Table of Contents
1 Introduction ............................................................................................................................................... 1
2 Problem statement ................................................................................................................................... 3
2.1 Limitations ................................................................................................................................. 3
2. 2 Past studies .............................................................................................................................. 4
3 Methodology ............................................................................................................................................. 6
3.1 Defining communication patterns/styles and home page ..................................................... 6
3.2 Research strategy ...................................................................................................................... 7
3.3 Research design ......................................................................................................................... 8
3.4 The method ............................................................................................................................... 9
4 Theories and Literatures ......................................................................................................................... 10
4.1 Culture ..................................................................................................................................... 10
4.2 Communication ....................................................................................................................... 12
4.2.1 Communication styles across cultures ................................................................... 12
4.2.2 Cultural variables .................................................................................................... 13
4.3 Semiotics.................................................................................................................................. 15
4.4 Components of website design .............................................................................................. 16
5 Analysis of website design ...................................................................................................................... 17
5.1 Spain ........................................................................................................................................ 17
5.1.1 The level of denotation ........................................................................................... 17
5.1.2 The level of connotation ......................................................................................... 18
5.1.3 Communication patterns and cultural variables reflected on the home page ..... 18
5.2 Denmark .................................................................................................................................. 20
5.2.1 The level of denotation .......................................................................................... 20
5.2.2 The level of connotation ........................................................................................ 21
5.2.3 Communication patterns and cultural variables reflected on the home page .... 22
6 Conclusion ............................................................................................................................................... 24
7 Bibliography............................................................................................................................................. 26
8 Appendices .............................................................................................................................................. 30
1 Introduction
The internet is inherently global in nature as it is globally accessible and crosses national
boundaries to allow consumers around the world to participate equally. 1 Moreover the growing
global online population causes the discussions in regards with standardized versus specialized
approach to web communication. Thus wherever messages send through websites should be
created with no change in theme, illustration – except perhaps for translation. 2 Or wherever it
should be adopted and even customized in regard with the targeted culture.
Theodore Levitt in his article “The Globalization of Markets” (1983) argues that due to the
development of tourism, transport and communication the world has become more homogenized.
The tastes and desires of consumers are becoming more homogenous, which has created the idea
of the global consumer.3
Moreover Ess and Sudweeks investigate four general assumptions in the many predictions of a
future world reshaped by the Internet. Among these assumptions, one says that “<…> the
computer, codes, interfaces, etc. – are culturally-neutral, ones that allow transparent
communication between culture”. It implies that the characteristics of websites could be
culturally neutral, in the sense of not reflecting the signature traits of any specific national
culture. Culturally non-specific website design and content presumably would help make webbased communication universally understandable. However the findings indicate that this
assumption collapse because “diverse cultural values and distinctive communicative preferences
play a central role in shaping individual and cultural responses to new communication
technologies, especially as these technologies favor and embed culturally-specific values and
communicative preferences”. 4
1
Nitish Singh, Hongxin Zhao and Xiaorui Hu, Analyzing the cultural content of web sites. A cross-national
comparison of China, India, Japan, and US. 2003, pg. 129
2
Zahna Caillat, Barbara Mueller, Observations: the influence of culture on American and British advertising: an
exploratory comparison of beer advertising. 1996, pg. 79
3
Theodore Levitt, The globalization of markets. 1984, pg. 2
4
Charles Ess, Fay Sudweeks. Computer-mediated communication or culturally-mediated computing? Challenging
Assumptions of the Electronic Global Village. Electronic Journal of Communication/Revue Electronique de
Communication.
1
Among others, Green, Cunningham, 5 Marieke de Mooij 6 claim that the global market still
consist of hundreds of nations, each with its own customs, lifestyles, economies and buying
habits, and marketers are urged to take these differences into account. Moreover according to
Del Gado, E & Nielsen, 7 in order to meet the needs of diverse market, it is necessary to localize
software products and Internet sites for the target market.
Thus creating appealing and efficient websites for other cultures is no longer a matter of
language and modification of time and date formats it is more and requires dealing with design
issues that include culture-specific color connotation, preferences in layout, animation, sounds
and other effects that are characteristic of today’s generation of websites. 8 Thus the base of the
project is an assumption that localized approach is the most suitable when communicating with
international online consumers over the web.
5
Green, Robert, William Cuningham, and Isabella Cunningham. The Effectiveness of Standardized Global
Advertising. Journal of Advertising 4, 3 (1975), pg. 25-30
6
Marieke de Mooij and Geert Hofstede, The Hofstede model, Applications to global branding and advertising
strategy and research, International Journal of Advertising, 29(1), pp. 85–110, 2010
7
Del Gado, E & Nielsen, J. International user interfaces. 1996
8
Elizabeth Wurtz, Intercultural communication on Web sites: A cross-cultural Analysis of Web sites from Highcontext Cultures and Low-context Culture. 2006
2
2 Problem statement
Since the project is based on the assumption that websites should be adapted to the targeted
cultures, the purpose here is to investigate how communication patterns of two different
countries are reflected on the website design proposed by the same company. Moreover
hidden goal is to reject or accept the assumption drawn above.
The differences between countries are measured in regard with low and high-context
communication. Thus to narrow down the project here I choose Denmark and Spain as the
representatives of high and low-context cultures (see pg. 12). 9 Moreover official websites of
McDonald (home page) in Spain and Denmark are selected for the analysis because McDonald is
the world's largest chain of hamburger fast food restaurants and having 63 localized websites
around the world.10 Thus the answers to the research question could assist for marketers to deal
with the problems of creating effective and clear communication with the studied cultures
through website design.
