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MIP 24,1

Does culture matter on the web?

Inga Burgmann and Philip J. Kitchen
University of Hull, Hull, UK, and

62
Received May 2005 Revised October 2005 Accepted October 2005

Russell Williams
University of Aberdeen, Aberdeen, UK

Abstract
Purpose Investigating one aspect of the potential of rms to market their offerings internationally, this research seeks to explore the impact of that familiar topic culture on online international marketing. More precisely, whether the technologies of the web (manifest in the graphical user interface (GUI)) are culturally neutral, allowing for transparent communication between different cultures. Design/methodology/approach Utilising the widely cited cultural dimensions of culture uncertainty avoidance and power distance comparative content analysis for a sample of web sites from two industry sectors (banking and education) across three countries (Germany, Greece, and the United Kingdom) was undertaken. Findings The results of the analysis revealed differences in aspects of GUI design between the three country web sites in line with associated cultural dimensions. It also revealed similarities between the three countries in GUI design in apparent contradiction of their associated cultural dimension. This early work suggests, therefore, that, whilst internet-based technologies exist as a global medium in the sense of connecting individuals, those individuals may still be culturally bound. To truly escape the constraints of time and space, communicating effectively online across boundaries, some acknowledgement that culture does matter is necessary. Research limitations/implications Further research, both in terms of the number of countries and industries, would be needed to conrm the generalisation that culture does indeed matter in terms of web site design (all be it in a qualied way) and, in addition, that the results were not unduly inuenced by either the choice of countries or industries. Whilst other researchers should consider applying the methodology to other industries, such as sports, fashion, etc. in order to test further the results of this study, additional research should also look towards different methodologies. For example, analysing web sites utilising Hofstedes other dimensions, or even applying Trompenaars and Hampden-Turners dimensions seems desirable. Practical implications This paper shows that culture, at least partially, inuences GUI design. The value in the suggested directions made in this paper lies in the possible creation of guidelines for the subsequent development of successful web sites. The work here adds to the limited body of work in this area against which future works may be contrasted. Originality/value Recognising the apparently obvious virtues of the internet and web in exchanging rich information with distant (international) markets, this work builds on the little work already undertaken in this direction and in doing so contributes to the wider debate in international marketing over standardisation versus adaptation. Specically, this paper considers the inuence of culture in an online context and researches the questions, Does culture matter online? and more specically, Are the multitude of graphical user-interfaces of organisational web sites culturally neutral or are the graphical user-interfaces culturally bound, intervening and inuencing the ability to communicate across cultures? The results are contrasted against predictions for the design of web sites derived from Hofstedes (1980, 2001) seminal works on the dimensions of culture. Keywords Internet, Culture (sociology), Marketing, Worldwide web Paper type Research paper

Marketing Intelligence & Planning Vol. 24 No. 1, 2006 pp. 62-76 q Emerald Group Publishing Limited 0263-4503 DOI 10.1108/02634500610641561

Introduction Internet-based technologies, specically the world wide web (WWW), have come to play a signicant role in the way that organisations communicate with the marketplace. Indeed, the fact that the technologies allow information to be readily exchanged without geography and time diminishing its richness has not been lost in the realms on international marketing. However, before the web is heralded as a panacea for marketing products globally (at least) one signicant factor the role and inuence of culture warrants further attention. Does culture matter online? More specically, are the multitude of graphical user interfaces (GUIs) of organisational web sites culturally neutral, having no intervening role in communication across cultures? Or, are the GUIs culturally bound, intervening and inuencing the ability to communicate across cultures? Recognising the apparently obvious virtues of the internet and web in exchanging rich information with distant (international) markets, this work builds on the little work already undertaken in this direction and in doing so contributes to the wider debate in international marketing over standardisation versus adaptation. In this paper the role of culture is explored utilising a comparative content analysis of web sites drawn from three different countries (cultures) and two different industries. Presenting the results of the analysis, the different country web sites are contrasted in terms of similarities and differences with each other. The results are also contrasted against predictions for the design of web sites derived from Hofstedes (1980, 2001) seminal works on the dimensions of culture. Following this discussion, the work proceeds with a conclusion as to whether culture matters online. Literature review Acknowledging the importance of culture, every international marketing text almost without exception now carries a dedicated chapter on this topic. Such chapters attempt to convey the most pervasive cultural differentiators and frequently refer in turn to the works of Hall (1976), Hofstede (1980), and Trompenaars and Hampden-Turner (1993). Before proceeding with an overview of these in chronological order, Hofstedes (1980) widely, cited denition of culture provides a useful starting point where Culture is the collective programming of the mind which distinguishes the members of one human group from another . . . Culture, in this sense, includes systems of values; and values are among the building blocks of culture (p. 21). As a means of understanding cultural orientation, Hall (1976) introduced the bi-polar construct of high and low context. In a low-context culture, messages are held to be explicit. Here, much of the information in communication is carried in words. Communication and language are explicit and direct. By way of contrast, in high-context cultures, less information is contained in the verbal (worded) part of a message. Instead, more information resides or is derived from the context of the message. Communication and language are implicit and indirect. Along a contextual continuum of different cultures, Usunier (2000) proposes the differences between countries in terms of context and communication. Here, the Swiss, Germans and Scandinavians as low-context cultures use explicit messages for communication, while the Japanese, Arabs and Latin Americans as high-context cultures use implicit messages to communicate. By surveying 100,000 employees of IBM in more than 50 countries, Hofstedes theory is undoubtedly the most extensive and comprehensive culture study undertaken to date. It is, moreover, probably the most widely cited of the three

