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Abstract
Purpose - To explore the depiction of cultural values on international web sites.
Design/methodology/approach - To measure cultural content on the web Singh and Matsuo's conceptual framework was used. Content analysis was used to study the cultural content on web sites from China, India, Japan and the US.
Findings - The results indicate that local web sites of India, China, Japan and US not only reflect cultural values of the country of their origin, but also seem to differ significantly from each other on cultural dimensions.
Research limitations/implications - This study validates the cultural value framework of Singh and Matsuo by successfully using it to analyze the cultural content on various country web sites. The study also provides evidence to international marketers and academics that instead of a "transnational web style" a culturally unique web style is emerging on the web.
Practical implications - Marketers need to culturally customize their international web sites as the web is emerging as global medium impregnated with local cultural values.
Originality/value - The paper extends the standardization versus localization debate to the web, a medium yet not explored in this context.
Keywords Internet, Globalization, National cultures, Localization
Paper type Research paper
Introduction
The internet is inherently global in nature, as it is globally accessible and crosses national boundaries to allow consumers around the world to participate equally. Today the global online population is estimated to be around 407 million and by 2005 it is expected to reach one billion (www.nua.net/survey/). According to International Data Corporation, currently 60 percent of the online population resides outside US and it is expected to generate 46 percent of global e-commerce spending by 2003. It seems that the major obstacle for companies extending their e-business globally is to understand global consumers and to overcome cultural barriers and language differences on the web (Violino, 2001). However, there is not enough evidence in the literature supporting the use of localized-specialized approach to web communications (Singh etal, 2003). Previous cross-cultural studies on the web have explored issues like web site interactivity, site quality, navigation, and their perception by international consumers (Luna et al., 2002; Simon, 2001; Tsikriktsis, 2002). These studies conclude that international consumers prefer locally adapted web content, but do not provide any guidance,...