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Impact of culture to the content of websites

This article explores the influence of culture on website content, discussing the benefits and challenges of standardization and localization strategies. It also explores the three levels of culture - perceptual, behavioral, and symbolic - and provides examples of how different cultural values can be reflected in website design and content.

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Impact of culture to the content of websites

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  1. Impact of culture to the content of websites Elena Vitkauskaitė Kaunas University of Technology Lithuania

  2. Agenda 1. Culture 2. Standardise or localise? 3. Why localisation efforts fail? 4. Levels of culture 4.1. Perceptual level 4.2. Behavioural level 4.3. Symbolic level

  3. 1. Culture • The culture is man-made part of the human environment (Herkovits, 1995)

  4. 2. Standardise or localise? • Standardisation strategy uses promotional messages internationally, translating but not otherwise modifying headings, illustrations or copy • Localisation (or adaptation) strategy posits that consumer difference may have been widening and that messages should be tailored according to culture, media availability, product life-cycle stages and industry structures • Third school of thought offers a compromise approach – appropriateness of standardisation depends on the product, consumer characteristics and environmental factors

  5. 3. Why localisation efforts fail? • Designers do not necessarily know about other cultures • Cosmetic changes are not enough

  6. 4. Levels of culture • Perceptual level (emphasises on language use and colour categories) • Behavioural level (emphasises on cultural values) • Symbolic level (emphasises on emic understanding of signs and symbols of the society)

  7. 4.1. Perceptual level • Spatial orientation • Web page layout • Text length • Navigation modes • Translation equivalence • Dialects • Colour categories

  8. 4.2. Behavioral level Cultural values proposed by Hofstede and Hall: • Individualism – collectivism • Uncertainty avoidance • Power distance • Masculinity – femininity • Confusian dinamism • High / low context cultures • Polychronic /monochronic cultures

  9. 4.2.1. Collectivism • Community relations • Clubs or chat rooms • Newsletter • Family theme • Symbols and pictures of national identity • Loyalty programs • Links to local web sites

  10. 4.2.2. Uncertainty avoidance • Customer service • Guided navigation • Tradition theme • Local stores • Local terminology • Free trials or downloads • Toll-free numbers

  11. 4.2.3. Power distance • Company hierarchy information • Pictures of CEOs • Quality assurance and awards • Vision statement • Pride of ownership appeal • Proper titles

  12. Example of high power distance website

  13. Example of low power distance website

  14. 4.2.4. Masculinity • Quizzes and games • Realism theme • Product effectiveness • Clear gender roles

  15. Example of masculine website

  16. 4.2.5. High / low context cultures • High context culture • Politeness and indirectness • Soft-sell approach • Aesthetics • Low context culture • Hard-sell approach • Use of superlatives • Rank of prestige of the company • Terms and conditions of purchase

  17. 4.3. Symbolic level • Country-specific symbols • Icons • Color symbolism

  18. Thank you for your attention Questions?

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