Culture’s Influence on the Websites of German and Chinese Companies : An Analysis of Cultural Diversity on the Internet

Few inventions in human history have been as revolutionary concerning the way people communicate and do business as the internet. Almost 60% of the world’s population have access to the World Wide Web, so that a rapid future development regarding global businesses, which strongly depend on the usage of the internet, can surely be predicted . International companies and organizations operate worldwide, with participants across all cultures. This development results in an increasing focus on managing the gaps and specific characteristics of different cultures. In this context, not only marketing across geographic boundaries needs to be reconsidered, but also communication via internet. The author examines whether culture has traceable influences on the internet presences of international companies and – if so – what impact these influences have on the respective web design. Therefore, he analyzes sample internet presences of German and Chinese companies by applying the method of content analysis in order to finally propose a culturally optimized blueprint of a website.