Culturally Customizing Web Sites

Part I

Presented by Dr. Nitish Singh

Moderated by Paula Shannon
October 2009
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 Introductions

Dr. Nitish Singh

Assistant Professor of International Business at Boeing Institute
of International Business at Saint Louis University
ncsingh72@gmail.com
Dr. Singh is also the co-author of the critically acclaimed book: The
Culturally Customized Web Site: Customizing Websites for the Global
Marketplace. He holds a Ph.D. in Marketing and International
Business from Saint Louis University and an MBA and MA from
Universities in India and the UK. More recently he has co-authored
Proliferation of the Internet Economy
Paula Shannon
CSO, SVP and General Manager, Lionbridge
Paula.Shannon@lionbridge.com
More than 23 years experience in the translation and localization
industry
Responsible for sites in 26+ countries, driving new services and
sustainable solutions, ensuring the continued delivery of innovation
and execution excellence to a broad range of Global 1000 customers

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 About Lionbridge

Global Scale Market Leadership

4,600 employees 26 countries Leader in $14B services industry
• Global network of 25,000 translators • Translation and adaptation of products
and content for international markets

Hosted Technology Global Clients

Web-based language technology Recurring relationships with 500+
platform global clients
• Enhances competitive advantage • 80% of revenue comes from recurring clients
• Drives efficiency • 12 of the Fortune 20 companies are client

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 Global Web Statistics

Global e-commerce sales will reach $12.8 trillion

US will account for less than 58% of total global online sales
US only accounts for 185 million internet users today
Global internet population is 1.08 billion users; by 2010 it will
reach 1.8 billion.
65 % of Global internet users are non-English speakers

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 Born Global!

Web sites are global from inception

To target global online consumers you have to speak
in their language and culture
Culture impacts how we perceive, process, and
interpret information

“People cannot act or interact in any meaningful way

except through the medium of culture.” E.T. Hall

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 What is Culturally Customized?

Communication which
reflects complete “immersion” in the culture of the
target market

addresses three levels of cultural adaptation:

perception, symbolism, and behavior

goes beyond simple translation and cosmetic adaptation

when targeting different countries and/or cultures

Cultural customization begins where basic

“localization” ends

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 Poll Question

Is your website translated?

Yes
No

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 Perception of Images

Western and Eastern people look at the world in different ways.

Researchers compared the way Chinese and US students viewed photographs
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What is a Culturally Customized Website?
What is a Culturally Customized Website?
Perception of Symbols
Perception of Symbols
Perception of Symbols
 Poll Question:

Do you actually consider the importance of culture?

Yes
No

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 The Biggest Blunder!

The BIGGEST communication blunder is to ignore the importance of

culture in communications.

Higher web site usability, accessibility, and interactivity

A more favorable attitude toward the site
A state of “flow” and browsing comfort
Increased purchase intentions which eventually impact you ROI

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It is Not a Luxury!

Cultural Customization Levels of Web Site

High Medium Low
Italy
Attitude Toward Site 3.60 3.57 3.34
Purchase Intention 3.06 3.10 2.68
India
Attitude Toward Site 4.26 3.74 3.04
Purchase Intention 4.04 3.68 3.18
Netherlands
Attitude Toward Site 3.48 2.97 2.87
Purchase Intention 2.34 1.91 2.19
Switzerland
Attitude Toward Site 3.59 3.16 2.69
Purchase Intention 3.16 2.93 2.64
Spain
Attitude Toward Site 4.31 3.50 2.82
Purchase Intention 4.14 3.30 2.67
 It is Not a Luxury!

