Power distance and online organization–public relationship building: a comparative analysis of US and Chinese corporate websites

Abstract

Informed by the dialogic perspective and Hofstede's power distance theory, this study examines mediated organization–public relationship building on corporate websites. The focus is on exploring how cultural differences influence American and Chinese businesses in addressing concerns and interests of a diverse set of publics. Findings show that corporate websites, whether American or Chinese, tend to converge on a global strategy. Business-oriented features tend to standardize, whereas business environment-oriented features are more likely to localize. Specifically, in relation to the former, we find that US and Chinese companies tend to target multiple audiences on their websites; the majority tailor their messages to customers, investors, employees, and the press simultaneously. Regarding the latter, we find that Chinese companies tend to target the government and US companies are more likely to address social corporate issues on their websites. These findings shed light on the longstanding issue in the literature of whether corporate websites should be culturally specific or universal. The managerial implications of the findings are discussed and recommendations for future research are given.