Does culture matter on the web?Inga Burgmann and Philip J. Kitchen

University of Hull, Hull, UK, and

Russell WilliamsUniversity of Aberdeen, Aberdeen, UK

Abstract

Purpose – Investigating one aspect of the potential of firms to market their offerings internationally,this research seeks to explore the impact of that familiar topic – culture – on online internationalmarketing. More precisely, whether the technologies of the web (manifest in the graphical userinterface (GUI)) are culturally neutral, allowing for transparent communication between differentcultures.

Design/methodology/approach – Utilising the widely cited cultural dimensions of culture –“uncertainty avoidance” and “power distance” – comparative content analysis for a sample of websites from two industry sectors (banking and education) across three countries (Germany, Greece, andthe United Kingdom) was undertaken.

Findings – The results of the analysis revealed differences in aspects of GUI design between thethree country web sites in line with associated cultural dimensions. It also revealed similaritiesbetween the three countries in GUI design in apparent contradiction of their associated culturaldimension. This early work suggests, therefore, that, whilst internet-based technologies exist as aglobal 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 countriesand industries, would be needed to confirm the generalisation that culture does indeed matter in termsof web site design (all be it in a qualified way) and, in addition, that the results were not undulyinfluenced by either the choice of countries or industries. Whilst other researchers should considerapplying the methodology to other industries, such as sports, fashion, etc. in order to test further theresults of this study, additional research should also look towards different methodologies. Forexample, analysing web sites utilising Hofstede’s other dimensions, or even applying Trompenaarsand Hampden-Turner’s dimensions seems desirable.

Practical implications – This paper shows that culture, at least partially, influences GUI design.The value in the suggested directions made in this paper lies in the possible creation of guidelines forthe subsequent development of successful web sites. The work here adds to the limited body of workin this area against which future works may be contrasted.

Originality/value – Recognising the apparently obvious virtues of the internet and web inexchanging rich information with distant (international) markets, this work builds on the littlework already undertaken in this direction and in doing so contributes to the wider debate ininternational marketing over standardisation versus adaptation. Specifically, this paper considersthe influence of culture in an online context and researches the questions, “Does culture matteronline?” and more specifically, “Are the multitude of graphical user-interfaces of organisationalweb sites culturally neutral or are the graphical user-interfaces culturally bound, intervening andinfluencing the ability to communicate across cultures?” The results are contrasted againstpredictions for the design of web sites derived from Hofstede’s (1980, 2001) seminal works on thedimensions of culture.

Keywords Internet, Culture (sociology), Marketing, Worldwide web

Paper type Research paper

The current issue and full text archive of this journal is available at

www.emeraldinsight.com/0263-4503.htm

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Received May 2005Revised October 2005Accepted October 2005

Marketing Intelligence & PlanningVol. 24 No. 1, 2006pp. 62-76q Emerald Group Publishing Limited0263-4503DOI 10.1108/02634500610641561

IntroductionInternet-based technologies, specifically the world wide web (WWW), have come to play asignificant role in the way that organisations communicate with the marketplace. Indeed,the fact that the technologies allow information to be readily exchanged withoutgeography and time diminishing its richness has not been lost in the realms oninternational marketing. However, before the web is heralded as a panacea for marketingproducts globally (at least) one significant factor – the role and influence of culture –warrants further attention. Does culture matter online? More specifically, are the multitudeof graphical user interfaces (GUIs) of organisational web sites culturally neutral, having nointervening role in communication across cultures? Or, are the GUIs culturally bound,intervening and influencing the ability to communicate across cultures?

Recognising the apparently obvious virtues of the internet and web in exchangingrich information with distant (international) markets, this work builds on the littlework already undertaken in this direction and in doing so contributes to the widerdebate in international marketing over standardisation versus adaptation. In thispaper the role of culture is explored utilising a comparative content analysis of websites drawn from three different countries (cultures) and two different industries.Presenting the results of the analysis, the different country web sites are contrasted interms of similarities and differences with each other. The results are also contrastedagainst predictions for the design of web sites derived from Hofstede’s (1980, 2001)seminal works on the dimensions of culture. Following this discussion, the workproceeds with a conclusion as to whether “culture matters online”.

