1634
An Exploratory Study of the Design Preferences of U.S. and Chinese Virtual Communities
Table 1. Web design features in each cultural dimension
Adapted from Chau et al. (2002); Fink and Laupase (2000); Luna et al. (2002); Robbins and Stylianou (2001); Singh (2003)
Cultural
dimensions
Design Features Examples
Content Promotion Interactivity Navigation Others
High context
Design focus is
the use of art
Politeness and soft
sell approach
Links to consumer
groups, suppliers,
distributors;
Hierarchical structure
Asian
Low context
Design focus is
informative
Hard sell
DSSURDFK%HQH¿WV
highlighted,
Search-based structures. Western
Individualism
Secure communication;
Interaction supports
individual effort
Search engine;
Avoidance of registration

requirement
U.S.
Collectivilism
Social communication
opportunity; Clubs;
Interaction supports group
activity
Links to local Websites China
Strong
uncertainty
avoidance
Guided interactions Use of cookies statements;
Customer service & local
stores;
Free trials & downloads;
Disclosure of use of cookies
N/A
Weak
uncertainty
avoidance
Presence of a
job list
Interactions are free for
choice
N/A
Masculinity
Presence of
¿QDQFLDOUHSRUWV
Hit or visitor counter;
quizzes and games

N/A
Femininity
Presence
of social
responsibility
N/A
Short term
orientation
Presence of
corporate
history
FAQ, Site map/index pages, Search engine U.S.
Long term
orientation
Heavy animated graphics/
video/audio
H.K.
1635
An Exploratory Study of the Design Preferences of U.S. and Chinese Virtual Communities
and interactivity categories were also employed
in Benbunan-Fich’s (2001) study. Combining all
these suggestions, categories employed in this
study are content, promotion, interactivity, and
QDYLJDWLRQDV PRVW RIWKH IHDWXUHV FDQ¿WLQWR
these categories.
There are also a number of studies that have
examined the impact of culture on Web site design
(Chau, Cole, Massey, Montoya-Weiss, & O’Keefe,
2002; Fink & Laupase, 2000; Luna, Peracchio, &
Juan, 2002; Robbins & Stylianou, 2001; Singh,

2003). Table 1 presents a summary of the Web
site design features required to support each of
Hofstede’s (2001) cultural dimensions.
Virtual Community Tools
A variety of tools have been used in virtual com-
munities. These tools are all computer-mediated.
The software often used in virtual communities
can be broadly grouped as asynchronous or syn-
chronous tools. Synchronous tools are software
supporting communication in real time (Preece,
2000); they can be chat room, audio broadcast
and so forth. They are not in an on-going form
like asynchronous tools, which do not require
users to be available at the same time (Preece,
2000). A good asynchronous example is forum,
which allows users to post and respond to posts
Synchronous/
Asynchronous Tool
Asynchronous Tools Synchronous Tools
Web site (the basic is
asynchronous, but also
with synchronous software
embedded frequently).
Email Chats
Bulletin boards Instant messaging
Listserver MUDs
Forums MOOs
UseNet Virtual environments
Virtual postcards and greeting cards
Table 2. Synchronous and asynchronous tools adapted from Preece (2000)

MUDs: Multiuser Dungeons
MOOs: Object Oriented MUDs
Table 3. Different tools employed in varied types of virtual communities
Adapted from Chaudhury et al. (2001); Churchill and Bly (2000); Ruhleder (2002); Toomey et al. (1998)
Communities Industry
Workspace Business to Consumers Academic
Toomey Churchill
Chaudhury, Mallick, & Rao
Ruhleder
³<RX´ ³7KH\´ ³,W´
text-based
chat rooms,
MOOs
MUD, 2-D
graphical
MUD for long
distance
Email, chat
sessions, virtual
postcards and
greeting card
BBS,
threaded
discussion,
forums
web display
of documents,
multimedia
contents
Audio broadcast,

forum, chat
rooms, BBS
1636
An Exploratory Study of the Design Preferences of U.S. and Chinese Virtual Communities
any time and continuously (Ruhleder, 2002).
A Web site can employ both synchronous and
asynchronous tools at the same time. Table 2
presents the different kinds of synchronous and
asynchronous tools that can be employed in a
Web-based environment.
Chaudhury et al. (2001) suggested that a virtual
community should be developed using differ-
ent tools. Table 3 shows tools used in different
types of communities. From the table, we can see
that asynchronous tools are used for supporting
QRQUHODWLRQVKLSW\SHVRIFRPPXQLWLHVLH³LW´
type communities use Web display); on the other
hand, communities focused on relationship prefer
V\QFKURQRXVWRROVLH³\RX´W\SHFRPPXQLWLHV
use chat).
In summary, the literature review highlighted
three areas of research focus: virtual community
types, Web site design, and tools used. There
has been little work into cultural preferences
in the choice of tools and types of communities
preferred. Although many have suggested that
Web sites (in general) should be designed to suit
different cultural preferences (Chen, 2002; Fink
& Laupase, 2000), our understanding of the cul-
tural preferences in virtual communities Web

