The Web is intrinsically a global medium. Consequently, deciding how a Web site should express potentially culture-specific content to worldwide visitors is an important consideration in Web site design. In this article, the authors examine some of the site content characteristics that can lead Web site visitors to an optimal navigation experience, or flow, in a cross-cultural context. In particular, a cognitive frameworkfocuses on the effect of culture on attitudes toward the site and flow. The authors suggest that the congruity of a Web site with a visitor’s culture is a site content characteristic that influences the likelihood of experiencing flow. The authors develop a conceptual model to account for the impact of culture and other site content characteristics on flow and describe preliminary evidence supporting their model.
Get full access to this article
View all access options for this article.
References
1.
Aaker, Jennifer L.2000. “Accessibility or Diagnosticity? Disentangling the Influence of Culture on Persuasion Processes and Attitudes”. Journal of Consumer Research26 (March): 340-357.
2.
Alesandrini, Kathryn Lutz
. 1983. “Strategies That Influence Memory for Advertising Communications”. In Information Processing Research in Advertising. Ed. R. J. Harris. Hillsdale, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum.
3.
Anand, Punam
and Brian Sternthal. 1990. “Ease of Message Processing as a Moderator of Repetition Effects in Advertising”. Journal of Marketing Research27 (August): 345-353.
4.
Asociación de Usuarios de Internet. 2001. Estudio General de Medios- Datos Generales de Usuarios de Internet en España. Retrieved from www.aui.es
5.
Belk, Russell
. 1985. “Cultural and Historical Differences in Concepts of Self and Their Effects on Attitudes Toward Having and Giving”. In Advances in Consumer Research. Vol. 12. Eds. Elizabeth Hirschman and Morris Holbrook. Provo, UT: Association for Consumer Research, 754-760.
6.
Berthon, Pierre
, Leyland F. Pitt, and Richard T. Watson. 1996. “The World Wide Web as an Advertising Medium: Towards an Understanding of Conversion Efficiency”. Journal of Advertising Research36 (1): 43-54.
7.
Byrne, Barbara M.1998. Structural Equation Modeling With LISREL, Prelis, and Simplis. Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum.
8.
Chen, Qimei
and William Wells. 1999. “Attitude Toward the Site”. Journal of Advertising Research39 (September-October): 27-37.
9.
Crockett, Roger O.2000. “Surfing in Tongues”. Business Week, December 11, 18-18.
10.
Csikszentmihalyi, Mihaly
. 2000. Beyond Boredom and Anxiety: Experiencing Flow in Workand Play. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.
11.
Csikszentmihalyi, Mihaly
and Judith LeFevre. 1989. “Optimal Experience in Work and Leisure”. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology56 (5): 815-822.
12.
de Groot, Annette
. 1992. “Bilingual Lexical Representation: A Closer Look at Conceptual Representations”. In Orthography, Phonology, Morphology, and Meaning. Eds. R. Frost and L. Katz. Amsterdam: Elsevier, 389-412.
13.
Dufour, Robert
and Judith Kroll. 1995. “Matching Words to Concepts in Two Languages: A Test of the Concept Mediation Model of Bilingual Representation”. Memory and Cognition23 (March): 166-180.
14.
Durgee, Jeffrey
. 1986. “How Consumer Sub-Cultures Code Reality: A Look at Some Code Types”. In Advances in Consumer Research, Vol. 13. Ed. R. Lutz. Provo, UT: Association for Consumer Research, 332-337.
15.
Durgunoglu, Aydin
and Henry L. Roediger. 1987. “Test Differences in Accessing Bilingual Memory”. Journal of Memory and Language26 (August): 377-391.
16.
Durvasula, Srinivas
, J. Craig Andrews, Steven Lysonski, and Richard G. Netemeyer. 1993. “Assessing the Cross-National Applicability of Consumer Behavior Models: A Model of Attitude Toward Advertising in General”. Journal of Consumer Research19 (March): 626-636.
17.
eLab. 2001. Definition of Stickiness. Retrieved from www2000.ogsm.vanderbilt.edu
18.
Fishbein, Martin
and Icek Ajzen. 1975. Belief, Attitude, Intention, and Impact: An Introduction to Theory and Research. Reading, MA: Addison-Wesley.
19.
Forrester Research. 2001. Internet Economy Core Skill. Retrieved from www.forrester.com
20.
Fox, Justin
. 2000. “The Triumph of English”. Fortune, September 18, pp. 209-212.
21.
Geertz, Clifford
. 1973. The Interpretation of Cultures. New York: Basic Books.
22.
Ghani, Jawaid A.
and Satish P. Deshpande. 1994. “Task Characteristics and the Experience of Optimal Flow in Human-Computer Interaction”. Journal of Psychology128 (4): 381-391.
