culture and its influence on websites

All material © THE WEB PSYCHOLOGIST LTD. 2013. No unauthorised reproduction or distribution.

CULTURE

AND ITS INFLUENCE ON WEBSITES

1  INTRODUCTION

2  HOFSTEDE’S DIMENSIONS

3  KEY TAKEAWAYS

4  Q & A

@THEWEBPSYCH

1  INTRODUCTION

3  KEY TAKEAWAYS

4  Q & A

@THEWEBPSYCH

1  INTRODUCTION

3  KEY TAKEAWAYS

4  Q & A

@THEWEBPSYCH

1  INTRODUCTION

3  KEY TAKEAWAYS

4  Q & A

@THEWEBPSYCH

1 INTRODUCTION

@THEWEBPSYCH

WEB PSYCHOLOGY

The empirical study of how online environments influence our attitudes and behaviours

“ ” @THEWEBPSYCH

WEB PSYCHOLOGY

neuro- aesthetics

user experience

social psychology

cognitive psychology

neuroscience

cross-cultural psychology

behavioural economics

@THEWEBPSYCH

IT’S ABOUT CONTEXT

PSYCHOLOGY INDIVIDUAL CULTURAL

@THEWEBPSYCH

3 SECRETS TO ONLINE SUCCESS

@THEWEBPSYCH

1  KNOW WHO YOU’RE TARGETING

2  COMMUNICATE PERSUASIVELY

3  SELL WITH INTEGRITY

@THEWEBPSYCH

WHAT IS CULTURE?

CULTURE

A shared set of values that influence societal perceptions, attitudes,

preferences, and responses “ - Robbins & Stylianou (2002) ” @THEWEBPSYCH

TRENDS

…some broad global trends but the behaviour of consumers is increasingly

variable as you go from country to country and region to region

- Global Web Index (Aug 2011)

[ ] @THEWEBPSYCH

WHY IS CULTURE IMPORTANT ONLINE?

A GLOBAL PICTURE

GOOGLE TRANSLATE = 1 BILLION TRANSACTIONS / DAY

GLOBAL INTERNET PENETRATION RATES RISING

SMART PHONES & MOBILES BRINGING ACCESS TO LESS DEVELOPED REGIONS (CHINA, INDIA)

@THEWEBPSYCH

A GLOBAL PICTURE

@THEWEBPSYCH

A GLOBAL PICTURE

@THEWEBPSYCH

CULTURE-SPECIFIC

Different cultural groups employ different usage strategies

when using the same interface [ ] @THEWEBPSYCH

CULTURE-SPECIFIC

1  LANGUAGE

2  BODY POSITIONS

3  SOCIAL CONTEXTS

4  SYMBOLS

5  AESTHETICS

@THEWEBPSYCH

CULTURE-SPECIFIC

1  LANGUAGE

2  BODY POSITIONS

4  SYMBOLS

5  AESTHETICS

@THEWEBPSYCH

CULTURE-SPECIFIC

1  LANGUAGE

2  BODY POSITIONS

4  SYMBOLS

5  AESTHETICS

@THEWEBPSYCH

CULTURE-SPECIFIC

1  LANGUAGE

2  BODY POSITIONS

4  SYMBOLS

5  AESTHETICS

@THEWEBPSYCH

CULTURE-SPECIFIC

1  LANGUAGE

2  BODY POSITIONS

4  SYMBOLS

5  AESTHETICS

@THEWEBPSYCH

CULTURABILITY

The relationship between culture and usability

in WWW design “ - Barber & Badre (1998) ” @THEWEBPSYCH

2 HOFSTEDE’S DIMENSIONS

CULTURE

The collective mental programming of the human mind which distinguishes one

group of people from another “ - Hofstede (2010) ”