2.1 Limitations
Due to space restrictions and not to make it too complicated there are some boundaries in the
project. Instead of using Trompenaars’s or all of the Hoftede’s dimensions for analysis, Hall’s
theory and one of the Hofstede’s dimensions were selected. Despite the criticism of being
outdated, both theories are suitable as the base in regard with the research area. Hall’s theory
divides Denmark and Spain in to high and low context cultures with appropriate attributes
attached to them. Those attributes help to define the main communication patterns in target
cultures.
As regard with all Hofstede’s dimensions, the implication of it in relation to the target countries
would be interesting. Especially taking into account the research of Marcus and Gould where
they made a theoretical contribution by using anthropological work on culture as guidelines for
9
http://www.helsinki.fi/~tella/nishimuranevgitella299.pdf
http://www.aboutmcdonalds.com/country/map.html; The number of websites: Australia – 2, Europe – 31, Asia –
19, North America – 4, South America – 5, Africa - 2
10
3
designing websites.
11
But space restriction forces to narrow down the research area. Thus
Hofstede’s dimension of individualism versus collectivism (see appendix, pg. 30) was chosen
because attributes attached to them strongly relate with high versus low context cultures. 12
Since the amount of pages is limited the project is focus only on the analysis of websites design
(home page) rather than content which could be used for the future studies. Moreover websites
are analyzed in terms of connotation, denotation proposed by Roland Barthes. Since the analysis
of website is focusing on its design thus it does not include linguistic message to convey the text.
Other limitation is the number of websites for the analysis. Due to constraint reason the focus is
only on one website from each studied country.
Finally, the greatest limitation of this study is high degree of subjectivity since interpretation of
symbols and meanings attached to the images are based on my knowledge and experience. Thus,
the involvement of the people originated from studied cultures would reduce the level of
subjectivity. However, time limitation forces to choose the first option.
2.2 Past studies
Moreover most of the previous studies were focused on the comparison between Western and
Eastern and tried to identify cross-cultural differences in the design and content characteristics of
the websites such as Wenyong Zhao, Brian L. Massey, Jamie Murphy, Liu Fang. Their study was
focused on the comparison between American and Chinese websites by analyzing content and
design websites based on cultural-neutral assumption. This exploratory study was limited in that
it tested only a handful of culture-based variables on just the home page and looked at a
relatively small sample of websites in two countries since it was quantitave research. 13
Others, Tanveer Ahmed, Haralambos Mouratidis, David Preston, by investigating qualitative
study tried to explore the local cultural values on Malaysian and British websites selected
from different sectors. The main advantage that this study intended to fill this gap, focusing
on less-debated cultures: Malaysia, Britain and the choice of analyzing different sectors.
11
Marcus, A., Gould, E.W., Cultural dimensions and global web user-interface design: What? So What? Now
What? 2001;
12
http://www.marin.edu/buscom/index_files/Page605.htm;
13
Wenyong Zhao, Brian L. Massey, Jamie Murphy, Liu Fang, Cultural Dimensions of Websites Design and
Content. 2003;
4
However disadvantages include a limited number of websites analyzed and lack of
participants involvement in to study.14
Dieter Fink and Ricky Laupase compares the perceptions of Malaysians and Australians for four
website design characteristics, atmospherics, news stories, signs and products and services as
parts of the integrated internet marketing model.15 According to controlled laboratory method,
they collected data from a relatively small number of participants through the conduct of specific
tasks. However, it enabled them to manipulate the independent variable (Web site design
characteristics) for evaluation by two distinct cultural groups (Malaysians and Australians).
Dianne Cyr and Haizley Trevor-Smith tried to explore issues of user interface design and
experience, including culturally preferred design elements, a study was conducted analyzing
websites in Germany, Japan and United States. The limitation of the study was the choice of
municipal websites to avoid product or company branding effect. However the use of municipal
websites limited generalizability of the data to other context such as corporate websites. 16
The quantitative study of Nitish Singh, Hongxin Zhao and Xiaorui Hu based on comparison of
China, India, Japan and US in order to explore the depiction of cultural values on international
websites. Finally they proved that website is not cultural-neutral medium. However this study
includes only value aspect of cultural reality and such cultural dimensions that measure
perceptual, attitudinal behavior and symbolic aspects of cultural reality were rejected. 17
Finally Elizabeth Wurtz work, where she tried to identify the strategies used on the websites by
high and low context cultures. However this study has high level of subjectivism and lack of the
14
Tanveer Ahmed, Haralambos Mouratidis, David Preston, Website Design and Localisation: A Comparison of
Malaysia and Britain, International Journal of Cyber Society and Education, Pages 3 -16, Vol. 1, No. 1, March 2008
15
Dieter Fink and Ricky Laupase, Perceptions of Web site design characteristics: a Malaysian/Australian
comparison. 2000
16
Dianne Cyr and Haizley Trevor-Smith, Localization of Web design: An empirical comparison of German,
Japanese, and United States Web site characteristics. Journal of the American Society for Information Science and
Technology, 55, 1199-1208, 2004
17
Nitish Singh; Hongxin Xhao; Xiaorui Hu, Cultural adaptation on the Web: A study of American companies'
domestic and Chinese websites, Journal of Global Information Management; Jul-Sep 2003; 11, 3; ABI/INFORM
Global, pg. 63
5
involvement of participants from the countries from which the websites originate. Moreover only
one type of websites were selected for the analysis.18
This study differ from the previous (for empirical findings see appendix 2, pg.30) because it
focus on Spain and Denmark which geographically are not far from each other but are separated
in regard to high and low context cultures thus having different communication patterns.
Moreover this project does not trying to draw guidelines for websites design, contrary it try to
identify whether and how communication patterns are reflected in the websites design of two
different context cultures.
3 Methodology
This chapter is dedicated to present the methodology (based on Adam Bryman) applied in the
project. The aim is to give insight in to how I will approach the research question and to discuss
my choices.
