Almost everyone in China has a cell phone, but almost no one has voicemail. How come?

The answer is part cultural, part technological and part financial.

First, the cultural. In Western societies, it’s considered rude to answer your cell phone during a meeting, a meal or a conversation. So it’s perfectly acceptable to let the phone ring until the caller leaves a voice message. Not in China, where people answer their phones anytime, anyplace, in any situation. Taxi drivers take calls while they’re driving, teachers answer calls while they’re teaching and waiters gab on the phone while they’re serving. Chinese callers expect someone to answer their calls immediately. And if they don’t, they expect to get a quick return call. In China, a person who’s constantly talking on the phone is viewed as important and popular. Therefore, the more calls you answer, the better.

Next, the technological. In the West, landlines were well established before the advent of cell phones. In developing countries like China, where landlines were unreliable, the transition to cell phones was faster and more widespread. Since voicemail was originally created for landlines, there was no habit of leaving voice messages. Thus, most Chinese have never even tried it. And many who do are confused by the technology. I’ve heard stories about Chinese callers getting an answering machine message and continuing to talk for several minutes as if a live person was on the other end of the line.

Finally, the financial. Features like voicemail cost extra money, and Chinese consumers are very cost conscious. They don’t want to pay for services unless they are essential. And, in their minds, it’s not essential to leave a message if someone doesn’t answer their call.