Cultural Customization: An Analysis Of Chinese And Spanish B2C Web Sites

Abstract

The following paper analyzes the trends in e-commerce, the variations among global e-consumers, and in turn, the imperative for cultural customization of business-to-consumer web sites. A literature review delves into past research done in the field of cultural customization as well as the dimensions and values that distinguish cultures from one another. Furthermore, ten (10) Chinese and ten (10) Spanish B2C web sites from the service, retail and manufacturing sectors are analyzed to view the extent of their cultural customization. The findings conclude that none of the B2C web sites viewed were truly culturally customized, but that there exist advantages for businesses to take the initiative and put forth resources into achieving said status for their respective web sites.