Study On The Cultural Dimensions Of Overseas Localization Of Commercial Websites

The development of the modern science and technology shortens the physical distance,and the enterprises thus take the opportunity to seek fortune by "going globally" and expand overseas business.However,shortened physical distance does not guarantee smooth communication.Instead,cultural barriers and conflicts occur along with the business engagement.Localization plays an irreplaceable role in its oversea expanding.Localization is the lingual and cultural shift of the products from the countries of origin to the target foreign consumers,and thus to meet their needs through the application of both technology and language.Therefore,localization involves not only the language translation of the product&the symbol code conversion,but also the communication between different cultures.Since localization is a process of intercultural communication,the enterprises are supposed to take full account of the cultural dimensions in their attempts of their "going out."Based on the theory of Geert Hofstede’s cultural dimensions and Edward T.Hall’s high context and low context,this paper takes Chinese private company HUAWEI as an example,and compares and analyzes the similarities and differences on the text rendering and organization and the page layout of HUAWEI official websites both in China and the UK.It is designed to study the intercultural approaches in HUAWEI dealing with the localization of its website in Britain.It is found that significant differences lie in the Individualism vs Collectivism,the Uncertainty Avoidance,the Power Distance and the High-/Low-Context in HUAWEI official websites in China and the UK.HUAWEI official website in China prefers Collectivism and High Power Distance,High Uncertainty Avoidance,and High Context Culture;HUAWEI website in the UK tends to use Individualism,Low Power Distance,Low Uncertainty Avoidance and Low Context Culture and so on.The differences are mainly reflected in the enterprise’s expectations of industry,society and the world,in the relationship between enterprise and society,in the emphasis on the enterprise technology and its uniqueness,the enterprise’s requirements on its staff,its fame and recognition,in the relationship with the authorities,and in the expression of the textual information.The localization of its website helps success of HUAWEI in the UK to a certain extent.It is hoped that the findings of this study will make contribution to Chinese enterprises’"going out" in their practice.