>Besides, there is also a cultural element here: privacy is a lot more valued in anglo-saxon cultures than in Latino cultures. Brazilians, Italians and others are a lot less concerned about things such as personal space ...
Speaking specifically about Brazilians, privacy works differently but so does "trust". Brazilians prefer to use intermediaries to establish trust much more so than North Americans:
- You cannot rent an apartment in Brazil without going through a broker (unless you know the owner personally). Brazilians will pay a middleman for some reason. In Canada and the USA, it's the opposite -- almost nobody uses a broker; the renter and the owner deal with each other.
- Professional jobs like software development go through recruitment firms almost exclusively. Whereas a big company would hire directly in the USA, in Brazil they'll use one of the Brazilian recruiting firms and pay a large fee. And professionals (such as programmers) will browse the recruiting firm's site and won't think to apply directly to the company.
- Brazilians are unlikely to invite a stranger they met (over the Internet, by phone, or even in person) into their home. Even if the person is a professional business contact. In Canada/USA, people are much more open to inviting a business contact into their home. But if the Brazilian has an introduction to the person by a mutual friend, then the person is no longer a stranger; he is immediately welcome.
Both privacy and trust work differently in Brazil.
I wanted to address one of your subpoints, which is that although some landlords in the US deal with renters directly, many turn to a 3rd-party management company.
Speaking specifically about Brazilians, privacy works differently but so does "trust". Brazilians prefer to use intermediaries to establish trust much more so than North Americans:
- You cannot rent an apartment in Brazil without going through a broker (unless you know the owner personally). Brazilians will pay a middleman for some reason. In Canada and the USA, it's the opposite -- almost nobody uses a broker; the renter and the owner deal with each other.
- Professional jobs like software development go through recruitment firms almost exclusively. Whereas a big company would hire directly in the USA, in Brazil they'll use one of the Brazilian recruiting firms and pay a large fee. And professionals (such as programmers) will browse the recruiting firm's site and won't think to apply directly to the company.
- Brazilians are unlikely to invite a stranger they met (over the Internet, by phone, or even in person) into their home. Even if the person is a professional business contact. In Canada/USA, people are much more open to inviting a business contact into their home. But if the Brazilian has an introduction to the person by a mutual friend, then the person is no longer a stranger; he is immediately welcome.
Both privacy and trust work differently in Brazil.