@THEWEBPSYCH

HOFSTEDE’S DIMENSIONS

1  POWER DISTANCE

2  INDIVIDUALISM vs COLLECTIVISM

3  MASCULINITY vs FEMININITY

4  UNCERTAINTY AVOIDANCE

5  LONG- vs SHORT-TERM ORIENTATION

6  INDULGENCE vs RESTRAINT

@THEWEBPSYCH

1  POWER DISTANCE

@THEWEBPSYCH

1  POWER DISTANCE

@THEWEBPSYCH

1 POWER DISTANCE

POWER DISTANCE

The extent to which less powerful members of society expect and accept

unequal power distribution “ ” @THEWEBPSYCH

PSYCH PROFILE

HIGH PDI: SAUDI ARABIA

Huge divides between rich/poor, tall hierarchies, centralised political power LOW PDI: AUSTRIA

Equality, small differences in salary/status, flatter hierarchies

@THEWEBPSYCH

HIGH PDI – DO THIS:

1  EMPHASISE ORDER WITHIN YOUR WEBSITE

2  CLEAR HIERARCHY OF CONTENT

3  CULTURAL / NATIONAL SYMBOLS

4  AUTHORITY FIGURES

5  OFFICIAL STAMPS, CERTIFICATIONS

@THEWEBPSYCH

HIERARCHY

NATIONAL SYMBOLS

AUTHORITY FIGURES

LOW PDI – DO THIS:

1  TRANSPARENCY - DISCLOSURE

2  EQUAL ACCESS

3  REPUTATION BASED ON PROFESSIONAL MERIT

4  PEERS - EARNED MEDIA

5  LOOSE STRUCTURE - EXPLORATION

@THEWEBPSYCH

2  EQUAL ACCESS

@THEWEBPSYCH

2  EQUAL ACCESS

@THEWEBPSYCH

2  EQUAL ACCESS

@THEWEBPSYCH

2  EQUAL ACCESS

@THEWEBPSYCH

LOOSE STRUCTURE

EARNED MEDIA

MERIT BASED

2 INDIVIDUALISM VS COLLECTIVISM

INDIVIDUALISM / COLLECTIVISM

Whether a culture’s members define their self-image in

terms of ‘I’ or ‘we’ “ ” @THEWEBPSYCH

PSYCH PROFILE

HIGH IDV: USA

Loose-knit, autonomy, freedom, challenge, personal time, motivated by extrinsic factors HIGH COL: CHINA

Large cohesive social networks, loyalty, physical conditions, intrinsic rewards

@THEWEBPSYCH

HIGH IDV – DO THIS:

1  PERSONAL ACHIEVEMENT MOTIVATES ACTIONS

2  DIFFERENCE / NOVELTY

3  COMPETITION / CHALLENGES

4  USE CONTROVERSIAL LANGUAGE (IF APPROP.)

5  IMAGES - YOUTH, MATERIAL SYMBOLS SUCCESS

@THEWEBPSYCH

EXCITEMENT

COMPETITION

CONTRAVERSIAL

FAVOUR YOUTH

INDIVIDUALIST

EXCITING LANGUAGE

HIGH COL – DO THIS:

1  ENGAGE COMMUNITY – ‘WE’ NOT ‘ME’

2  RESPECT MORAL TENETS, TRADITIONS, STATUS

3  CAREFUL USE OF IMAGES – E.G. WOMEN / SMILES

4  WISDOM, EXPERIENCE OF AGE

5  PRIVACY / SECURITY OF PERSONAL INFO

@THEWEBPSYCH

‘WE’ NOT ‘ME’

TRADITIONS

3 MASCULINITY VS FEMININITY

MASCULINITY / FEMININITY

Masculine = distinct gender roles Feminine = blurred gender roles, quality

of life, tenderness towards others “ ” @THEWEBPSYCH

PSYCH PROFILE

HIGH MAS: JAPAN

Distinct roles, measure success by material rewards, assertive, heroism, achievement HIGH FEM: SWEDEN

Focus on relationships, consensus, social cohesion, cooperation, home

@THEWEBPSYCH

HIGH MAS – DO THIS:

