Textual Speaking On The eBay Global Market Platform:A Cultural Study of International Small Business Listings

by Tom Mitchell

Introduction

Lead Researcher

• Tom Mitchell, Senior

• English Major Track G: Professional and Technical Writing

• Global Career In the Water Industry

Research Assistant

• Sicong Jiang, Junior

• Engineering Student

• Nanjing, Jiangsu, China

Primary Source

• Zhu Yan, School of Economics, Tsinghua University, Beijing, China

• National and Cultural Differences in the C2C Electronic Market: An Investigation into Transactional Behaviors of Chinese, American and French Consumers on eBay (2009)

Purpose of Report

1.Analyze listings on the eBay and Taobao websites

2. Identify any cultural-communications problems

3. Identify textual language translation problems

History of eBay

• eBay, Inc.

• 1995 by Pierre Omiydar

• 1998 Meg Whitman, President & CEO

• eBay China

• 1999 Purchased shares in China Eachnet

• 2003 eBay Eachnet

• 2006 Withdrew from China’s C2C Online Auction Market

History of Taobao

• Taobao

• 2003 Found by Alibaba’s Jack Ma

• 2005 Controlled China’s online auction market

• 2006 Most frequented website in China

• 2007 83.9% of online C2C market shares

Online Auction Platforms and Research

• Taobao Online Auction Platform

• eBay Global Online Auction Platform

Online Cultural Shopping Behaviors

• Online Collectivism and Individualism Research Comparison

• Consumer from different nationalities have different shopping behaviors (Yan)

• Equal risk-taking results for U.S. and China

• U.S. – Individualistic society

• China – Collectivistic society

• Guanxi

Comparison Study Results

• Taobao Listing Analysis – High-Context Culture Online Marketplace

• eBay Listing Analysis – Low-Context Culture Online Marketplace

Analysis of eBay.com Listings

• Analysis of China based listings for cultural information

Analysis of eBay.com

• Cross-cultural communication problems

• English language

• Oral vs written skills

• Translation programs

• Feedback Ratings

• eBay Messaging

Conclusions

• China sellers using same techniques from Taobao

• Guanxi business relationship practices

• English Language translation problems

• Use of translation programs

• We love Google Translator!

Recommedations

• Online pop-up window notification system

• Provide the buyer and seller with cross-cultural information

• Utilize Professional and Technical Writing and Communications services

• Further research

• Larger sample size of listings research

• Additional communication research on eBay’s message system

Sources

• William Bennett, Professor, Stanford University - Taobao vs. eBay China Case Study (2010)

• Bruce Einhorn, Bloomberg Business Report - How eBay Found a Secret Way into China (2011)  

• Small Business Administration, Frequently Asked Questions. (2014)

• Dawn Gregg, Professor, University of Colorado - A Typology of Complaints about eBay Sellers (2008)

• Tat Koon Koh, Professor, University of Hong Kong - Trust across borders: Buyer-supplier trust in global business-to-business Ecommerce (2012) 

• M. Paul Lewis, Ph.D. SIL International - Ethnologue: Languages of the World, Eighteenth edition (2015)  

• Reference for Business - Background Information on eBay Inc. (2005) 

• Li Qinfang, Professor, Tongji University - Research on Chinese C2C Ebusiness institutional trust mechanism: Case study on Taobao and eBay(cn). (2007) 

• Iris Varner & Linda Beamer Culture and Communication. Intercultural communication in the global workplace (5th ed.) (2011) 

• Carol Xiaojuan Ou, Professor, Polytechnic University of Hong Kong - Why eBay lost to Taobao in china: The global advantage (2009)

• Zhu Yan, Professor, Tsinghua University - National and cultural differences in the C2C electronic marketplace: An investigation into transactional behaviors of Chinese, American, and French consumers on eBay (2009)