website globalization and e business united kingdom

The Website Globalization and E-Business paper was researched and written by:

Martin Spethman Managing Partner Globalization Partners International [email protected] Phone: 866-272-5874

Nitish Singh, PhD, Author of “The Culturally Customized Website”, “Localization Strategies for Global E-Business”, and Assistant Professor of International Business, Boeing Institute of International Business, John Cook School of Business, Saint Louis University. [email protected] Phone: 314-977-7604

The Website Globalization and E-Business Series includes a series of brief reports on country-specific website globalization and e-business topics. The series includes:

• China• Japan• Germany• US Hispanic Market• Brazil• India

• Russia• Argentina• France• United Kingdom• United Arab Emirates

Globalization Partners International helps companies communicate and conduct business in any language and in any locale by providing an array of globalization services including:

• Translation• Multilingual Desktop Publishing• Software Internationalization & Localization• Website Internationalization & Localization• Software and Website Testing• Interpretation (Telephonic, Consecutive, Simultaneous)• Globalization Consulting• SEO (Global Search Engine Marketing)

To learn more about Globalization Partners International, please visit us at blog.globalizationpartners.com.

Website Globalization and E-Business United Kingdom

This series of reports is meant to be a primer on e-Business as well as a collection of language, culture and website globalization facts by country. These reports are by no means a complete coverage of these topics. For more comprehensive or customized reports on country-specific Website Globalization and E-Business topics, please email [email protected].

No material contained in this report may be reproduced in whole or in part without prior written permission of Globalization Partners International. The information contained in this White Paper has been obtained from sources we believe to be reliable, but neither its completeness nor accuracy can be guaranteed.

© Copyright 2008 - 2012 Globalization Partners International. All rights reserved. ® All Trademarks are the property of their respective owners. All graphics used in this report were provided by Flikr, Google Images and other free internet resources for pictures.

1 of 15 Website Globalization and E-Business | Japan www.globalizationpartners.com© Copyright 2008 - 2012 Globalization Partners International. All rights reserved.

Globalization Partners International White Paper | 2012


L The United Kingdom is one of the top economies in the world with a GDP of almost $2.47 trillion and a growth rate of 0.9%.

L 78% of potential car buyers say they will use their mobile device for both searching and purchasing their car.

L 17% of UK shoppers have made a purchase in response to a location-based advertisement.

L 32% of shoppers purchased Valentine’s Day gifts online in 2011, a 9% increase from 2010.

L 83% of UK online shoppers use search engines to research a purchase.

L 4pm Wednesday ‘is peak-time for workplace shopping’ with a 75% increase of shopping over other workday hours.

Fast Facts Numbers

General Stats GDP $2.47 trillion (2011)

Growth rate 0.9%

Population Approximately 62.3 million, 2010

Internet Internet population Approximately 51.4 million, 83% of the population

Online spending $78.2 billion in 2011, up 11% over 2010

Future estimates $89.14 billion by the end of 2012 (search engine Kelkoo estimate Jan 2012)

I. Market Introduction and Stats

Stats/Source Online Activities

UK Online Population

• 94% of UK Internet homes have broadband access

• Usage of UK wireless hotspots nearly doubled from August 2010 to August 2011 to 4.9 million users

eCommerce Shopping Trends

• 10% of total retail in the UK is online sales

• Online retail is growing 6x faster than store sales and is estimated to exceed $57.9 billion by 2014

• The number of Brits making online purchases is expected to reach 32.5 million by 2014 (Verdict Research)

Online Payment Choices

• 74% of adults in the UK have boradband (fixed + mobile)

• Debit Card• PayPal (Paypal processes

$10 million per day in mobile transactions)

Access • 55% access the Internet from home

• 66% of UK households with a fixed connection use a wireless router

• Android passed the 10 billion app download in December 2011

• Mobile accounts for 10% of UK ecommerce

Main Product Categories

• Travel• Clothing• Groceries• Consumer Electronics

The British Online Consumer


II. UK Culture and the Online Consumer

UK Culture and Values

The UK shares some of the common symbols and traditions of other western cultures yet still maintains its own unique, rich culture. At a macro-level, the UK culture can be described using five cultural values based on the work of Hofstede (1980). Professor Geert Hofstede conducted perhaps the most comprehensive study of how values in the workplace are influenced by culture and is the author of several books including Culture’s Consequences (2nd fully revised edition), and Cultures and Organizations, Software of the Mind (2nd fully revised edition).

