Cultural Adaptation in Cross Border E-Commerce-- A Study of German Companies 英语论文.doc
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1、Journal of Electronic Commerce Research, VOL 8, NO 4, 2007 CULTURAL ADAPTATION IN CROSS BORDER E-COMMERCE: A STUDY OF GERMAN COMPANIES Rudolf R. Sinkovics Manchester Business School The University of Manchester United Kingdom Rudolf.Sinkovicsmbs.ac.uk Mo Yamin Manchester Business School The Universi
2、ty of Manchester United Kingdom Mo.Yaminmbs.ac.uk Matthias Hossinger Manchester Business School The University of Manchester United Kingdom Matthias.Hossingerpostgrad.mbs.ac.uk ABSTRACT The standardization vs. adaptation debate in international marketing is still ongoing, yet, in the online realm th
3、e discussion is only just emerging. While practitioners are excited to jump on the online communication and commerce bandwagon, empirical research on the issue of online standardization vs. adaptation is still relatively limited and mostly concerns US firms. This paper explores 100 German companies
4、domestic, U.S., U.K. and Latin American websites and employs a cultural value analysis. We build on Hofstedes and Halls cultural framework. Findings suggest that cultural value depiction is not very strong in the relevant markets, thus a certain degree of cultural alienation takes place. It is sugge
5、sted that to engage better with their customer and reach better cultural congruency companies need to work harder on developing culturally adapted websites. Keywords: online standardization, adaptation, cultural analysis 1.Introduction Nearly a billion people are already connected to the Internet Ok
6、azaki 2004. Between 2000 and 2005 the Internet experienced a growth of 160% Internet World Stats 2005, making it a source of about US-$3.2 trillion in revenues for businesses and their e-commerce activities Singh, Zhao, and Hu 2003. Hence, web-presence is arguably crucial in terms of improving inter
7、national marketing efforts Vivekanandan and Rajendran 2006, and overall business-success Alvarez, Kasday, and Todd 1998. However, although websites are virtually accessible to anybody from anywhere, truly tapping into online customers involves more than simply putting up a website. Yamin and Sinkovi
8、cs Yamin and Sinkovics 2006 point to the particular dangers connected with over-reliance on digital media. They argue that by being close to customers but distant from markets, companies may become susceptible to falling into a virtuality trap. Appropriate relational governance mechanisms see e.g. W
9、u et al. 2007 are considered necessary to reduce the possibility of this virtuality trap. Boshoff 2007 suggests that with the Internet as a retailing channel, distinctive service delivery and service quality criteria need to be developed. The study by Lynch and Beck 2001 is particularly relevant in
10、this respect. They point out that the rapid growth of the internet created an exaggerated expectation that it would enable companies to create a new, standardized mode of communication, one where buyers would speak and be comfortable with the same “electronic language”, regardless of region, culture
11、 or class Lynch and Beck 2001. However their empirical finding indicated that even with increased electronic interaction people still need to feel culturally and contextually engaged with vendors, even online Lynch and Beck 2001. Later studies have confirmed these findings. Lim et al. 2004 have obse
12、rved, that the virtual space on the Internet is not boundary-less or culture-free. Similar observations have been made by e.g. Singh Sinkovics et al.: Cultural Adaptation in Cross Border E-Commerce: A Study of German Companies and Baack 2004 and Singh, Furrer, and Ostinelli 2004. Whilst these studie
13、s focus on cultural characteristics of buyers or consumers from different countries and regions, other studies have focused on firm strategies in terms of the degree of standardization and/or adaptation they incorporate in the content and design of their country or region specific websites Okazaki 2
14、004. Thus, paralleling the long-standing debate on standardization vs. adaptation in international marketing e.g. Agrawal 1995; Theodosiou and Leonidou 2003, there is discussion on whether, in the online domain, adaptation of website content and design to local cultural manifestations or their stand
15、ardization to effectively transmit online content is the more appropriate strategy. There is also a lack of empirical evidence in the fields of “applied culture” on the Internet; hence, evidence as to whether a contingency perspective Agrawal 1995; Katsikeas, Samiee, and Theodosiou 2006 is appropria
16、te and in which context are limited. A further limitation is that extant literature focuses heavily on U.S. culture and companies Okazaki 2004; Singh, Zhao, and Hu 2003. Moreover, we witness methodological weaknesses such as relatively small sample sizes Fink and Laupase 2000; Singh and Baack 2004;
17、Singh, Furrer, and Ostinelli 2004; Singh, Zhao, and Hu 2003 and a somewhat limited depth of cultural analysis Okazaki and Rivas 2002. Following a review of the literature, this paper replicates and extends the methodological approach suggested by Singh et al. 2005, in the context of German MNCs. We
18、consider such a replication to be valuable to understand whether findings can be generalized to different populations Hubbard and Armstrong 1994, and to establish support beyond one-shot studies Evanschitzky et al. 2007, particularly given the narrow focus of prior research on only few countries. We
19、 explore whether German MNCs employed culturally adapted online communication strategies in their own domestic habitat and country-specific websites in the U.S., U.K. and in Latin America. Cultural values are measured using Hofstedes 1991 and Halls 1976 dimensional approach. 2.Conceptual background
20、2.1. The standardization vs. adaptation debate The standardization/adaptation debate in international marketing has inspired academics and practitioners for more than three decades. Arguments of cost reduction, scale- and scope-effects, brand building as well as meeting customer demands, culture-bou
21、nd preferences and expectations have resulted in contributions on either the standardization or adaptation side of the continuum Alashban et al. 2002; Buzzell 1968; Fatt 1967; Levitt 1983; Mueller 1992; Papavassiliou and Stathakopoulos 1997; Rutigliano 1986; Walters 1986; Yip 1989. The standardizati
22、on approach has been criticized by many practitioners and marketing professionals as overly product oriented. As Douglas and Wind 1987 point out, standardization per se “implies a product orientation, and a product driven strategy, rather than a strategy grounded in the systematic analysis of custom
23、er behavior and response patterns and market characteristics.”. Negative implications of pure product oriented strategies have also been outlined by Levitt 1960 and Laughlin et al. 1994. Cavusgil and Zou 1994 also point to disadvantages in terms of vulnerability to competitive attacks see also Ricks
24、 1999; Zou, Andrus, and Norvell 1997 and others point to the lack of responsiveness to diverse governmental, economical/ecological and socio-cultural settings Doz and Prahalad 1980; Zou and Cavusgil 1996. The contingency-perspective see e.g. Agrawal 1995; Cavusgil, Zou, and Naidu 1993 has removed th
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