1  INTERACTIVE, EXCITING, DYNAMIC

2  BE EXPLICIT AS TO WHOM YOU’RE TARGETING

3  GAMIFICATION, GOAL-ORIENTED CHALLENGES

4  USE MOTION, VIDEO

5  LIMITED-TIME COMPETITIONS / OFFERS

@THEWEBPSYCH

EXCITING

DYNAMIC

MOTION

COMPETITION

EXPLICIT

HIGH FEM – DO THIS:

1  BENEFIT THE WIDER GROUP

2  IMPROVE QUALITY OF LIFE

3  DON’T PROJECT YOUR GENDER ROLES

4  COLLABORATE WITH YOUR CUSTOMERS

5  REFLECT AUDIENCE’S AESTHETIC PREFERENCES

@THEWEBPSYCH

QUALITY OF LIFE

WIDER GROUP

3 KEY TAKEAWAYS

KEY TAKEAWAYS

IF YOU WANT TO ENGAGE AND CONVERT A GLOBAL AUDIENCE, YOU HAVE TO BE CULTURE-SENSITIVE.

1  WEB PSYCHOLOGY PROVIDES PSYCHOGRAPHIC CONTEXT

2  DIFFERENT CULTURES = DIFFERENT USAGE STRATEGIES

3  GENDER DIFFERENCES IN PREFERENCES AND BEHAVIOURS

@THEWEBPSYCH

KEY TAKEAWAYS

@THEWEBPSYCH

KEY TAKEAWAYS

@THEWEBPSYCH

REFERENCES 1  S. S. Robbins and A. C. Stylianou (2002). A study of cultural differences in global corporate websites. Journal of Computer Information Systems, 42(2), pp. 3-9.

2  Global Web Index (August 2011) Wave 5 Trends. http://www.slideshare.net/globalwebindex/wave-5-trends-master-august-2011-slideshare-version

3  Associated Press (2013). Google Translate reaches 1 billion translations per day. http://www.oregonlive.com/today/index.ssf/2013/04/google_translate_reaches_1_bil.html

4  mobiThinking (2013). Global mobile statistics 2013 Part A: Mobile subscribers; handset market share; mobile operators. http://mobithinking.com/mobile-marketing-tools/latest-mobile-stats/a#topmobilemarkets

5  IDC (2012). Top 10 Predictions. IDC Predictions 2013: Competing on the 3rd Platform. http://www.idc.com/research/Predictions13/downloadable/238044.pdfm

6  A. Faiola and S. A. Matei (2005). Cultural cognitive style and web design: Beyond a behavioral inquiry into computer-mediated communication. Journal of Computer-Mediated Communication, 11(1).

7  N. C. Fernandez (2000). Web Site Localisation and Internationalisation: A Case Study. City University.

8  W. Barber and A. Badre (1998). Culturability: The merging of culture and usability. In Proceedings of the 4th Conference on Human Factors and the Web.

9  R. Robertson (1994). Mapping the global condition: Globalization as the central concept’, in M. Featherstone (ed.), Global Culture: Nationalism, globalization and modernity. Newbury Park, CA: Sage. p. 36.

10  G. Hofstede (2010). Cultures and Organizations: Software of the mind. Maidenhead: McGraw Hill.

11  http://www.aeroflot.ru

12  http://www.nana10.co.il

13  http://www.nastygal.com

14  http://www.kmb.hk/tc

15  http://www.cocacola.co.jp

16  http://sverigesradio.se

@THEWEBPSYCH

REFERENCES 17  http://tiu.ru

18  http://www.stumbleupon.com

19  http://www.suning.com

20  http://www.next.co.uk

21  http://www.neobux.com

22  http://www.offerna.com

@THEWEBPSYCH

4 Q & A

THANK YOU! TheWebPsychologist.com/CJ13 THE WEB PSYCHOLOGIST.COM @THEWEBPSYCH

culture and its influence on websites

Technology

web psychologist

unauthorised reproduction

web psychology

region global web index

social contexts

body positions

global picture google

culture important online