Hofstede demonstrated that there are national and regional cultural groupings that affect the behavior of societies and organizations that are very persistent across time. Hofstede’s research showed that cultural values like Individualism-Collectivism, Power Distance, Masculinity-Femininity, High-Low Context and Uncertainty Avoidance can be used to categorize various national cultures (see sidebar for definitions of these terms).

A country’s culture is made unique by which of these five values are incorporated into daily life and they emphasis it puts on each. For example, the UK rates significantly on Individualism, Masculinity, Power Distance and Uncertainty Avoidance.

Insights into UK Consumer Values:

L Loyalty: A recent study showed that 72 percent of British Internet users do not like to shop around the web, but instead prefer to stick with 10 or less online stores they know. (www.receptional.com).

LPrivacy and Security: Based on a report from the Office of Fair Trading (OFT), almost 79 percent of online British consumers are “very concerned” about online privacy and security. Almost 3.5 million British shun online shopping due to lack of trust and security concerns.

LGender-Differences: Women, aged 25-34 spend almost 20 percent more time online than their male counterparts (Ofcom communication market report).

LMobile Devices: According to MobileWeb Metrix British Mobile, web users account for almost 67 percent of the entire mobile web audience of the UK.

LSocial Networking: Research shows that more than one third of British online consumers are big on social networking and other social computing activities, like blogs, podcasting, etc. This participation in social networking is double the European average (Forester research).

LMoney: Data shows that British consumers have money to spend. Almost one quarter of them have a household income of about €50,000 ($100,000).

Cultural Values

Individualism: Cultures like the UK that are high on

the Individualism Value tend to value individual goals

over group goals. Independence, individuality, and self-

expression are preferred values.

Power Distance: This is a belief in authority and

hierarchy (high power distance). Cultures that are

high on power distance accept power and hierarchy in

society and are low on egalitarianism. In such cultures,

less powerful citizens are accepting of unequal

power distribution in society. However, the UK is not

considered high on power distance.

Uncertainty Avoidance: The importance of

predictability, structure, and order (high uncertainty

avoidance) versus a willingness for risk-taking and an

acceptance of ambiguity and limited structure (low

uncertainty avoidance.) People from cultures high on

uncertainty avoidance tend to have low tolerance for

uncertainty and avoid ambiguous situations. They view

both conflict and competition as threatening and value

security over adventure and risk.

Masculinity-Femininity: A belief in achievement

and ambition (masculine) versus a belief in nurturing

and caring for others (feminine). Masculine cultures

like the UK value achievement orientation, material

possessions and success.

High-Low Context: To communicate effectively across

cultures the correct level of context has to be found.

This context can be labeled as high or low, on a sliding

scale. High context societies have close connections

among group members. Everyone has a similar, intrinsic

knowledge-base. Low context cultures are societies

that are logical, linear, action-oriented, and the sharing

of the information is explicit and formalized. Most

communication takes place in a rational, verbal and

explicit way to convey concrete meanings through

rationality and language. The UK is a combination of

both, High and Low Context.

(Hofstede, Geert. Culture’s Consequences, Comparing Values, Behaviors, Institutions, and Organizations Across Nations

Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications, 2001)


II. UK Culture and the Online Consumer

UK Consumer Decision Making:

� Familiarity: UK consumers do not shop around, but prefer to stick to 10 or less online stores they know.

� Payment: British consumers prefer to use credit and debit cards for online purchases. PayPal is used less frequently. Other online payments like direct debit are not yet widely accepted. (ensor).

� Security: UK consumers are very worried about online security and want to purchase from a site that they feel has a good privacy policy and will keep their information secure.

� Social Networking: Consumers are less likely to buy high-ticket items through social networking sites. 65% say that they would only ever spend between £1 and £50 on a social networking site.

UK Consumer Segments:

Note: Market segmentation is an exercise in carefully identifying profitable and accessible consumer segments based on socio-demographics, geographics, and psychographics. Segmentation is unique to each company and product. (Some general insights on the UK consumer segments-based research. Gong, Hie et Al., Fax and Xiao, McExen et al., Singh et al.).

� 15-25 Age Group: This group is 25% more likely to be online than the general online British population and spends 24% more time online than average users. (comscore).

� 35-44 Age Group: This group represents the largest online segment within the UK with 23% of the total online population.

�Silver Shoppers: This group is 55+ years of age and is overtaking the 35-44 age group for the largest representation online. They are very interested in search engines. Adult and shopping classifieds are some of the most popular categories for the silver shoppers.

�Slow Adaptors: A little more than half of British view the web as not making their life easier and find it difficult to keep abreast with the fast changing online environment (Neilsen//NetRatings MegaPanel UK Digital Consumer Survey).


