"Dear Friend" (?): Culture and Genre in American and Canadian Direct Marketing Letters

This essay examines the differences between Canadian and American culturesas they manifest themselves in business discourse. Studies of Canadian identitynote the complexity inherent in a multicultural society such as Canada, but theyalso identify some of the common characteristics — a concern for and tolerance ofothers, awareness of class distinctions, concern for the collective over the individual. This distinct Canadian identity affects genres such as the direct marketing letter because the genre depends on shared understandings between writersand readers; these understandings in turn depend upon cultural values. Theessay then examines direct mail letters addressed to both Canadian and American addresses using concepts from cross-cultural communication: power distance, directness, and individualism. Two pairs of letters — one written forCanadians, one for Americans — that have similar goals are then examined toidentify the differences between their approaches to each audience. Businesscommunicators need to be aware that Canadians see themselves as culturallydistinct, and they need to write differently for Canadian audiences. Moreresearch that identifies specific reader's responses to direct marketing letters isneeded.