An Exploratory Study of the Design Preferences of U.S. and Chinese Virtual Communities

Felix B. Tan, Helen J. Lin and Cathy Urquhart
Additional contact information
Felix B. Tan: Auckland University of Technology, New Zealand
Helen J. Lin: University of Auckland, New Zealand
Cathy Urquhart: University of Auckland, New Zealand

International Journal of E-Business Research (IJEBR), 2006, vol. 2, issue 3, 46-70

Abstract: With the increasing popularity of electronic commerce, businesses are starting to recognise that developing a good virtual community can help to generate more profits. Virtual communities can be an instrument for building relationships with customers, and retaining customers’ loyalty. Of interest are the similarities and differences in the design preferences of virtual communities across cultural groups. This paper, therefore, examined the design preferences of virtual communities in two cultural groups. The design preferences studied are Web design, tools used, and types of virtual communities preferred. Content analysis was employed to study 20 of the most popular Chinese and U.S. virtual communities. The study found that there are differences in the preference for the type of virtual communities and the tools used by Chinese and U.S. communities. The findings challenge aspects of Web site design across these cultural groups thought to be dissimilar based on prior research, indicating that designers of virtual communities must treat cultural differences with caution. Implications for research and practice are also discussed.

Date: 2006
References: Add references at CitEc
Citations:

Downloads: (external link)
http://services.igi-global.com/resolvedoi/resolve. ... 4018/jebr.2006070104 (application/pdf)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:igg:jebr00:v:2:y:2006:i:3:p:46-70

Access Statistics for this article

International Journal of E-Business Research (IJEBR) is currently edited by Mohammad Nabil Almunawar

More articles in International Journal of E-Business Research (IJEBR) from IGI Global
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Journal Editor ().