trajectory and insights but also allows me to exchange ideas with friends and strangers through this sharing" (Interviewee 15, male, 58 years old, retired, Hangzhou). If engaged in education-related professions, they may visit and share experiences based on the factor of "interacting with students and promoting their knowledge improvement" (Interviewee 16, 28).

It is also important to note that, while satisfying their social interaction needs, audiences also engage in the exchange and enhancement of knowledge and culture during their social interactions. For example, "They have a really in-depth and comprehensive understanding of Nan Song culture. It feels like they came from that era. I really enjoy listening to them chat" (Interviewee 14). Another example is, "It’s amazing. I met my current business partner in the museum because we both have an interest in cultural relics, especially jewelry. Later, we discussed and learned related knowledge together and started our current jewelry and cultural innovation company. Because the jewelry we design incorporates some ancient totems, patterns, and other cultural elements, it is very popular in the foreign market. Especially in recent years, it can be seen that the love and interest in Chinese culture abroad have significantly increased. The cultural dissemination value and role of cultural and creative products are still significant" (Interviewee 19).

Psychological restoration.

The concept of "psychological restoration" emphasizes the role of the museum as a space that separates from reality and provides an energizing environment. Firstly, audiences achieve the purpose of escaping reality and relieving stress through immersive experiences, imagining and reshaping self-image and identity. For example, "It feels like this is a place that can be isolated from the world, allowing me to forget all the bad things in reality…" (Interviewee 1, female, 21 years old, college student, Hangzhou). Escaping reality is one of the important expectations of visitors’ museum experiences [ 45 ]. Escaping reality can also stimulate visitors’ willingness to visit the museum [ 46 ]. Lee & Smith argue that the maintenance and utilization of the escaping reality function are essential for the marketing of historical sites and museums, because it allows visitors to escape the norms and problems of their daily lives, is more active, and emphasizes immersion more than passive experiential participation [ 72 , 73 ]. As expressed by interviewee 29, "Museums can temporarily make me forget about the pressures of reality, immersing myself in places that depict different eras and imagining the living scenes of ancient people." The attention, sensory changes, and emotional shifts that visitors experience in museums, even reaching a state transcending reality, are referred to by Hirschman as "aesthetic experiences" [ 74 ]. From the perspective of the experience economy, aesthetic experiences are a combination of passive participation and immersion [ 73 ]. In other words, even if the original motivation for museum visits is not explicitly seeking psychological restoration, visitors, when engaging in the visitation behavior, also obtain varying degrees of aesthetic experiences closely related to their sense of immersion.

Furthermore, visitors may absorb positive energy by perceiving the personalities, abilities of historical figures, and the cultural forces. According to Petkus, visitors can create a "new reality or role" for themselves in museums [ 75 ]. For example, "Museums can give me a kind of time-traveling experience, allowing me to imagine ancient times, reflect on the modern era, and set my preferred life script…" (Interviewee 5, female, 34 years old, master’s student, Shanghai). Additionally, sentiments like "I think ancient emperors and officials, if they lived in modern society, would also be successful individuals…" (Interviewee 1), and "Museums have a strong cultural infectivity and comforting power, as if inspiring me to move forward with various historical anecdotes" (Interviewee 10, female, 38 years old, university teacher, Hangzhou; Interviewee 19), underscore the audience’s focus on self and inner world. They aim to achieve self-healing and elevate their life values by perceiving successful figures and cultures from the past. It is important to note that, while museums have the potential to restore the psychology or negative emotions of visitors, this potential is effective only for those who have already had a positive experience in the museum.

In this interview, it was emphasized that the motivation for "psychological restoration" was more prominent among female participants, accounting for 35% of all interviewees, and on average, they mentioned this motivation one to three times. In contrast, male participants who mentioned this motivation constituted only 8% of all interviewees. This phenomenon largely indicates that, in addition to being influenced by their motivations for knowledge exploration and social interaction, women are more concerned about the psychological perception and restoration aspects of museum visits compared to men. The reason may be that, compared to women, men typically exhibit a more rational approach to problem-solving and stress/emotion management. Regarding museums, especially in institutions like the Nan Song Deshou Palace Relics Site Museum, men may not perceive them as places or means to relieve stress, let alone visit them for the purpose of psychological restoration.

