Why is mexico collectivist

Adding to that, personal achievements are also celebrated, such as landing a big sale or contract which demonstrates a competitive culture. Moran, Abramson, and Moran, explain differences in individualism vs.

These findings demonstrate accurate similarities between the American and Mexican employees according to my uncle, even with the other differences involved which include power distance. Overall, there does not seem to be a downside for either culture with respect to how the business is managed; though, there is a focus on teamwork in place in both locations as the general aim is inclusiveness, which may help in avoiding miscommunication in not understanding culture.

For instance, the cultures that are similar between the two locations are highlighted, and there is an emphasis on team-building as there are consistent meetings between the employees of both locations.

In short, the dissimilar aspects are avoided, while the similar aspects are emphasized; however, the differences are there. Hofstede Insights. Country Comparison. Second, according to Clark , there seems to be an overlap among different cultural typologies, and the dimensions commonly used correspond well to Hofstede's typology.

Third, Hofstede's values have been found to be applicable to the study of consumption-related values and motives Mooij, This work shows that consumption behavior data does correlate significantly with Hofstede's dimensions.

Finally, Hofstede's framework or typology has been found to be a valid basis for analysis of regional differences and an effective tool by which Web marketers can adapt their Web sites to local cultures Simon, , Therefore, based on the above points, and after a thorough review process, Hofstede's typology will be used to quantify cultural values for this research.

The next step is to develop cultural-coding categories based on the four cultural dimensions of Hofstede This list was then evaluated to determine which features are culturally sensitive. To help this conceptualization, the work of Albers-Miller and Gelb was consulted, as they have empirically tested which of the 42 cultural values appeals by Pollay are reflective of each of Hofstede's four dimensions. Also, the works of Borden and Gudykunst were consulted to see what societal norms are exhibited by cultures studied by Hofstede Finally, other studies that have used and operationalized Hofstede's typology were also evaluated e.

Based on this extensive review, categories were developed for the four main cultural dimensions collectivism, high power distance, high uncertainty avoidance, and masculinity. The collectivism dimension is operationalized, within the context of Web communications, in terms of the depiction of community relations, clubs and chat rooms, newsletters, family theme, pictures and symbols of national identity, and loyalty programs Table 1.

These categories are based on the emphasis that collectivist societies place on community-based social order Hofstede, , group well-being Cho, et al. In collectivist societies, there is an emotional dependence by individuals on organizations and society Hofstede, ; thus people need forums, places, or clubs where they can share their concerns, views, and emotions.

The use of these themes in advertising in collectivist societies has been found in studies of other media. For example, advertising themes in collectivist cultures such as China depict self-in-relation-to-others and group consensus appeal Lin, Additionally, Pollay emphasizes the nurturance theme, wherein members of a group provide each other with support and sympathy.

Similarly, the uncertainty avoidance dimension is operationalized as the depiction of customer service, guided navigation, tradition theme, local terminology, free trials and downloads, customer testimonials, and toll-free numbers. This operationalization is based on the concept that in uncertainty avoidance cultures individuals avoid ambiguous situations and seek advice, security, and guidance to feel at ease Gudykunst, ; Hofstede, Thus, past customs and conventions are respected, and time-honored traditions are venerated Pollay, Since high uncertainty avoidance cultures are rooted in traditions and value ritual behavior Hofstede, , local metaphors, puns and idioms are widely used.

For example, most Japanese Web sites have a customary thank you note for their Web visitors. To test the reliability of the cultural categories, four doctoral students in a U. S-based AACSB-accredited business school were asked to assign a random list of category items under the cultural dimension they best represented. All four of the doctoral students, all of whom are studying International Business, are well versed in Hofstede's cultural dimensions and have read several articles using his dimensions in a doctoral seminar course on cross-cultural marketing.

A overall inter-judge reliability of 85 percent was achieved. This pilot found that three coding categories, namely, celebrity endorsement, product return policy, and viral marketing option, were either not present or showed some overlap. Therefore, these three categories were removed. In the end, a list of 31 operational categories was retained for analyzing the content of Web sites.

