The impact of language and culture on perceived website usability

Jacques Nantel, Evelyne Glaser

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

Abstract

Online retailers offering their products across national and cultural borders are eager to enhance the usability of their websites to attract large numbers of visitors. The results of the present research show that the perceived usability increases when the website was originally conceived in the native language of the user. Thus, translation, even though of excellent quality, crates a cultural distance which impacts on the web users' evaluation of the site. Conversely, where language is less important, such as in the evaluation of the quality of an offer, a consumer's native language has no impact on the buying decision.
Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)112-122
Number of pages11
JournalJournal of Engineering and Technology Management
Volume25
Issue number1-2
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 2008

Fields of science

  • 502 Economics
  • 102015 Information systems

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