site design remain limited. The aim of this study
is, therefore, to explore the design preferences of
U.S. and Chinese virtual communities in hope of
¿OOLQJWKLVJDSLQRXUNQRZOHGJH
METHODOLOGY
Content Analysis
This study investigates the design preferences
of U.S. and Chinese virtual communities. To
ascertain these design patterns, content analysis
is employed; as it makes it possible to compare
a large volume of content over different virtual
communities (Neuman, 2000).
&RQWHQWDQDO\VLVLV³DWHFKQLTXHIRUJDWKHU-
ing and analysing the content of text” (Neuman,
2000); it is a systematic and objective way to
analyse message characteristics (Neuendorf,
2002). It has a long history and has been used in
PDQ\¿HOGV$FFRUGLQJWR 1HXPDQWKH
advantages of employing content analysis are
that it enables researchers to compare content
across many texts (units) and reveal aspects of
the context that are not easy to see. For instance,
we may have some vague feelings based on our
unsystematic observation, but content analysis can
KHOSWRFRQ¿UPLIWKHIHHOLQJVDUHWUXHREMHFWLYHO\
and quantitatively.
Content analysis has also appeared in many
Web analyses since the 1990s as the Web pages
contain graphics, texts, and other rich context
that make content analysis applicable (Neuendorf,

2002). Web site features are one of the design
preferences studied in this research. A Web site
contains multiple Web pages; miscellaneous
contexts are included within the page, ranging
from user information, news stories, promotion
details, and so forth. Content analysis can help to
handle this large volume of information properly.
By employing content analysis, similarities and
differences of the design preferences between
virtual communities in the U.S. and China can
EHLGHQWL¿HG
Coding Scheme
An a priori coding scheme was created (see Table
4). It describes all the measures in the study and
their references. Measures selected were Web site
design features, tools, and types of virtual com-
munities. Web site design features are grouped
into content, navigation, promotion, emotion,
and interactivity. These categories have been
suggested in previous studies on Web-usability
HYDOXDWLRQJXLGHOLQHV$IHZIHDWXUHVGRQRW¿W
into any of these categories are grouped into the
”other” category.
A codebook and a corresponding coding form
were developed. All measures are fully explained
in the codebook so ambiguity of the measures
1637
An Exploratory Study of the Design Preferences of U.S. and Chinese Virtual Communities
can be largely reduced (Neuendorf, 2002). A
coding form was also developed, based on the

codebook, for recording all variables measured.
The codebook and coding form were created
ZLWKWKHPHDVXUHVGH¿QHGIURPSULRUUHVHDUFK
The codebook is presented in Appendix A along
with the coding form in Appendix B.
Sampling of Virtual Communities
Hofstede’s study divides countries into six clusters
(Hofstede, 2001). These clusters have been used
LQPDQ\RWKHUVWXGLHVLQWKH¿HOG.KDVODYVN\
1998; Robbins & Stylianou, 2001). It is also noted
that the Anglo and Asian clusters have appeared
in many studies for comparison of cultural differ-
ence (Fink & Laupase, 2000; Singh, 2003). These
WZRFOXVWHUVVKRZVLJQL¿FDQWGLIIHUHQFHLQHDFKRI
the cultural dimensions (see Table 5). Thus, U.S.
and China were selected in the study to represent
the Anglo and Asian cluster correspondingly.
The virtual communities chosen are also based
in these two countries.
In order to make sure that virtual communities
selected are highly representative of the clusters
chosen, only those most popular communities are
included in the study. These communities have
attracted more visitors and members. A more
popular virtual community implies that it is more
acceptable and preferred by some users than oth-
ers and therefore, advantages of its design can be
assumed. All virtual communities were retrieved
from Yahoo directory (Directory > Society and
Culture > Cultures and Groups > Cyberculture

> Virtual Communities). The communities rep-
UHVHQWLQJ$QJORFOXVWHUDUHRQWKH<DKRR³0RVW
3RSXODU´OLVW+RZHYHUWKH³0RVW3RSXODU´OLVW
is not available in the Yahoo Chinese version;
instead, a total of 49 virtual communities are
listed. In order to determine the most appropri-
DWHFRPPXQLWLHVWKHWUDI¿FUDQNRIHDFKFRP-
munity is checked with .
Table 4. Coding scheme
Measures 'H¿QLWLRQ Reference
Web Site Design Features
Content
The informational and transactional capabilities
of a Web site.
Agarwal and Venkatesh, 2002
Navigation
What allows users to acquire more of the
information that they are seeking, and what
makes the information easier to be found.
Palmer, 2002
Promotion
The advertising of a Web site. Agarwal and Venkatesh, 2002
Interactivity
Nature of the interaction between users and
Websites
Benbunan-Fich, 2001
Tool
Use of multimedia content Agarwal and Venkatesh, 2002
Community type
Types of virtual communities Amstrong & Hagel, 1996,

