Basic Guidelines For Using Cross Cultural Communication Web Tools

This is the beginning of a new series on Cross Cultural Communication Web Tools.

Before we start, I need to set important guidelines.

I am going to spend the next couple of months covering one different cross cultural communication web tool each day. These are web tools for you to use when marketing to specific foreign cultures.

I will give you web tools for each of the two different ends of the five scales of cultural behaviors. But it’s important to remember certain guidelines when implementing these tools.

Let’s have a look at the basics in using these cross cultural communication web tools:

Important Note:

Before we start, remember do not stop using a web tool just because it is not recommended as your best cross cultural tool. This is not about eliminating tools, it is about identifying which web tools should be

• Highlighted
• Emphasized
• Place in a more prominent position

Remember to keep good web marketing practices at all times.

Web Tools For Better Communication

The purpose of this series is to give you web tools for you to get better cross cultural communication. This is not a cookie cutter solution.

You need to:

• Find the right mixture of tools for your market
• Interpret them correctly
• Highlight them in the right way
• Test the tools to find the best response for your specific cultural audience

Why You Need These Web Tools

These web tools aim for better communication adapted to cultures with different behavioral traits. The right emphasis on these web tools make your web communication more appealing to your foreign target market.

What happens if you don’t emphasize these web tools?

• Cultural barriers pop up if you emphasize the web tools for the opposite behavioral trait.
• If there are no conflicting web tools, your website will not resonate strongly with the culture you are communicating with.

How To Find Cultural Behavior Scores

Much research has been done on the 5 different cultural behaviors.

• High Individualism versus High Collectivism Behavior
• Uncertainty Avoidance versus Low Uncertainty Avoidance Behavior
• High Power Distance versus Low Power Distance Behavior
• High Masculinity versus High Femininity Behavior
• High Context versus Low Context Behavior

You can research online or buy books with results in them. However, much of this research was done some time ago. Cultures change. And like everything in this series, you will have to interpret these scores accurately. Everyone has a cultural bias, even those who wrote those reports and did the research. Will you be able to understand the results on the same level they are given?

I believe you can get much good information from your own market research. This is why I have not included much information on individual country scores here in this series. This type of market research will also open your own mindset.

I do list the top countries researched, for both ends of each of the five scales, in the current Get International Clients Newsletter 5 week series. But I feel you should spend more time getting to know your target markets rather than relying too much on this old research. You will get so much more out of it.

The cultural behaviors represent a great tool in aligning your communication with the culture you are targeting. The base of this communication should be founded on your own international market research.

So, spend a little time browsing the popular websites and your competitors websites in the country you are targeting. Keep the five cultural behaviors in mind and see what additional information you can learn about your foreign market.

Try to identify where this particular culture falls on each of the five scales of cultural behaviors. It is often easier than you imagine.

Find All The Ingredients

It is important to remember as we look at the each cultural behavior trait individually that this is just one cultural behavioral element on five different scales.

• You need to identify all five of the cultural traits that apply to your foreign culture.

Each culture has a unique blend of the five cultural behaviors. And these 5 cultural behaviors are only one part of the elements to influence your cross cultural communication.

Find The Right Mix

It is essential to find the right mix of tools for best results.

• You need to identify the right mix with all five of the cultural traits that apply to your foreign culture.

The way to find the right mix of web tools is to study all of the web tools that appeal to the different behavioral traits, adapt your website and test your results.

Find The Correct Emphasis

You can highlight key web tools through a variety of ways:

• Graphics
• Size
• Prominence
• Position
• Color

It is important to find the right way to highlight each tool on your website. The changes may be very subtle.

• You need to identify the right way to emphasis each of the web tools that apply to your foreign culture.

Test Your Cross Cultural Communication

This is not an absolute science. These are guidelines to give you concrete tools to try to improve your cross cultural communication. It is a delicate and subtle mix. Cross cultural communication can be a minefield of potential errors. Cross cultural web communication is no different.

What can you do?

• Look to see what works well in your foreign market.
• Make small changes.
• Go slowly.
• Be open.
• Test your results.

It is important to remain open minded and also to try very subtle changes in the way you highlight each web tool.

Use these web tools to inspire you to create more powerful cross cultural communication on your website

Don’t forget to come back and check the guide for other web tools - I will be going through a long list of them over the next couple of months:

• Web Tools For Cultural Communication