Lesson 2.2: Where U.S. business culture sits

About 15 minutes

Learning objective

By the end of this lesson, you will be able to describe where typical U.S. business communication sits on the context scale and recognize which of your own habits may read differently to a West African partner.

It is easy to notice another culture's style and much harder to notice your own. Most U.S. business people grew up in a system that rewards directness, so it does not feel like a style at all. It feels like "just being clear."

In Hall's terms, mainstream U.S. business communication generally sits toward the low-context end. Many writers on intercultural communication link this to a large, diverse and mobile society, where people often do business with strangers and cannot rely on shared background. Explicit words and detailed written contracts fill that gap.

Typical U.S. habits and how they may read

U.S. habit	Why it makes sense at home	How it may read to many West African partners
Getting to the point in the first line	Respects the reader's time	Abrupt; the relationship step was skipped
First names from the first email	Signals friendliness and equality	Overfamiliar, especially with senior people
Saying "no" clearly and quickly	Avoids false hope	Harsh, especially toward a guest or new partner
Short deadlines	Keeps projects moving	Pressure that ignores the approval process
Keeping business and personal separate	Keeps decisions objective	Cold, where trust is personal
Humor and a casual tone early on	Builds rapport quickly	Confusing, or not serious, in a first contact

None of these habits is wrong. They work well at home. The point is to recognize them as habits, so you can choose when to use them instead of using them automatically.

The written contract is a good example. In many U.S. deals, the contract is where trust lives: if it is not in writing, it does not count. Many West African partners also value formal documents, but they often see the contract as the record of a relationship that already exists. Pushing for signatures before that relationship is in place can feel premature, even when the terms are fair.

Why it matters

Once you see your own style as a style, you stop judging the other side's style as a flaw. That shift alone removes much of the frustration in cross-border deals, on both sides of the table.

The U.S. is not uniform either. Business culture in a Texas family firm, a New York finance house and a Midwest farm co-op can differ a great deal. Some U.S. regions and industries put more weight on relationships and small talk than others. You may already use more high-context habits than you think.

That is useful, because it means you already have the skills. Think of a customer you have served for years. You probably ask about their family, avoid blunt refusals and give them time to decide. You notice when they go quiet, and you know what it means. Those are high-context skills. You can bring them to new international partners.

Watch out

Watch for U.S. shorthand that feels neutral but is not: "ASAP," "EOD," "FYI," "per my last email," "circle back." Message Check flags these under rules NG-CLR-01 and NG-CLR-03. They are worth removing for any international reader, not only in Nigeria.

There is also an imbalance worth knowing. Many Nigerian business people know a lot about U.S. communication from education, media, travel and years of working with foreign firms. Fewer U.S. business people know much about Nigerian communication. Your partner may already be adjusting to you. Meeting them partway is a sign of respect, and it is noticed.

This matters more as trade grows. U.S. goods exports to Nigeria were $6.8 billion in 2025, up 56.3% from 2024, according to USTR. More U.S. firms are entering the market, and the ones that communicate well will stand out.

Good practice

Ask a trusted contact in the market, or an export counselor, to read one of your standard emails and tell you how it lands. A local reader can spot in seconds what you cannot see from the inside. America's SBDC network has nearly 1,000 Small Business Development Centers nationwide, and many can point you to export counseling.

Worked example: Jake, sales manager at a Wisconsin food equipment firm, needs a purchase order from Mrs. Adebayo, a buyer at a hotel group in Abuja.

Before

Hi Funmi,

Quick one: can you get me the PO by EOD Friday? We need to lock in the production slot. Thx!

Jake

After

Good morning, Mrs. Adebayo,

I hope you are well and that the week has started smoothly. Thank you again for confirming your interest in the order.

To reserve a production slot for you, we would need the purchase order by

Friday, [date], at 5:00 p.m. West Africa Time. If your approval process needs more time, please let me know and we will do our best to work around it.

With best regards,

Jake Collins

What changed: the request and the date are the same. Jake replaced the first name with title and surname, removed "PO," "EOD" and "Thx," added a reason, gave the time in West Africa Time and acknowledged that Mrs. Adebayo may need senior approval.

Check yourself

1. Where does mainstream U.S. business communication generally sit on Hall's scale?
A. Toward the high-context end.B. Toward the low-context end.C. Exactly in the middle.
2. In the U.S., using first names from the first email signals friendliness. To a senior Nigerian contact, it may read as:
A. Overfamiliar.B. Very formal.C. Legally binding.
3. Which of these is a high-context skill many U.S. owners already use?
A. Reading the silence of a long-standing local customer.B. Setting short deadlines.C. Using acronyms such as EOD.

Apply it

Choose one of your standard emails, such as a quote cover note, a follow-up or an order confirmation. Mark each U.S. habit from the table that appears in it. Rewrite the email so it keeps its meaning but adds context and courtesy where a West African reader would expect them.

From DealDialect (dealdialect.com) by Ayomide Adeyeye, licensed CC BY 4.0.