Aladwani, Adel

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Association for Information SystemsAIS Electronic Library (AISeL)AMCIS 2003 Proceedings Americas Conference on Information Systems(AMCIS)December 2003Web Site Usability: A Cultural PerspectiveAdel AladwaniKuwait UniversityFollow this and additional works at: http://aisel.aisnet.org/amcis2003This material is brought to you by the Americas Conference on Information Systems (AMCIS) at AIS Electronic Library (AISeL). It has been acceptedfor inclusion in AMCIS 2003 Proceedings by an authorized administrator of AIS Electronic Library (AISeL). For more information, please contactelibrary@aisnet.org.Recommended CitationAladwani, Adel, "Web Site Usability: A Cultural Perspective" (2003). AMCIS 2003 Proceedings. 266.http://aisel.aisnet.org/amcis2003/2662076 2003 — Ninth Americas Conference on Information SystemsWEB SITE USABILITY:  A CULTURAL PERSPECTIVEAdel M. AladwaniCollege of Business AdministrationKuwait Universityadwani@kuc01.kuniv.edu.kwAbstractThe objective of this “research-in-progress” paper is to examine the relationship between national culture andWeb site usability.  It is hoped that the present study contributes to the growing literature on Web site usabilitythrough identifying cross-cultural differences in Western European and Middle Eastern users' interaction withWeb sites and through delineating the implications of these possible variations for managerial practice andfuture research.Keywords:  Human-computer interaction, Web site usability, cultural perspective, Western Europe, MiddleEastIntroductionMore and more organizations are becoming aware that the financial performance of their Web-based business is becomingdependent on improving the usability of their Web sites.  In spite of the fact that achieving Web site usability is highly appealingfor many organizations, it is not an easy task to accomplish; especially as the diversity in the customer base of Web sites isexpanding and extending over several countries with different national cultures and value systems. What makes the problem evenworse is the fact that the literature is currently very thin when it comes to providing suggestions on how to improve Web siteusability in a cross-cultural context.  The lack of such suggestions will leave organizations with only the hope to meet the culturalchallenges of the Internet age.In the present investigation, the role national culture is playing in shaping Kuwaiti and Western European users' reactions to Website usability will be examined.  The author hopes that the findings of this investigation will contribute to the Web site usabilityliterature by assessing the extent to which some of the guidelines, which have been proposed by similar research conducted indeveloped countries, can be applied in developing nations.BackgroundWeb Site UsabilityWhat do we mean by Web site usability? There are as many definitions of Web site usability as there are researchers interestedin this topic. The literature is replete with personal judgments and subjective checklists of Web site usability (see Aladwani andPalvia (2002) for a review).  Only a handful of empirically tested Web site usability instruments exist such as the metricsdeveloped by Aladwani and Palvia (2002), Loiacono (Loiacono 2000), and by Zhang et al. (1999) and (2000). For severalobjective reasons, this study adopts Aladwani and Palvia's (2002) definition of Web site usability.  In their study, Aladwani andPalvia highlighted a few shortcomings in past Web site usability research and proposed an integrated Web site usability modelconsisting of four dimensions. Three more generic usability dimensions that the author will use in this study include TechnicalQuality (Web site technical usability), General Content Quality (Web site content usability), and Appearance Quality (Web siteappearance usability).Aladwani/Cultural Web Site Usability 2003 — Ninth Americas Conference on Information Systems 2077National CultureIn his widely celebrated books on cross-cultural management, Hofstede (1997; 1980) identifies four dimensions of national culturealong which societal differences could be explained and understood: power distance (PD), uncertainty avoidance (UA),individualism (IND), and masculinity (MAS).  Moreover, his research suggests that there are differences between the consumersof developed and developing countries along these cultural aspects. National culture may provide the knowledge necessary forunderstanding how to manage users' reactions to Web site usability in an effective manner.Web Site Usability and National CultureUnfortunately, the empirical research focusing on Web site usability in a cross-cultural context is missing. There has been onlya few attempts, however, focusing on Human-Computer Interaction in a cross-cultural context, e.g., Krauss et al. (2001); Onibereet al. (2001); Bourges-Waldegg and Scrivener (2000).  None of past empirical studies, however, has examined cultural Web siteusability using data from developing as well as developed countries.Moreover, there are several theoretical discussions focusing on Web site usability in a cross-cultural context.  The most notablecontribution is that of Marcus and Gould (2000). For example, the authors suggest that the access to information in Web siteslocated in a high power distance country is expected to be highly structured. Appearance wise, they suggest that the emphasis ofWeb sites in a high power distance country like Kuwait is expected to be more on the moral order (e.g., nationalism) and itssymbols; and on authority and logos, more than anything else.  The previous discussion and the examples suggested by Marcus and Gould indicate that the Web users in developed anddeveloping countries may perceive the importance of the various Web site usability features differently. Thus, the author proposesthe following hypotheses:H1: Users' perceived importance of the Web site technical usability features (security, ease of navigation, search facilities,availability, valid links, personalization or customization, speed of page loading, interactivity, and ease of accessing thesite) will be different in developing and developed countries.H2: Users' perceived importance of the Web site content usability features (usefulness, completeness, clarity, currency,conciseness, and accuracy) will be different in developing and developed countries.H3: Users' perceived importance of the Web site appearance usability features (attractiveness, organization, proper use offonts, proper use of colors, and proper use of multimedia) will be different in developing and developed countries.A Qualitative StudyTo illustrate the differences between Web site usability in Kuwait, a country with a PD score of 80 (as an Arab country), andEngland, a Western European country with a PD score of 35), two Web sites from the two countries were selected, KuwaitUniversity (http://www5.kuniv.edu.kw, the “old” Web site of Kuwait University, last accessed: May 19, 2003; andhttp://www.kuniv.edu, the “new” Web site of Kuwait University, last accessed: May 19, 2003) and University of Cambridge(http://www.cam.ac.uk, last accessed: May 19, 2003).The analysis shows that there are some basic differences between the two. For example, unlike the UK Web site, the new KuwaitiWeb site shows that it will only be accessible to users who accept a security certificate. Again unlike in the University ofCambridge Web site, in the Kuwaiti Web sites prominence is given to the institution and buildings rather than to the people. Also,the navigation facility within the Kuwaiti Web site is highly structured and that the search function is missing.An Empirical StudyTo empirically examine the differences in Web site usability perceptions in Kuwait and some Western European countries, aquestionnaire based on Aladwani and Palvia's (2002) was used. The questionnaire consists of two sections. The first sectioncollects information on the respondents' background such as gender, age, etc. The second section requires the respondents to rateHuman-Computer Interaction2078 2003 — Ninth Americas Conference on Information Systemsthe perceived importance of the different Web site usability dimensions. All questions were anchored around a seven-point scaleranging from (1) “Extremely Not Important” to (7) “Extremely Important.” The instrument was administered to 40 Kuwaiti Webusers and 40 Web users from several Western European countries studying in Kuwait. The Kuwaiti and Western Europeanstudents had been given the chance to navigate through the two Web sites for sometime before they have been asked to indicatethe perceived importance of the different usability features for educational Web sites. Usable responses were collected from allthe participants. All of the students in the two samples were from 17 to 22 years of age. Approximately, 54% of the respondentsare females, and 46% are males. Tables 1-3 summarize respondents' perceptions in the two samples.Table 1.  Preliminary Results of Cultural Web Site Technical UsabilityAverage -Kuwaiti Sample Average - European Sample t-Test Prob.Security 4.75 4.20 .02Ease of navigation 4.11 4.78 .00Search facilities 4.10 4.73 .01Availability 4.68 4.41 .27Valid links 4.40 4.48 .77Personalization 4.55 4.35 .42Speed of page loading 4.63 4.43 .43Interactivity 4.50 4.58 .76Ease of accessing the site 4.73 4.53 .43It is evident from Table 1 that the two groups of respondents disagree with regard to the importance of the different dimensionsof Web site technical usability. Several significant differences, assuming a level of significance of .05, could be found for threeof the nine dimensions of Web site technical usability. The most notable dissimilarity in the assessment of Web site technicalusability was identified for the “Ease of Navigation,” “Security,” and “Search Facility” items.  While Kuwaiti users perceive“Security” as more important usability attributes than European users do, Kuwaiti users perceive “Ease of Navigation” and“Search Facility” as less important a design feature than European users do.Table 2.  Preliminary Results of Cultural Web Site Content UsabilityAverage -Kuwaiti Sample Average - European Sample t-Test Prob.Usefulness of content 4.40 4.20 .46Completeness of content 4.63 4.08 .03Clarity of content 4.65 3.98 .01Currency of content 4.50 4.28 .41Conciseness of content 3.98 4.60 .02Accuracy of content 4.28 4.35 .79Table 2 shows that the two groups of respondents disagree with regard to the importance of the different dimensions of Web sitecontent usability. Several significant differences, assuming a level of significance of .05, could be found for all six dimensionsof Web site content usability. The most notable dissimilarity in the assessment of Web site content usability was identified forthe “Completeness,” “Clarity,” and “Conciseness” items.  While Kuwaiti users perceive design attributes contributing to content“Completeness” and “Clarity” as more important usability attributes than European users do, Kuwaiti users perceive content“Conciseness” as less important a Web site design feature than Western European users do.It is evident from Table 3 that the two groups of respondents disagree with regard to the importance of the different dimensionsof Web site appearance usability. Several significant differences, assuming a level of significance of .05, could be found for allfive dimensions of Web site appearance usability. The most notable dissimilarity in the assessment of Web site appearanceusability was identified for the “Organization” item.  While Kuwaiti users perceive design attributes contributing to the siteattractiveness, and proper use of fonts, colors, and multimedia as less important usability attributes than European users do,Kuwaiti users perceive the organization of the Web site as more important a design feature than European users do.Aladwani/Cultural Web Site Usability 2003 — Ninth Americas Conference on Information Systems 2079Table 3.  Preliminary Results of Cultural Web Site Appearance UsabilityAverage -Kuwaiti Sample Average - European Sample t-Test Prob.Web site attractiveness 4.35 5.03 .009Web site organization 5.25 4.63 .034Proper use of fonts 4.03 4.98 .001Proper use of colors 4.13 5.18 .000Proper use of multimedia 4.38 5.28 .002Conclusions and Future ResearchThe differences this preliminary investigation found in the perception of Web site usability between the Kuwaiti and WesternEuropean participants are interesting.  These usability variations could be more due to cultural reasons.  In trying to implementa profitable Web site, it could be crucial to understand the key role of national culture in the design process. An organization couldsee its online business suffer because of the inadequacy of its Web site to take into account culturally based preferences of Website users.The present investigation could be extended in a number of ways. The relationship between culture and Web site usability wasexplored using educational Web sites.  This relationship should be examined with multiple and randomly selected Web site typesto increase the reliability of the results and external validity of the findings. In addition, there is a need for further research toexamine the propositions reported in this study using a larger and more representative sample of Web users.  Finally, a more formal,explicit, and elaborate model could be developed to explicate the relationships among Web site usability, national culture, andother variables such as consumers' satisfaction, purchasing behavior, and loyalty.ReferencesAvailable upon request from the author.

Web Site Usability: A Cultural Perspective

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Web Site Usability: A Cultural Perspective

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