Literature reviewAcknowledging the importance of culture, every international marketing text almostwithout exception now carries a dedicated chapter on this topic. Such chapters attemptto convey the most pervasive cultural differentiators and frequently refer in turn to theworks of Hall (1976), Hofstede (1980), and Trompenaars and Hampden-Turner (1993).Before proceeding with an overview of these in chronological order, Hofstede’s (1980)widely, cited definition of culture provides a useful starting point where “Culture is thecollective programming of the mind which distinguishes the members of one humangroup from another . . . Culture, in this sense, includes systems of values; and valuesare among the building blocks of culture” (p. 21).

As a means of understanding cultural orientation, Hall (1976) introduced the bi-polarconstruct of high and low context. In a low-context culture, messages are held to beexplicit. Here, much of the information in communication is carried in words.Communication and language are explicit and direct. By way of contrast, in high-contextcultures, 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. Communicationand language are implicit and indirect. Along a contextual continuum of differentcultures, Usunier (2000) proposes the differences between countries in terms of contextand communication. Here, the Swiss, Germans and Scandinavians as low-contextcultures use explicit messages for communication, while the Japanese, Arabs and LatinAmericans as high-context cultures use implicit messages to communicate.

By surveying 100,000 employees of IBM in more than 50 countries, Hofstede’stheory is undoubtedly the most extensive and comprehensive culture studyundertaken to date. It is, moreover, probably the most widely cited of the three

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dominant works. From the study, Hofstede (initially) identified four culturaldimensions; power distance (PD), uncertainty avoidance, masculinity andindividualism. Later, a fifth 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 tightlyknit) social system” (Mulder cited in Hofstede, 2001, p. 83). Specifically, high PDcultures, e.g. those in Asia or Latin America, are characterised by wide inequalities inpower systems, centralized and hierarchical structures, and dependence on higherranked staff (e.g. supervisors). In contrast, low PD cultures, for example, theAnglo-Saxon and Northern European countries, are deemed low PD cultures. Acrossthese cultures one is more likely to find equality, with respect earned through provenknowledge and ability rather than through possession of a job title. Additionally, thereis an expectation for flatter organizational structures with subordinates expected toparticipate 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 orindividuals who have different ideas or behaviour styles, characterise high uncertaintyavoidance cultures. For example, Japan and some of the Latin American orMediterranean countries are cited here as high uncertainty avoidance cultures. Lowuncertainty avoidance cultures on the other hand have less formal and fewerstandardised rules. Moreover, individuals are expected to take and accept risks andresponsibilities, as well as demonstrate independence in their own role.

“The duality of the sexes is a fundamental fact with which different societies cope indifferent ways; the issue is what implications the biological differences between thesexes 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 aculture in which assertiveness, achievement and material possessions are seen asmasculine goal-orientated behaviour. In contrast, cultures described as feminine aremore modest, tender, able and willing to reach compromises, as well as concerned withthe 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 givensociety” (p. 209). Following on from this, the dimension characterises collectivistcultures as relationship and group orientated. In contrast, individual orientatedcultures are those in which people are expected to take greater responsibility, andwhere attention is drawn towards the individual.

Hofstede and Bond (1988) added a fifth dimension. This fifth dimension, first termed“Confucian Dynamism” and then later renamed “Time Orientation”, sets out howdifferent cultures exhibit either a future-orientated perspective or a short-term point ofview. The consequences of a high score on the long-term orientation (LTO) index arepersistence, thrift and the ordering and maintenance of relationships by status. At theother end of the index (a short-term orientation) the consequences are personalsteadiness and stability (Hofstede, 2001). Rather obviously, most south-east Asiancountries score high on the LTO index, while many European countries are viewed asshort-term orientated.

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In a survey of more than 15,000 managers across 28 different countries, Trompenaarsand Hampden-Turner’s (1993) work presents five bi-polar dimensions of culture:universalism vs particularism; individualism vs communitarianism; affective vsneutral; specific vs diffuse; achievement vs ascription. For the universalist, what is goodand right can be applied ubiquitously. In contrast, for the particularist, the obligationsarising out of relationships are more important than any general rules. Theindividualism-communitarianism dimension is held to correspond with Hofstede’sindividualism-collectivism dimension (Hofstede, 1980; Johnson and Turner, 2003;Trompenaars and Hampden-Turner, 1997). Simply, the dimension describes whetherindividuals see themselves as individuals first or whether, in contrast, group obligationssupersede individual interests and goals. In affective cultures, the expression of emotionby 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 theimpression of objectivity and “being in control”. Specific cultures exhibit more“directness”. Individuals get “straight to the point”, in contrast to diffuse cultures whereindividuals are more indirect and boundaries (e.g. work and leisure) are blurred. Finally,in achievement cultures status is derived from one’s own achievement. In contrast, inascription orientated cultures, status is derived from one’s job title, age, sex, kinship, etc.This last dimension is held to be similar to Hofstede’s PD (Hampden-Turner andTrompenaars, 1993; Trompenaars and Hampden-Turner, 1997).