English is a West Germanic language that originated in England and is spoken by more than a billion people worldwide on at least a basic level. There are several different dialects of English including the Queen’s English, American English, Cockney slang, Newfoundland English, Canadian English, and American Vernacular English (Ebonics) and South American English (Wikipedia.org).

English is written using the Latin alphabet. There are over 600,000 words in the Oxford English Dictionary, and it is estimated that 25,000 new words per year are added to the English Language (Wikipedia.org).

The English used in the UK, called either the King’s or Queen’s English depending on the ruler at the time, is different than the English used in America. UK English and US English are set apart in terms of vocabulary equivalence, conceptual equivalence and idiomatic equivalence leading to some confusion and sometimes innocent linguistic blunders. For example, the word “rubber” in the UK is thought to mean a device used to erase pen or pencil marks, whereas in the US it is associated with condoms.

Localization from US English to the Queen’s English can involve software that is aware of the differences in language and localizes accordingly. To truly localize from US English to UK English, a translator must be utilized in order to use specific idiomatic and dialectical nuances that will appeal to the British population.

Different Words – Same Meaning

(Adapted from Singh and Pereira)

American English Queen’s English

Truck Lorry

Eraser Rubber

Chips Crisps

Fries Chips

Hood (car) Bonnet

Trunk (Car) Boot

Mudguard Fender

Trash Can Dust Bin

Cookie Biscuit

Biscuit Scone

Candy Sweets

Baked Potato Jacket Potato

Raincoat Mac (Macintosh)

Glue Gum

Same Words – Different Spelling

American English Queen’s English

Judgment Judgement

Curb Kerb

License (noun) Licence

Maneuver Manoeuvre

Neighbor Neighbour

Organization Organisation

Aging Ageing

Pajamas Pyjamas

Skeptical Sceptical

Tire Tyre

Gray Grey

Draft Draught

III. The English Language

Example: Yahoo! mail has been localized with British specific phrases like “without spending a bean” or “no need to fret” – phrases that might not appeal to or work well with US audiences.


IV. Website Globalization

Whether you are trying to launch a multilingual website in order to expand the markets for your products and services, or you are trying to increase your company’s global operational efficiencies by developing multilingual extranets and intranets, Website Globalization is a requirement to make either a reality. In order to enable your web presence to communicate, conduct and complete international e-Business, you need to translate (globalize) your website.

Website translation is also known as “Website Globalization”. In order to truly “translate” a website into other languages you may need both Internationalization (I18n) and Localization (L10n) services.

Internationalization (I18n) involves enabling the backend of a website to handle different languages, character sets, currencies, submit form data, site search capabilities, etc… and involves understanding what database and content management systems you are using to author, store and publish your site’s content.

Localization (L10n) involves translating and localizing the front end of your website into different languages ensuring all content (text and graphics) is translated in an accurate and culturally correct manner.

The next two pages detail the steps that may be performed in a typical website globalization project. The tables list the team members, tasks and standard quality assurance steps utilized in translating a website.

+

7 of 15 W

ebsite Globalization and E-Business | United Kingdom

ww

w.globalizationpartners.com

IV. W

ebsite GlobalizationGO!

Source File Review

Project Kick-O

ff

Subject Matter

Training and Research

Glossary

Developm

ent

Cultural Correctness A

ssessment

Translation, Editing and Proofreading

Localization of all G

raphics

Formatting of

Language D

ocuments

Localization of M

ultimedia

QA

/ TestingD

elivery to Client

Final Edits and A

rchiving of FilesSEO

and Internet M

arketing

Team

Account Manager

•Project M

anager•

Localization Engineers•

Internationalization Engineers•

Web CM

S Specialists•

Web Designers

•W

eb Developers•

Global SEM Specialists

•

Account Manager

•Project M

anager•

Lead Translators•



Web CM

S Specialists•

Web Designers

•W

eb Developers•


•

Project Manager

•Lead Translators

•Editors &

Copy Writers

•

Project Manager

•Lead Translators

•Editors &

Copy Writers

•

Project Manager

•Lead Translators

•Editors &

Copy Writers

•

Project Manager

•Lead Translators

•Editors &

Copy Writers

•

Project Manager

•Lead Translators

•Editors &

Copy Writers

•Desktop Publishers

•Localization Engineers

•W

eb Designers•

Project Manager

•Lead Translators

•Editors &

Copy Writers



•W

eb Designers•

Project Manager

•Lead Translators

•Editors &

Copy Writers



•W

eb Designers•

Web Developers

•

Project Manager

•Lead Translators

•Editors &

Copy Writers


•Internationalization Engineers

•QA-Testers

•W

eb CMS Specialists

•W

eb Designers•

Web Developers

•

Project Manager

•Project M

anager•

Desktop Publishers•


Project Manager

•Lead Translators

•Global SEM

Specialists•

Tasks

Companies w

anting to translate •

their website put together all of

the source files from their site

(called a”Localization Kit”) for a globalization services provider to analyze.The files are prepared in order

