Text, Images, and the Visual Nature of Online Media

Cross-cultural communication often focuses on text, and companies generally use human translators to convert written materials from one language into another. These translators, in turn , often modify verbal presentations to account for cultural credibility expectations. In e-marketing, however, the mere translation of text might not result in material that is appropriate for other cultures. Rather, research in Web design and Web usability indicates that Internet-based media such as Web sites involve primarily visual displays (Nielsen, 2000; Lynch & Horton, 2001; Brink, Gergle, & Wood, 2002). As a result, marketing Web sites must be adjusted to cater to both the verbal and the visual expectations of consumers from other cultures. To achieve this goal, e-marketers need a methodology that can help them understand how cultural expectations can affect overall Web site design.

While localization firms can address visual design issues, localizers (professionals who 'custom fit' information for specific cultures) need to have materials to localize. For localization to be successful, e-marketers need to provide localizers with:

• Images that are easy to adjust to the expectations of other cultural groups

• Culture-specific images that represent how an item appears in a particular culture

If e-marketers fail to provide such items, the effectiveness/credibility of resulting marketing materials could be limited. In this case, a methodology for examining cultural expectations and visual design could contribute to the effective localization of materials.

While several authors (e.g., Horton, Kostelnick, and Hager) note how aspects of image design can affect cross-cultural communication, strategies for designing effective international images are often reduced to laundry lists of 'do's' and 'don't's.' As a result, marketers often lack the in-depth understanding needed to design effective visual materials for consumers in other cultures. They could therefore benefit from a methodology that allows them to understand how cultural factors affect the perceived credibility of visual displays. Such a deeper understanding could then contribute to more effective design in international e-marketing materials.

This chapter presents a methodology for designing more effective visual materials for international e-marketing Web sites. This methodology is based on a merger of ideas from rhetorical theory and from prototype theory to create a system for identifying and analyzing visual displays (e.g., Web sites and online images) designed by individuals from other cultures. Marketers can then use the results of this analysis to develop a design checklist that helps them create more effective e-marketing layouts, images, and designs for consumers in other cultures.