Mapping cultures against the dimensions of culture of Hall, Hofstede or Tromenaarsand Hampden-Turner (either singularly or in combination), is useful for marketers inthat it offers a snapshot of the cultural distances between countries. Moreover, as a resultof having identified any distance, marketers can anticipate the degree to which themarketing programme, including marketing communications, may need to be adapted.

While the relatively easy mapping of cultures is a useful “tool” in planning aspectsof an international marketing programme, it should be noted that the three works arenot without criticism. In summary, while Hofstede’s research work was based on alarge 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 employeesas respondents the possibility exists of organizational culture overriding nationalculture ( Johnson and Turner, 2003). A similar criticism exists with Tromenaars andHampden-Turner’s sample of respondents. Here, the respondents came exclusivelyfrom the occupational group “managers”. In this case the possibility exists ofprofessional culture overriding national culture. A second criticism or limitationidentified is that each of the three researchers assumes that each of the culturesreported on has one dominant culture. They are, therefore, ignoring any effect arisingfrom large minorities, subcultures and multi-cultural nations (Marcus and Gould,2000). In spite of these criticisms, the effort, importance and scope of all the threestudies cannot be ignored.

The internet and research hypothesesTo date, relatively little work has investigated the role and influence of country cultureon the web. Moreover, this little work investigates subtly different aspects ofculture and the internet. For example, Johnston and Johal (1999) have attempted tocapture the cultural composition of the online community using Hofstede’s dimensions.In this analysis, when online, individuals from whatever nation are held to adhere to

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a culture that is common to the virtual cultural region. In other words, there is adistinct culture of the internet that individuals’ “possess” online; one that transcendsthe geographic-nationhood notion of culture. This culture of the virtual “country” isone of; low PD (no individual’s voice has privilege over another); low uncertaintyavoidance (the internet is open network, moreover, it offers choices); mixedindividualism-collectivism (the web started out as a means of sharing information,but its commercialisation is driving it towards individualism); and mixedmasculinity-femininity (competition between web sites gives it a masculine quality,yet there are still web sites sharing information and there is co-operation). Followingthis analysis, organisations need to adapt their strategies treating the internet and webas 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 atheory of “cultural congruity” on the web. The assertion here is that congruity can beachieved through the application of structure to the web site reflecting a country’sculture. For example, congruent web sites should include verbal and non-verbalcountry specific content (e.g. symbols, pictures, language, etc.). Additionally, followingthe high/low-context classification of culture, a high-context culture would prefer (beable to process more easily) web sites with deep sequenced pages with a hierarchicalstructure. Alternatively, low-context cultures would prefer a search system based onflat structured web sites where all the information is more readily available throughthe homepage. An interesting and yet unanswered question in this notion of theimportance of the hierarchy of information, is the role and use of search engines tofacilitate navigation through web sites. Ultimately, these bypass much of the designerswork on the structure/hierarchy of information.

Utilising Hofstede’s five cultural dimensions and a self-selected sample of web sites,Marcus and Gould (2000) demonstrate the influence of culture on web site design.Specifically, the authors believe that PD may influence web design in terms of:

(1) access to information, with web sites being either highly structured (high PD) orless highly structured (low PD);

(2) emphasis on the social and moral order (e.g. nationalism or religion) and itssymbols, with either frequent use (high PD) or less frequent use (low PD);

(3) focus on expertise, authority, experts, certifications, official 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 eitherhigh prominence (high PD) or low prominence (low PD); importance of securityand restrictions or barriers to access, with either explicit, enforced, frequentrestrictions (high PD) or transparent, integrated, implicit freedom to roam (lowPD); and

(5) social rules to organise information, with either high frequency (high PD) or lowfrequency (low PD).

