Cultural Values and E-Commerce

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Table of Contents

Abstract
Introduction
Integration Using E-Commerce And The Challenge Of Culture
National Cultures And Their Impact On E-Commerce Adoption
Attributes Of E-Commerce In A Cross-Cultural Context
Conclusion
References

Abstract

Research denotes the movement of the world toward development of a global virtual village where e-commerce is the heart of the interactions and activities that are conducted by businesses and other organizations across the globe.

However, it is important to note that the reality of attaining a global virtual village are highly dependent on the ability of integrating the cultural variations in e-commerce technologies to reduce the negative influence of culture on the development and deployment of e-commerce initiatives across different cultures. This paper explored the interplay between cultural values and e-commerce adoption.

The paper focused on bringing out the main issues that concern e-commerce and cultural values. In the research, it came out that culture has a significant influence on people, thus culture highly influences the behaviour of people when it comes to the acquisition and use of web-based technologies under the e-commerce platform.

Introduction

E-commerce is a concept that is highly embraced in the modern economy. It has been developed from the availability of web-based technologies and tools that help in easing practices of administration in different realms of business and administration in the contemporary society.

As a substantial number of individuals and organizations embrace technology, a section of people have come out to criticize the influence of e-commerce on culture. One reason that is given by the opponents of e-commerce, particularly in relation to cultural attributes, is that it results in total erosion of culture.

The question that ought to be explored when talking about the relationship between e-commerce and cultural values concerns the impacts of e-commerce on cultures. What are the considerations of cultural values in the course of applying e-commerce in the society? It is, thus, important to conduct research to ascertain the interplay between e-commerce and cultural values in the contemporary society.

This paper explores the impact of culture on e-commerce. Of greater focus in the paper is the explanation of critical issues that revolve around adoption and enforcement of e-commerce practices. The paper also brings out issues of cultural values and norms and how they affect the establishment of e-commerce platform in the society.

In this research, the term e-commerce refers to the process of exchanging products, services and information through the internet. It also refers to adoption of web-based technologies in management. Culture refers to the beliefs and ways of living of different people as dictated by the environment in which they live.

Integration Using E-Commerce And The Challenge Of Culture

A number of researchers have been keenly following developments amidst the acceleration of the pace at which e-commerce is being adopted in different organizations and institutions in the current society.

Of greater interest has been the response to the question about the possibility of maintaining the indigenous cultural and social structures in the contemporary environment that highly supports adoption of information technology in its activities. The development and the use of information and communication systems have an impact on the cultural structures and norms of the society.

On the other hand, it is also argued that the cultural norms and values that prevail in the society affect adoption of e-commerce. Therefore, it is imperative to note that there is a significant impact of e-commerce on the cultural values of the society and vice versa. Different cultures have different norms and values that can either work for or against the adoption and development of an e-commerce platform (Thanasankit, 2002).

According to Thanasankit (2002), culture itself is a foundation on which the upcoming developments are pegged. It is important to note that e-commerce is a global initiative that has sprouted across all countries in the world.

The rationale behind this observation is that e-commerce is seen as the main foundation on which the business and administrative environment in each nation can be improved, thereby propelling countries towards realization of their development agendas. With culture being a factor that is constant in all countries, adoption of e-commerce processes and practices must meet the challenge of culture.

The concern about the relationship between cultural values and e-commerce can be traced back to the last decade of the 20^th century. There was the need to attach meaning to most of the information technology solutions that were developed in the 1990s. This is a period that marked an increase in the pace at which e-commerce was adopted.

This was a strategy that was meant to absorb and accommodate cultural values amidst the changing business environment, marked by adoption of e-commerce processes.

However, the continued adoption of e-commerce solutions in businesses necessitated change in the approach as it became apparent that the need for IT solutions for businesses was becoming inevitable. At the same time, the realities of cultural considerations also needed to be given attention as they had significant effects on the pace of IT adoption in business (Castells, 2001).

Castells (2001) observed that one of the justifications for the change is that software that were developed for different e-business functions like customer management solutions and enterprise resource planning solutions were supposed to be structured in such a way that they could be integrated with the practices of organizations or fit into the cultures of organizations.

The prevailing practices of e-commerce depict a two-layer platform in the business world. These layers are: the international layer of standards on which the e-commerce practices are embedded.

This layer co-exists with the layer of cultural variations, which include cultural practices and variations. In this way, the real business practices and the micromanagement culture are all incorporated in the new business environment that embraces information technology (Thanasankit, 2002).

