A cultural content analysis of multinational companies' web sites

Abstract

PurposeThis study aims to analyse the appropriateness of the information content and organization of multinational companies' (MNCs) web sites for Turkish local cultural values with the aim of supporting global brand management decisions.Design/methodology/approachIn order to gather data for the study, 108 MNCs' web sites are analysed by content analysis which is an objective, systematic and quantitative way of conducting information about communication content.FindingsIt is seen from the analyses that foreign multinationals could adapt their web sites' information content to local markets appropriately and sufficiently. However, the face (language) and the way (menu) that these data are presented were not adapted as compared to information content on their web sites.Research limitations/implicationsThis study has mainly considered the company side of web sites and neglects the consumer side. Future researchers interested in this area could also investigate how consumers perceive adaptation activities of foreign multinationals through web sites in their countries.Originality/valueOne of the major decisions MNCs face in using web sites regards how to organize and present the web site content to fit local needs and values. Although adaptation becomes a major concern, there is no standard for the multicultural content of web sites. There are several cross‐cultural studies in the literature which compare countries by correlating the analysed variables with Hofstede's scores. Rather than comparing home and host countries of foreign multinationals based on certain dimensions, it is found to be more appropriate to assess on what terms and to what degree these companies could adapt or standardize their global communication channels, namely their web sites, in Turkey.