Does culture matter on the web? 63

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dominant works. From the study, Hofstede (initially) identied four cultural dimensions; power distance (PD), uncertainty avoidance, masculinity and individualism. Later, a fth dimension-time orientation was added (Hofstede, 1980). PD is . . . the degree of inequality in power between a less powerful Individual (I) and a more powerful Other (O), in which I and O belong to the same (loosely or tightly knit) social system (Mulder cited in Hofstede, 2001, p. 83). Specically, high PD cultures, e.g. those in Asia or Latin America, are characterised by wide inequalities in power systems, centralized and hierarchical structures, and dependence on higher ranked staff (e.g. supervisors). In contrast, low PD cultures, for example, the Anglo-Saxon and Northern European countries, are deemed low PD cultures. Across these cultures one is more likely to nd equality, with respect earned through proven knowledge and ability rather than through possession of a job title. Additionally, there is an expectation for atter organizational structures with subordinates expected to participate or at least be consulted in decision-making. Uncertainty avoidance describes a lack of tolerance for uncertainty and ambiguity. For Hofstede (2001), peoples in such cultures look for structure in their organizations, institutions, and relationships, which make events clearly interpretable and predictable (p. 148). Highly structured rules within organisations, or intolerance towards groups or individuals who have different ideas or behaviour styles, characterise high uncertainty avoidance cultures. For example, Japan and some of the Latin American or Mediterranean countries are cited here as high uncertainty avoidance cultures. Low uncertainty avoidance cultures on the other hand have less formal and fewer standardised rules. Moreover, individuals are expected to take and accept risks and responsibilities, as well as demonstrate independence in their own role. The duality of the sexes is a fundamental fact with which different societies cope in different ways; the issue is what implications the biological differences between the sexes should have for the emotional and social roles of the genders (Hofstede, 2001, p. 279). Following on from this observation, masculinity is considered to describe a culture in which assertiveness, achievement and material possessions are seen as masculine goal-orientated behaviour. In contrast, cultures described as feminine are more modest, tender, able and willing to reach compromises, as well as concerned with the quality of life (Hofstede, 1989). Hofstede (2001) describes the dimension of individualism and collectivism as . . . the relationship between the individual and the collectivity that prevails in a given society (p. 209). Following on from this, the dimension characterises collectivist cultures as relationship and group orientated. In contrast, individual orientated cultures are those in which people are expected to take greater responsibility, and where attention is drawn towards the individual. Hofstede and Bond (1988) added a fth dimension. This fth dimension, rst termed Confucian Dynamism and then later renamed Time Orientation, sets out how different cultures exhibit either a future-orientated perspective or a short-term point of view. The consequences of a high score on the long-term orientation (LTO) index are persistence, thrift and the ordering and maintenance of relationships by status. At the other end of the index (a short-term orientation) the consequences are personal steadiness and stability (Hofstede, 2001). Rather obviously, most south-east Asian countries score high on the LTO index, while many European countries are viewed as short-term orientated.

