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Unstranslatable Words and Values

Values have to be labeled, and if the labels are translated but the values are not comparable, they tend to represent different values. Thus, translation of values of American value lists into other languages can result in meaningless concepts or may even turn positive concepts into negative ones.

A few examples of untranslatable words and concepts can be given. Such words and concepts are very important for advertising because in the specific culture they can communicate a message instantly. During the past century, the Dutch coffee producer Douwe Egberts has built a high market share in the Netherlands by consistently connecting coffee with the typically Dutch togetherness concept, which could not be implanted in other parts of Europe except in the similar cultures of Scandinavia. Because American lists of values are so frequently used for cross-cultural studies, in this section the translation problems of a few of the typical Rokeach values are described.

Values like patriotism and nationalism are more meaningful in some countries than in others, often depending on their histories. For countries that have always had open borders, such as the Netherlands, these values are neither meaningful nor important. If someone in the Netherlands were to declare himself ready to die for his country, people would start laughing.

Feelings of nationality also vary between individualistic and collectivistic cultures. For the former, a "nation" is the abstract ultimate unit to which one chooses to belong. For Americans, it is loyalty to the "stars and stripes," not to the current president. For members of collectivistic cultures, one is more implicitly part of a "grand family" in which a good ruler has the role of the benevolent father, and loyalty is to the ruler. This explains how in Japan, a culture based on personal ties, the emperor was and still is a symbol of loyalty far surpassing a flag. Also, in Europe the degree to which people feel attached to their town or region (not the nation) is much stronger in collectivistic cultures than in individualistic cultures, according to a Eurobarometer survey of 2001 that asked the degree of attachment to town or region in 14 west European countries. Collectivism explained 62% of variance of the answers "feeling attached to one's region" and 43% of variance of the answers "feeling attached to one's town."

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