Finally, about 85% of the interviewees, when describing their museum visiting experiences, motivations and expectations, evaluations, overall satisfaction, and subsequent behaviors, expressed higher expectations and requirements for the overall environment and space creation of the museum. Among these aspects, "atmosphere" and "immersion" were the most frequently mentioned keywords during the interview process. These two keywords encompass various elements within the museum, such as the number of visitors, background music, use of technology, lighting, leisure settings, and more. They significantly influence the overall attitude (satisfaction) and behavioral intentions of museum visitors (such as revisiting and recommending), making them crucial aspects for further discussion in this study.

The assessment of the experiential value of museums

Drawing on the concept of "experiential value" from the field of marketing management and examining the indicators of product or service experiential quality proposed by Rowley (1999) [ 52 ], Table 2 , in conjunction with the practical insights from interviews in this study, assesses the experiential value of the current case museum from six aspects: service quality, convenience, demographic positioning, added value, interactivity, and promotional schemes. It is important to note that, as this section primarily focuses on the assessment of museum experiential value, some overlap may exist in the oral data from the interviewees. Therefore, individual participant identifiers are omitted, and the researcher has moderately summarized and consolidated the information while preserving the original intent expressed by the participants.

https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0303026.t002

From Table 2 , it can be observed that, when examined from the perspective of museum visitors, the experiential value of the current case museum exhibits the following issues and characteristics:

Museum circulation and layout, staff services, and communication satisfaction.

Contemporary museum visitors’ evaluations of museum satisfaction have transcended the historical dimension primarily focused on "objects" (collection, exhibition, research, etc.). Instead, there is now an emphasis on achieving self-service experiences and spatial experiential sensations.

The "layout and circulation" of the museum, including guidance and smoothness, are crucial factors influencing visitor experience and their evaluation, revisit intention, and willingness to disseminate. Some visitors expressed challenges related to their museum experience: "I cannot determine my visiting route in the museum" (Participants 6, 23, 27); "I prefer to grab a flat map upon entering the museum, allowing me to efficiently tour the entire museum and serve as a souvenir" (Participants 12, 15, 29); "Upon entering the exhibition area, I hesitate about whether to go left or right" (Participants 14, 17, 33); "I think the visiting route and distribution of exhibition areas inside are not reasonable. Without accidentally encountering a guide, I thought my visit was over" (Participants 3, 30, 31); "I still need to personally explore it before bringing friends" (Participants 10, 28); "I think I will share on my social media how I got lost in this museum" (Participants 11, 25).

Museum visitors have higher expectations for curator services, including entrance guidance and traffic control, as well as collection explanations. Their impressions of the museum and willingness to disseminate information are closely related to these services. Some expressed concerns: "I feel the entrance control is too strict; you must enter exactly at the scheduled time, not even a minute early. However, there are clearly some places outside the museum where you can take photos, and there aren’t many people. It wouldn’t affect the museum environment or others" (Participants 13, 22); "It was raining outside today, and I wanted to enter a few minutes early because there was basically no place to shelter from the rain nearby. The security guard at the entrance kept refusing, and the attitude was particularly bad. I haven’t encountered this situation when visiting other museums" (Participants 9, 26). Some participants suggested that the museum should expand reservation channels and daily visitor quotas, because "it’s challenging to make a reservation" (Participants 4, 12, 15, 24), allowing more people to visit the museum more conveniently and pleasantly. In addition, some participants mentioned issues with the rented audio guide devices (Participant 3) and found that manual explanations lacked interest or storytelling elements (Participants 8, 9, 17, 32), suggesting that they were not as engaging as external tour guides (Participants 11, 12, 17, 19).

The museum’s external promotion efforts and the forms and effects of cultural dissemination also serve as important indicators for assessing the museum’s service quality. Some participants expressed their opinions on the museum’s promotion: "I usually only see Deshou Palace’s promotion on my friends’ timeline. I think its promotional efforts are not enough" (Participants 10, 22); "Deshou Palace should do more promotion on the learning aspects of history, culture, or architectural aesthetics in the media, or add some related settings, which should be more attractive" (Participants 5, 33). Some participants also mentioned challenges like "the museum entrance is hard to find" (Participants 4, 11), "lack of guidance on transportation routes" (Participants 1, 2, 4, 8–15, 18, 20–22), and "seemingly no specific cultural discussions or lectures during certain periods like Today Art Museum." At the same time, the participants’ dissemination behaviors and purposes are closely related to the museum’s external promotion strategies and forms of cultural dissemination. Sixty-five percent of the participants stated that the short videos or promotional images related to the museum on the internet mostly focus on the red walls, architecture, and limited cultural and creative products. The cultural uniqueness and the unique value of Nan Song culture are not fully and effectively communicated. Therefore, visitors’ external dissemination forms, such as taking photos and checking in, tend to focus more on recording and social interaction, rather than cultural explanations and dissemination. For example, one participant said, "I often see everyone taking pictures with the red walls on the internet, feeling retro and beautiful. Why should I spread it? It’s just to let others see that I also have a set of beautiful photos, spreading Song culture… I don’t have any thoughts. I feel like I haven’t seen anything special, or maybe I don’t understand" (Participant 18). Another participant mentioned, "If you want to understand the unique value and cultural aspects of the museum, you still need to search for relevant textual introductions online" (Participants 3, 4, 15, 21, 31).