In a survey of more than 15,000 managers across 28 different countries, Trompenaars and Hampden-Turners (1993) work presents ve bi-polar dimensions of culture: universalism vs particularism; individualism vs communitarianism; affective vs neutral; specic vs diffuse; achievement vs ascription. For the universalist, what is good and right can be applied ubiquitously. In contrast, for the particularist, the obligations arising out of relationships are more important than any general rules. The individualism-communitarianism dimension is held to correspond with Hofstedes individualism-collectivism dimension (Hofstede, 1980; Johnson and Turner, 2003; Trompenaars and Hampden-Turner, 1997). Simply, the dimension describes whether individuals see themselves as individuals rst or whether, in contrast, group obligations supersede individual interests and goals. In affective cultures, the expression of emotion by individuals is taken as more natural and indeed admired by others in these cultures. On the other hand, in neutral cultures the expression of emotion is restrained to give the impression of objectivity and being in control. Specic cultures exhibit more directness. Individuals get straight to the point, in contrast to diffuse cultures where individuals are more indirect and boundaries (e.g. work and leisure) are blurred. Finally, in achievement cultures status is derived from ones own achievement. In contrast, in ascription orientated cultures, status is derived from ones job title, age, sex, kinship, etc. This last dimension is held to be similar to Hofstedes PD (Hampden-Turner and Trompenaars, 1993; Trompenaars and Hampden-Turner, 1997). Mapping cultures against the dimensions of culture of Hall, Hofstede or Tromenaars and Hampden-Turner (either singularly or in combination), is useful for marketers in that it offers a snapshot of the cultural distances between countries. Moreover, as a result of having identied any distance, marketers can anticipate the degree to which the marketing programme, including marketing communications, may need to be adapted. While the relatively easy mapping of cultures is a useful tool in planning aspects of an international marketing programme, it should be noted that the three works are not without criticism. In summary, while Hofstedes research work was based on a large sample, indeed few works can have had a sample of circa 150,000 respondents, these respondents were drawn exclusively from IBM. In utilising only IBM employees as respondents the possibility exists of organizational culture overriding national culture ( Johnson and Turner, 2003). A similar criticism exists with Tromenaars and Hampden-Turners sample of respondents. Here, the respondents came exclusively from the occupational group managers. In this case the possibility exists of professional culture overriding national culture. A second criticism or limitation identied is that each of the three researchers assumes that each of the cultures reported on has one dominant culture. They are, therefore, ignoring any effect arising from large minorities, subcultures and multi-cultural nations (Marcus and Gould, 2000). In spite of these criticisms, the effort, importance and scope of all the three studies cannot be ignored. The internet and research hypotheses To date, relatively little work has investigated the role and inuence of country culture on the web. Moreover, this little work investigates subtly different aspects of culture and the internet. For example, Johnston and Johal (1999) have attempted to capture the cultural composition of the online community using Hofstedes dimensions. In this analysis, when online, individuals from whatever nation are held to adhere to

Does culture matter on the web? 65

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a culture that is common to the virtual cultural region. In other words, there is a distinct culture of the internet that individuals possess online; one that transcends the geographic-nationhood notion of culture. This culture of the virtual country is one of; low PD (no individuals voice has privilege over another); low uncertainty avoidance (the internet is open network, moreover, it offers choices); mixed individualism-collectivism (the web started out as a means of sharing information, but its commercialisation is driving it towards individualism); and mixed masculinity-femininity (competition between web sites gives it a masculine quality, yet there are still web sites sharing information and there is co-operation). Following this analysis, organisations need to adapt their strategies treating the internet and web as a distinct environment from the physical one (Johnston and Johal, 1999). Luna et al. (2002) taking a different approach to culture and the internet, propose a theory of cultural congruity on the web. The assertion here is that congruity can be achieved through the application of structure to the web site reecting a countrys culture. For example, congruent web sites should include verbal and non-verbal country specic content (e.g. symbols, pictures, language, etc.). Additionally, following the high/low-context classication of culture, a high-context culture would prefer (be able to process more easily) web sites with deep sequenced pages with a hierarchical structure. Alternatively, low-context cultures would prefer a search system based on at structured web sites where all the information is more readily available through the homepage. An interesting and yet unanswered question in this notion of the importance of the hierarchy of information, is the role and use of search engines to facilitate navigation through web sites. Ultimately, these bypass much of the designers work on the structure/hierarchy of information. Utilising Hofstedes ve cultural dimensions and a self-selected sample of web sites, Marcus and Gould (2000) demonstrate the inuence of culture on web site design. Specically, the authors believe that PD may inuence web design in terms of: (1) access to information, with web sites being either highly structured (high PD) or less highly structured (low PD); (2) emphasis on the social and moral order (e.g. nationalism or religion) and its symbols, with either frequent use (high PD) or less frequent use (low PD); (3) focus on expertise, authority, experts, certications, ofcial stamps, or logos, with either strong emphasis (high PD) or low emphasis (low PD); (4) prominence given to leaders vs citizens, customers, or employees, with either high prominence (high PD) or low prominence (low PD); importance of security and restrictions or barriers to access, with either explicit, enforced, frequent restrictions (high PD) or transparent, integrated, implicit freedom to roam (low PD); and (5) social rules to organise information, with either high frequency (high PD) or low frequency (low PD). In terms of another of Hofstedes dimensions uncertainty avoidance the authors believe that high uncertainty avoidance cultures would emphasise the following: . simplicity, with clear metaphors, limited choices, and restricted amounts of data; . attempts to reveal or forecast the results or implications of actions before users act;

. . .

navigation schemes designed to prevent users from becoming lost; mental models and help systems that focus on reducing user errors; and redundant cues, such as colour, typography, sound, etc. to reduce ambiguity.

