How do US corporations communicate interculturally with their Chinese stakeholders : analysis of GM Company’s social media posts from the cultural value perspective

Abstract

Social Media is an important means of communication with audiences around the world. The purpose of this study was to explore whether GM—a famous US auto company adapts its US Cultural values to suit the prevalent cultural values of its Chinese stakeholders on Chinese social media. Content analysis was used to evaluate the cultural content of GM Company’s posts on Weibo and Twitter. Although influenced by the special features of the car industry, there is still enough evidence that the communication style of the US auto Company makes cultural adaption on Chinese social media, reflecting more Chinese prevalent cultural values.