In terms of another of Hofstede’s dimensions – uncertainty avoidance – the authorsbelieve 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 usersact;

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. 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.

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 influenced by culture is compelling, a significant issue with the work arisesfrom the methodology employed. In short, while the web sites cited do illustratetheir point they are not drawn from a representative sample of country specificsites. Indeed, without further testing the propositions cannot be said to be fullyestablished.

A subsequent study by Zhao et al. (2003) does address some of the need to testfurther the basic idea of Marcus and Gould (2000). Utilising a sample of 50 Americanand 50 Chinese web sites and using content analysis, the research analysed theinfluence of Chinese and American culture on the selected web sites. Coding contentand design attributes against Hofstede’s individualism-collectivism and LTO, theresearch found similar tools (search engine, site maps, etc.) in both the American andChinese web sites. However, the content of the respective country sites was found to bemore dependent on their culture. For example, containing more information concerningorganisational history, the Chinese web sites showed greater orientation towards thelonger term. Conversely, the American sites contained more attention towardsorganisational achievements – a short-term orientation. Overall, in conclusion, theresults were held to show the web sites to be neither culturally neutral, nor indeed fullyinfluenced by the country’s specific culture (Zhao et al., 2003).

Following Marcus and Gould (2000) and Zhao et al. (2003), this research sets out tofurther test the influence of culture on web site design. Utilising two of Hofstede’sdimensions (PD and uncertainty avoidance) and to enable comparison with at least oneof 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 avoidancecultures should contain fewer hypertext links. Fewer hypertext links equates withmore structure and less uncertainty and ambiguity, etc. Therefore;

H1. High uncertainty avoidance correlates positively with a low number ofhypertext links on a webpage.

Individuals from high PD cultures have a greater acceptance of differences in powerand 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 inweb site design.

Individuals from high PD also have a greater focus on expertise, authority, officialstamps, the institution, etc. Therefore;

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H2b. An institution based webpage correlates positively with a large powerdistance culture.

To ensure that the results generated were generalisable, content analysis wasperformed on web sites originating from Germany, Great Britain and Greece countriesof origin. The choice of these countries was determined by the language constraints ofthe researchers. To select a sample of web sites from the three countries, two sectors ofthe economy were selected; banking and higher education. The choice of web sites fromtwo sectors enabled the research to identify if notable differences existed in the designconstituents of web sites within any one country as well as between countries.Subsequently, 90 higher education web sites and 15 banking web sites belonging toGreece, Germany and Great Britain were selected as a (convenience) sample using keyword searches (“banks and Greece”; “higher education and Greece”; etc.) in the searchengines Yahoo and Google.

To perform a content analysis directed at hypothesis H1 above, the authors countedthe hyper-text links on the first 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 andbanking web sites for each of the countries was selected. Each of the web sites withinthe sub-sample was ranked for its symmetry or lack of symmetry and its institution orcustomer focus. In each case, a bi-polar scale of 1-7 was utilised, with 1 representinghigh symmetry and high customer focused and 7 representing low symmetry and lowcustomer focus (i.e. an institution focus). The ranking was performed independently bythree respondents in August 2004.

FindingsHofstede’s (1980) survey produced a rank order for each of the dimensions for each ofthe 53 countries where he was able to collect data (Table I). In terms of uncertaintyavoidance, of the three countries selected here, Greece is ranked highest for uncertaintyavoidance, Germany the second highest and Great Britain the lowest. Following H1,Greek web sites should contain the lowest number of hypertext links, while web sitesfrom Great Britain should have the most.

The mean number of hypertext links for the German web sites was 51.23. Separatedinto the two sectors, the mean for German higher education web sites was 49.33, whilethe mean for the banking sites was 62.60. Individually, however, the web sites differedwidely in the number of hypertext links. Indeed, the number ranged from a high of 151to a low of only 18.

The mean number of hypertext links for the Great Britain web sites was 40.11, theeducation 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 thecountry 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, thedistribution was smaller again than that of the British sample. Only five web sitescontained more than 50 hypertext links, with 87 the highest recorded number for a website. For a summary of all three countries see Table II.