Does culture matter on the web? 67

Alternatively, low uncertain avoidance cultures are believed to emphasise the reverse. While the argument forwarded by Marcus and Gould (2000) for user interfaces to be inuenced by culture is compelling, a signicant issue with the work arises from the methodology employed. In short, while the web sites cited do illustrate their point they are not drawn from a representative sample of country specic sites. Indeed, without further testing the propositions cannot be said to be fully established. A subsequent study by Zhao et al. (2003) does address some of the need to test further the basic idea of Marcus and Gould (2000). Utilising a sample of 50 American and 50 Chinese web sites and using content analysis, the research analysed the inuence of Chinese and American culture on the selected web sites. Coding content and design attributes against Hofstedes individualism-collectivism and LTO, the research found similar tools (search engine, site maps, etc.) in both the American and Chinese web sites. However, the content of the respective country sites was found to be more dependent on their culture. For example, containing more information concerning organisational history, the Chinese web sites showed greater orientation towards the longer term. Conversely, the American sites contained more attention towards organisational achievements a short-term orientation. Overall, in conclusion, the results were held to show the web sites to be neither culturally neutral, nor indeed fully inuenced by the countrys specic culture (Zhao et al., 2003). Following Marcus and Gould (2000) and Zhao et al. (2003), this research sets out to further test the inuence of culture on web site design. Utilising two of Hofstedes dimensions (PD and uncertainty avoidance) and to enable comparison with at least one of these works, the following three hypotheses were developed. Individuals from high uncertainty avoidance countries seek to avoid risk, uncertainty, ambiguity and responsibilities, preferring instead structured situations. Thus, following Marcus and Gould (2000), the web sites of high uncertainty avoidance cultures should contain fewer hypertext links. Fewer hypertext links equates with more structure and less uncertainty and ambiguity, etc. Therefore; H1. High uncertainty avoidance correlates positively with a low number of hypertext links on a webpage. Individuals from high PD cultures have a greater acceptance of differences in power and wealth and tend to exist in cultures of higher inequalities. For web site design, following Marcus and Gould (2000) this translates into structured web site design. Therefore; H2a. Large power distance cultures correlate positively with axial symmetry in web site design. Individuals from high PD also have a greater focus on expertise, authority, ofcial stamps, the institution, etc. Therefore;

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H2b. An institution based webpage correlates positively with a large power distance culture. To ensure that the results generated were generalisable, content analysis was performed on web sites originating from Germany, Great Britain and Greece countries of origin. The choice of these countries was determined by the language constraints of the researchers. To select a sample of web sites from the three countries, two sectors of the economy were selected; banking and higher education. The choice of web sites from two sectors enabled the research to identify if notable differences existed in the design constituents of web sites within any one country as well as between countries. Subsequently, 90 higher education web sites and 15 banking web sites belonging to Greece, Germany and Great Britain were selected as a (convenience) sample using key word searches (banks and Greece; higher education and Greece; etc.) in the search engines Yahoo and Google. To perform a content analysis directed at hypothesis H1 above, the authors counted the hyper-text links on the rst page (the homepage) of each of the 105 given web sites. To test hypotheses H2a and H2b above, a sub-sample of the higher education and banking web sites for each of the countries was selected. Each of the web sites within the sub-sample was ranked for its symmetry or lack of symmetry and its institution or customer focus. In each case, a bi-polar scale of 1-7 was utilised, with 1 representing high symmetry and high customer focused and 7 representing low symmetry and low customer focus (i.e. an institution focus). The ranking was performed independently by three respondents in August 2004. Findings Hofstedes (1980) survey produced a rank order for each of the dimensions for each of the 53 countries where he was able to collect data (Table I). In terms of uncertainty avoidance, of the three countries selected here, Greece is ranked highest for uncertainty avoidance, Germany the second highest and Great Britain the lowest. Following H1, Greek web sites should contain the lowest number of hypertext links, while web sites from Great Britain should have the most. The mean number of hypertext links for the German web sites was 51.23. Separated into the two sectors, the mean for German higher education web sites was 49.33, while the mean for the banking sites was 62.60. Individually, however, the web sites differed widely in the number of hypertext links. Indeed, the number ranged from a high of 151 to a low of only 18. The mean number of hypertext links for the Great Britain web sites was 40.11, the education web sites having a mean of 40.00 and the banking web sites a mean of 40.80. In contrast to the German sample, the distribution of hypertext links was smaller. Indeed, only two web sites exceeded 100 hypertext links on their homepage. A mean of 33.40 hypertext links for the Greek web sites means that Greece is the country with the lowest number of hypertext links. In terms of the two sectors, the averages were 31.43 for higher education and 45.20 for banking. Interestingly, the distribution was smaller again than that of the British sample. Only ve web sites contained more than 50 hypertext links, with 87 the highest recorded number for a web site. For a summary of all three countries see Table II. An ANOVA analysis was undertaken comparing the overall means of the three countries to determine if a signicant difference in the number of hypertext links in all

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PD index Rank Score Arab countries Australia Bangladesh Brazil Canada China France Germany FR Great Britain Greece Guatemala Hong Kong India Netherlands Pakistan Philippines Poland Singapore South Africa South Korea Sweden Taiwan Thailand USA 7 41 14 39 15/16 42/44 42/44 27/28 2/3 15/16 10/11 40 32 4 13 35/36 27/28 47/48 29/30 21/23 38 80 36 69 39 68 35 35 60 95 68 77 38 55 94 74 49 60 31 58 64 40

