The Impact of Cultural Customization on the Ease of Use of Global Companies’ Web Sites

Abstract

The purpose of this research is to investigate the impact of the degree to which global companies’ web sites are adapted to local culture, i.e. cultural customization on web sites, on local consumers’ ease of use of the web sites. We also examine the moderating effect of regulatory focus on the impact of cultural customization on web sites. We perform a content analysis of Japanese websites for American companies and conduct a consumer survey. The results of the empirical analysis show that cultural customization has a positive impact on perceived presentation and navigation on the web sites, and that promotion focus enhances the positive impact of cultural customization. These results imply that global companies should reflect local cultural values on their websites and that cultural customization is more effective for promotion-focused, rather than prevention-focused consumers.

Keywords

• international marketing
• standardization and adaptation
• e-business
• regulatory focus
• content analysis