An ANOVA analysis was undertaken comparing the overall means of the threecountries to determine if a significant difference in the number of hypertext links in all

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three existed. The results showed that a significant difference in hypertext links acrossthe countries did exist, Fð2; 68Þ ¼ 4; p ¼ 0:02 (Table III).

Follow up analysis (t-test) revealed that there is a significant difference in thenumber of hypertext links between Greece and Germany, tð340 ¼ 2:6; p ¼ 0:014Þ:

PD indexIndividualism

indexMasculinity

index

Uncertaintyavoidance

index LTO indexRank Score Rank Score Rank Score Rank Score Rank Score

Arab countries 7 80 26/27 38 23 53 27 68Australia 41 36 2 90 16 61 37 51 15 31Bangladesh 11 40Brazil 14 69 26/27 38 27 49 21//22 76 6 65Canada 39 39 4/5 80 24 52 21/42 48 20 23China 1 118France 15/16 68 10/11 71 35/36 43 10/15 86Germany FR 42/44 35 15 67 9/10 66 29 65 14 31Great Britain 42/44 35 3 89 9/10 66 47/48 35 18 25Greece 27/28 60 30 35 18/19 57 1 112Guatemala 2/3 95 53 6 43 37 3 101Hong Kong 15/16 68 37 25 18/19 57 49/50 29 2 96India 10/11 77 21 48 20/21 56 45 40 7 61Netherlands 40 38 4/5 80 51 14 35 53 10 44Pakistan 32 55 47/48 14 25/26 50 24/25 70 23 0Philippines 4 94 31 32 11/12 64 44 44 21 19Poland 13 32Singapore 13 74 39/41 20 28 48 53 8 9 48South Africa 35/36 49 16 65 13/14 63 39/40 49South Korea 27/28 60 43 18 41 39 16/17 85 5 75Sweden 47/48 31 10/11 71 53 5 49/50 29 12 33Taiwan 29/30 58 44 17 32/33 45 26 69 3 87Thailand 21/23 64 39/41 20 44 34 30 64 8 56USA 38 40 1 91 15 62 43 46 17 29

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

Table I.Hofstede’s dimensions of

culture

Germany Great Britain Greece

Banking industryMinimum HL 45 30 14Maximum HL 81 66 73Mean 62.60 40.80 45.20Higher education industryMinimum HL 18 18 7Maximum HL 151 116 87Mean 49.33 40.00 31.43Overall summaryMinimum HL 18 18 7Maximum HL 151 116 87Mean 51.23 40.11 33.40

Table II.Descriptive statistics

summary – HypertextLinks (HL)

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That is, there are on average more links on German web sites than on Greek sitesand these cause the high difference in the overall average score (i.e. Germany, 51.23 andGreece, 33.40). However, no significant difference was recorded between Greeceand Great Britain, tð34Þ ¼ 1:4; p ¼ 0:17. Moreover, no significant difference wasrecorded between Germany and Great Britain tð34Þ ¼ 1:6t; p ¼ 0:13 (Table IV).

In terms of Hofstede’s PD ranking of countries, Germany and Great Britain receivedthe same rank score while Greece’s score was higher (Table I). In other words, Greece isa 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 (banksand universities), rather than on the customers (the bank market) or students (highereducation). Moreover, it should mean that the Greek web sites will have a high level ofsymmetry 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 educationweb sites (16 web sites) were scored symmetric. Only two were scored asasymmetric, the remaining 12 being scored as indeterminate, i.e. the respondents didnot judge the web sites as either symmetric or asymmetric. The five web sitesbelonging to the banking sector were all ranked as low in symmetry. The GreatBritain higher education web sites revealed similar result. Eighteen of the highereducation web sites were scored symmetric, three asymmetric and nine asindeterminable. In marked contrast, all the Great Britain bank web sites werescored as indeterminate. In terms of the Greek web sites, the respondents scored 14of the higher education web sites as symmetric, with four asymmetric and

Paired differences95 per cent

confidence intervalof the difference

Mean SD SEM Lower Upper t df Sig. (2-tailed)

Pair 1 Greece-Germany 217.8286 40.8134 6.8987 231.8485 23.8087 22.584 34 0.014Pair 2 Greece-England 26.7143 28.3358 4.7896 216.4480 3.0194 21.402 34 0.170Pair 3 Germany-England 11.1143 42.2491 7.1414 23.3988 25.6274 1.556 34 0.129

Table IV.Paired samples test

Source Type III sum of squares df Mean square F Sig.