•to utilize a translation m

emory

tool workflow

and preserve any m

ark-up/formatting code

in order to save time and costs

with desktop publishing the

language versions.A proposal is generated based on

•an array of factors including w

ord counts, localizable graphics, target languages and any content m

anagement system

s and w

orkflows to be used.

A Project “Kick-Off” includes •

and confirms the follow

ing:

The project team

9

Project schedules 9

Project specifications 9

Workflow

requirements

9

Comm

unication 9

channelsReview

& approval

9

opportunitiesReview

current 9

web authoring and

publishing workflow

.

A Globalization Services •

Team (GST) w

ill review/study

any reference materials

provided, including source files, dem

os and general client inform

ation.

In addition, there may be

•client-specific training for translation team

s related to the subject m

atter of the w

ebsite.

Translation teams develop

•and m

aintains client specific glossaries leveraging any existing client glossaries and the latest industry-specific dictionaries.

Before the actual translation •

begins, the source web

content and overall site design and feature set is review

ed for basic cultural correctness and custom

izations that may

be required.

An array of issues are •

reviewed ranging from

the need to culturally custom

ize graphics and adding local phone num

bers to com

prehensive customization

of website features based on

locale specific cultural values.

Translation is performed

•by a base translation/copy w

riting team, and editing/

proofreading by a second linguistic team

.

All translations are completed

•by hum

an translators, utilizing translation m

emory technologies that

ensure an efficient and consistent translation.

All embedded translatable

•text com

monly found in

navigation buttons, web art

and other web graphics are

pulled from graphics and

translated using the standard translation w

orkflow.

The translated text is then •

incorporated into the original graphic, adjusting as required, to create a language or “localized” version of the graphic.

Many w

ebsites have an array •

of linked documents w

hich may

require localization.

Formatting or desktop publishing (DTP)

•of these docum

ents includes formatting

the target language documentation to

match the original source docum

ents in term

s of layout, fonts, graphics, and overall design.

Adobe PDF’s can be created and •

optimized for screen or print and linked

off of the new w

ebsite.

Many w

ebsites incorporate various •

multim

edia components w

hich may


Multim

edia must be analyzed

•individually for num

erous items. These

items range from

determining w

ord counts in screen text, audio scripts and graphics, to the analysis of the types of assets and how

they were digitized and

included in your multim

edia.

All multim

edia can be localized and •

tested to play in any target languages.

GPI provides basic Online Localization •

Quality Assurance (QA) as a standard line item

for all website projects.

This QA checks the language versions •

of your site under selected browser-OS

combination for any cosm

etic or linguistic issues, and w

ill help identity basic functionality issues as w

ell.

Typically all testing is client-driven and •

GPI’s professionals can work side by

side with your expert users to perform

Internationalization (I18N

), Localization (L10N

) and/or Functionality Testing, onsite or offsite.

After the website and all com

ponents •

have been localized, final draft sets of the source files in all target language versions are provided to the client.

Client may review

and approve all web

•content for both translation accuracy and design correctness.

Another round of QA is performed once

•language versions of a w

ebsite are in their final hosting environm

ent

Client provides any final comm

ents for •

the translation and formatting.

Comm

ents are incorporated and final •

websites and docum

ents are produced.

GPI ensures the client’s Translation •

Mem

ories and Glossaries are updated w

ith any final linguistic changes and the final project folder, including all source files are securely stored for future revisions if required.

GPI recomm

ends the client plan on and •

conduct some form

of global internet m

arketing (IM) and/or search engine

marketing (SEM

) in order to drive traffic to your new

language sites.

This may include global search engine

•optim

ization of the localized web

content, submission of pages to key

country (locale) search engines and pay-per-click m

arketing campaigns

through services like Google AdWords

or Overture.

Quality Assurance

GPI follows a com

prehensive, custom

izable and fully docum

ented Quality Control Process. Each step in our translation w

orkflow includes

a series of checklist-based quality audits to ensure the accuracy of the translation and desktop publishing. Our client’s QA and w

orkflow processes can also be easily

incorporated into our workflow

.

Clients are given an opportunity to review

and approve at several stages in the docum

entation translation process.




