Do Western Companies Appropriately Adapt Their Indonesian Promotional Websites to an Indonesian Audience? A Study Applying Content Analysis of Cultural Cues Reveals Some Answers

Abstract

This study explores the depiction of local culture in the Indonesian websites of English and American companies operating in Indonesia. The objective is to evaluate if the websites have been adapted to the local culture of Indonesia. Content analysis was employed in the analysis utilising an instrument applied in many similar types of research on website content analysis. Results of the study suggest that more effort is needed by the foreign companies to adapt their websites to this local cultural environment, particularly with regards to the cultural dimensions of high context, collectivism and power distance.