An Experiment with 400 Brazilian, French, German and Taiwanese Online

Conusmers

Measures Web Sites Low on CC Web Sites High on CC F-Value

(n: 1823) (n: 636)
(Means) (Means)

Ease of Use 3.45 3.82 216.2**

Perceived Usefulness 3.31 3.65 159.8**

Attitude Toward site 2.89 3.45 422.6**

Purchase Intention 2.41 2.86 219.8**

**p-value<.001
 Culture and Disaster

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 Vocabulary Equivalence

An example is the Japanese response (or lack of) to the Potsdam

Declaration in July 1945 which lead to the bombing of Hiroshima and
Nagasaki

The Japanese Premier announced that the Cabinet had taken a stance
of “mokusatsu”
which has no exact meaning in English
It can be translated as “making no comment” or “ignoring”

The Japanese Cabinet intended the former meaning

“making no comment” and not the latter “ignoring”
they wanted more time to discuss and decide their response, which
included a surrender…….

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Geocultural Edge (noun) (T.Edwards):

• The tipping point at which a content element stretches

the limits of the intended context, changing the content
1. from “safe” to potentially “offensive”.

• The panic zone in which a lack of time, knowledge,

and/or process results in an unwanted content
2. controversy.

• A place of opportunity where various positive outcomes

are possible, if proactive.
3.
Discerning the Geocultural Edge

Product is “Safe” Geocultural Edge Product at Risk

High customer loyalty Waning customer loyalty Low customer loyalty

Strong revenue Decreased revenue Low/negative revenue

Positive image Questionable image Negative image

Consumer/gov’t support Consumer/gov’t inquiry Gov’t/punitive actions

 Consequences - Going over the Geocultural Edge

Loss of consumer trust in your delivery of a positive experience

Brand erosion with negative PR and customer backlash
Loss of revenue and market share
Loss of political position, possible punitive legislation and litigation
Punitive government actions against local subsidiary staff (Adapted: T. Edwards)

The key is finding the ‘tipping point’ at which any content type
can remain marginally acceptable. It will be different for every
product and every locale.

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 Content to Avoid
Graphics
elements with text
human body elements and body language
humor, puns, and slang
physical environments
ethnic, racial, political, and religious environments
gender-specific elements
images of animals
sexual and violent elements
regional conventions, such as reading direction, date/time, and
monetary elements

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Issues with Human Representation

Use of 4 fingers
with human
figures in Japan

Exposed feet is a
problem in the
Middle East

Gestures are
very context-
A bit too
dependent
revealing for
some cultures
Retail Product Design and Marketing

In 2002, Abercrombie & Fitch t-shirt

designs caused much protest
Retail Product Design and Marketing

In 2002, Abercrombie & Fitch t-shirt

designs caused much protest.
They were quickly discontinued.
 Excite Japan: Devoted
exclusively to women
(www.excite.co.jp).

www.toshiba.co.jp
 Executive Education Program

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 Culturally Customized Website –PART II
SESSION II: Hands-on cultural customization tool-kit
November 5, 2009 12:00PM EST
http://event.on24.com/r.htm?e=162134&s=1&k=E1F5F4F22C9C0D6
51E5D2248B6E28444
By attending Session Two, you will learn:
How to read cultural maps
The cultural customization tool kit
Best practices and examples of culturally customized web content

Credits
Few slides were adapted from Tom Edwards Principal Consultant/Founder, Englobe Inc
Content was adapted from Prof Singh’s lecture notes
All content is for non-commercial use only

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 Knowledge Center

Download White Papers

• Building Stronger Brands Around the World: A Guide

to Effective Global Marketing
• Strengthening Global Brands: Key Steps for
Meaningful Communications around the World
• Building a Global Web Strategy: Best Practices for
Developing your International Online Brand

View Webinars On-Demand

• The Art and Science of Global Navigation

• The Best Global Web Sites (and Why)
• Mastering Multilingual Marketing

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Questions?

Dr. Nitish Singh

Ncsingh72@gmail.com
www.globalizationexecutive.com

Paula Shannon
paula.shannon@lionbridge.com
http://twitter.com/pbshanz

Lionbridge
www.lionbridge.com
http://blog.lionbridge.com
http://twitter.com/Lionbridge

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