Cultural and creative consumption

Utilizing traditional culture and cultural heritage resources to develop cultural and creative products represents a significant collaboration between museums and businesses. This collaboration serves as a crucial avenue for cultural dissemination and constitutes a vital operational strategy for enhancing museum revenue and ensuring sustainable development. Moreover, the growing demands of contemporary society for spiritual, cultural, and aesthetic consumption play a pivotal role in promoting the development of cultural values within museums. However, the research conducted revealed substantial disparities in the consumption intentions and attitudes towards museum cultural and creative products among museum visitors.

Firstly, the everyday consumption habits of the general public significantly influence their behavior. Some interviewees reported a lack of prior consumption habits related to cultural and creative products, stating sentiments such as "Cultural learning in museums and the immersive experience are more appealing to me" (Interviewee 3), and "The importance lies in the experience and memories" (Interviewee 9). On the other hand, some participants expressed a different perspective with statements like, "Every time I visit a museum, I buy some cultural and creative products as souvenirs."

Secondly, the value, price, and practicality of cultural and creative products emerge as crucial considerations influencing the purchasing behavior of museum visitors. For instance, sentiments such as "Authentic artifacts are more valuable than replicas or designed ones" (Interviewee 16); "It looks great, but it’s not very useful to buy" (Interviewee 7); and "Not practical and too expensive" (Interviewee 12, 23) were expressed. Additionally, the social communication and interactive functions of museum cultural and creative products can contribute to the potential allure and promotional value of museums. Statements like "Cultural and creative products make artifacts more warm and evoke a sense of historical familiarity" (Interviewee 19); "My friend loves collecting museum cultural and creative products, so I always pick one for her each time I visit" (Interviewee 18); and "A friend has one, and I found it very attractive, so I came to buy one" (Interviewee 21), highlight the social and interactive dimensions of museum cultural and creative offerings.

Thirdly, the "originality" of cultural and creative products emerges as a primary factor stimulating consumer willingness to purchase. Statements such as "Cultural and creative products from each museum are unique" (Interviewee 21); "I mainly buy it to give to friends; it feels unique and shows that I have carefully selected the gift" (Interviewee 2); and "I won’t buy the same thing as others, or basically won’t present the same thing when giving gifts" (Interviewee 17), highlight the appeal of uniqueness. However, some interviewees also noted that similar or identical products are available on online platforms like Taobao (Interviewee 11, 25).

Holistic cultural learning and interactive experience

Goode (1891) argued that museums should not merely serve as repositories for artifacts, but rather become sources of intellectual stimulation and new ideas [ 14 ]. As a medium for cultural exchange with the public, museums should possess characteristics and values beyond their traditional functions of collecting and displaying artifacts. They should also serve as platforms for expressing identity, expanding intellectual dimensions, facilitating public education, and promoting cultural communication both domestically and internationally. For visitors to museums, the aesthetic layout, level of interest, and the cultural or learning atmosphere and experience created by the movement of different strata within the museum space are crucial factors influencing their perception, evaluation, and behavior. This includes aspects such as revisiting museums, external communication, and changes in daily behavioral habits.

From the interview data, it is evident that the current audience profile of the museum is primarily composed of individuals in the 20 to 40 age group. The occupational distribution is quite diverse, with the predominant types of visits being for sightseeing, tourism, and group educational tours. Museum visitors, drawing on their individual characteristics such as motivations, interests, habits, experiences, and values, engage in a range of cultural practices involving interactions between individuals and between individuals and objects within the museum. During these experiences, the spatial layout and supporting facilities within the museum are observed, experienced, and evaluated in the context of tourism landscapes, cultural elements, and leisure and entertainment domains.