National Cultures And Their Impact On E-Commerce Adoption

One of the areas that have formed a grounded basis on which issues of management across the world are understood is the study of the variations in national cultures as depicted by the Hofstede’s cultural model of management. As observed earlier, e-commerce has become an international initiative as it traverses across different national cultures. There are limited studies about on e-commerce in relation to national cultures.

This is why a substantial number of researchers have set up researches to help in establishing the impact of national culture on e-commerce adoption and vice versa. The level of acceptance and use of e-commerce highly depends on the cultural values that are embraced by consumers.

Trust and intention to adopt and use e-commerce are influenced by the cultural dimensions that are brought out in the Hofstede cultural model. Different dimensions of culture as embraced in different countries have varying impacts on the level of acceptance and deployment of e-commerce initiatives in different countries (Yoon, 2009).

Hofstede argued that national culture retains a relatively higher level of stability. The issue of technology also adds to the question of the stability of culture since it is another basis on which the influence of national culture on e-commerce is measured. Consumer behaviour, which is part of the aspects of culture, is derived from the national culture.

Therefore, the level of e-commerce adoption, especially e-marketing, widely varies according to cross national studies on the impact of culture on e-commerce. However, it should be noted that there is a strong force behind adoption of technology, which results in the bridging of the cultural barriers on e-commerce technology adoption and sustenance across different countries (Stroehle 2009).

The other dimension to the study of cultural values and e-commerce concerns development of information technology platforms on which e-commerce is implemented. It is argued that e-commerce has been developed based on the western culture, and so is the problem of structuring web technologies and tools to fit into other cultures. Many web tools and technologies are developed to befit the North Americans.

An example is the language that is used in developing websites and web tools. As it is, it is quite daunting to translate the language that has been used to develop a substantial number of web tools. Therefore, it is difficult for companies originating from outside the western culture to bridge the cultural gap that prevails in the design of web content. In his research, Bohn (2005) gives the example of ignorance about the use of colours.

Colours have cultural connotations in different cultures. For example, white colour denotes purity in the United States, while the same colour denotes death in Japan. However, these colours are used in developing web content without paying attention to the meanings and translations of these colours according to different cultures.

Therefore, it is important to pay attention to cultural content and variations in the development of web technologies by way of incorporating the variations in national cultures (Constantinides, Lorenzo-Romero & Gómez, 2010).

There are different factors that are aligned to different cultures, yet these factors are at most times ignored in the development of web content that is deployed in diverse cultures globally. One aspect of e-commerce is the deployment of e-commerce in marketing. Individual decisions by customers to purchase online depend highly on the cultural attributes that depict the choices that are embraced by customers.

According to a substantial number of studies, availability is not the most critical factor in the determination of the choice and use of e-commerce. Instead, cultural factors have come out as equally critical factors in determining the choice and use of e-commerce technologies (Bohn, 2005).

According to Holden (2002), management of technology in the contemporary society depends on the ability of technology managers to give considerations to the views of different people in the way they want technology to be featured in the society. E-commerce implies change in patterns of trading and systems of management that are embraced by organizations.

This in turn translates to a significant change in culture as reflected in the forms of management that are dissolved by way of introducing e-commerce. Cross-cultural implications for the behaviour of consumers concerning the use of web-based technologies have been documented by a number of researchers.

These implications are linked to a number of theories and models; for example, technology acceptance model (Stroehle, 2009). According to Gong (2009), e-commerce is classified into different categories. These include business-to-business, business-to- consumer and consumer-to-consumer.

Each of these levels of e-commerce depicts a variation in the level of engagement of web-based technologies in the discharge of business activities by firms across the world. In his research, Gong (2009) found out that the relationship between national culture and e-commerce adoption is reducing due to overall increase in the number of people who are using the internet across different national cultures.

Gong (2009) ascertained that cultures that denote a higher rate of trust have a higher number of organizations that engage in business-to-business e-commerce practices. Collectivist cultures depict a lower rate of adoption and use business-to-business ecommerce practices.

Attributes Of E-Commerce In A Cross-Cultural Context

The facts presented in the above section denote that behaviours that are developed by individuals concerning deployment and use of e-commerce technologies are affected by national cultures. User interfaces are supplied by different vendors. In addition, national cultures play out in the choice of internet applications that are used to facilitate e-commerce technologies.

