cultural customizing web sites

8/9/2019 Cultural Customizing Web Sites

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Culturally Customizing Web SitesPart I

Presented by Dr. Nitish Singh

Moderated by Paula ShannonOctober 2009


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Company confidential distribution prohibited without permission

Join us in tweeting this webinar!

#lionbridgewebcast

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Introductions

Dr. Nitish Singh

Assistant Professor of International Business at Boeing Instituteof International Business at Saint Louis University

[email protected]

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 fromUniversities in India and the UK. More recently he has co-authored

Proliferation of the Internet Economy

Paula Shannon

CSO, SVP and General Manager, Lionbridge

[email protected] 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
mailto:[email protected]://www.theculturallycustomizedwebsite.com/http://www.theculturallycustomizedwebsite.com/http://www.theculturallycustomizedwebsite.com/http://www.professornitishsingh.org/13301.htmlmailto:[email protected]:[email protected]://www.professornitishsingh.org/13301.htmlhttp://www.theculturallycustomizedwebsite.com/http://www.theculturallycustomizedwebsite.com/http://www.theculturallycustomizedwebsite.com/mailto:[email protected]


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About Lionbridge

Global Scale4,600 employees 26 countries Global network of 25,000 translators

Market LeadershipLeader in $14B services industry Translation and adaptation of products

and content for international markets

Global Clients

Recurring relationships with 500+global clients 80% of revenue comes from recurring clients 12 of the Fortune 20 companies are client

Hosted Technology

Web-based language technologyplatform Enhances competitive advantage Drives efficiency


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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 inceptionTo target global online consumers you have to speakin 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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Communication which

reflects complete immersion in the culture of thetarget 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

What is Culturally Customized?

Cultural customization begins where basic

localization ends



Is your website translated?

Yes

No

Poll Question



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

Researchers compared the way Chinese and US students viewed photographs

Perception of Images


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What is a Culturally Customized Website?


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What is a Culturally Customized Website?


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Perception of Symbols


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Do you actually consider the importance of culture?

Yes

No

Poll Question:


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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

The Biggest Blunder!

The BIGGEST communication blunder is to ignore the importance of

culture in communications.


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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



Netherlands



Switzerland



Spain



It is Not a Luxury!


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

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


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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 andNagasaki

The Japanese Premier announced that the Cabinet had taken a stance

ofmokusatsu

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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1. The tipping point at which a content element stretchesthe limits of the intended context, changing the content

from safe to potentially offensive.

2.

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

and/or process results in an unwanted contentcontroversy.

3.

A place of opportunity where various positive outcomesare possible, if proactive.

Geocultural Edge (noun) (T.Edwards):


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Discerning the Geocultural Edge

Geocultural Edge

Consumer/govt support

Positive image

Strong revenue

High customer loyalty

Consumer/govt inquiry

Questionable image

Decreased revenue

Waning customer loyalty

Govt/punitive actions

Negative image

Low/negative revenue

Low customer loyalty

Product is Safe Product at Risk


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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)

Consequences - Going over the Geocultural Edge

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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Graphics

elements with texthuman body elements and body language

humor, puns, and slang

physical environments

ethnic, racial, political, and religious environmentsgender-specific elements

images of animals

sexual and violent elements

regional conventions, such as reading direction, date/time, andmonetary elements

Content to Avoid


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Issues with Human Representation

Exposed feet is a

problem in theMiddle East

A bit too

revealing forsome cultures

Use of 4 fingers

with humanfigures in Japan

Gestures are

very context-

dependent


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In 2002, Abercrombie & Fitch t-shirtdesigns caused much protest

Retail Product Design and Marketing


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In 2002, Abercrombie & Fitch t-shirt

designs caused much protest.

They were quickly discontinued.

Retail Product Design and Marketing


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Excite Japan: Devoted

exclusively to women

(www.excite.co.jp).

www.toshiba.co.jp


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Executive Education Program


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Culturally Customized WebsitePART II

SESSION II: Hands-on cultural customization tool-kit

November 5, 2009 12:00PM ESThttp://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

Few slides were adapted from Tom Edwards Principal Consultant/Founder, Englobe Inc

Content was adapted from Prof Singhs lecture notes

All content is for non-commercial use only

Credits
http://event.on24.com/r.htm?e=162134&s=1&k=E1F5F4F22C9C0D651E5D2248B6E28444http://event.on24.com/r.htm?e=162134&s=1&k=E1F5F4F22C9C0D651E5D2248B6E28444http://event.on24.com/r.htm?e=162134&s=1&k=E1F5F4F22C9C0D651E5D2248B6E28444http://event.on24.com/r.htm?e=162134&s=1&k=E1F5F4F22C9C0D651E5D2248B6E28444


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Knowledge Center

The Art and Science of Global Navigation

The Best Global Web Sites (and Why)

Mastering Multilingual Marketing

View Webinars On-Demand

Building Stronger Brands Around the World: A Guideto Effective Global Marketing

Strengthening Global Brands: Key Steps forMeaningful Communications around the World

Building a Global Web Strategy: Best Practices forDeveloping your International Online Brand

Download White Papers


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Questions?

Lionbridgewww.lionbridge.com

http://blog.lionbridge.com

http://twitter.com/Lionbridge

Dr. Nitish Singh

[email protected]

www.globalizationexecutive.com

Paula Shannon

[email protected]

http://twitter.com/pbshanz
http://www.lionbridge.com/http://blog.lionbridge.com/http://twitter.com/Lionbridgemailto:[email protected]://www.globalizationexecutive.com/mailto:[email protected]://twitter.com/pbshanzhttp://twitter.com/pbshanzmailto:[email protected]://www.globalizationexecutive.com/mailto:[email protected]://twitter.com/Lionbridgehttp://blog.lionbridge.com/http://www.lionbridge.com/

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