Most visitors take photographs for various purposes, including commemoration, learning, and social interaction. Quotes from interviewees such as "This will become a part of my life memories" (Interviewee 12); "It can be used as educational material" (Interviewee 6); and "It will be an artistic addition to my social media" (Interviewee 16), reflect the diverse motivations behind capturing images. However, the current service facilities in museums have not adequately addressed the needs of the entire audience, posing obstacles to the immersive experience of artifact displays, visitor engagement, and cultural absorption within the museum space.

Many interviewees expressed concerns about the presence of noisy children (Interviewees 2, 3, 5, 11, 17, 20) and the lack of rest areas (Interviewees 7, 9, 12, 13, 15). In response, museums should consider the learning characteristics and behaviors of children. They could introduce a "Children’s Leisure Area" (Interviewee 10), or an "Interactive Learning Zone" (Interviewees 20, 33), to mitigate disturbances to other visitors’ experiences. Additionally, attention should be given to the needs of parents with young children, the elderly, and individuals with mobility challenges. This may involve the provision of leisure seating, baby stroller amenities, nursing rooms, wheelchairs, and the establishment of volunteer service stations within the museum to enhance visitor satisfaction with the exhibition and service experience.

For visitors with a certain level of expertise, the main requirements during their museum visit include learning, clarification, discussion, and the opportunity to refresh their knowledge. Quotes from interviewees such as "I would be more attracted if there were lectures or discussions specifically focusing on the history and artifacts of the Nan Song Deshou Palace Relics Site Museum" (Interviewee 9); "The explanations of cultural relics are too textbook-like" (Interviewees 10, 24); "There is a lack of interactive learning elements" (Interviewee 5); and "It would be better if there were virtual exhibitions or immersive explanations online" (Interviewee 13), emphasize the desire for more in-depth engagement. These visitors exhibit a strong curiosity and eagerness to acquire knowledge, especially in areas where their understanding is limited or unclear. They actively seek explanatory services, as reflected in statements such as "I usually join guided tours booked by groups and sometimes ask questions" (Interviewees 9; 31); "Some information is not available online" (Interviewee 13); and "There are many unclear points that I want to get answers to promptly" (Interviewee 11). Additionally, interviewees mention seeking clarification from others and engaging in discussions, such as "I will try to ask people around me for advice or discuss" (Interviewee 8).

In addition, unconstrained exploration, immersive imagination, interaction, and self-healing are often the experiences and cultural learning expectations of female interviewees and older individuals. For these visitors, elements such as museum space design, artifacts, lighting, and even scents contribute to and stimulate their imaginative experiences. Quotes like "I like to walk quietly in the museum, looking at the dormant yet vivid artifacts; it’s like entering another world" (Interviewee 18); "Travelling through history, I transport myself back to ancient times, as if engaging in a dialogue across time and space with them; it feels great" (Interviewee 15); and "The combination of architecture, plants, lighting, display cases, and even scents is very comforting and therapeutic," highlight the importance of these elements in creating a profound museum experience. However, the concern of being disturbed by others (Interviewee 10) emerges as a significant obstacle to the immersive experience of such visitors. Simultaneously, some interviewees express a desire for technology-assisted immersive experiences and learning: "I would hope that this museum could have some VR or AR experience projects that allow me to better understand the social and cultural landscape of that time" (Interviewee 19).

Consumption demands with interrelated needs

The contemporary public’s perception of museums has transcended the role of a purely cultural and educational institution. It is now evaluated as a comprehensive public service entity that encompasses leisure and entertainment, social interaction, cultural dissemination, cultural innovation, technology transfer, and educational tourism services [ 76 ]. Among these aspects, 70% of visitors mentioned "experiential satisfaction" and "convenience." According to research data, the current museum audience primarily consists of the younger generation from the later stages of China’s reform and opening-up period. Their emotional and lifestyle demands not only surpass those of their predecessors, but also place a greater emphasis on enjoyment, experience, and innovation. This shift in artistic and cultural consumption has become a prominent characteristic of the contemporary museum audience.

