Do Chinese brands culturally adapt their overseas websites: evidence from top Chinese brands’ Sino-US websites?

Abstract

This study aims to investigate whether Chinese brands have culturally adapted their overseas websites to fit in target cultures by testing their websites developed for the US market. The cultural values depicted on 31 Chinese brands’ domestic websites, their overseas Sino-US websites and 31 US brands’ domestic websites were evaluated and compared based on a complementary cultural typology drawn from Geert Hofstede’s (1980) and Shalom Schwartz’s (1992) theories. The results showed that Chinese brands generally had not satisfactorily adapted their Sino-US websites to American culture, as adequate adaptation had only been detected on the dimension of Uncertainty Avoidance. But through more specific examination, the study confirmed that 14 of the 31 Chinese brands had significantly customized their overseas websites to American culture, and the well-adapted brands happened to be top-ranking in their overseas revenue. The findings may provide valuable insights and practical implications for multinationals from China as well as other countries on website branding in cross-cultural contexts.