3.1 Defining communication patterns/styles and home page
Since the key words of this project are communication patterns/styles and home page of
websites, a clear definitions of both concepts are essential in order to improve the validity and
reliability in research area.
The home page does not make difficulties in defining this concept since it is the main page on a
website. Usually visitors see this page first and through table of contents or images (links)
navigates the visitor to other pages on the site. 19 However the definition of communication
patterns/styles is more complicated since it includes various elements. First of all communication
is the process of conveying meaningful information, thus it not only exchange but and create and
share meaning (for further details see pg.17).20 The meaning of information fluctuates depending
on communication style in regard with particular culture. According to Elliott, C. E. (1999),
communication patterns includes emotions, directness/indirectness, eye contact, gestures, space,
time, vocal patterns. In this project communication patterns are putted in to non-verbal/verbal
18
Elizabeth Wurtz, Intercultural communication on Web sites: A cross-cultural Analysis of Web sites from Highcontext Cultures and Low-context Culture. 2006
19
http://www.techterms.com/definition/homepage
20
http://www.businessdictionary.com/definition/communication.html
6
communication (directness/indirectness, words/gestures) perception of time and message speed.
Communication patterns are essential in this project since it assist to differentiate cultures for the
analysis.
3.2 Research strategy
The present study of communication patterns reflected on the websites design in Denmark and
Spain is based on a qualitative research. According to A. Bryman: „Qualitative researchers often
want to interpret people‘s behavior in terms of the norms, values, and culture of the group
community in question“ (A. Bryman, 2008, pg. 594). The purpose is not to produce new
knowledge but to develop already existing with new variables and possible situations.
By proposing different tools, theories and previous studies made on cross-cultural analysis of
websites (see pg. 4), I will present my understanding and interpretation of symbols and
communication patterns of the targeted countries reflected on the website design. Moreover
quantitative reseach strategy could suits in this project if the purpose would be to measure the
extent to which communication patterns are reflected on the website design by using numbers
and statistical formulas (e. g. measure volume of information in kylobytes or images in pixels).
According to epistemological position interpretivist approach will be applied in this project
because it focuses on interpretive understanding of social phenomenon. Interpretivism position
”<...> requires the social scientist to gasp the subjective meaning of social action” (A. Bryman,
2008, pg. 16). As it was mentioned above, I will focus on subjectivity and understanding about
‘how’ and ‘why’ certain issues work: how images, anmimation refers to the symbols, what are
their meanings in regard with particular culture and finally how communication paterns of the
targeted countries are reflected on the website through it’s design. Even more, positivist and
realist approaches are rejected because in this project social reality is not independent from me as
an observer, and social world is not just a product of external forces. Of course Hofstede’s and
Hall’s division of countries into ”boxes” assist to know cultures from objective view. On the
other hand, social reality is still created according to my interpretations and subjective
considerations.
7
Ontologically this research project will be conducted from a constructivist position. A. Bryman
describes constructivism as a view of the social world where “social phenomena and their
meanings are continually being accomplished constructed by social actors” (A. Bryman 2008,
pg. 19). According to this view of the world and relating it to the project area, culture can be seen
as in a continuous state of construction and reconstruction. Moreover certain communication
patterns could be asign to one or another culture however the meanings differ and they are
consntructed based on my knowlege on particular culture and empirical studies (past studies).
Moreover the reason why objectivism was not applied is that this position represents ”social
phenomena and their meanings as being independent from social actors that the categories that
we use in everyday discourse are beyond our reach or influence” (A. Bryman, 2008, pg. 19). In
fact, all variables, that are relevant to the issue are analyzed by this research, inevitably have an
influence to its nature. Finally in this study meanings and especially in relation to symbols are
dependent on my knowleges and are essential since it provides answers to the problem questions.
3.3 Research design
“The research design is a framework for the collection and analysis of data. A choice of
research design reflects decisions about the priority being given to a range of dimensions of the
research process <…>” (A. Bryman, 2008, pg. 698).
In this project comparative design is chosen in order to combine two contrasting cases, where the
same research methods will be applied. Moreover two countries rather than one were chosen
because it helps to investigate whether websites of the same brand are created according to the
communication patterns of the targeted country (which are different in regard to high and low
context communication). In other words, wherever McDonalds’ websites are created in regard
with particular culture. Thus comparative analysis were selected because as A. Bryman defines,
“it embodies the logic of comparison in which we can understand social phenomena better when
they are compared in relation to two or more meaningfully contrasting cases or situations” (A.
Bryman, 2008, pg. 58). Comparative method will help to draw systematic data analysis of a
problem where Spain and Denmark are compared in different cultural backgrounds by using the
same research instruments.
8
In this project two targeted countries – Spain and Denmark - are compared in different cultural
backgrounds by using the same research instruments. The scope is to gain a deeper
understanding how communication patterns of different context cultures are reflected on the
website.
3.4 The method
Websites are analyzed in regard with the symbols and communication patterns reflected on the
home page.21 Thus semiotics approach is used in order to convey the meanings within targeted
cultures.
According to Bryman, semiotics is “an approach to the analysis of symbols in everyday life and
as such can be employed in relation not only to documentary sources but also to all kinds of
other data” (Alan Bryman, 2008, pg. 531). Semiotics is applied in the analysis of home page
since it assists in uncovering the hidden meaning of the images and symbols attached to them.
Understanding and interpretation of meanings are based on my knowledge and experience gained
through the communication with the people from targeted countries.
The following chapter illustrates relevant theories considered useful in answering the initial
problem formulation as well as hidden question. However relevant theories did not come so easy.
