Face Concerns in Intra- and Intercultural Business Communication

ABSTRACT This study examined the impact of communication context on face concerns in business interactions. In previous research face concerns were studied across cultures, but here for the first time compared within intra-and intercultural business communication settings. The study aims at investigating whether the priority of face concerns is the same or different in intracultural and intercultural face-threatening business communication. We hypothesized that managers would apply different face concerns in response to face threatening acts in interactions with either their compatriots or people from foreign cultures. We surveyed 380 Russian business professionals working in international companies. To measure face concerns we adapted the questionnaire by S. Ting-Toomey and J. Oetzel to the Russian sample. We compared two contexts using t-test and rmANOVA. Results showed a significant difference between face concerns in managers behaviour in intercultural and intracultural communication. Managers tend to employ either self-face or mutual-face rather than other-face concern in intracultural communication. On the contrary, they prefer mutual-face rather than self-face or other-face concerns in intercultural communication. These results provide empirical evidence that Russian managers create public image in business interactions considering cultural differences and modify their behaviour to fit the context.