COUNT Sphericity assumed 5,675.448 2 2,837.724 4.003 0.023Greenhouse-Geisser 5,675.448 1.680 3,378.229 4.003 0.030Huynh-Feldt 5,675.448 1.757 3,229.395 4.003 0.028Lower-bound 5,675.448 1.000 5,675.448 4.003 0.053

Error(COUNT) Sphericity assumed 4,8207.886 68 708.939Greenhouse-Geisser 4,8207.886 57.120 843.972Huynh-Feldt 4,8207.886 59.753 806.790Lower-bound 4,8207.886 34.000 1,417.879

Note: Measure: MEASURE_1

Table III.Tests of within-subjectseffects

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12 indeterminable. Finally, two of the Greek bank web sites were scored assymmetric and three indeterminable. The mean as well as maximum and minimumscores of the analysis are shown in Table V.

In general, the analysis reveals that little marked difference existed between theoverall means for each of the countries. Indeed, the small (insignificant) differencesbetween the industries meant that no significant difference was found across any of thethree countries, Fð2; 68Þ ¼ 0:12; p ¼ 0:89 (Table VI).

In terms of customer/institution focus, the German higher education web sites werefound 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 sitesrevealed 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 overallmean of all the German web sites (4.34) indicated that on average the sites wereneither customer nor institution focused. In contrast, the Great Britain web siteswere on average customer focused and, as expected, the Greek web sites evenmore so.

For a summary of all three countries see Table VII.The ANOVA results revealed that with the customer/institution analysis a significant

difference was found between all three countries, Fð2; 68Þ ¼ 45:55; p ¼ 0:01 (Table VIII).Furthermore, t-tests revealed significant difference exists between; Greece and

Germany, tð34Þ ¼ 5:15; p ¼ 0:1; Greece and Great Britain, tð34Þ ¼ 9:87; p ¼ 0:1; aswell; and Germany and Great Britain, tð34Þ ¼ 4:36; p ¼ 0:1 (Table IX).

Source Type III sum of squares df Mean square F Sig.

COUNT Sphericity assumed 0.248 2 0.124 0.120 0.888Greenhouse-Geisser 0.248 1.998 0.124 0.120 0.887Huynh-Feldt 0.248 2.000 0.124 0.120 0.888Lower-bound 0.248 1.000 0.248 0.120 0.732

Error(COUNT) Sphericity assumed 70.419 68 1.036Greenhouse-Geisser 70.419 67.925 1.037Huynh-Feldt 70.419 68.000 1.036Lower-bound 70.419 34.000 2.071

Note: Measure: MEASURE_1

Table VI.Tests of within-subjects

effects

N Minimum Maximum Mean SD

SYM_GREE 35 3.00 7.00 4.5714 1.0371SYM_GERM 35 2.00 6.00 4.6857 0.9000SYM_ENG 35 3.00 7.00 4.6000 0.9139Valid N (listwise) 35

Table V.Descriptive statistics

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DiscussionGerman web sites were found to contain the highest average number of hypertextlinks. Given Germany is a country exhibiting higher uncertainty avoidance than GreatBritain, the expectation was, however, that the British web sites would have recordedthe highest average number of hypertext links. Reflecting on this result, a part of thedeviation of the findings from the expectation may lie in Germany’s reunification andthe effect this might be having on the uncertainty avoidance scores. Hofstede’s (1980)study only included the employees of IBM in West Germany, East Germany at the timestill existing under communism. Arguably, during and after reunification, both sides

Source Type III sum of squares df Mean square F Sig.

COUNT Sphericity assumed 64.133 2 32.067 45.554 0.000Greenhouse-Geisser 64.133 1.892 33.903 45.554 0.000Huynh-Feldt 64.133 2.000 32.070 45.554 0.000Lower-bound 64.133 1.000 64.133 45.554 0.000

Error(COUNT) Sphericity assumed 47.867 68 0.704Greenhouse-Geisser 47.867 64.318 0.744Huynh-Feldt 47.867 67.992 0.704Lower-bound 47.867 34.000 1.408