First of all, once I have chosen a topic, and selected a possible research problem than the next
step took the exploration of what research has already been done on this topic and research
problem (for detail information see ”past studies”) which were used as my empirical data for the
analysis. Literature review includes every relevant scholarly article, book, dissertation, and other
resource that has been published on selected topic and problem: Aalborg library dabatase,
artikles, books, google scholar. Finally the theoretical framework is developed from and
connected to my review of the knowledge on the topic (literature review). This knowledge is
likely how I initially formulated my research problem. The theoretical framework allows me to
present the research problem in light of a summary of the literature.22
21
22
See pg. ????? for explanation of this choice
http://www.statisticssolutions.com/resources/dissertation-resources/theoretical-framework
9
4 Theories and Literatures
In the following chapter the concepts that have been identified for the scope of this study will be
placed in a theoretical framework drawing on existing theories of culture, communication, and
communication styles across cultures. Finally the components of website design will be drawn.
4.1 Culture
It is generally acknowledged that cultural differences exist across country borders. Moreover one
of the most difficult challenges for international marketers is communicating to people of diverse
cultures. Even more as G. Hofstede defines “culture is more often a source of conflict than of
synergy”. 23
Culture is "<…> the collective programming of the mind distinguishing the members of one
group or category of people from another” (G. Hofstede)24
Culture is“<…> the way of life of a people: the sum of their learned behaviour patterns, attitudes
and materials things. Culture is often subconscious; an invisible control mechanism operating in
our thoughts (Hall, 1983)”25
Some of cultural differences are very obvious such as food traditions, religion, and the way of
dressing and so on. Other cultural differences related to behaviour of the people are less obvious,
but can still be measured, at least according to the functionalist approach. There I would like to
discuss two approaches to culture:
 The functionalist approach is a way of distinguishing cultural aspects in a measurable way.
This means taking different cultures, placing them in frames, boxes and comparing them.
The functionalist approach is a fairly easy way to get an idea about a different culture. However,
this approach has been subject to criticism. Some of the main points of critique indicates that it is
problematic how the functionalist approach suggests that “people of a certain nationality have
23
http://www.geert-hofstede.com/
http://www.geerthofstede.nl/culture.aspx
25
Shoji Nishimura, Anne Nevgi and Seppo Tella, Communication Style and Cultural Features in High/Low Context
Communication Cultures: A Case Study of Finland, Japan and India
24
10
shared patterns of behaviour” (Askehave, Norlyk, 2006, pg. 15) and ignores the subcultures
within a society.
 The interpretive approach focuses on “the importance of individual interpretations”
(Askehave, Norlyk, 2006, pg. 17). It points out that cultural differences should be
experienced personally.
“…Rather than being predictive and assign general patterns of behaviour to certain
nationalities, the interpretive approach focuses on how patterns of behaviour are interpreted and
shaped by the members of a given culture” (Askehave, Norlyk 2006, pg. 9). This means that
according to interpretivists, frames, boxes and labelling is not what gives an ideal insight into a
culture since the individuals within a culture and different backgrounds, have their own distinct
outlooks and ways of shaping and interpreting culture. 26 27 28
According to Schultz and Hatch (1996), those two paradigms can somehow interact to address
the different perspective of culture. They suggested that “to the study of national cultural
patterns, the functionalist view uses predefined categories to provide a clear, generalizable and
stable pattern, while the interpretivist view uses interpretation and symbolic representation to
describe the ambiguous, situated and instable perspectives of culture”. However this approach
may still be problematic since it assumes that there is a line between the stable and unstable
elements of culture. Despite that, in reality the line itself may be ambiguous and dynamically
changing.29 To sum up, according to the aspects mentioned in this paragraph both paradigms are
applied in the project since Hall’s and Hofstede’s division of cultures assist to differ
communication patterns. However the interpretation of meanings attached to images and
animation are based on my knowledge and experience.
26
http://docs.google.com/viewer?a=v&q=cache:rV2KeHWYZMJ:www.hum.aau.dk/~inglas/afl%25203_golden%2520hints.doc+
functionalist+interpretivist+approach+to+cultur&hl=en&gl=dk&pid=bl&srcid=ADGEEShaQQRsQMfSnKsppBt8Fe9vAlfaKB3
n9zHWeMtJRAbbrTF3T4Iu9k4CpxFiq0GJJnS8Am96j9FyRO34odAUqywmEiaFIJOaCduWU1zFM0jNUL_GidZXkn9qy4Wcz
9mJfyj&sig=AHIEtbQHn3wvm1GQjQk8yDPqzCdPfELzIA&pli=1
27
http://www.sagepub.com/upm-data/15521_Chapter_5.pdf
Inger Askehave and Birgitte Norlyk, Meanings and Messages, 2006
29
Pak Yoong,Sidney Laurence Huff, Managing IT professionals in the Internet age, pg. 263-264, 2007
28
11
4.2 Communication
Intercultural communication as the sharing of information on different levels of awareness and
control between people with different cultural backgrounds, where different cultural
backgrounds include both national cultural differences and similarities which are connected with
participation in the different activities that exist within a national unit. 30 31
Thus the communication is not one-way flow of information. There is sender who is active and
the receiver who is inactive or passive. The message is ‘dressed up’ or coded in an appropriate
way and send through a media channel. The audience decodes the message (correctly or
incorrectly) and ultimately rejects or accepts. Amidst the careful coding and decoding there is
noise, the extraneous factors that distract or distort the coded message. Thus message rejection,
misinterpretation and misunderstanding which usually raise from different cultural backgrounds
leads to ineffective communication (P R Smith, 1998). According to Lailawati Mohd Salleh,
ignoring cultural differences in an interaction can potentially signal trouble. 32
According to P R Smith, in order to be successful the sender should understand the target
receiver or audience because it helps to identify what is important to the audience and how
symbols, signs and language are interpreted (P R Smith, 1998, pg. 69-73).33 Thus as Chen and
Starosta (1998) pointed out “Intercultural competence is imperative for human progress, and it
is by understanding communication styles and understanding how to use them that we may be
able to communicate more clearly, and promote dialogue between “us” and “them”.34
4.2.1 Communication styles across cultures
Differences in communication styles, as will be shown below, determine how much of the
meaning people encode into actual words. According to E. Hall (1979, p. 86) “context carries
varying proportions of the meaning.” In other words, meaning that is not encoded into words by
the message sender is supplied by context.