Currently, the museum operates on a reservation system and offers free admission, aiming to showcase the Chinese Nan Song rituals and aesthetic values to the general public. This approach creates a more open environment for cultural education and dissemination. While this strategy is beneficial for attracting visitors, it poses challenges in controlling the museum’s service quality and overall experiential atmosphere. Some interviewees expressed a willingness to pay an entrance fee, stating, "I don’t mind paying for admission" (Interviewees 7, 27–29) and "I would rather spend money if it means more investment in service facilities." The museum’s service facilities include "creative dining" (Interviewees 13, 15), "cultural books" (Interviewees 1, 5), "cultural and creative products" (Interviewees 2, 17, 18, 19, 21, 29), "lectures" (Interviewees 9, 33), and "special exhibitions" (Interviewees 11, 31–33).

Additionally, convenience is a crucial factor influencing visitors’ willingness to explore and their overall satisfaction, impacting the practical experience of museum-goers. Interviewees express concerns about the convenience of visiting with statements like "I pay attention to the convenience of transportation to the museum" (Interviewees 7, 11), and "I didn’t see clear signs directing to the museum when I exited the subway station today" (Interviewees 9, 23). Furthermore, convenience extends to cultural consumption and the interaction of leisure, sightseeing, and entertainment within the museum’s surroundings. Comments such as "I noticed this museum after leaving Hu Xueyan’s former residence" (Interviewees 19, 31); "It would be great if there were combo tickets" (Interviewees 21, 28); and "It’s inconvenient to find food nearby, and there are no distinctive restaurants or cafes; it gets boring when queuing" (Interviewee 11), highlight the multifaceted nature of convenience in the museum experience.

Conclusion and discussion

This study focuses on the typology, motivations, and experiential values of museum visitors, using the Nan Song Deshou Palace Relics Site Museum in Hangzhou as the research subject. Data were gathered through case studies, participant observations, and in-depth interviews. Building upon the classifications of museum visitors identified by scholars domestically and internationally, the study referenced the concept of experiential value from the business domain and employed related scales as evaluation criteria for assessing the quality of museum services and communication. The primary objective was to unveil the diverse profiles of visitors to the Nan Song Deshou Palace Relics Site Museum in Hangzhou at its current stage. The study aimed to explore the experiences of visitors and cultural communication strategies employed by the museum. Ultimately, the research seeks to provide practical insights for Chinese museums in examining and refining their service and communication systems.

The characteristics of museum visitor profiles

At the current stage, the visiting patterns of the audience primarily manifest as "knowledge exploration," "social interaction," and "psychological restoration." While similar classifications or conclusions have been drawn in previous domestic and international research, this study, focusing on the Chinese context and unique research samples, still yields some distinctive results that differ from previous findings.

Firstly, the current visitors to the museum are primarily motivated by "knowledge exploration," encompassing: (1) "memory-oriented" exploration involving experiences of recalling and constructing memories, emphasizing the extraction, construction, and storage of personal memories; (2) "professional-oriented" knowledge gathering involving knowledge collection, argumentation, and resource acquisition, demonstrating both proactive and passive behavioral tendencies; (3) "curiosity-oriented" exploration encompassing actions related to location, knowledge, and resources/capital exploration with a highlighted influence of "location association." This also reflects a compensation for personal psychological uncertainty to some extent. In comparison to more traditional forms of cultural learning, the museum, as an informal learning environment with diversity and flexibility in terms of objects, content, and time, serves as a voluntary and actively guided lifelong learning mechanism [ 77 , 78 ]. It leverages factors such as audience interests, curiosity, exploration, application, imagination, task achievement, and community interaction to positively impact knowledge and skill enhancement, stimulate creativity, and facilitate attitude and behavioral changes. The museum can be seen as an important avenue for voluntary and actively guided lifelong learning and a crucial pathway for cultural dissemination.