Individualism index Rank Score 26/27 2 26/27 4/5 10/11 15 3 30 53 37 21 4/5 47/48 31 39/41 16 43 10/11 44 39/41 1 38 90 38 80 71 67 89 35 6 25 48 80 14 32 20 65 18 71 17 20 91

Masculinity index Rank Score 23 16 27 24 35/36 9/10 9/10 18/19 43 18/19 20/21 51 25/26 11/12 28 13/14 41 53 32/33 44 15 53 61 49 52 43 66 66 57 37 57 56 14 50 64 48 63 39 5 45 34 62

Uncertainty avoidance index Rank Score 27 37 21//22 21/42 10/15 29 47/48 1 3 49/50 45 35 24/25 44 53 39/40 16/17 49/50 26 30 43 68 51 76 48 86 65 35 112 101 29 40 53 70 44 8 49 85 29 69 64 46

LTO index Rank Score 15 11 6 20 1 14 18 31 40 65 23 118 31 25

Does culture matter on the web? 69

2 7 10 23 21 13 9 5 12 3 8 17

96 61 44 0 19 32 48 75 33 87 56 29

Source: Hofstede cited in Marcus and Gould (2000, p. 45)

Table I. Hofstedes dimensions of culture

Germany Banking industry Minimum HL Maximum HL Mean Higher education industry Minimum HL Maximum HL Mean Overall summary Minimum HL Maximum HL Mean 45 81 62.60 18 151 49.33 18 151 51.23

Great Britain 30 66 40.80 18 116 40.00 18 116 40.11

Greece 14 73 45.20 7 87 31.43 7 87 33.40 Table II. Descriptive statistics summary Hypertext Links (HL)

three existed. The results showed that a signicant difference in hypertext links across the countries did exist, F 2; 68 4; p 0:02 (Table III). Follow up analysis (t-test) revealed that there is a signicant difference in the number of hypertext links between Greece and Germany, t340 2:6; p 0:014:

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Source COUNT Sphericity assumed Greenhouse-Geisser Huynh-Feldt Lower-bound Error(COUNT) Sphericity assumed Greenhouse-Geisser Huynh-Feldt Lower-bound Note: Measure: MEASURE_1

Type III sum of squares 5,675.448 5,675.448 5,675.448 5,675.448 4,8207.886 4,8207.886 4,8207.886 4,8207.886

df 2 1.680 1.757 1.000 68 57.120 59.753 34.000

Mean square 2,837.724 3,378.229 3,229.395 5,675.448 708.939 843.972 806.790 1,417.879

F 4.003 4.003 4.003 4.003

Sig. 0.023 0.030 0.028 0.053

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Table III. Tests of within-subjects effects

That is, there are on average more links on German web sites than on Greek sites and these cause the high difference in the overall average score (i.e. Germany, 51.23 and Greece, 33.40). However, no signicant difference was recorded between Greece and Great Britain, t34 1:4; p 0:17. Moreover, no signicant difference was recorded between Germany and Great Britain t 34 1:6t ; p 0:13 (Table IV). In terms of Hofstedes PD ranking of countries, Germany and Great Britain received the same rank score while Greeces score was higher (Table I). In other words, Greece is a higher PD culture. In terms of web site design, following Marcus and Gould (2000) this should mean that the web sites are focused more on the institution itself (banks and universities), rather than on the customers (the bank market) or students (higher education). Moreover, it should mean that the Greek web sites will have a high level of symmetry in terms of layout and design. The German and British web sites will, conversely, have a rather asymmetric layout. For the respondents, more than 50 per cent of the German higher education web sites (16 web sites) were scored symmetric. Only two were scored as asymmetric, the remaining 12 being scored as indeterminate, i.e. the respondents did not judge the web sites as either symmetric or asymmetric. The ve web sites belonging to the banking sector were all ranked as low in symmetry. The Great Britain higher education web sites revealed similar result. Eighteen of the higher education web sites were scored symmetric, three asymmetric and nine as indeterminable. In marked contrast, all the Great Britain bank web sites were scored as indeterminate. In terms of the Greek web sites, the respondents scored 14 of the higher education web sites as symmetric, with four asymmetric and

Mean

Paired differences 95 per cent condence interval of the difference SD SEM Lower Upper

df Sig. (2-tailed) 0.014 0.170 0.129

Table IV. Paired samples test

Pair 1 Greece-Germany 2 17.8286 40.8134 6.8987 2 31.8485 2 3.8087 2 2.584 34 Pair 2 Greece-England 2 6.7143 28.3358 4.7896 2 16.4480 3.0194 2 1.402 34 Pair 3 Germany-England 11.1143 42.2491 7.1414 2 3.3988 25.6274 1.556 34