30
Jens Alwood, Linguistic communication as action and cooperation. 1976
http://www.ling.gu.se/~jens/publications/docs001-050/041E.pdf
32
High/Low Context communication: The Malaysian Malay Style, Lailawati Mohd Salleh, Ohio university
33
P R Smith (1998). Marketing communication. Secons edition. Kogan page.
34
http://jcmc.indiana.edu/vol11/issue1/wuertz.html
31
12
Verbal/Non-verbal communication
In so-called “low-context” (see figure on the right – High/Low context
by culture (Hall & Hall, 1900)) communication systems - Denmark people translate a large part of the meaning into explicit code (Hall
1979, pg. 91) thus the base is verbal communication. People explicitly
say what they want to convey without beating around the bush. Their
goal is to get and give information when communicating with other people. However, with less
regard to context, low-context systems tend to be more complex as the spoken word has to make
up for what is missing in the context (Hall 1979, p. 101).35
According to Hall Spain tend to be more collectivistic than individualistic culture thus they
highly tend to use non-verbal communication. Moreover Edward Hall (1979, pg. 91) points out
that in high-context communication a large part of the meaning lies in the physical context,
which includes facial expressions, tone of voice and gestures. As a result, the message itself
carries less information. People do not explicitly say what they want to convey. Instead, they
beat around the bush until their interlocutor decodes the message correctly. The reason for this is
that their primary goal is to preserve and strengthen relationships by saving face and ensuring
harmony (1979, p. 101). 36
4.2.2 Cultural variables
Cultural variables, which are drawn below, characterize high and low context cultures and are
strongly related with the analysis outlined in this project.
Polychronic versus Monochronic time perception
Hall noticed that the perception of time is culture-specific. Thus here low-context cultures tend
to be monochronic and high-context – polychronic. Monochronic cultures view time as an
important, almost tangible phenomenon. They are orientated towards planning and scheduling to
35
http://www.google.dk/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=edward%20hall%20communication%20pdf&source=web&cd=6&ved=0CEYQFjAF
&url=http%3A%2F%2Fgamsriegler.factlink.net%2FfsDownload%2Fcommunication%2520styles%2520across%2520cultures.pd
f%3Fforumid%3D326%26v%3D1%26id%3D216808&ei=JLlTq_pGYHh4QST4vXuBA&usg=AFQjCNHF4w3iX0dXqxO9afIZ
uA4pnOUvBg&sig2=7hkpDbHufRqzyOuSwB6qPw
36
Edward Hall, The paradox of culture. 1971
13
promote efficiency while in polichronic cultures people believe that everything will happen
“when it’s time” 37
Message speed
Hall proposed the dimension called slow versus fast messages which are tied to high and low
context cultures. This includes not only messages that are quickly and easily decoded and
messages which take a little more effort to act or decode but also it does relate with relationship
building. Fast message cultures create quick contacts but may also be perceived as superficial
while slow message cultures take their time to build relationships but results in these being
usually long lasting and deep-rooted.
Collectivism versus Individualism
As it was mentioned before, Hall classified Spain as more collectivistic than individualistic
culture. According to the indexes introduced by Hofstede, Spain have 51 score which reveals that
Spain is between collectivistic and individualistic dimensions. The reflection of this dimension
on the website will be interesting. Despite that Denmark has the index of 74 and is classified as
highly individualistic and low context culture.38
Collectivistic cultures prioritize group welfare over the goals of the individual. The family’s
history often has an influence on the way people see an individual. Moreover individuals in
collectivistic cultures tend to be interdependent with others. Values in collectivistic cultures
include training, physical condition, and the use of skills. Meanwhile individualistic cultures tend
to put emphasis on the goals and accomplishments of the individual rather than the group.
Individuals are expected to be independent of others and look after themselves. Personal values
include personal time, freedom, and challenge.39
To sum up the theories drawn above display that communication and especially in different
cultures is a complex process. Moreover every country could be referred to low or either high
context culture which helps to define and understand different cultures. However Hall’s theory
and Hofstede’s dimensions have been commented and criticized in the light of several points for
37
Edward Hall, The paradox of culture. 1971
http://www.geerthofstede.nl/research--vsm/dimension-data-matrix.aspx
39
Hofstede, G. (1994). Cultures and organizations: software of the mind. London: McGraw-Hill international.
38
14
being outdated (the dimensions were proposed in the 1970s and 1980s) and especially archaic in
their practice. Despite that, qualitative study of localized websites by Elizabeth Wurtz displays
that communication patterns today still reflects with the cultural dimensions proposed decades
ago. Moreover it is useful base to give an insight into a communication patterns, cultural
variables. Consequently, the following chapter is dedicated to the tools which will be using in
order to analyze websites design.
4.3 Semiotics
Since websites have often use symbols and added values in relation to the culture of the target
group, this chapter is focus on the visual semiotics presented by Roland Barthes. His semiotic
theory focuses on a structured system of signs, specifically photographs, as social phenomena.
Thus theory emphasizes how these signs are codes of cultural knowledge and ideologies. 40
41
Roland Barthes claimed that there are different orders of signification (Barthes 1957; Hjelmslev
1961): connotation and denotation which are not two separate things/signs. Connotation and
denotation are often described in terms of levels of representation or levels of meaning. 42
Denotation: at this level there is a sign consisting of a signifier (a term) and a signified (its
concept or relation).43 Denotation represents the explicit or referential meaning of a sign and
refers to the literal meaning of a word, the ‘dictionary definition.’ Connotation is a sign which
derives from the signifier of a denotative sign (so denotation leads to a chain of connotations).
