Cultural Differences in E-Commerce: A Comparison between the U.S. and China

The Internet has made it easier than ever to market products and services across the globe. Most American companies today are so focused on their domestic market that they do not pay any attention to the overseas markets. Nevertheless, e-commerce is global in nature and the international markets represent immense potential. While the United States is undergoing an historic development in the introduction of e-commerce, the rest of the world including China is trying to catch up. According to the Jupiter Globalization Report published in January 2001, the U.S. share of the global Internet population will drop from 36% today to approximately 24% in 2005. During the same period, Chinese Internet users will increase tremendously (Jupiter Globalization Report, 2001). American companies such as Microsoft, Intel and Compaq all opened offices in China in the 1990s. This trend continued as Net Economy companies opened their Chinese offices at the end of ABSTRACT