Culture: The Software of e‐Customer Relationship Management

The study provides empirical evidence on the impact of each cultural dimension on the implementation of certain eCRM practices and functionalities and provides useful implications for developing and globalizing e CRM practises and business processes, as well as for designing the functionality of global appealing websites.

Abstract

By adopting a customer value oriented approach, this study extends previous studies in order to investigate the effect of cultural dimensions on eCRM implementation. Based on an extensive literature review, research hypotheses are formulated and tested by gathering data from a multinational student body. Findings provide empirical evidence on the impact of each cultural dimension on the implementation of certain eCRM practices and functionalities. The sample study is limited to a student audience. Future studies should replicate and further refine the findings of this research by using a large‐scale sample including respondents with different socio‐economic and demographic characteristics. Findings are useful to website designers and e‐marketers for deciding and developing and globalizing of their eCRM strategy and its functionalities. As the Internet is globalizing services, eCRM needs to consider customers' cultural differences. The study provides useful implications for developing and globalizing eCRM practises and business processes, as well as for designing the functionality of global appealing websites.