Clients are given an opportunity to review and

approve at several stages in the documentation

translation process.




8 of 15 W

ebsite Globalization and E-Business | United Kingdom

ww

w.globalizationpartners.com

IV. W

ebsite Globalization

GO!

Source File Review

Project Kick-O

ff

Subject Matter

Training and Research

Glossary

Developm

ent

Cultural Correctness A

ssessment

Translation, Editing and Proofreading

Localization of all G

raphics

Formatting of

Language D

ocuments

Localization of M

ultimedia

QA

/ TestingD

elivery to Client

Final Edits and A

rchiving of FilesSEO

and Internet M

arketing

Team

Account Manager

•Project M

anager•



Web CM

S Specialists•

Web Designers

•W

eb Developers•


•

Account Manager

•Project M

anager•

Lead Translators•



Web CM

S Specialists•

Web Designers

•W

eb Developers•


•

Project Manager

•Lead Translators

•Editors &

Copy Writers

•

Project Manager

•Lead Translators

•Editors &

Copy Writers

•

Project Manager

•Lead Translators

•Editors &

Copy Writers

•

Project Manager

•Lead Translators

•Editors &

Copy Writers

•

Project Manager

•Lead Translators

•Editors &

Copy Writers



•W

eb Designers•

Project Manager

•Lead Translators

•Editors &

Copy Writers



•W

eb Designers•

Project Manager

•Lead Translators

•Editors &

Copy Writers



•W

eb Designers•

Web Developers

•

Project Manager

•Lead Translators

•Editors &

Copy Writers


•Internationalization Engineers

•QA-Testers

•W

eb CMS Specialists

•W

eb Designers•

Web Developers

•

Project Manager

•Project M

anager•

Desktop Publishers•


Project Manager

•Lead Translators

•Global SEM

Specialists•

Tasks

Companies w

anting to translate •

their website put together all of

the source files from their site

(called a”Localization Kit”) for a globalization services provider to analyze.The files are prepared in order

•to utilize a translation m

emory

tool workflow

and preserve any m

ark-up/formatting code

in order to save time and costs

with desktop publishing the

language versions.A proposal is generated based on

•an array of factors including w

ord counts, localizable graphics, target languages and any content m

anagement system

s and w

orkflows to be used.

A Project “Kick-Off” includes •

and confirms the follow

ing:

The project team

9

Project schedules 9

Project specifications 9

Workflow

requirements

9

Comm

unication 9

channelsReview

& approval

9

opportunitiesReview

current 9

web authoring and

publishing workflow

.

A Globalization Services •

Team (GST) w

ill review/study

any reference materials

provided, including source files, dem

os and general client inform

ation.

In addition, there may be

•client-specific training for translation team

s related to the subject m

atter of the w

ebsite.

Translation teams develop

•and m

aintains client specific glossaries leveraging any existing client glossaries and the latest industry-specific dictionaries.

Before the actual translation •

begins, the source web

content and overall site design and feature set is review

ed for basic cultural correctness and custom

izations that may

be required.

An array of issues are •

reviewed ranging from

the need to culturally custom

ize graphics and adding local phone num

bers to com

prehensive customization

of website features based on

locale specific cultural values.

Translation is performed

•by a base translation/copy w

riting team, and editing/

proofreading by a second linguistic team

.

All translations are completed

•by hum

an translators, utilizing translation m

emory technologies that

ensure an efficient and consistent translation.

All embedded translatable

•text com

monly found in

navigation buttons, web art

and other web graphics are

pulled from graphics and

translated using the standard translation w

orkflow.

The translated text is then •

incorporated into the original graphic, adjusting as required, to create a language or “localized” version of the graphic.

Many w

ebsites have an array •

of linked documents w

hich may


Formatting or desktop publishing (DTP)

•of these docum

ents includes formatting

the target language documentation to

match the original source docum

ents in term

s of layout, fonts, graphics, and overall design.

Adobe PDF’s can be created and •

optimized for screen or print and linked

off of the new w

ebsite.

Many w

ebsites incorporate various •

multim

edia components w

hich may


Multim

edia must be analyzed

•individually for num

erous items. These

items range from

determining w

ord counts in screen text, audio scripts and graphics, to the analysis of the types of assets and how

they were digitized and

included in your multim

edia.

All multim

edia can be localized and •

tested to play in any target languages.

GPI provides basic Online Localization •

Quality Assurance (QA) as a standard line item

for all website projects.

This QA checks the language versions •

of your site under selected browser-OS

combination for any cosm

etic or linguistic issues, and w

ill help identity basic functionality issues as w

ell.