For more detail regarding the categories, see Table 1 for a list of the categories and the operational definitions of each one. The choice of American and Mexican Web sites for the present analysis was based on three main factors. For example, it has been found that Mexico is a highly collectivistic society, with a high power distance structure, and with a relatively low tolerance for uncertainty, while the United States is an individualistic society, low on power distance structure and relatively high on tolerance for uncertainty Hofstede, , Second, while trade between U.

S and Mexico has increased substantially, especially since the passage of the NAFTA, there have been very few cross-national studies of marketing practices, consumer behavior, and advertising messages between the United States and Mexico. We hope that this study will address this deficit in the comparative international marketing research.

Finally, both America and Mexico represent significant and growing online consumer populations and are potential future online markets. While the main focus of this study is to investigate the emergence of a culture-specific or culture-nonspecific transnational style on the Web, the specific objectives of the study are two-fold. First, the aim of the study is to determine if American and Mexican Web pages differ in their depiction of cultural values.

A second goal is to explore further how Web pages localized for Mexico differ in their depiction of cultural values from the Web sites of local Mexican companies. Thus, we can anticipate that the Web sites of local Mexican companies will more prominently depict local values than non-Mexican Web sites. In individualist societies, ties between individuals are loose, personal freedom is valued and individual decision-making is encouraged.

On the contrary, in collectivist societies, in-group ties are strong, following societal norms is valued, and group decision-making is encouraged. In terms of the individualism-collectivism dimension the United States has the highest score out of all of the countries analyzed, while Mexico ranks lower 32 and is more collectivist in orientation Hofstede, Based on this the following hypotheses are proposed:.

H1a Mexican Web pages will reflect a higher level of collectivism than American Web pages. H1b Local Mexican Web pages will reflect a higher level of collectivism than the Mexican Web pages of American companies. Uncertainty avoidance relates to the extent to which the people of a country can tolerate ambiguous or uncertain situations. Countries like Greece, Japan, and Mexico rank high on uncertainty avoidance, and their people are relatively more risk averse, need security, and look for direction.

The United States ranks much lower 43 on this cultural dimension than Mexico 18 , which is a high-risk avoidance culture Hofstede, Therefore, the following hypotheses are proposed:. H2a Mexican Web pages will reflect a higher level of uncertainty avoidance than American Web pages. H2b Local Mexican Web pages will reflect a higher level of uncertainty avoidance than the Mexican Web pages of American companies. Societies that are high on power distance, such as Malaysia, Mexico, and India, accept power and hierarchy in society and are low on egalitarianism.

The emphases in high power distance societies are on status, referent power, authority, and legitimacy. America ranks far below 38 Mexico 56 in terms of power distance scores Hofstede, Due to these differences, the following hypotheses emerge:. H3a Mexican Web pages will reflect a higher level of power distance than American Web pages.

H3b Local Mexican company Web pages will reflect a higher level of power distance than the Mexican Web pages American companies. Masculine cultures value assertiveness, ambition, success, and performance. To such cultures big and fast is beautiful, the machismo ideal is acceptable, and clear gender roles are the norm. In contrast, feminine cultures value, beauty, nature, nuturance, the maschimo ideal is not acceptable, and gender roles are blurred.

Countries such as Japan, Austria, and Mexico are examples of masculine cultures, while most of the Nordic countries score high on femininity. Mexico is a relatively more masculine society 6 than the United States 15 Hofstede, Therefore, we hypothesize the following:. H4a Mexican Web pages will reflect a higher level of masculinity than American Web pages.

H4b Local Mexican company Web pages will reflect a higher level of masculinity than the Mexican Web pages of American companies. Content analyses are a reputable and a widely used tool for conducting objective, systematic, and quantitative analysis of communication content Berelson, ; Kassarjian, However, the use of a content analysis to study information content on the Internet is still at an infancy stage, and only a few studies have used this technique e.

