A content analysis of multinationals’ Web communication strategies: cross‐cultural research framework and pre‐testing

A research framework for cross‐cultural comparison of corporate Web pages, applying traditional advertising content study techniques is constructed and it is revealed that Japanese firms tended to localise their online communication strategies in their target markets.

Abstract

Despite the growing trend toward the interactive medium, there would appear to be a lack of comprehensive research methodology for evaluating the degree of standardisation in multinational corporations’ (MNCs’) online communication strategies across differing cultures. The objective of this exploratory study is to construct a research framework for cross‐cultural comparison of corporate Web pages, applying traditional advertising content study techniques. A series of pre‐tests were conducted to examine three explanatory variables, i.e. information content, cultural values and creative strategies on Japanese MNCs’ product‐based home pages in Japan, Spain and the USA. The results revealed that Japanese firms tended to localise their online communication strategies in their target markets. In closing, future research directions are discussed and content analysis research designs are summarised.