Note: Measure: MEASURE_1

Table VIII.Tests of within-subjectseffects

Germany Great Britain Greece

Banking industryMinimum score 3 3 3Maximum score 3 4 6Mean 3.00 3.40 4.4Higher education industryMinimum score 3 2 4Maximum score 6 5 6Mean 4.57 3.37 5.43Overall summaryMinimum score 3 2 3Maximum score 6 5 6Mean 4.34 3.37 5.29

Table VII.Descriptive statisticssummary –customer/institutionanalysis

Paired differences95 per centconfidence

interval of thedifference

Mean SD SEM Lower Upper t df Sig. (2-tailed)

Pair 1 CUS_GREE-CUS_GERM 0.9429 1.0831 0.1831 0.5708 1.3149 5.150 34 0.000Pair 2 CUS_GREE-CUS_ENG 1.9143 1.1472 0.1939 1.5202 2.3083 9.872 34 0.000Pair 3 CUS_GERM-CUS_ENG 0.9714 1.3170 0.2226 0.5190 1.4238 4.364 34 0.000

Table IX.Paired samples test

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were exposed to the “unknown”, faced greater uncertainty and, moreover, had moreresponsibilities than before. This may be the cause of an even weaker uncertaintyavoidance culture evident in their web sites when compared to Great Britain.

Greek web sites had the smallest number of hypertext links in comparison to Germanyand Great Britain. As a high uncertainty avoidance culture (with a greater propensity toseek to avoid ambiguity, choice and responsibility), this result was anticipated. The factthat, on average, Greek web sites were simpler and offered fewer options for users tochoose from confirms hypothesis H1: high (low) uncertainty avoidance correlatespositively with a low (high) number of hypertext links on a webpage.

The results showed an (unanticipated) general tendency for the web sites, whatevertheir country of origin, to be scored as symmetrical rather than asymmetrical. Ingeneral, on reflection, it appeared problematic for respondents to determine a web site’ssymmetry-asymmetry. Indeed, while the Greek web sites did, on average, show atendency towards symmetry, lending support to hypothesis H2a (i.e. large PD culturescorrelate positively with symmetrical web sites), the fact that the average symmetrywas similar to that of Germany and Great Britain does not. Low(er) PD cultures such asGermany and Great Britain should, against Hofstede’s 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 thehigher education and banking sectors. Likewise, as anticipated, the Greek web sitesscored as having an institution focus. Indeed, the expected marked difference betweenthe Greek and British scores is evident in the results. The results from the German websites were, however, mixed. The higher education sites were more institutionorientated, while the bank sites were more customer orientated. These results may bepartially explained by culture. However, they may also be partially explained by thepeculiarity of at least one of the sectors used in this study – higher education. Britishuniversities, unlike their Greek and German counterparts, charge a tuition fee. Thismight explain the greater customer orientation shown by the British web sites relativeto the other two countries’ higher education web sites. However, the fact remains thatas a low PD culture German web sites should have recorded scores similar to that ofthe 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), cannot as yet be established.

Interestingly, when looking at the bank sector web sites, both the German andGreek bank web site scored a greater average customer orientation than did the highereducation 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 centredapproach to keep and attract customers in a competitive market. This fact is likely thento carry over into online communications.

The PD results reported here might also be usefully interpreted in light ofTrompenaars and Hampden-Turner’s achievement-ascription dimension andtheir “industry diversity analysis” (Trompenaars and Hampden-Turner, 1997).As previously noted, the characteristics of PD are similar to those of theachievement-ascription dimension. In Trompenaars and Hampden-Turner’s analysisof industry types, the banking and higher education industries were noted as havingmore 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 ascriptionorientated than banking and finance (Table X).

Following Trompenaars and Hampden-Turner (1993), the similar PD(customer/institutional) focus can be seen in the results here. For example, first, theaverage customer/institution focus score for the higher education web sites for allcountries is higher than the average score of the bank web sites (i.e. higher education ismore institutional focused than banking). Second, both average scores lean towards thesites having symmetry (i.e. both exhibit high PD rather than low PD). One plausibleexplanation exists for the higher education web sites being more ascription orientatedthan the banking web sites is the more explicit hierarchy in universities. For example,every module, course, department, faculty invariably has a leader and secondaryleader. In contrast, the hierarchy in banks is less acute. Managers exist for departmentsand individuals tend to work more in groups making the hierarchy less well defined aswell as less visible to customers. Furthermore, status in universities is, arguably,typically more ascription orientated, following titles and qualifications. In Germanyand Greece, at least it would be unthinkable to call a lecturer by their first name. It isnoticeable in current fairs that industrial unrest over wages and conditions (at least inGermany and Great Britain) is more common in education than it is in banking. ForTrompenaars 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 researchInternet-based technologies, including the WWW, facilitate the exchange ofinformation. These technologies allow individuals and organisations to share richinformation, transcending many of the constraints of geography and time. However,

Industry Univ.-part. Ind.-commu. Neut.-aff. Spec.-diff. Ach.-asc.

