• Resources:
• FAQ |
• Tutorials |
• Case Studies |
• White Papers |
• Articles
•  

Website Translation and Localization

By definition, value and lifestyle research is culture-bound, yet website translation studies based on the value patterns of one culture are indiscriminately exported to other cultures. The ideas acceptance of website content based on value and lifestyle studies developed in the United States are used in web localization projects in Europe; and within Europe, web message studies developed in one country are sold to other countries as if equally valid. For example, Belgian website message value studies have been sold to the Netherlands, although the value systems of these translation and localization markets are very different.


Although a large part of the world uses more website visuals and web page symbols in advertising than words, the American term used for advertising research is web page copy translation research. This reflects a strong bias toward valuing the verbal and factual elements of website advertising over the visual elements. The frameworks of web message researchers of one culture are systematically used to measure effectiveness in other cultures. Much of the literature on the cross-cultural aspects of international advertising on websites describes studies of the translation of advertising content of different countries by comparative analysis of the content of advertising. The methods used are based on the conventions of the culture of the researcher, not on the culture of the material to be analyzed.


General findings of cross-cultural studies are that web advertising styles vary widely across nations, but very few studies explain why. What these web content studies usually analyze is the stimulus, the symbols that a creative director has selected from her or his cultural frame of mind. Comparisons of audiences' assumed differences are usually crude. An example is comparing the United States, Europe, and Asia, or "developed" markets with "developing" markets such as Spanish websites for Latin America.

Receive your free quote for technical translation or interpreting services today.

Get specialized help for documents: