Perceptions of Web site design characteristics: a Malaysian/Australian comparison

The study compared the perceptions of Malaysians, representing Asian culture, and Australians, representing Western culture, for four Web design characteristics (atmospherics, news stories, signs, products and services), as part of the Integrated Internet Marketing model. Under controlled laboratory conditions, two groupings of thirty subjects evaluated eight Web sites in the retail and services sectors located equally in Malaysia and Australia. This study hypothesised that the predominant culture would not be generalised to another culture. Significant differences found for Web design characteristics were typically for one site only and not across all sites. In other words, consistent differences did not eventuate. This appears to indicate that members of both groups are citizens of the Web's global village in which consumer behaviours and values are converging. There were some specific perceptual differences between Australians and Malaysians of Web design characteristics and their impact on the overall effectiveness of Web sites. For example, differences for the Web design characteristic products and services were clearly perceived for Dewsons Supermarket (DS) and Netcard Station (NS). The graphical presentation on the DS Web site appears to encourage Australians to examine the products and services in more depth. Products were presented in bright colours and photographic views. On the other hand, for the NS Web site, products were represented in descriptive, technical words, which appealed more to Malaysians.