Typically all testing is client-driven and •

GPI’s professionals can work side by

side with your expert users to perform

Internationalization (I18N

), Localization (L10N

) and/or Functionality Testing, onsite or offsite.

After the website and all com

ponents •

have been localized, final draft sets of the source files in all target language versions are provided to the client.

Client may review

and approve all web

•content for both translation accuracy and design correctness.

Another round of QA is performed once

•language versions of a w

ebsite are in their final hosting environm

ent

Client provides any final comm

ents for •

the translation and formatting.

Comm

ents are incorporated and final •

websites and docum

ents are produced.

GPI ensures the client’s Translation •

Mem

ories and Glossaries are updated w

ith any final linguistic changes and the final project folder, including all source files are securely stored for future revisions if required.

GPI recomm

ends the client plan on and •

conduct some form

of global internet m

arketing (IM) and/or search engine

marketing (SEM

) in order to drive traffic to your new

language sites.

This may include global search engine

•optim

ization of the localized web

content, submission of pages to key

country (locale) search engines and pay-per-click m

arketing campaigns

through services like Google AdWords

or Overture.

Quality Assurance

GPI follows a com

prehensive, custom

izable and fully docum

ented Quality Control Process. Each step in our translation w

orkflow includes

a series of checklist-based quality audits to ensure the accuracy of the translation and desktop publishing. Our client’s QA and w

orkflow processes can also be easily

incorporated into our workflow

.














Cultural Maps adapted from: “The Culturally Customized Website: Customizing Websites for the Global Marketplace” by Nitish Singh and Arun Pereira (2005), and Hofstede, Geert. “Culture’s Consequences, Comparing Values, Behaviors, Institutions, and Organizations Across Nations” Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications, 2001)

Cultural Customization: Key Issues

The basis for cultural customization of websites is a theoretically-sound, empirically-validated framework built on five unique cultural values that account for similarities and differences across global cultures. Research indicates that attitude towards websites, the sites’ interactivity and usability, as well as purchase intentions of users are enhanced when sites are congruent with the target customers’ cultural predispositions (see “The Culturally Customized Website,” Elsevier).

The cultural customization framework is drawn from established research and is based on five unique values: Individualism-Collectivism, Power Distance, Uncertainty Avoidance, Masculinity-Femininity, and Low-High Context (See page 4 of this report).

These five predominant cultural values can be represented in a country-to-country comparison using the maps below:

V. UK Cultural Correctness and Web Customization

Cultural Maps for UK

0

50

100

001050

Unc

erta

inty

Avo

idan

ce In

dex

Masculinity - Femininity Index

Masculinity - Femininity vs. Uncertainty Avoidance

Arab World Argen�na Australia Austria BrazilCanada Chile China Colombia Costa RicaCzech Republic Czech Republic Denmark East Africa EcuadorEl Salvador Finland France Germany GreeceGuatemala Hong Kong Hungary India IndonesiaIran Ireland Israel Italy JamaicaJapan Malaysia Mexico Netherlands New ZealandNorway Pakistan Panama Peru PhilippinesPoland Portugal Russia Singapore South AfricaSouth Korea Spain Sweden Switzerland TaiwanThailand Turkey U.S. Hispanic Market United Arab Emirates United KingdomUnited States Uruguay Venezuela West Africa

0

50

100

001050

Indi

vidu

alis

m -

Colle

c�vi

sm In

dex

Power Distance Index

Power Distance vs. Individualism - Collec�vism

Arab World Argen�na Australia Austria BelgiumBrazil Canada Chile China ColombiaColombia Costa Rica Czech Republic Denmark East AfricaEl Salvador Finland France Germany GuatemalaHungary Hong Kong India Indonesia IrelandIran Israel Italy Jamaica JapanMalaysia Mexico Netherlands New Zealand NorwayPakistan Panama Peru Philippines PolandPortugal Russia Singapore South Africa South KoreaSpain Sweden Switzerland Taiwan TurkeyU.S. Hispanic Market United Arab Emirates United Kingdom United States UruguayVenezuela West Africa

Ì UK

Ì UK


The Cultural Customization Scorecard

Once we have identified the country’s predominant cultural values using the cultural maps the next step in customizing a website is to evaluate it on the relevant cultural values. This can be done in the form of The Cultural Customization Score Card. The score card is produced by analyzing the site on the features that conform to the cultural values of interest.