Moreover connotation refers to the wide array of positive and negative associations that most
words naturally carry with them, the various social overtones, cultural implications, or emotional
meanings associated with a sign.44 45
Barthes's works were frequently criticized for being pseudoscientific and laden with jargon.
Barthes and his supporters defended themselves on the grounds that their brand of criticism,
40
http://www.colorado.edu/communication/meta-discourses/Papers/App_Papers/Fujii.html
http://www.stanford.edu/class/linguist34/Unit_03/connotation.htm
42
http://www.aber.ac.uk/media/Documents/S4B/sem06.html
43
http://cltrlstdies.blogspot.com/2007/09/barthes-intro-signifier-and-signified.html
44
http://www.csun.edu/~bashforth/098_PDF/06Sep15Connotation_Denotation.pdf
45
http://people.ucalgary.ca/~rseiler/barthes.htm
41
15
unlike that practiced at French universities, was more attuned to ideological, social, historical,
and psychological nuances. 46 In this study by the visual presentation of websites, images are
signs with the purpose of communicating the message. However linguistic message is not
included in the analysis since the focus of the project is the design of websites.
4.4 Components of websites design
Thus in order to find out how communication patterns are reflected through the websites design
of targeted countries, the components of website design should be drawn. Here parameters have
come from the qualitative research of Elizabeth Wurtz 47 where she identified the strategies used
on the websites by high and low context cultures and from quantitative research of Abdalghani
Mushtaha and Olga De Troyer Those48 which was carried out to determine the settled as well as
other types of cultural markers including interface design elements and cultural dimensions that
are appropriate to be used for cultural-centered website design and localization. Communication
patterns of the targeted countries will be analyzed according these components:
 Animation/images – display of sequence of images;
 Use of collectivistic versus individualistic values and relation with the product;
 Level of transparency/informativeness;
 Linear vs. Parallel navigation on the web site:

Linear - the visitor opens page in the same window;

Parallel – the visitor opens page in new window. 49 50
Animation, transparency and navigation have come from both researches mentioned above,
however the use of collectivistic vs. individualistic values have been taken from the study of
Elizabeth Wurtz. Thus next chapter is dedicated for the analysis of websites in terms of semiotics
and communication patterns reflected on the home page.
46
http://www.enotes.com/roland-barthes-criticism/barthes-roland
Elizabeth Wurtz, Intercultural communication on Web sites: A cross-cultural Analysis of Web sites from Highcontext Cultures and Low-context Culture. 2006
48
Abdalghani Mushtaha and Olga De Troyer Those, Cross-culture and website design: cultural movements and
settled cultural variables, Vrije Universiteit Brussel, Department of Computer Science
49
http://www.rocketface.com/organize_website/linear_navigation.html
50
Elizabeth Wurtz, Intercultural communication on Web sites: A cross-cultural Analysis of Web sites from Highcontext Cultures and Low-context Culture. 2006
47
16
5 Analysis of websites design
The following chapter includes analysis of websites design in regard to connotation, denotation,
communication patterns and selected cultural variables reflected on it. The focus here is home
page because it is the first impression that counts. Even more in her study Fantapié Altobelli
found out that generally home pages are more frequently accessed than sites further down in the
hierarchy because they usually list the content of the website, and that visitors pay attention to
home page contents.51
5.1 Spain
5.1.1 The level of denotation
Spanish website (see figure 1) has inconsistent style on the home page since background is
changing unconsciously. The background displays a part of the building’s roof and the branches
of the trees. The logos of McDonalds occupy half of the background.
Figure 1 Spanish home page (www.mcdonalds.es)
Animation consists of 10 images in the middle on the home page and is used as links to the
following pages. The most highlight picture in the middle showing a woman who is smiling. The
emotions on her face is dispayed through the episode of stopped moment in the conversation. In
51
Yvonne Husmann, Localization of web user interfaces. Cross-cultural differences in home page design. 2001
17
the top of this picture a logo of McDonalds is displayed. Around this one are others heavily seen
images of food and text written on it.
Moreover the website has two navigation bars on the top and button, both are animated. The
navigation bar on the button consists of links under which images with a logo of McDonalds and
an image of individual are hidden (see figure 2).
Figure 2 Fragment from the website
5.1.2 The level of connotation
The most highlight picture is in the middle. The intention here is to draw attention to a woman
who is smiling and expressing positive emotions. The episode of the stopped moment in the
conversation is seen as the way to get in touch with the visitors since in Spain relationships are
based on trust which could be gained though the long-term communication. Food has just a
second preference which refers to Spaniards' principal ways of spending time together by eating.
Thus food is the “currency” of social exchange.
Part of the building’s roof showing on the screen could be the metaphor to the place of people’s
concentration since belonging to the group is most of important in Spain. Moreover the branches
of the tree displayed around the building are considered essential part of Spanish culture. All
Spanish have garden or apartment terrace with fruit trees or plants since it is the reference to the
climate. However different types of trees have various meanings starting from glory, vitality to
privacy.
5.1.3 Communication patterns and cultural variables reflected on the home page
Verbal/Non-verbal communication
According to Elizabeth Wurtz, non-verbal communication is apparent in the animation and
images. Since animation and images occupy the greatest part of Spain website it reflects a high
use of non-verbal communication. Moreover those elements are substitute for words to a large
extent as an alternative way to communicate. Even more the website through images provides
18
many covert and implicit messages with the use of metaphor. The pictures perform here as tools
of emotional communication and create a pleasant atmosphere. However verbal-communication
also are considered important.