Since content analysis is regarded as an appropriate technique for analyzing the values, norms of behavior, and other elements of a culture as represented in the verbal material produced by people Berelson, , we use it to analyze cultural values systematically, as depicted on the Web pages of American and Mexican Web sites.

This list was reduced to just the companies that sold products and services in Mexico and the United States. After investigating all of the Fortune companies, companies were found to have business activity in both the U.

S and Mexico. None of these companies were from Mexico. From these company Web sites only 30 American company Web sites had fully developed and usable American 30 and Mexican 30 Web pages. From a total of companies listed, a sample of top 35 companies was selected for our analysis. Thus, a total of 95 Web sites were content analyzed for the purpose of this study.

The unit of analysis was the entire Web site. Each Website had approximately 20 to 25 pages of content. This resulted in roughly pages of Web content to be analyzed for this study.

A frequency count was done to record the occurrence or non-occurrence of each item used to operationalize each of the four cultural dimensions. Through a series of intensive sessions, two coders, fluent in both English and Spanish, and two U. These four coders were different from the students discussed above that were used to test the reliability of the cultural categories.

Both of the coders analyzing the Mexican Web pages were international graduate students, and while most of their education had been in either Mexico or Venezuela, both coders were in the U.

A random sample of 25 percent of the Web sites was examined for rater reliability. Both of the coders analyzed the full Web sites to count the occurrence or non-occurrence of each of the 31 items under each of the categories. When disagreements occurred the items were reviewed by a third coder and a majority rule was used to determine the coding.

Inter-judge reliability was then calculated by using a per-item agreement method suggested in the literature Kassarjian, Overall reliability for American Web pages was 89 percent. For Mexican and local Mexican Web sites, the reliabilities were 83 percent and 87 percent respectively.

This is an acceptable level of reliability Kassarjian, To check the intra-judge reliability a random sample of 25 percent the Web sites was coded again after two months. An intra-judge reliability score of 90 percent was achieved in the case of American Web sites. In the case of Mexican and local Mexican Web sites, intra-judge reliabilities were 91 and 93 percent respectively.

On the Internet, as the entry barriers for international markets have been tumbling, domestic and international competition has been increasing.

In such a challenging, borderless, and competitive environment, the organizations that will win global online markets will be the ones that think global and act local. This involves catering to a wide range of linguistic, cultural, content, technical, legal, marketing, and infrastructural issues both at a local and a global level.

However, the results from this study indicate that even though American companies are adapting their Web sites to Mexican audiences they still have a long road ahead in terms of online localization. In the following paragraph we discuss the main findings of the content analysis. To test the hypotheses regarding country differences in the depiction of cultural values on the Web, cross-tabulation tables for each of the 31 items listed under cultural value categories and the four cultural dimensions were analyzed for between-country differences using a chi-square test Tables 2 and 3.

Frequency of items under cultural value categories: A comparison of Fortune U. Frequency of items under cultural value vategories: A comparison of Fortune Mexican Web pages and local Mexican Web sites. The frequency count from cross-tabulations of Fortune Company Web sites revealed that American Web pages, as compared to Mexican Web pages, less frequently used a collectivism theme U. Mexico: The items newsletter U.

S and Mexican Web pages Table 2. Thus Hypothesis 1a is supported. The second stage of analysis was to compare American Fortune companies' Mexican Web pages with local Mexican Web pages. Cross-tabulations revealed that collectivism levels were similar between the two samples Fortune -Mexican Web page: Local Mexican Web site: Furthermore, only the family theme was more prominently displayed in local Mexican company Web sites than in the Mexican Web pages of Fortune companies FortuneMexican Web page: Thus hypothesis 1b is only marginally supported.

The frequency of the occurrence of uncertainty avoidance features was slightly higher in Mexican Web pages than in American Web pages U. Only the tradition theme was more frequently displayed in the Mexican Web pages U. Thus hypothesis 2a is not supported.

