Online Conversations: A Semantic Network Analysis of Cultural Differences in Conversations on McDonald’s Corporate Facebook Sites between Taiwan and the USA

Hui-Jung Chang

doi:10.4236/jcc.2015.36010

Abstract

The goal of this article is to explore the manifestation of culture in language usage posted by McDonald’s Facebook site operators and the accompanying replies posted by fans on the sites in Taiwan and the USA, utilizing the collectivism-individualism dimension suggested by Hofstede’s model of culture. Data were gathered from the whole year of 2012 on the official McDonald’s Facebook sites in the two countries. A semantic network analysis tool, Wolfpak, was used to analyze the words generated from the postings written by Facebook site operators and fans. In general, the study found support for cultural differences through word usage from official McDonald’s Facebook site operators and fans between Taiwan and the USA. It appeared that Taiwanese Facebook culture is characterized with the creation of a “we-identity”, with dependence more on people in authority, and a focus on money and materialism; whereas American Facebook culture is characterized with an “I-identity”, with less dependence on people in authority, and more focus on self-interests.

Highlights

The emergence of social media, such as social network sites (SNSs), has facilitated conversations among users on a global scale [1]
The semantic network analysis performed on the present dataset detected some differences in the postings on Taiwan and the USA’s McDonald’s Facebook sites in terms of the frequency of the words used
It appears that the postings written by either site operators or fans on Taiwan’s Facebook site demonstrated a higher level of collectivism than those postings on the USA’s Facebook site

Summary

Introduction

The emergence of social media, such as social network sites (SNSs), has facilitated conversations among users on a global scale [1]. The thoughts, opinions, and expertise exchanged on these online communication platforms. How to cite this paper: Chang, H.-J. (2015) Online Conversations: A Semantic Network Analysis of Cultural Differences in Conversations on McDonald’s Corporate Facebook Sites between Taiwan and the USA. Chang are often as influential as many of the renowned journalist and industry experts. Corporations are recognizing and include these powerful tools of social media in their advertising and marketing communication strategies [2] [3]. The key to a successfully localized website is one that has been developed within the local culture [8]-[12]

Objectives

Methods

Results

Discussion

Conclusion