Individualism and collectivism are cultural dimensions introduced by Geert Hofstede, that have an impact on intercultural communication and the way websites are designed.
The concepts of individualism and collectivism are cultural dimensions introduced by Dutch social psychologist Geert Hofstede in the 1980s. He differentiated cultures that are individualistic from those that are more collectivistic and studied the consequences of these aspects on communication.
According to him, Northern European countries and the United States tend towards individualism. On the contrary, Asian and Arabic countries tend to be more collectivistic.
Why is this notion interesting for website localization?
This differentiation between individualism and collectivism has an impact on communication, and also affects the way websites are designed.
Judgment of individuals
In an individualistic culture, people will tend to evaluate a person on personal and career achievements, whereas a collectivistic culture will tend to value group efforts more highly. This will have an influence on the content that will be displayed on the website. In a collectivistic culture, for instance, presenting the history of the company will take on particular importance.
Pictures and illustrations
Another example relates to the representation of individuals. In an individualistic society, people will more likely be represented individually, and as independent entities. In a collectivistic culture, pictures favor the representation of groups, especially in a family context, and are more likely to portray people in an active setting, for instance, playing sports.
If we look at the websites for China and Turkey, whose cultures are typically collectivistic, we notice that 2 out of the 3 pictures from the slideshow show families. They seem to promote the consumption of Kellogg’s products in a warm familial context.
Decision making
Another difference between individualistic and collectivistic cultures concerns decision making. In an individualist culture, personal and spontaneous desires influence the decisions one makes. On the other hand, in a collectivistic culture general opinion and trends weigh more heavily in the decision making process. On a website, a “most popular” category would therefore be especially successful among a collectivist public.
Through these examples, we can see how individualistic and collectivistic cultural aspects can impact the localization of a website. Geert Hofstede not only defined this notion of individualism and collectivism, but also outlined other cultural dimensions that influence web design as well. Individualism and culturalism are not the only notions proposed by Geert Hofstede that have an impact on the field of web design. You can explore more of his research here .
References
- How to design for a Cross-cultural User Experience, Sabina Idler, 2013
- Collectivist and Individualist influences on Website Design in South Korea and the USA : A cross cultural content Analysis. Heeman Kim, James R.Coyle, Stephen J.Gould, 2009.
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