Secondly, visitors’ exploration behavior is stimulated by the need for "social interaction," resulting in two behavioral states, more passive social conformity and active domain consumption. This study reveals that visitors demonstrate both active and passive social conformity tendencies when influenced by "friend recommendations." Simultaneously, they may experience pressure to "share and communicate" and engage in "capital comparison" due to fear of social relationship disruption or perceived peer or learning capital acquisition. This pressure further stimulates their willingness and behavior to passively visit the museum. Active visitors exhibit more positive and enjoyable experiences, while passive visitors tend to be more negative and complete the museum visit task in a more "checklist" style. Furthermore, visitors may actively engage in museum visits to fulfill their needs for establishing social topics, sharing experiences, breaking through existing circles, and enhancing relationships. This study suggests that visitors who establish new social relationships within the museum domain may indirectly contribute to the improvement and development of their work efficacy, transforming their "social interaction" needs into "knowledge exploration" needs, such as "seeking business opportunities." This highlights the museum’s contemporary role as a "public forum," as described by Cameron [ 79 ]. The attributes and value of its social media are evident, and its ability to gain group belonging and identity on public spaces and online platforms becomes a crucial factor influencing visitor behavior [ 12 ]. Museums create possibilities for local cultural heritage and communication as well as cross-cultural exchange [ 10 – 12 ]. Consequently, relevant research should move beyond the discussion of museum functions and place more emphasis on understanding the impact of audience psychology and behavior on museum construction and cultural communication outcomes. It is worth noting that visitors strongly influenced by social factors may have potential value in disseminating the museum’s image and culture. However, understanding the factors that (dis)satisfy their social needs and exploring the emotional and behavioral consequences after (dis)satisfaction remain directions for further investigation.

Thirdly, visitors are increasingly demonstrating a motivation for "psychological restoration" and expectations for the corresponding experiences. This motivation includes not only the recognition and expectation of the museum as a space for escaping reality and relieving stress, but also the perception and imagination of the museum providing energy. In this study, female visitors emphasized this motivational aspect and the acquisition of psychological and spatial resources more than male visitors. This type of visitor typically has higher expectations and demands for the atmosphere, space, and environmental settings of the museum. Although their motivations for exploration, learning, and social interaction may be relatively weaker, they often engage in a more sensitive and detailed exploration and observation of museum space planning, exhibitions, and other visitor behaviors. This makes them valuable for improving and enhancing the quality of museum services and the effectiveness of cultural communication.

These research results indicate that the motivations of "knowledge exploration," "social interaction," and "psychological restoration" are not isolated within individual visitors’ intentions and behaviors. Instead, they dynamically change along with visitors’ museum experiences and environmental perceptions. Drawing on Falk and Dierking’s (2016) developed interactive experience model, visitors’ museum experiences can be decomposed into three dimensions: personal context, social context, and physical context [ 36 ]. In line with the results of this study, this division can be described as follows: (1) personal context, encompassing the collection of visitors’ individual characteristics (including genetics), incorporating their prior knowledge, experiences, interests, and tendencies in selecting and utilizing museum resources; (2) social context reflecting visitors’ preferences for social interaction behavior, such as perceptions, attitudes, and communication willingness towards companions, venue guides, interpreters, etc.; and (3) physical context associated with museum space, lighting, temperature, information boards, exhibits, service facilities, etc., potentially impacting visitors’ immersive experiences and satisfaction. These three dimensions work in conjunction to help visitors understand and experience museum spaces and exhibits [ 80 ]. They collectively influence visitors’ subsequent behaviors.

Overall, the factors influencing the cultural perception and behaviors of modern museum visitors are complex and diverse [ 2 ]. Analyzing museum visitor types can provide insights into grasping the diverse profiles of modern museum visitors, guiding the adjustment and formulation of more precise museum management and communication strategies. Jin & Zhang propose that museums should be places for free learning, immersive spaces that inspire creativity and free imagination, havens for safe, quiet, independent thinking, and healing spaces that help visitors relieve stress and regulate emotions [ 81 ]. The results of this study also indicate that the historical and cultural value, architectural aesthetics, spatial functionality, and social attributes of museums are key motivators for public visiting experiences. Therefore, museums need to carefully consider and improve the following aspects of their spatial functionalities and continuous maintenance systems: free learning, free imagination, deep immersion, independent thinking, social interaction, psychological healing, and emotion regulation. This will meet the expectations and diverse needs of different types of visitors, ultimately enhancing their satisfaction with the museum and fostering cultural understanding, identity, and widespread dissemination.

The value of museum experience

From the perspective of the current quality of museum experiences, there are several main issues and characteristics. Four issues lie in suboptimal circulation and layout, inadequate curator services, and dissatisfaction with promotion and communication. Additionally, there is a need for improvement in cultural learning and interactive experience programs for the entire audience. The characteristics manifest as a differentiation in museum cultural and creative consumption, and the emergence of associated consumption demands. In terms of the issues, museums, as spaces for disseminating knowledge and culture and providing visitors with experiential opportunities [ 4 ], are intricately linked to visitors’ perceptions and behaviors related to learning, imagination, self-realization, and interaction. This includes the smoothness of circulation, the rationality and connectivity of structural layout, the complementarity of functional project offerings, the creation of a conducive atmosphere, and the quality of both internal and external personnel services. If museum visitors have a subpar experience, it is likely to result in physical or mental fatigue during the exhibition process [ 82 ], subsequently reducing their willingness to linger, revisit, and disseminate. Simultaneously, different types of museum visitors demonstrate the practical significance of knowledge construction, self-construction, and the establishment and maintenance of social networks during their exhibition experience.