Construction 25.0 69.9 56.4 44.4 25.0Telecomms 44.2 46.2 63.0 25.0 55.5Bank/finance 60.1 65.0 56.4 53.9 51.6Government 63.6 37.4 75.0 57.2 75.0University 56.7 55.4 45.5 57.2 55.5Aerospace 60.1 46.2 49.2 60.6 75.0Beverages 53.3 55.4 41.6 35.6 43.9Chemicals 50.2 50.7 56.4 35.6 25.0Clothes/dress 47.1 37.4 25.0 38.5 28.8Computers 53.3 50.7 49.2 57.2 59.4Electronics 50.2 69.9 66.2 41.4 51.6Food/drink 41.3 75.0 59.8 47.5 59.4Metal 38.6 50.7 41.6 60.6 51.6Mining 67.3 69.9 33.5 75.0 75.0Motor vehicles 41.3 29.0 45.5 71.3 51.6Petroleum 41.3 46.2 37.6 50.7 25.0Pharmaceuticals 63.6 50.7 59.8 47.5 55.5Detergents 36.1 29.0 37.6 53.9 36.3Toys/sports 75.0 25.0 37.6 47.5 51.6

Source: Trompenaars and Hampden-Turner (1997, p. 240)Table X.Industry diversity

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for organisations and receivers to achieve desirable communication outcomes,messages must be brought into connection with receivers opinions, beliefs and culturalperspective (Fill, 2002; Kotler, 1996), whatever distance or national boundaries theytraverse.

Investigating the role and nature of culture on the GUI (i.e. the web page) this paperconcludes that culture does indeed influence design, but only to a certain extent.Firstly, on average, Greek web site design features correlate positively with a lownumber of hypertext links, a symmetrical layout and an institution focus; factorsanticipated given its high uncertainty avoidance and high PD ranking. Secondly, websites from Great Britain and Germany did, on average, show a relatively highernumber of hypertext links as predicted by their low uncertainty avoidance ranking.

However, in other respects web site design did not seem to follow the formanticipated by the different cultural dimensions. First, web sites from both GreatBritain and Germany (low PD cultures) showed symmetry in design similar to that ofthe Greek (high PD) web sites. Second, the German and British web sites differed intheir institution-customer orientation, in spite of their similar PD rankings. Finally, onaverage, the German web sites contained more hypertext links than the British websites when in fact, as a higher uncertainty avoidance culture the prediction was thatthey should have contained less.

We acknowledge several limitations in the empirical research. First, and mostobvious, is the fact that data was collected and analysed for only three countries andtwo industries. Further research, both in terms of the number of countries andindustries, is therefore, needed to confirm the generalisation that culture does indeedmatter in terms of web site design (all be it in a qualified way) and, in addition, that theresults were not unduly influenced by either the choice of countries or industries. Thatsaid, the work here adds to the limited body of work in this area against which futureworks may be contrasted. It should also be noted how in the content analysis approachadopted here in this study, the three respondents scoring the web sites were all fluentspeakers of Greek, German and English. This invariably gave them a greater “sense”of the web sites as compared to respondents who were not fluent speakers.

Whilst other researchers should consider applying the methodology to otherindustries, 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 Hofstede’s other dimensions, or even applyingTrompenaars’ and Hampden-Turner’s dimensions seems desirable.

This paper shows that culture, at least partially, influences GUI design, but thisdoes not automatically guarantee that these web sites are the preferred options.It would be interesting to analyse how respondents selected from each of the countrieswould evaluate the different country web sites and, therefore, the theory of culturalcongruity holds (Luna et al., 2002). The value in the suggested directions made in thispaper lies in the possible creation of guidelines for the subsequent development ofsuccessful web sites.

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