12 indeterminable. Finally, two of the Greek bank web sites were scored as symmetric and three indeterminable. The mean as well as maximum and minimum scores of the analysis are shown in Table V. In general, the analysis reveals that little marked difference existed between the overall means for each of the countries. Indeed, the small (insignicant) differences between the industries meant that no signicant difference was found across any of the three countries, F 2; 68 0:12; p 0:89 (Table VI). In terms of customer/institution focus, the German higher education web sites were found to have a weaker focus on their institution than their Greek counterparts. The web sites from Great Britain in turn had a much greater focus on their customers (i.e. students). The mean scores of both the German and Great Britain banking web sites revealed that they are more customer orientated than their Greek counterparts. Indeed, overall, the Greek bank web sites revealed a tendency to focus neither on customers, nor on the institution itself. When comparing the overall means for the three countries web sites, the overall mean of all the German web sites (4.34) indicated that on average the sites were neither customer nor institution focused. In contrast, the Great Britain web sites were on average customer focused and, as expected, the Greek web sites even more so. For a summary of all three countries see Table VII. The ANOVA results revealed that with the customer/institution analysis a signicant difference was found between all three countries, F 2; 68 45:55; p 0:01 (Table VIII). Furthermore, t-tests revealed signicant difference exists between; Greece and Germany, t 34 5:15; p 0:1; Greece and Great Britain, t34 9:87; p 0:1; as well; and Germany and Great Britain, t34 4:36; p 0:1 (Table IX).

Does culture matter on the web? 71

N SYM_GREE SYM_GERM SYM_ENG Valid N (listwise) 35 35 35 35

Minimum 3.00 2.00 3.00

Maximum 7.00 6.00 7.00

Mean 4.5714 4.6857 4.6000

SD 1.0371 0.9000 0.9139

Table V. Descriptive statistics

Source COUNT Sphericity assumed Greenhouse-Geisser Huynh-Feldt Lower-bound Error(COUNT) Sphericity assumed Greenhouse-Geisser Huynh-Feldt Lower-bound Note: Measure: MEASURE_1

Type III sum of squares 0.248 0.248 0.248 0.248 70.419 70.419 70.419 70.419

df 2 1.998 2.000 1.000 68 67.925 68.000 34.000

Mean square 0.124 0.124 0.124 0.248 1.036 1.037 1.036 2.071

F 0.120 0.120 0.120 0.120

Sig. 0.888 0.887 0.888 0.732

Table VI. Tests of within-subjects effects

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Banking industry Minimum score Maximum score Mean Higher education industry Minimum score Maximum score Mean Overall summary Minimum score Maximum score Mean

Germany 3 3 3.00 3 6 4.57 3 6 4.34

Great Britain 3 4 3.40 2 5 3.37 2 5 3.37

Greece 3 6 4.4 4 6 5.43 3 6 5.29

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Table VII. Descriptive statistics summary customer/institution analysis

Source COUNT Sphericity assumed Greenhouse-Geisser Huynh-Feldt Lower-bound Error(COUNT) Sphericity assumed Greenhouse-Geisser Huynh-Feldt Lower-bound Note: Measure: MEASURE_1

Type III sum of squares 64.133 64.133 64.133 64.133 47.867 47.867 47.867 47.867

df 2 1.892 2.000 1.000 68 64.318 67.992 34.000

Mean square 32.067 33.903 32.070 64.133 0.704 0.744 0.704 1.408

F 45.554 45.554 45.554 45.554

Sig. 0.000 0.000 0.000 0.000

Table VIII. Tests of within-subjects effects

Mean Table IX. Paired samples test

Paired differences 95 per cent condence interval of the difference SD SEM Lower Upper

df Sig. (2-tailed) 0.000 0.000 0.000

Pair 1 CUS_GREE-CUS_GERM 0.9429 1.0831 0.1831 0.5708 1.3149 5.150 34 Pair 2 CUS_GREE-CUS_ENG 1.9143 1.1472 0.1939 1.5202 2.3083 9.872 34 Pair 3 CUS_GERM-CUS_ENG 0.9714 1.3170 0.2226 0.5190 1.4238 4.364 34

Discussion German web sites were found to contain the highest average number of hypertext links. Given Germany is a country exhibiting higher uncertainty avoidance than Great Britain, the expectation was, however, that the British web sites would have recorded the highest average number of hypertext links. Reecting on this result, a part of the deviation of the ndings from the expectation may lie in Germanys reunication and the effect this might be having on the uncertainty avoidance scores. Hofstedes (1980) study only included the employees of IBM in West Germany, East Germany at the time still existing under communism. Arguably, during and after reunication, both sides