According to previous research findings, the public’s purposes for museum visits include fulfilling dimensions, such as leisure and entertainment, relaxation, self-identity construction, memory exploration and creation, and escaping real-life pressures [ 45 ]. Individuals with high curiosity and professionals/enthusiasts generally expect diverse cultural learning experiences, those with social needs anticipate better interaction spaces and conditions, and individuals with a need for psychological healing require better immersion and freedom to complete self-identity construction and meaning-making. Research data indicate that if visitors can harvest positive emotions and physical experiences during their exhibition process, their museum satisfaction, practical happiness, and dissemination willingness will significantly increase. This viewpoint aligns with the results of Jin & Zhang’s study, suggesting a positive relationship between the process of meaning construction by museum visitors and their sense of happiness [ 81 ]. In other words, the "meaning-imbuing" capacity created by museum spaces and artifacts can interact and jointly influence visitors’ experiences, further impacting museum development and its cultural communication effectiveness.

This study also discovered that, in addition to the museum’s original functions of exhibition, collection, education, cultural communication, as well as the leisure, entertainment, and social interaction functions bestowed by the modern era, different types of visitors, influenced by their identity and social networks during the exhibition process, increasingly demonstrate characteristics of self-identity acquisition and reconstruction. This is an aspect that has been rarely explored and demonstrated in previous research. For instance, individuals with a teacher identity may focus on the perspective and methods of knowledge dialogue and dissemination, and those with parental roles may lean towards an educational perspective, paying attention to the accessibility and fun of cultural explanations. On the other hand, professionals (in cultural studies, architecture, photography) may emphasize innovation and knowledge recombination, often reflecting a "social" need. As per Wilson & Harris’s perspective [ 83 ], visitors intend to establish and maintain social networks and gain social recognition during their museum visits, thereby defining and empowering their self-identity.

Looking at the characteristics, museum visitors show a demand for cultural and related consumption. In the early days, museums were centered around objects, emphasizing the collection and display of artifacts as well as the educational function of culture [ 4 ]. However, with changes in society, the consumer market, and public perceptions, more attention has been given to the cultural communication value and forms of museums. Obtaining perception and experience in the "visual" space and triggering action are important aspects to consider when realizing the regional and national cultural identity and external communication needs. The combination of objects within the museum collectively forms the cultural narrative in the museum space [ 15 , 22 ]. Therefore, in exploring the cultural communication path of museums, it is necessary to simultaneously consider and study the spiritual and symbolic value of objects in shaping and disseminating culture. Using various means such as visuality, quality, innovation, technology, and interactivity to invite visitors to experience and learn about culture [ 84 ]. However, current domestic museums face issues in the conceptual lag, low enthusiasm for funding input, lack of creativity and innovation, insufficient distinctiveness, simple labeling, and excessive commercialization in the development of the spiritual and symbolic values of objects [ 85 ], leading to a differentiated landscape in visitor consumption of museum cultural and creative products. Based on the empirical research results of Song & Feng (2020) on consumers of cultural and creative products nationwide, the current characteristics of public consumption of museum cultural and creative products are as follows: consumers prefer light cultural and creative products such as food, accessories, and stationery; consumers pay more attention to the "beauty, fun, and quality" of cultural and creative products, and "low price" does not necessarily drive purchasing power; 300 yuan is the price threshold, and high creative added value is expected to promote consumption upgrading; the overall experience in physical stores is good, but there are shortcomings in product display and service; and online and offline channels each have their own strengths, fully tapping into urban spatial possibilities, and expanding cultural and creative sales channels. These survey results are partially confirmed in this study. This clearly indicates that museums and related practitioners can only meet the objectives of supply and precise communication by developing and designing cultural and creative products from the perspective of consumer demand, while also improving service and experience quality.

