Part V: The Future
Chapter 20
THE ETHNOCENTRIC BIAS
Why one size does not fit all in the world of digital communications
In Short
- Why Western companies must respond to local needs in Asia if they wish to grow.
- How to best embrace the opportunities in these markets.
- What you have to gain by breaking the mould others are stuck in.
Overview
In this chapter Michael Netzley, PhD at the Singapore Management University, discusses the opportunity to see beyond the traditional markets. Asia is filled with diverse and fragmented markets, more so than what we typically find in the West’s more mature markets. The larger social media conversation reflects values and market assumptions of these mature markets, and all too often the needs of Asia’s emerging and growing markets go unrepresented. Professional communicators must stop relying on advice crafted within different market conditions and instead lead the way forward by producing solid research as the basis for data-driven communication decisions.
The tsunami is washing across northern Japan and my television screen as I write my thoughts regarding biases in our digital media conversation. The terrible tragedy taking place in a country that I briefly called home appears on a scale I have not seen since the Aceh tsunami in 2004. Images of the destruction flow across my screen, and as commentators worry about the nation’s nuclear power plants I am equally taken by the immediate outpouring of sympathy for the people of Japan. The ...