The cultural values of interest for the UK are Individualism, Masculinity, and a balance of High and Low Context. (For a detailed cultural analysis of your website, please contact [email protected])

The Cultural Customization Scorecard™ - China

Values Individualism Collectivism Uncertainty Avoidance

Power Distance

Masculinity Low Context

High Context

Cultural Scores

Cultural Customization (Examples)

Â Individualism: Research suggests that there are web-specific features, like personalization, that can make a site more appealing to individualistic cultures. Some examples of websites customized for the UK are:

• At advancedmp3players.co.uk they have a section entitled MP3 matchmaker, in which the consumer can put in a mixture of features and get an individualized selection of MP3 players.

• Privacy is an important factor to the UK online customer. Therefore, clearly emphasizing the privacy policy on a website may be a very good strategy.

• In both British advertising and web communication, there’s a certain common theme: independence, respect for privacy, and emphasis on uniqueness. Virgin Mobile, for example, emphasizes this uniqueness with a service called “Crave” and th slogan - “Everyone Wants It. You’ve Got It”.


Grading Scale:

> 90% Excellent Customization on Cultural Value

70-89% Good Customization on Cultural Value

< 70% Poor Customization on Cultural Value


ÂMasculinity: The UK is a culture that leans towards masculinity. Emphasizing themes, values and graphics that relate to this aspect, is an important component of a website for the UK. Emphasizing achievement, success, product durability and effectiveness, and adventure in the web content are ways to depict masculinity for the British audience. For example, the UK site of Virgin Mobile emphasizes achievement by using words like prominantly displaying their customer service award and emphasizing that they are “The only UK operator to have won best customer service award seven years running”.

Â High-Low Context: The UK is unique as it is neither high or low context, but instead a mixture of both; therefore, companies need to balance imagery, aesthetic and colors with a clear well-organized layout suitable for British users. Some examples include:

• The UK Virgin Mobile website exhibits low context features like a clear, to the point communication style and a direct, persuasive theme. These include providing consumers reasons for choosing them or information on how they will best take care of the customer. TESCO’s site is full of colorful boxes, and its layout is very linear and organized.



Website Customization Considerations

Symbols and Icons

The United Kingdom, also known as Great Britain, was established through the merging of four constituent countries, England, Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales, each with their own unique culture. However, as time passed, many of the symbols and icons from the individual countries fused together to create a unique UK culture.

For example:

L 13 is considered a very unlucky number. L Friday is considered an unlucky day, especially Friday the 13th. LBlack cats are considered lucky. L It is considered good luck to touch a piece of wood. It is not uncommon to hear one yell, “Touch Wood!” to prevent a change in luck. LAnimals: Peacock feathers are considered unlucky, possibly because the eye-shape on the feather can be considered the evil-eye. A sparrow entering a house is considered a death omen. LRed poppies are worn on Remembrance Day in memory of service personnel who lost their lives in the First and Second World Wars and subsequent conflicts. LBritish Monarchy: People in general are proud of the monarchy and like to celebrate this ancient institution.

Colors

Certain colors carry specific meaning and symbolize aspects of the British culture.

� Red: Considered to be the most masculine of colors signifying authority, government, power and visibility. � Black: Considered to be the color of death. It is also a very formal color – such as “black-tie” events.

Spatial Orientation:

Spatial orientation refers to how web content is structured. According to Wendy Barber and Albert Badre, authors of “Culturability: The Merging of Culture and Usability” (1998), spatial orientation has a direct effect on website usability, because it affects visual perception. Manipulating the orientation can change the user’s comfort level. What is user-friendly for one country may be vastly different for another.

Orange balances imagery with a neat, clean layout and a logical orientation.




Text Length:

When translating a document or website, it is important to take into account how the length of the text will change after translation. There are a variety of reasons why text expansion occurs. Equivalent phrases in a target language may have more characters or words than in English, and some cultures prefer using a more formal style than other cultures, avoiding abbreviations, for example. Additionally, for both documents and websites both line and page breaks may be different in the localized version than in the English version. Finally, the layout of the document or website itself may change depending on the direction of the text. For example, Arabic is a bi-directional language and is read right-to-left, which will not only switch the layout of the text, but also the graphics, the tool bars, the navigation bars, and the binding of the book, etc... Similarly, some languages like Chinese and Japanese can be displayed either in left-to-right character rows or vertical character columns, and the choice influences how document elements such as graphics, figures, tables, call outs, etc. are arranged in the final document or webpage.

There can either be text expansion or compression when a document or website is translated from English into a target language. With document localization, there are several steps that can be taken to help preserve the integrity of the look and feel “layout” of the document. These include:

LUsing a larger font in the original language, if it is expected the language will expand during translation. This will help to develop a better feel for the final size of the document and how the document elements will be laid out relative to the text. If the text is expected to shrink, use a slightly smaller font for the same reasons. L Tables and graphics may need to be resized or changed. Some, like the vertical Chinese or Japanese layout, will require more finessing than others.