23.
Hirschman, Elizabeth C.
1999. “Consumers’ Use of Intertextuality and Archetypes”. Paper presented at the annual conference of the Association for Consumer Research, October, Columbus, OH.
24.
Hoffman, Donna
and Thomas Novak. 1996. “Marketing in Hypermedia Computer-Mediated Environments: Conceptual Foundations”. Journal of Marketing60 (July): 50-68.
25.
Hofstede, Geert
. 1997. Cultures and Organizations: Software of the Mind. New York: McGraw-Hill.
26.
Holbrook, Morris B.
and William L. Moore. 1981. “Feature Interactions in Consumer Judgments of Verbal Versus Pictorial Presentations”. Journal of Consumer Research8 (June): 103-113.
27.
Homer, Pamela M.1990. “The Mediating Role of Attitude Toward the Ad: Some Additional Evidence”. Journal of Marketing Research27 (February): 78-86.
28.
Houston, Michael J.
, Terry L. Childers, and Susan E. Heckler. 1987. “Picture-Word Consistency and the Elaborative Processing of Advertisements”. Journal of Marketing Research24 (November): 359-369.
29.
Jöreskog, Karl
and Dag Sörbom. 1996. LISREL 8: Users’ Reference Guide. Chicago: Scientific Software International.
30.
Josephson, Melissa. 2002. "Globalization Cost-Out: How to Reduce Costs, Improve Quality, and Launch Multilingual Web Sites Faster". Research Report. Retrieved from www.idiominc.com
31.
Kettinger, William J.
and Choong C. Lee. 1994. “Perceived Service Quality and User Satisfaction With the Information Services Function”. Decision Sciences25 (5-6): 737-766.
32.
Koslow, Scott
, Prem Shamdasani, and Ellen Touchstone. 1994. “Exploring Language Effects in Ethnic Advertising: A Sociolinguistic Perspective”. Journal of Consumer Research20 (March): 575-585.
33.
Kroll, Judith F.
and Annette de Groot. 1997. “Lexical and Conceptual Memory in the Bilingual: Mapping Form to Meaning in Two Languages”. In Tutorials in Bilingualism: Psycholinguistic Perspectives. Eds. Annette de Groot and Judith F. Kroll. Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum, 169-199.
34.
La Heij, Wido
, Andre Hooglander, Robert Kerling, and Esther Van Der Velden. 1996. “Nonverbal Context Effects in Forward and Backward Word Translation: Evidence for Concept Mediation”. Journal of Memory and Language35 (October): 648-665.
35.
Lee, Chol
and Robert T. Green. 1991. “Cross-Cultural Examination of the Fishbein Behavioral Intentions Model”. Journal of International Business Studies22 (2): 289-305.
36.
Luna, David
and Susan Gupta. 2001. “An Integrative Framework for Cross-Cultural Consumer Behavior”. International Marketing Review18 (1): 45-69.
37.
Luna, David
and Laura A. Peracchio. 2001. “Moderators of Language Effects in Advertising to Bilinguals: A Psycholinguistic Approach”. Journal of Consumer Research28: 284-295.
38.
Luna, David and Laura A. Peracchio. 2002. “What’s in a Bilingual’s Mind? Examining Bilingual Concept Representation”. Working Paper. University of Wisconsin–Whitewater.
39.
Luna, David
and Laura A. Peracchio. Forthcoming. “‘Where There Is a Will…’: Motivation as a Moderator Of Language Processing by Bilingual Consumers”. Psychology and Marketing.
40.
Luna, David, Laura A. Peracchio and María D. de Juan. 2002. “Estimating and Validating a Model of Flow Across Specific Web Sites and Cultures”. Working Paper. University of Wisconsin–Whitewater.
41.
Luna, David
, Laura A. Peracchio and María D. de Juan. Forthcoming. “The Impact of Language and Congruity in Multicultural E-marketing”. Journal of Consumer Psychology.
42.
Lutz, Kathy A.
and Richard J. Lutz. 1977. “Effects of Interactive Imagery on Learning: Application to Advertising”. Journal of Applied Psychology62 (August): 493-498.
43.
MacInnis, Deborah
and Bernard Jaworski. 1989. “Information Processing From Advertisements: Toward an Integrative Framework”. Journal of Marketing53 (October): 1-23.
44.
MacKenzie, Scott B.
and Richard J. Lutz. 1989. “An Empirical Examination of the Structural Antecedents of Attitude Toward the Ad in an Advertising Pretesting Context”. Journal of Marketing53 (April): 48-65.
45.
MacKenzie, Scott B.