Moreover, the use of security information and toll free numbers was significantly higher for American company's Mexican Web pages Table 3. Only local terminology was more prominently displayed in local Mexican Web sites FortuneMexican company Web page: Thus Hypothesis 2b is not supported. The American Web pages showed significantly lower levels of the occurrence of power distance items, as compared to the Mexican Web pages U.

Only one item, the rank or prestige of the company, was found to differ significantly between the U. On the other hand, of the remaining six items, five were in the predicted direction. With the limited sample size used in this analysis and the resulting limited power of the statistical analysis, these non-significant items merit attention.

Together, the results paint a picture of a difference between American and Mexican Web pages. Thus hypothesis 3a is partially supported. Furthermore, the items like quality information and awards and proper titles were much more significantly displayed in local Mexican Web sites than in the Mexican Web pages of American companies Table 3.

Counting the non-significant items, 5 of the 7 features were in the predicted direction. Thus, hypothesis 3b is partially supported. The Mexican Web pages showed higher levels of the occurrence of the items under the masculinity category as compared to their American counterparts U.

The frequency of the depiction of use of superlatives U. Thus hypothesis 4a is partially supported. In the case of local Mexican company Web sites, while the depiction of masculinity was higher than in American company Mexican Web pages FortuneMexican company Web page: On the other hand, there was no other support for the hypothesis.

Therefore, hypothesis 4b is not supported. To summarize, four of the hypotheses H1a , H3a , H3b , and H4a are strongly or partially supported, one is marginally supported H1b , and three are not supported H2a , H2b , H4b. Therefore, the findings support some level of cultural adaptation of Web sites and seem to highlight that Web content reflects the cultural value orientation of the country that the Web page is targeting.

Secondly, the findings also show that overall Local Mexican Web pages more frequently depict power distance and collectivism values, and that U.

These results have especially important applications for marketers, as they show that marketers still have room to improve their adaptation to specific in this case Mexican cultures. In the following discussion some examples and insights are shared, supporting the results.

From the results it is clear that family theme, tradition theme, use of local terminology, proper titles, and rank or prestige of the company were some category items on which American Web pages differed from Mexican Web pages, regardless of whether the Web sites was advertising to a local or an American audience.

For example, most of the Local Mexican Web sites used native terms. In most of the Mexican Web sites, local or otherwise, the use of proper company titles was common. In addition to plain titles, emphasis was also placed on the professional degree the person held, inlcuding Licenciado, Ingeniero, and Doctor. Another interesting feature found in the Mexican Web pages was a clear depiction of gender roles. Men play a predominant role in the pictures shown on the Web sites. In most of the pictures, men were shown conducting most of the company operations, and women, while barely depicted, were shown played traditional roles see Figure 1.

An illustration of how cultural values are depicted on some Mexican Web sites. To gain more insight into the sensitivity of the Internet to cultural differences, an additional comparison of local American and Local Mexican Websites was completed see Table 4.

Similar to the above findings, no differences between countries were found in terms of Uncertainty Avoidance. The findings indicate that when the local Websites of two culturally distant countries are examined, their content strongly reflects the specific culture in which it was created.

Therefore, we can conclude that the Web reflects cultural values. Web pages and Local Mexican Web sites. The findings from this study confirm that the Internet is not a culturally neutral medium.

Instead, there are significant differences in the depiction of local cultural values on the Web. Furthermore, this research also serves as a benchmark for future studies attempting to measure the cultural values reflected in Mexican marketing. This will increase in importance as the Mexican economy grows, becomes technologically advanced, and becomes further integrated into the global marketplace.

We hope that the proposed framework based on Hofstede's cultural values will be useful for marketers and Web site designers to develop country-specific Web sites. Home Page Individualism Vs. Collectivism In Mexico. Individualism Vs. Essay Sample Check Writing Quality. Show More. Related Documents Politics In Mexico Essay The Mexican independence was recognized be Spain in and formed their own democratic government that is still serving today. Read More.

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