Balancing Cultural and Corporate Identity Aspects in Standardising and/or Localising Websites

Diplomarbeit von Constantin Meissner

Abstract:

The worldwide economy is currently in a state of upheaval. For decades the traditional marketplace was the common way to buy goods, services and to do business. People set up shops and met in conference rooms to negotiate big business deals. However, since the middle of the 90’s the business world has been undergoing a tremendous change.

While the basic rules for doing business have not altered, conditions and terms have changed significantly. The emergence of the Internet was the main catalyst for this drastic change in the business world. At first the Internet was considered to be merely another medium with which people had to deal with. It was regarded as a concomitant which did not necessarily have to be used in companies.

But the possibilities the Internet offered were and are tremendous. Both private people and companies discovered the opportunities harboured by the Internet. Firms quickly realised that the Internet can and must be a medium which was worth taking a closer look at. The same applied for individuals.

However, the very purpose of its work, which is communication between private people over the Internet, can be overlooked and neglected in this context.

The first part of the present thesis focuses on the Internet and how companies and individuals use the digital environment to do business. The objective of firms is mainly to do business, either with other firms or with private people. The Internet is considered to be a medium and an interface both parties have to use. With the help of the Internet, companies are expected to increase their efficiency and reduce transaction costs. The unique characteristics of the Internet such as its omnipresence promise both parties an increase in their business activities.

Furthermore, the Internet has to be perceived as a great, parallel world to the traditional, existing one. Of course, companies can exclusively exist and compete on the Internet. But what they must not neglect is the fact that individuals are people that communicate, interact and perform everywhere on the Internet. The human aspect is still one of the central factors when looking at the relatively new phenomenon of the Internet.

Nevertheless, this human factor has somehow been neglected by web designers and marketers for several years. Companies set up web pages, filled them with content and thought that someone might hopefully visit the page and buy a product online. Every visitor to a website was confronted with the same content presented in the same manner, regardless of the personal characteristics the visitor had. However, the issue of cultural parentage emerged as one factor which was potentially worth looking at.

Companies had so far ignored culture as an important element which might have played a role in the interaction process between a website of a company and the visitor and potential customer.

The present thesis presents one possible approach to assessing the role of culture in the digital world. Nevertheless, the culture factor has largely been neglected and worse, been ignored. A look at related literature shows that culture is relevant when designing websites.

Contrary to the common view of marketers, the values of people all around the world are not converging. Even though we live in a world where globalisation is the challenge of the century, individuals and their values are not becoming similar. Clearly, this fact would make the case much easier for companies and their worldwide activities.

When companies ignore this matter of fact, they may lose ground in the hard competing business world. Website visitors can only navigate a website easily and comfortably if the digital document and its design respect the cultural values of the user. Furthermore, the focus does not exclusively lie on multinational firms. The relevant thinking begins on the small, regional web pages. If the website of the local supermarket ignores the values of the visitors who look online every day for new offers, the purpose of the website might be lost.

With regard to the remaining content of this paper, it is necessary to differentiate the content of a web page in two parts: the navigational aspect and the corporate identity aspect. The navigational aspect consists of elements which the user experiences when surfing through the website. Corporate identity consists, in most cases on the Internet, of a small logo and a text or a slogan. This paper differentiates between both parts.

To gain a better insight into the topic and understand the role of the relatively new medium of the Internet, this thesis will begin with a section which explains globalisation and differentiate between standardisation and localisation. Furthermore, the relevance of websites for daily business of companies will be underlined.

The next part emphasises the role of culture in general and its interpretation on websites. For a better understanding of culture as an important factor, Hofstede’s cultural dimensions will be examined. The next section provides an overview of corporate identity in general and its components. The next part describes how corporate identity can be realised on the Internet. Furthermore, a differentiation between the navigational aspect on websites will be undertaken.

The last part offers examples of how websites can be culturally sensitive. For each dimension offered by Hofstede, this paper will give screenshots of websites to illustrate a culturally adapted website. However, these examples present only one possible approach as to how a localised website might look. The conclusion will summarise the presented insights and take a short look into the future regarding the role of culture on websites and how companies can deal with this aspect.

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