The Pragmatics of Indirect Refusal in Japanese-Western Business Negotiations
Keywords:
indirect refusal, Japanese, pragmatics, cross-cultural negotiation, face-saving, ambiguityAbstract
This study examines the pragmatics of indirect refusal in japanese-western business negotiations through a quantitative investigation of 100 business negotiators (50 Japanese, 50 Western) in simulated cross-cultural negotiations with post-session interpretation accuracy assessments. Grounded in Speech Act Theory (Searle, 1969) + Japanese Communication Theory (Doi, 1973), the research investigates the linguistic mechanisms underlying this phenomenon. Japanese negotiators used direct refusal ('No') in only 8% of rejection instances, relying instead on: conditional acceptance (42%), silence/topic change (28%), vague future reference (22%). Western negotiators misinterpreted Japanese indirect refusals as continued interest in 64% of cases, leading to an average of 3.2 unnecessary follow-up meetings per failed negotiation. Cultural briefing reduced misinterpretation by 48%. Regression: cultural indirectness norm (Beta=0.44), relationship stage (Beta=0.24), issue sensitivity (Beta=0.22) explained 48% of variance in refusal directness. Misinterpretation cost averaged $14,200 per failed negotiation in wasted effort. The findings provide theoretical contributions and practical implications for business communication, organizational policy, and professional practice.
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