Chapter 10: Computer mediated business communication

Question 1

UAI on internet usage

Answer 1

• Cultures with low UAI are more open to Internet. They tend to be early adopters with a high diffusion rate.
• UAI was a strong cultural influence on “consumer innovativeness” in general.

Question 2

Role of Cultural Communication styles

Answer 2

• High individualism often connected to “low-context” communication.
• Higher usage rate in low-context cultures.

Question 3

Functionalism (the theory that Hofstede’s work was influenced by)

Answer 3

Culture comprises material and immaterial products as instruments to cope with problems to which all human beings are exposed during their existence.

Question 4

Basic Website characteristics

Answer 4

1. Site quality (= usability)
2. Establishment of trust
3. Creation of +ve effect during website use

Question 5

UK webpages (Ju-Pak, ‘99)

Answer 5

• Text-heavy layout
• Shorter pages
• Presentation more often is based on (low-context type) text only.

Question 6

South Kr webpages (Ju-Pak, ‘99)

Answer 6

• Visual layout
• Longer pages
• More multimedia presentation (text, sound, and/or video) than US/UK.
• Higher degree of interactivity with more hyperlinks or clickable items.

Question 7

B2B websites in the old economy

Answer 7

• -Strongly equivalent to low-context communication (and monochromic cultural time orientation.)
• Websites as detailed, compartmentalised, structured.
• Explicit navigation tools such as sitemaps and search engines to save time and for quick orientation.
• Low multimodality and text-heavy= reduce download time.

Question 8

B2C

Answer 8

Durable, high-interest products:

• modest standardisation.
• Universal brand-related colours or graphics.
• Uniform frames or structures of content.
• High context cultures: greater degree of cultural adaptation.
• More multimodality and animated illustrations or moving visuals.
• Less intensive navigations.