were exposed to the unknown, faced greater uncertainty and, moreover, had more responsibilities than before. This may be the cause of an even weaker uncertainty avoidance culture evident in their web sites when compared to Great Britain. Greek web sites had the smallest number of hypertext links in comparison to Germany and Great Britain. As a high uncertainty avoidance culture (with a greater propensity to seek to avoid ambiguity, choice and responsibility), this result was anticipated. The fact that, on average, Greek web sites were simpler and offered fewer options for users to choose from conrms hypothesis H1: high (low) uncertainty avoidance correlates positively with a low (high) number of hypertext links on a webpage. The results showed an (unanticipated) general tendency for the web sites, whatever their country of origin, to be scored as symmetrical rather than asymmetrical. In general, on reection, it appeared problematic for respondents to determine a web sites symmetry-asymmetry. Indeed, while the Greek web sites did, on average, show a tendency towards symmetry, lending support to hypothesis H2a (i.e. large PD cultures correlate positively with symmetrical web sites), the fact that the average symmetry was similar to that of Germany and Great Britain does not. Low(er) PD cultures such as Germany and Great Britain should, against Hofstedes rankings, have similar scores, and should show less symmetry if not asymmetry in design. Overall therefore, hypothesis H2a is not supported. As anticipated, the British web sites were scored as customer focused both for the higher education and banking sectors. Likewise, as anticipated, the Greek web sites scored as having an institution focus. Indeed, the expected marked difference between the Greek and British scores is evident in the results. The results from the German web sites were, however, mixed. The higher education sites were more institution orientated, while the bank sites were more customer orientated. These results may be partially explained by culture. However, they may also be partially explained by the peculiarity of at least one of the sectors used in this study higher education. British universities, unlike their Greek and German counterparts, charge a tuition fee. This might explain the greater customer orientation shown by the British web sites relative to the other two countries higher education web sites. However, the fact remains that as a low PD culture German web sites should have recorded scores similar to that of the UK. As they did not, and in the absence of further investigation, hypothesis H2b (i.e. an institution based web page correlates positively with a large PD culture), can not as yet be established. Interestingly, when looking at the bank sector web sites, both the German and Greek bank web site scored a greater average customer orientation than did the higher education sector. This result may be indicative of the fact that the banking industry, now privatized in each of these countries, has had to adopt a more customer centred approach to keep and attract customers in a competitive market. This fact is likely then to carry over into online communications. The PD results reported here might also be usefully interpreted in light of Trompenaars and Hampden-Turners achievement-ascription dimension and their industry diversity analysis (Trompenaars and Hampden-Turner, 1997). As previously noted, the characteristics of PD are similar to those of the achievement-ascription dimension. In Trompenaars and Hampden-Turners analysis of industry types, the banking and higher education industries were noted as having more characteristics of an ascription orientated culture (i.e. large PD). Furthermore, the

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scores used to rank to the industries showed higher education to be more ascription orientated than banking and nance (Table X). Following Trompenaars and Hampden-Turner (1993), the similar PD (customer/institutional) focus can be seen in the results here. For example, rst, the average customer/institution focus score for the higher education web sites for all countries is higher than the average score of the bank web sites (i.e. higher education is more institutional focused than banking). Second, both average scores lean towards the sites having symmetry (i.e. both exhibit high PD rather than low PD). One plausible explanation exists for the higher education web sites being more ascription orientated than the banking web sites is the more explicit hierarchy in universities. For example, every module, course, department, faculty invariably has a leader and secondary leader. In contrast, the hierarchy in banks is less acute. Managers exist for departments and individuals tend to work more in groups making the hierarchy less well dened as well as less visible to customers. Furthermore, status in universities is, arguably, typically more ascription orientated, following titles and qualications. In Germany and Greece, at least it would be unthinkable to call a lecturer by their rst name. It is noticeable in current fairs that industrial unrest over wages and conditions (at least in Germany and Great Britain) is more common in education than it is in banking. For Trompenaars and Hampden-Turner (1997) to feel underpaid is also a sign of a high PD (all be it in now in reverse). Conclusion/limitation/further research Internet-based technologies, including the WWW, facilitate the exchange of information. These technologies allow individuals and organisations to share rich information, transcending many of the constraints of geography and time. However,
Industry Construction Telecomms Bank/nance Government University Aerospace Beverages Chemicals Clothes/dress Computers Electronics Food/drink Metal Mining Motor vehicles Petroleum Pharmaceuticals Detergents Toys/sports Univ.-part. 25.0 44.2 60.1 63.6 56.7 60.1 53.3 50.2 47.1 53.3 50.2 41.3 38.6 67.3 41.3 41.3 63.6 36.1 75.0 Ind.-commu. 69.9 46.2 65.0 37.4 55.4 46.2 55.4 50.7 37.4 50.7 69.9 75.0 50.7 69.9 29.0 46.2 50.7 29.0 25.0 Neut.-aff. 56.4 63.0 56.4 75.0 45.5 49.2 41.6 56.4 25.0 49.2 66.2 59.8 41.6 33.5 45.5 37.6 59.8 37.6 37.6 Spec.-diff. 44.4 25.0 53.9 57.2 57.2 60.6 35.6 35.6 38.5 57.2 41.4 47.5 60.6 75.0 71.3 50.7 47.5 53.9 47.5 Ach.-asc. 25.0 55.5 51.6 75.0 55.5 75.0 43.9 25.0 28.8 59.4 51.6 59.4 51.6 75.0 51.6 25.0 55.5 36.3 51.6

