Avenues of Influence: Cross-Cultural Implications

The current research examined well-established cognitive biases within the context of a multinational, multicultural domain. A feasibility study was conducted at the NATO School Oberammergau (NSO) to determine if cross-cultural differences could be measured with the intent to provide a basic understanding of mechanisms that drive specific influence tactics and determine if those mechanisms were differentially effective across cultures. A 2 x 2 factorial experiment was designed that would examine the effects of message tone (Positive, Negative) and social influence (High Social Proof, Low Social Proof) on information retrieval behavior across cultures. The project was canceled before experiment execution. Pilot data is reported.