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Cooperating or competing in three languages: cultural accommodation or alienation?

Vasiliki Gargalianou (Tilburg School of Economics and Management, Tilburg University, Tilburg, The Netherlands)
Diemo Urbig (University of Wuppertal, Wuppertal, Germany)
Arjen van Witteloostuijn (Tilburg University, Tilburg, The Netherlands)

Cross Cultural & Strategic Management

ISSN: 2059-5794

Article publication date: 6 February 2017

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Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to study the effect of using foreign languages on cooperative behavior in a prisoner’s dilemma setting. The cultural accommodation hypothesis suggests that people are less cooperative in English, associated with the Anglophone cultural cluster, than in French, which is – as is Belgium – associated with the more cooperative Latin European cultural cluster.

Design/methodology/approach

Choices are framed as pricing strategies in the context of duopolistic competition. In total, 422 Flemish-Belgium participants with English and French as foreign and Dutch as their native language played in one of three language treatments.

Findings

While the authors observe differences between the native and both foreign languages, which are moderated by gender, the authors do not find any difference in effects between the two foreign languages that are associated with different cultures. Extending cultural accommodation arguments, the data suggests an effect specific to the use of the two selected foreign languages.

Originality/value

The authors contribute to this literature by reporting an experimental test of cultural accommodation and alienation effects related to two foreign languages. The authors explore novel arguments, related to cognitive psychology and gender effects.

Keywords

Citation

Gargalianou, V., Urbig, D. and van Witteloostuijn, A. (2017), "Cooperating or competing in three languages: cultural accommodation or alienation?", Cross Cultural & Strategic Management, Vol. 24 No. 1, pp. 167-191. https://doi.org/10.1108/CCSM-01-2016-0008

Publisher

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Emerald Publishing Limited

Copyright © 2017, Emerald Publishing Limited

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