Table X. Industry diversity

Source: Trompenaars and Hampden-Turner (1997, p. 240)

for organisations and receivers to achieve desirable communication outcomes, messages must be brought into connection with receivers opinions, beliefs and cultural perspective (Fill, 2002; Kotler, 1996), whatever distance or national boundaries they traverse. Investigating the role and nature of culture on the GUI (i.e. the web page) this paper concludes that culture does indeed inuence design, but only to a certain extent. Firstly, on average, Greek web site design features correlate positively with a low number of hypertext links, a symmetrical layout and an institution focus; factors anticipated given its high uncertainty avoidance and high PD ranking. Secondly, web sites from Great Britain and Germany did, on average, show a relatively higher number of hypertext links as predicted by their low uncertainty avoidance ranking. However, in other respects web site design did not seem to follow the form anticipated by the different cultural dimensions. First, web sites from both Great Britain and Germany (low PD cultures) showed symmetry in design similar to that of the Greek (high PD) web sites. Second, the German and British web sites differed in their institution-customer orientation, in spite of their similar PD rankings. Finally, on average, the German web sites contained more hypertext links than the British web sites when in fact, as a higher uncertainty avoidance culture the prediction was that they should have contained less. We acknowledge several limitations in the empirical research. First, and most obvious, is the fact that data was collected and analysed for only three countries and two industries. Further research, both in terms of the number of countries and industries, is therefore, needed to conrm the generalisation that culture does indeed matter in terms of web site design (all be it in a qualied way) and, in addition, that the results were not unduly inuenced by either the choice of countries or industries. That said, the work here adds to the limited body of work in this area against which future works may be contrasted. It should also be noted how in the content analysis approach adopted here in this study, the three respondents scoring the web sites were all uent speakers of Greek, German and English. This invariably gave them a greater sense of the web sites as compared to respondents who were not uent speakers. Whilst other researchers should consider applying the methodology to other industries, such as sports, fashion, etc. in order to test further the results of this study, additional research should also look towards different methodologies. For example, analysing web sites utilising Hofstedes other dimensions, or even applying Trompenaars and Hampden-Turners dimensions seems desirable. This paper shows that culture, at least partially, inuences GUI design, but this does not automatically guarantee that these web sites are the preferred options. It would be interesting to analyse how respondents selected from each of the countries would evaluate the different country web sites and, therefore, the theory of cultural congruity holds (Luna et al., 2002). The value in the suggested directions made in this paper lies in the possible creation of guidelines for the subsequent development of successful web sites.
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Hampden-Turner, C. and Trompenaars, F. (1993), The Seven Cultures of Capitalism: Value Systems for Creating Wealth in the United States, Japan, Germany, France, Britain, Sweden, and the Netherlands, Doubleday, New York, NY. Hofstede, G. (1980), Cultures Consequences, Sage, Beverly Hills, CA. Hofstede, G. (1989), Masculinity and Femininity, Sage, Thousand Oaks, CA. Hofstede, G. (2001), Cultures Consequences, 2nd ed., Sage, Thousand Oaks, CA. Hofstede, G. and Bond, M.H. (1988), The Confucius connection: from cultural roots to economic growth, Organizational Dynamics, Spring, pp. 5-21. Johnston, K. and Johal, P. (1999), The internet as a virtual cultural region: are extant cultural classication schemes appropriate?, Internet Research, Vol. 9 No. 3, pp. 178-86. Johnson, D. and Turner, C. (2003), International Business, Routledge, London. Kotler, P. (1996), Principles of Marketing, Prentice-Hall, Europe, London, The Millennium Edition. Luna, D., Peracchio, L.A. and Juan, M.D. (2002), Cross-cultural and cognitive aspects of web site navigation, Academy of Marketing Science, Vol. 30 No. 4, pp. 397-410. Marcus, A. and Gould, E.W. (2000), Crosscurrents cultural dimensions and global user-interface design, Interactions, Vol. 7 No. 4, pp. 32-46. Trompenaars, F. and Hampden-Turner, C. (1993), Riding the Waves of Culture, 1st ed., Nicholas Brealey Publishing, London. Trompenaars, F. and Hampden-Turner, C. (1997), Riding the Waves of Culture, 2nd ed., Nicholas Brealey Publishing, London. Usunier, J.C. (2000), Marketing Across Cultures, 3rd ed., Prentice-Hall, Harlow. Zhao, W., Massey, B.L., Murphy, J. and Liu, F. (2003), Cultural dimensions of web site design and content, Prometheus, Vol. 21 No. 1, pp. 75-84.

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