Finally, museum construction and communication constitute a multidimensional systematic project involving the design of the public, culture, marketing, and more. Viewed from the perspective of "people’s" perceptual experience and behavior, this involves collaboration between the government and various sectors of society. Taking this study as an example, museum visitors expressed a strong demand for convenience and associative consumption, such as the combination, sale, and promotion of transportation, dining, and entertainment options. Ticket revenue is no longer the focus of attention for operators and consumers. Instead, the distribution of cultural and creative products, books, dining options within the museum, and shopping, leisure, and entertainment formats outside the museum are key elements for comprehensively enhancing museum revenue and cultural communication effectiveness.

Museum construction and communication strategies

Based on the research results, this study proposes the following recommendations for museum construction and communication:

• Emphasize the improvement of the internal layout fluency and the comprehensive nature of service facilities. Continuously enhance and upgrade service quality while prioritizing the development of an online and offline cultural communication system and knowledge platform. Establish a digital exhibition and cultural heritage preservation center [ 86 ], utilizing modern technological means for digital preservation, display, and dissemination of Nan Song culture. Provide the public with a more comprehensive and diverse visiting experience, thereby extending the time and space for exhibition and learning. This approach aims to stimulate the public’s willingness and actual behavior in dissemination, ultimately expanding the museum’s communicative influence.
• Beyond showcasing artifacts, museums should incorporate highly interactive and participatory display methods, such as virtual reality and augmented reality experiential interactive projects. This immersive approach facilitates the output of cultural content and allows for the organization of lectures, explanations, and research activities to attract scholars, experts, and enthusiasts, enhancing the educational and research value of the museum. Collaboration with schools and communities can further amplify the benefits, comprehensively improving the effectiveness of public cultural learning and communication.
• After thoroughly understanding the diverse identities and multi-stage practices of visitors in the museum, accurately position the profile of museum visitors. Enhance the museum’s ability to "create meaning and cultural output" by leveraging the cultural and symbolic aspects of the museum space and artifacts. Strengthen visitors’ cultural consumption satisfaction and enjoyment by emphasizing the practicality, innovation, quality, and diversity of cultural and creative designs. This strategy aims to increase visitors’ willingness to consume and expand cultural communication pathways and effects.
• Prioritize the convenience and relevance of public visiting and consumption demands. In addition to utilizing various channels and media (social media, online marketing, cultural events) for museum promotion and marketing, establish museum introductions and location cues at major transportation hubs. Develop collaborative visiting experience projects to enhance the public’s willingness for museum visits, cultural learning, and broaden the scope of communication.

Limitations and future research directions

The sampled institution in this study, the Nan Song Deshou Palace Relics Site Museum in Hangzhou, China, is a local museum established less than a year ago, designed to exhibit and convey the "specific historical stage and culture." Unlike comprehensive large-scale or national museums, such as the Palace Museum, its uniqueness lies in the concentrated exhibition of the Nan Song Dynasty site, artifacts, and culture. Consequently, this research aims to provide reference suggestions for similar museums in terms of functional construction, services, and cultural dissemination by conducting research and analysis on this museum and its current visitors. While this study reveals conclusions with certain representativeness and exploratory value, offering valuable insights for the improvement of functional settings, services, and communication strategies for the sampled museum and potentially for other museums of a similar nature, its applicability to other types of museums (e.g., art, science) and provincial or local comprehensive museums remains a topic for discussion and validation.

Furthermore, the sample size of this study consists of thirty-four interviewees. Despite efforts to ensure the representativeness and diversity of demographic characteristics in the sample, there is room for further expansion to examine the accuracy and effectiveness of the study’s conclusions, engaging in a dialogue with the results obtained in this research. Additionally, the cultural background, values, daily behavioral habits of museum visitors, and their experiences in visiting other cultural venues warrant further investigation regarding their impact on museum visits, cultural reception, revisit intentions, secondary communication intentions and behaviors [ 87 ].

Lastly, this study recognizes the implicit needs of museum visitors for "social presence, interaction, identification, and a sense of belonging." These needs manifest as a dual-sided feature involving both active establishment and passive acquisition. The study acknowledges the potential influence of the strength and weakness of social capital connections on individual well-being and behavior, questioning the pathways through which these effects occur [ 81 ]. Whether this influence has correlations with the social background and cultural education in the context of Chinese society is also an important topic for discussion.

Acknowledgments

We would like to express our gratitude to the editor and the anonymous reviewers for their valuable feedback, which greatly contributed to the improvement of this paper. Additionally, we extend our thanks to all individuals who participated in the research and interviews, acknowledging their substantial support throughout the study.

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