, Richard J. Lutz and George E. Belch. 1986. “The Role of Attitude Toward the Ad as a Mediator of Advertising Effectiveness: A Test of Competing Explanations”. Journal of Marketing Research23 (May): 130-143.
46.
Mandler, George
. 1982. “The Structure of Value: Accounting for Taste”. In Affect and Cognition: The 17th Annual Carnegie Symposium. Eds. M. Clark and Susan Fiske. Hillsdale, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum, 3-36.
47.
McCracken, Grant
. 1986. “Culture and Consumption: A Theoretical Account of the Structure and Movement of the Cultural Meaning of Consumer Goods”. Journal of Consumer Research13 (June): 71-84.
48.
McCracken, Grant
. 1988. Culture and Consumption: New Approaches to the Symbolic Character of Consumer Goods and Activities. Bloomington: Indiana University Press.
49.
McCracken, Grant
. 1989. “Who Is the Celebrity Endorser? Cultural Foundations of the Endorsement Process”. Journal of Consumer Research16 (December): 310-321.
50.
Mitchell, Andrew
. 1986. “The Effect of Verbal and Visual Components of Advertisements on Brand Attitudes and Attitude Toward the Advertisement”. Journal of Consumer Research13 (June): 12-24.
51.
Moates, Danny R.
and Gary M. Schumacher. 1980. An Introduction to Cognitive Psychology. Belmont, CA: Wadsworth.
52.
Novak, Thomas
, Donna Hoffman, and Yiu-Fai Yung. 2000. “Measuring the Customer Experience in Online Environments: A Structural Modeling Approach”. Marketing Science19 (1): 22-42.
53.
Parasuraman, A.
, Valarie A. Zeithaml, and Leonard L. Berry. 1988. “SERVQUAL: A Multiple-Item Scale for Measuring Consumer Perceptions of Service Quality”. Journal of Retailing64 (1): 12-40.
54.
Peracchio, Laura A.
and Joan Meyers-Levy. 1997. “Evaluating Persuasion-Enhancing Techniques From a Resource-Matching Perspective”. Journal of Consumer Research24 (September): 178-191.
55.
Pitt, Leyland F.
, Richard T. Watson, and C. Bruce Kavan. 1995. “Service Quality: A Measure of Information Systems Effectiveness”. MIS Quarterly, June, 173-187.
56.
Privette, Gayle
and Charles Bundrick. 1987. “Measurement of Experience: Construct and Content Validity of the Experience Questionnaire”. Perceptual and Motor Skills65: 315-332.
57.
Rokeach, Milton
. 1968. “A Theory of Organization and Change in Value-Attitude Systems”. Journal of Social Issues24 (2): 13-33.
58.
Rokeach, Milton
. 1973. Beliefs, Attitudes and Values: A Theory of Organization and Change. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.
59.
Ryan, James
. 1999. “In Spanish and Portuguese, Web Growth Spurt”. The New York Times, June 3, pp. D1-D1, D8-D8.
60.
Samiee, Saeed
. 1998. “The Internet and International Marketing: Is There a Fit?”Journal of Interactive Marketing12 (4): 5-21.
61.
Schmitt, Bernd H.
, Yigang Pan, and Nader T. Tavassoli. 1994. “Language and Consumer Memory: The Impact of Linguistic Differences Between Chinese and English”. Journal of Consumer Research21 (December): 419-431.
62.
Schmitt, Bernd H.
, Nader T. Tavassoli, and Robert T. Millard. 1993. “Memory for Print Ads: Understanding Relations Among Brand Name, Copy, and Picture”. Journal of Consumer Psychology2 (1): 55-81.
63.
Sherry, John F., Jr.
and Eduardo Camargo. 1987. “‘May Your Life Be Marvelous’: English Language Labeling and the Semiotics of Japanese Promotion”. Journal of Consumer Research14 (September): 174-188.
64.
Snodgrass, Joan Gay
. 1984. “Concepts and Their Surface Representations”. Journal of Verbal Learning and Verbal Behavior23 (February): 3-22.
65.
Solomon, Michael R.1983. “The Role of Products as Social Stimuli: A Symbolic Interactionism Perspective”. Journal of Consumer Research10 (December): 319-329.
66.
Trevino, Linda K.
and Jane Webster. 1992. “Flow in Computer-Mediated Communication”. Communications Research19 (5): 539-573.
67.
Unnava, H. Rao
and Robert E. Burnkrant. 1991. “An Imagery-Processing View of the Role of Pictures in Print Advertisements”. Journal of Marketing Research28 (May): 226-231.
68.
Watson, Richard T.
, Pierre Berthon, Leyland F. Pitt, and George M. Zinkhan. 2000. Electronic Commerce. Fort Worth, TX: Dryden.