The key to promoting a website internationally is to create localized content and keywords, register local domains and then promote through local search engines, online and offline branding and promotions, and affiliate marketing.

According to an independent survey completed by Nominet, UK web addresses are the gateway to the Internet for the majority of British searching for information and purchasing online. In the UK, Nominet is the national registry for registering ccTLD ending in.uk and they manage over 6 million domain names. This makes the.uk domain almost the 4th largest registry in the world after.com,.org and.de (website-law.co.uk).

These are several syntax rules that need to be taken into account when registering a.uk domain with Nominet (adapted from Baker and McKenzie, 2001):

L Two letter names are not allowed, expect ISO country codes L Two character names are allowed, i.e. 3x.co.uk, but not aa.co.uk LAll second level names of.uk are banned from being third level names, i.e. nhs.co.uk LAll top level names are banned from being third level names, i.e. net.org.uk LAll one character domain names, such as [a-z0-9].xxx.uk are reserved for possible future sub-domain usage

In addition, second level names by Nominet have a unique purpose. For example:

� .co.uk are used for commercial entities � .me.uk are used for personal sites � .org.uk are used for non-profit organizations � .net.uk are used for Internet service providers’ infrastructure

Top UK Search Engines (Spider based) in 2010 were:

� www.google.co.uk � search.msn.co.uk � www.ask.co.uk � uk.search.yahoo.com

VI. Internet and Search Engine Marketing in the UK

It is recommended that firms plan on and conduct some form of global search engine marketing (SEM) in order to drive traffic to their new language sites.

This may include global search engine optimization of your localized web content, submission of pages to key country (locale) search engines, and a pay-per-click marketing campaigns through services like Google Adwords or Overture.

For more information on Global SEM Services, see www.globalizationpartners.com/SEM.

The Importance of.uk Sites

If a company chooses to have a.uk site in addition to its.com site it is important to not only make the UK English site, different in terms of dialect use, but also localize to have original content specific to the UK audience. This is not just a good localization policy to address each locale uniquely, but is also necessary to avoid penalties from search engines like Google. This is because Google tries to identify and penalize sites that are carbon copies of one another (Sean Carlos: www.antezeta.com/search-engines-site-localization-duplicate-content.html).

UK SEO Considerations

Ì Your keywords for SEO need to be adapted for the corresponding locale, in this case, the UK. This ensures that your website employs keywords most frequently used by UK consumers.

Ì Content and metadata translation/copy writing/research needs to be performed by in-country (UK)translators. This is essential to ensure that original content is adapted to your targeted UK consumers.

Ì Strong website quality assurance (QA), performed by UK, in-country translators, will ensure that your website works properly for targeted UK consumers. The QA process will detect and eliminate broken links, missing information, and uncover any other cultural issues diminish your website experience for UK consumers. References available upon request.


Search Engines

Resources

ß ExciteUK www.excite.co.uk

ßUKIndex www.ukindex.co.uk

ßUKPlus www.ukplus.co.uk

ßAltavista UK uk.altavista.com

ßYahoo UK uk.yahoo.com

ß LycosUK www.lycos.co.uk

ßDogpile UK www.dogpile.co.uk

ß Ezilion.com www.ezilon.com

ß EuroFind: European Business Directory www.eurofind.biz

ßAboacho www.abacho.co.uk

ß ooBdoo www.oobdoo.co.uk

ß entireweb.com www.entireweb.com

ßMojeek Beta www.mojeek.co.uk

ß Tell Me About (UK Directory) www.tellmeabout.co.uk

ßUK Nation www.uknation.co.uk

ß Lifestyle.co.uk www.lifestyle.co.uk

ßSplut: Directory of UK Wesbites www.splut.com

ßBusiness Link www.businesslink.gov.uk

Useful Links

Acrobat may ask you for permission to open the links. Click on the “Allow” button to let Acrobat open the link in your browser

ßwww.iabeurope.eu

ßwww.nielsen-netratings.com

ßwww.startups.co.uk

ß ec.europa.eu/index_en.htm

ß https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/uk.html

ßwww.i-uk.com

ßwww.bis.gov.uk

ßwww.bbc.co.uk

ßwww.direct.gov.uk

ßwww.countrywatch.com

ß news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/country_profiles

ßwww.export.gov

ß globaledge.msu.edu

ßwww.buyusa.gov

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