Massage speed
Message speed is apparent in the level of tranparency used. Since on Spanish website links have
an exploratory approach to navigation (links are inseparable from images), information described
by limited amount of text and website depend hightly on the links, it gives a less transparent
overview of the content. It requires that the user "chase" the information over the links on the
bottom (placing the cursor over a link to reveal more information before finally clicking it). Even
more the website is full of videos which also reduce the speed of gathering information. Thus it
is the reciever who has to work to retrieve the information (Elizabeth Wurtz). Moreover the
message speed also reflected through videos since home page consist of many videos and in
order to see them, a visitor has to wait until videos will load. Finally slow message speed also
could be reflection on the relationship between the user and company.
Perception of time
Perception of time is apparent in the linear versus parallel navigation and transparency of the
website. According to Hall, Spain is characterized as tend to be more high than low-context
culture. Even more, Elizabeth Wurtz in her study indicates that websites from high-context
cultures usually is taking a montage/layer-upon-layer approach in the layout. However in this
case Spain website could not be assign neither to linear nor to parallel navigation. The reasons
for this phenomenon could be various: limited amount of websites for the analysis, the influence
of other culture or the degree to which Hall clasified Spain as high-context. Despite that by using
given navigation visitors open pages in the same window. However the infomation is represented
in such a way in order to create an illusion of two opened pages on one screen. Thus it does not
make long search’s process. On the other hand, the variety of videos not only reduce the
message speed but also and “play“ on the visitor‘s time and patience. Thus it may reflects the
perception of time as flexible since they are patience and are willing to explore and work in order
to retrieve the information.
19
Commitment to relationship
The level of commitment to relationship is expressed through the use of collectivistic vs.
individualistic values and relation with the product. Since Spain has medium index (according to
Hofstede) in regard to collectivistic vs. individualistic dimension, it means that Spanish tend to
be collectivistic culture. The question here is what values dominate on the Spanish website?
Since a woman is displayed on the home page it looks like individualistic values are raised.
However in the picture a woman is stopped in a talking moment. It creates the image of endless
communication. Even more a woman is smiling and reveals positive emotions which reflect that
the website more focuses on inducing positive feelings rather than providing information. Thus
the connection with the visitors of the website is most of important.
As regard with the individual relation with the product on the websites, the importance is first of
all given to individual and only than to the products which is expressed through heavy
illustrations of variety kinds of pictures. It reveals that every Spaniard is more focused on what
he or she receives when enjoying the product rather than what the product offers. Thus the
purpose here is to build relationships and trust between the visitor and company. Finally all those
mentioned findings from the analysis in regard with the used values on the websites display that
despite not showing groups of people, it still reflects more collectivistic than individualistic
values.
Moreover most of the images and the colors of background are changing unconsciously – which
creates not static but endless communication with the visitor. Thus the relationship is most of
important which is also expressed through the sound and many videos. It forces the visitor to
stay on the website longer.
5.2 Denmark
5.2.1 The level of denotation
Danish website (see figure 3) has a clear structure: navigation bar with many headings and
subheadings on the top. The text and images are set up in clear sections.
However the
information does not contain in the website since need to scroll in order to see the whole website
(depends on the resolution of the computer’s screen).
20
Figure 3 Danish home page (www.mcdonalds.dk)
The website does not include sound or animation with moving elements. Despite that images
occupy the greatest part of the website: two hamburgers on the top and 4 images on the button.
The hamburgers are places in brighter light and behind them are other products such as slices of
cheese, freshly tomatoes, rings of onions, a bottle of drinks and seeds dropped on the table have
the last preference in this image.
Images on the button by moving from the left side (see figure 4) are: drawn penguin, men who is
smiling, showing a card and may be an employee of McDonalds since probably has name card
which is pun up on his breast and cows who feed in the fields. Despite that the text written on the
images also constitute considerable part of the website since occupy almost half of the images’
space.
5.2.2 The level of connotation
The advertisement plays on the connotative meaning of the products. Since the greatest part of
the website is occupied by two hamburgers thus visual aspect is important to decode. Elements
around two hamburgers creates home environment. It this way it represents a certain lifestyle.
Even more it does create the illusion of healthy products – thus has an added value.
21
Represented hamburgers are different which refers to freedom of the choices thus to
individualism since Danes are learned to be independent and make decision on their own. The
same aspect also could be confirmed by looking to other images on the button, e. g. a penguin
and a man on the left side. Even more the emotion expressed by a man – happiness has a
significant correlation with individualism (Matsumoto et al. 2008). A penguin may be a symbol
of freedom and socialism.
Figure 4 Fragment from the website
Moreover above mentioned aspect which refers to the illusion of healthy and environmental
friendly products and independent are also reflected through the pictures of the cows who feed
the grass in the field and heavily visible man. It reflects Danish lifestyle, since they are
environmental conscious (ride bikes, eat ecological product and try to save on electricity).
5.2.3 Communication patterns and cultural variables reflected on the home page
Verbal/non-verbal communication
The use of verbal/non-verbal communication is reflected through animation and images.
Denmark home page does not have animation affects but is vivid and (see figure 2) draw
attention to logos. However colours are related to the brand and the intention here is more to
fulfill a utilitarian purpose. Logos helps to find neccesary information imediatelly and colours
helps to identify brand. It does corelates with Hall that Danes emhasis the importance of facts
rather than feelings since home page looks like simple page (despite two hamburgers in the
middle of the home page) which overt and explicit messages whith simple and clear metaphors
expressed through links.
Message speed
As it was mentioned before message speed is apparent in transparency and also in navigation.
Denmark website is characterized as having transparent site because it provides a detailed
overview of the rest of the site on the home page through a large collection of links. Moreover
describes clearly what lies behind the links through the use of headings, subheadings, and
22
illustrations. The user has the freedom to choose which means that structure is minimalistic. This
makes it possible for the visitor to find what he or she is interested immediately. It is the sender
who does all the work in clarifying information and getting the point across. The provision of
informative content helps to force the speed. Thus all those aspects confirm that the importance
of fast message speed among Danes is highly reflected on the website.
