Designing Culturally Compatible Internet Gaming Sites

Abstract

Rising e-commerce volumes the world over provide opportunities to global marketers to expand their markets using the Internet. While Internet casinos have had their share of failures, the industry still rakes in three times the revenues as web pornography. Converging web technology allows for Internet gaming operators to expand their markets all over the world. However, appealing to consumers in different countries and regions requires adaptation of websites to the cultural milieu of the various target markets. This paper reviews existing literature on culture and website design and goes on to discuss the impact of culture on designing Internet gaming sites. A series of propositions hypothesizing the impact of culture on consumer responses to online gaming sites have been formulated using Hofstede's cultural dimensions. Theoretical and managerial implications of the proposed framework have also been discussed.