While a lot of people see the development of a global virtual village out of adoption of information technology globally as an easy undertaking, research denotes the need to embrace diversity in the development of web-based technologies to suit different cultures. In this way, the impediments that emanate from culture can be easily dealt with as the world moves towards realization of a global virtual village.

Failure to consider cultural variations in the development of web technologies and web content will see some cultures lag behind in adoption of e-commerce. This will drag the efforts of globalizing the world and penetration of e-commerce.

There is need to determine the aspects of variations in cultures to come up with different web guidelines that suit the cultures of different countries. Firms that deal in the development of web-based technologies can derive a lot of benefits out of tailoring their content to fit different cultures (Constantinides, Lorenzo-Romero & Gómez, 2010).

Whether cultures will keep affecting the perceptions of people concerning the use of different e-commerce platforms is a question that has invited cross-national studies. As observed earlier, cultural values of a given people have a great influence on the way people assess and perceive new developments.

In their cross-national study to ascertain the development of variations in national perceptions about website adaptations, Singh et al. (2006) ascertained that perceptions of consumers concerning adaptation to websites varies across countries. The culture of business within a country comes out as the main guiding factor on how consumers from that country view and associate themselves with different websites.

However, it is vital to note that external factors like availability and access to web content by the consumers helps in reducing variations in perceptions between countries. This can be backed by the fact that a consumerism culture has developed with the growth and increase in the number of industries and production of a wider variation of goods and services by different industries across the world (Singh et al. 2006).

According to Stroehle (2009), the growth in online consumer market that is presented by the e-commerce platform is resulting in change of cultures as a way of allowing people from different countries to shun cultures in order to exploit the opportunities. This reduces the level of influence of culture on e-commerce. However, this growth cannot totally draw away the way all people from different national cultures view e-commerce.

Cultural variations are likely to influence the manner in which online consumers respond to e-commerce practices, particularly when the practices involve people from different national cultures. The baggage concerning cultural values and e-commerce is left with organizational managers and content developers who need tailor activities to reduce negative forces that come from culture and e-commerce.

Conclusion

From the research done in the paper, it is imperative to say that there is a significant level of interplay between cultural norms and adoption and sustainability of e-commerce practices in the contemporary globalized world. Just as national cultures influence cross-cultural management, they also come out here as significant influencers of e-commerce.

This is part of the initiatives of improving attributes of managing organizations by using information technology tools and technologies. One critical thing that comes out in this research, which should form the basis for future research on culture and e-commerce, is the emphasis of most researchers on the need to tailor e-commerce initiatives to cater for variations in culture.

In this way, it is bound to be easy for different people across the globe to accept, adopt and align to various e-commerce technologies. Web content developers need to start thinking about the modalities of incorporating different attributes of culture for their customers in different countries due to variations in national cultures.

This is one way of bridging cultural gaps in the use of web-based technologies. It is also a way of increasing suitability and enhancing the rate of acceptability of e-commerce technologies and attainment of a higher level of usability across cultures.

References

Bohn, L. M. (2005). A cross-cultural study of E-commerce – Exploring factors that influence individuals to buy. Master’s thesis for the Communication Studies programme New Media and Communication Technology. Web.

Castells, M. (2001). The internet galaxy: Reflections on the internet, business and society. Oxford, UK: Oxford University Press.

Constantinides, E., Lorenzo-Romero, C., & Gómez, M. A. (2010). Effects of web experience on consumer choice: a multicultural approach. Internet Research, 20(2), 188-209.

Gong, W. (2009). National culture and global diffusion of business-to-consumer e-commerce. Cross Cultural Management: An International Journal, 16(1), 83-101.

Holden, N. J. (2002). Cross-cultural management. A knowledge management perspective. Harlow, England: Prentice Hall.

Singh, N., Fassot, G., Hongxin, Z., & Boughton, P. D. (2006). A cross-cultural analysis of German, Chinese and Indian consumers’ perception of website adaptation. Journal of Consumer Behaviour, 5, 56-68.

Stroehle, F. (2009). The impact of culture on web design and e-commerce effectiveness in Chinese online consumers: An online survey of five New Zealand websites. Otago Management Graduate Review, 9, 89-103.

Thanasankit, T. (2002). E-commerce and cultural values. Hershey, PA: Idea Group Publishing.

Yoon, C. (2009). The effects of national culture values on consumer acceptance of e-commerce: Online shoppers in China. Journal of Information and Management, 46(5), 294-301.

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