Abstract
The number of world-wide Internet users is increasing at a dramatic rate and many of these users are online shoppers. It is important for online retailers to create a website environment where shoppers feel they can trust the vendor and where online risks are mitigated. However, relatively little is known as to how trust is established in online environments across cultures. To fill this gap, in this chapter information is presented concerning culture, website design and online trust. Data from studies conducted by the author with users in Canada, the U.S., Germany, Japan, and China are presented. In particular, cross-cultural comparisons are explored related to risk and vendor legitimacy, information privacy and quality, and transaction security. Additional results are presented as to how information design, navigation design and visual design are statistically related to trust. Numerous cross-cultural differences are discovered with respect to trust formation and risk and suggest that researchers, Web designers, and others take culture into account when designing for online consumers
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Notes
- 1.
Localization is the process of adapting a product or service to a particular language, culture, and desired local “look and feel.” In localizing a product, in addition to language translation, details such as currency, color sensitivities, product or service names, images, gender roles, and geographic examples are considered.
- 2.
It is expected most readers are familiar with Hofstede’s cultural categorizations and therefore details of this work will not be elaborated here. However, for more information on this topic refer to Hofstede (1984), Dawar et al. (1996), or to Simon (2001) who provide an excellent overview of Hofstede’s dimensions in a compressed format.
- 3.
Refer to Srite and Karahanna (2006) for a discussion of the role of individual and espoused cultural values in technology acceptance.
- 4.
A thorough review of trust in offline and online settings is not feasible within the scope of the present paper. However, the reader may wish to refer to Rousseau et al. (1998) for a critique of offline trust and Gefen et al. (2003) for a summary of online trust. In research in which online trust is the primary focus, it is recognized a multidimensional construct for trust is most appropriate. Trust may result from a consumer’s belief that an online vendor demonstrates ability, benevolence, or integrity (McKnight et al. 2002). Alternately, in studies such as this one, when trust is one element included to better understand a more comprehensive user reaction to a Web site, then trust as a single construct has been used (Gefen et al. 2003; Koufaris 2002).
- 5.
Thirty participants were selected in each of Canada, the United States, Germany, and Japan. Participants had an average age of 35 years; 42% were female and 58% male. After navigating the Samsung website (local and foreign versions) in search of a cellular phone, each person completed a survey (translated and back translated for each required language), followed by a digitally recorded interview. Interpreters were used when necessary.
- 6.
Data reported in these tables was collected from the sample population and using the same methodology as in Cyr et al. (2005) however it has not been previously published.
- 7.
A variance-based Partial Least Squares (PLS) method was chosen over covariance-based methods such as LISREL because it supports both exploratory and confirmatory research (Gefen et al. 2000).
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Acknowledgement
This research is part of a project titled “Managing E-Loyalty through Design” funded by a Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada grant.
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Cyr, D. (2011). Website Design and Trust Across Cultures. In: Douglas, I., Liu, Z. (eds) Global Usability. Human-Computer Interaction Series. Springer, London. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-0-85729-304-6_4
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