Perception of time
Since perception of time is apperant in linear vs. parallel navigation it require to define which
startegy is used on Denmark home page. Opening new page on the same window refers to the
linear strategy which creates functional website in their design. Moreover it also is apparent in
the transparency. The data and information given is explicit, clear, precise, and direct and highly
focused which gives an ability to find information immediately. Moreover Jianeng Wang pointed
out in her study “in conversations, people in low-context cultures will shift from information
already stated to information about to be given” 52which could be applied to Denmark. The aim
here is to achieve goals quickly.
Even more perception of time could be also apparent in the animation/images. The exposure of
the products (two hamburgers) is related with highly organized time and directness since
practical aspects are essential – saving time and moving directly to the point.
Commitment to relationship
According to Hofstede and Hall, Denmark is highly individualistic culture. However what values
are reflected on the home page? Since the image of products – two hamburgers in the middle occupy the greatest part of the home page, it reveals that individualistic values are highly
expressed. Thus Danish society tends to value product and consumerism. Other feature of
individualism found on the Danish website is direct style - what the product offers. The emotion
expressed through image is trying to persuade the visitor to try this product. It more focuses on
individual benefits and preferences. Even more two hamburgers emphasis the “freedom” to
choose that is the feature of individualistic culture are again.
52
Jianeng Wang, A Cross-cultural Study of Daily Communication between Chinese and American - From the
Perspective of High Context and Low Context. Asian social science, 2008
23
6 Conclusion
The purpose of this project was to investigate how communication patterns are reflected on the
websites design of McDonalds for the targeted countries and how they differ. Moreover the
hidden question was whether accept or reject the assumption that websites design should be
adopted in regard with targeted cultures. The starting point for this project was that, although
Denmark and Spain geographically are not far from each other, however could be divided into
high and low-context cultures. Thus communication patterns distinguish them, which are
reflected in the selected websites. In order to display differences and similarities in
communication patterns and cultural variables between Denmark and Spain, the project has
introduced various theories on culture, communication and analysis of website design, which
were subsequently used in the comparative analysis of the selected websites.
Analysis indicates that the level of non-verbal communication expressed through animation and
transparency in Denmark and Spain. Spain website expresses high use of images with internal
meaning which usually is embedded deep in the information. Whereas Denmark’s websites is
characterized as using many overt and explicit messages which are simple and clear. Despite that
images is also used, however in relation to the brand and the intention here is more to fulfill a
utilitarian purpose rather than maintain long-term relationship between the visitor and company
that is appropriate to Spain.
The main distinction between Denmark and Spain is the reflection of message speed and time
perseption on the home page. Both aspects were reflected through transparency and navigation.
Thus limited amount of text, many videos, founded on Spain website, reduce the speed of
messages which reveals to flexible perception of time and patience. Whereas Denmark website,
despite having iliustrated home page, includes many links within clear headings and subheadings
which increases message speed and saves visitor’s time.
24
More debatable situation was in regard to commitment to relationship through the use of
collectivistics versus individualistic values on the home page of Spain. Instead of displaying
group of people in the website, individuals are brought forward which could be the characteristic
of individualistic culture. On the other hand collectivistic values are expressed throught the
purpose of the company to maintain relationship and “overweight” an aspect mentioned above.
Whereas Danish individualism is clearly expressed though the images of products since Danes
are goal orientated.
To sum up, this study was designed to take a mere glance into the understanding of cultural
variations of websites and their designs. Despite that both countries geographically are not far
from each other and even more from the first view both websites look vivid and full of images or
animation. However futher analysis dispay that there is huge distinction between Denmark and
Spain in regard with communication patterns reflected on the websites since the meanings of
symbols attached to the images differ. Even more the analysis supports the assumption that
culture and website are inseparably linked and that national communication patterns are
expressed on the website. Moreover, from my subjective view, communication between the
company and visitor on a website is similar to the conversation of two people with different
cultural backrounds. One or both sides (the extent is different) seek benefit from each other and
in order to be succesful cultural adaption is essential.
25
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29
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8 Appendix 1
Dimensions scores for Lithuania and Denmark
Source: http://www.geerthofstede.nl/research--vsm/dimension-data-matrix.aspx
Country
IDV
Denmark
74
Spain
50
9 Appendix 2
Empirical findings on the Influence of high/low context cultures
Communication style on websites design
Wenyong Zhao, Brian L. Massey, Jamie Murphy, Liu Fang (2003)
Websites from China (HC) are high on websites high-context dimensions (e.g., soft sell
approach, aesthetics), whereas websites from the United States (LC) are higher on websites’ lowcontext dimensions (e.g., hard sell approach, terms of purchase).
30
Dieter Fink and Ricky Laupase (2000)
Websites design characteristics reflecting explicit communications (products and services) are
perceived higher by low-context Australians than by high-context Malaysians and context (news
stories) was perceived higher by high-context Malaysians than by low-context Australians.
Elizabeth Würtz (2006)
Websites of low-context culture can be described as very transparent sites (consistent structure).
Most high-context sites, in contrast, depend on links and information described by a limited
amount of text, and sometimes with an illustration. This gives a less transparent overview of the
content in the high-context compared with low-context websites.
Nitish Singh, Hongxin Zhao and Xiaorui Hu (2005)
Websites from Japan and China (HC) are high on websites’ high-context dimensions (e.g., soft
sell approach, aesthetics), whereas websites from the United States and India (LC) are higher on
websites’ low-context dimensions (e.g., hard sell approach, terms of purchase).
Dianne Cyr and Haizley Trevor-Smith (2003)
Different preferences for navigation and search capabilities and links in U.S., German, and
Japanese websites can be explained by high/low context communication styles.
31