Chaudhury, Mallick, & Rao,
2001
1638
An Exploratory Study of the Design Preferences of U.S. and Chinese Virtual Communities
Table 5. Comparison of clusters selected
Adapted from Chau et al. (2002); Hofstede (2001); Singh (2003)
Table 6. U.S and Chinese virtual communities sampled
Dimension Anglo (USA) Index Asian (China) Index
Context
Low N/A High N/A
Power Distance
Small 40 Large 68
Collectivism VERSUS Individualism
Individualism 91 Collectivism 25
Masculinity VERSUS Femininity
Masculinity 62 Femininity 57
Uncertainty avoidance
Weak 46 Strong 57
Time
Short term
orientation
29 Long term
orientation
96
The U.S. Communities
Yahoo! Groups />Well />MSN Groups />Everything2 />Cybertown />Bolt />Bianca />Meet Up />SmartGroups.com />Makeoutclub
/>The Chinese Communities
 (Sina)
/> (NetEase)
/> (Tianya Club)

/>(4) (The 9 City)
/> (Yinsha Chat)
/> -  (Ccidnet)
/>(Yuhou)
/> (Seasky)
/> (Joyie)
/> (Exia)
/>Alexa.com was founded in 1996, and it provides
VHUYLFHVVXFKDVWUDI¿FUDQNVLWHVWDWLVWLFVDQG
so forth ( />html). The top-10 virtual communities were then
selected. Table 6 lists the U.S. and Chinese virtual
communities sampled.
1639
An Exploratory Study of the Design Preferences of U.S. and Chinese Virtual Communities
Coding Process
Each community selected is evaluated against
each of the variables individually. The detailed
coding processes are as follows:
• The access date and time of the community,
along with the community name, URL, and
cultural cluster, must be noted at the begin-
ning of each evaluation.
• If the Web site designing feature is present, a
³\HV´LVJLYHQRUHOVHD³QR´LVUHFRUGHG
• Tools used in each community are recorded.
Multiple tools can be checked for one single
community.
• Types of community are also coded accord
-
ingly. As one community may provide more

than one type of community service, mul-
tiple community types may be recorded.
All data collected was keyed into a spreadsheet
for reporting in the next stage. Data was double
checked against the original data on the code form
by a second person to ensure accuracy.
RESULT AND ANALYSIS
Background Information of Virtual
Communities Selected
The most popular virtual communities were se-
lected since they have higher visiting rates and
more members, which means that they may be
better designed and are more preferred by users.
A total of 20 virtual communities were included,
with half of them based in the U.S. and the other
half based in China. The background information
of each community is introduced in Tables 7 and
8, with their history, characteristics, services, and
community type(s) included.
Virtual Community Types, Tool Used,
and Design Preferences
Table 9 presents the frequency of each item. For a
better visual comparison between the two cluster
groups, a bar chart is also included, as shown in
Figure 2.
Web-Design Features
Web-design features can be grouped into six cat-
egories, namely content, promotion, interactivity,
navigation, emotion, and others.
Content: Features in the content category are

WKHMREOLVWFRUSRUDWHKLVWRU\¿QDQFLDOUHSRUWV
social responsibility; design focus is use of art or
informative content.
• For both clusters, 3 out of 10 communities
have presented job opportunities within the
company on their Web sites. No difference
is shown.
• Eighty percent of the Chinese communities
provide information on the companys’ his-
tory compared with 50% of U.S. communi-
ties providing such information.
• Not much difference was shown on the
presentation of social responsibility state-
ments, with 70% of Chinese communities
and 80% of U.S. communities providing
information.
• The focus of design is different between
Chinese and U.S. communities. Seventy
percent of Chinese communities choose to
use more colour and graphics on their Web
sites, while 60% of U.S. communities are
more focused on providing information on
the Web sites.
Promotion: Two types of promotion ap-
proaches are evaluated. Seventy percent of the
Chinese communities used the soft-sell approach,
1640
An Exploratory Study of the Design Preferences of U.S. and Chinese Virtual Communities
Table 7. Background information of U.S. virtual communities
Group name Community background Community type

Yahoo! Groups
Yahoo started in 1994. It creates and manages online email communities. A great variety of groups are
available for discussing all sorts of topics. ( />,QWHUHVW³7KH\´
5HODWLRQVKLS³<RX´
Well
Well is a pioneering online community, which has operated for more than seventeen years. It is known
for engaging conversation and intelligent debate. More than 260 conferences ranging from technical
DQGVSHFL¿FWRDEVWUDFWDQGVXUUHDODUHDYDLODEOHLQWKHFRPPXQLW\ />html
,QWHUHVW³7KH\´
MSN Groups
,QWHUHVWJURXSVDUHFODVVL¿HGLQWRVHYHQWHHQFDWHJRULHVZLWKVXEFDWHJRULHVLQFOXGHG,WLVXVHU
RULHQWDWHGDQGVWDWHVDV³FRPPXQLWLHVRISHRSOHDVXQLTXHDV\RX´ />msnw
,QWHUHVW³7KH\´
5HODWLRQVKLS³<RX´
Everything2
A community that simply aims to catalogue all human knowledge. It shows the interconnections
between all people from all places; many ideas are presented. />,QWHUHVW³7KH\´
Cybertown
)RXQGHGLQ&\EHUWRZQLVWKHODUJHVW'YLUWXDOFRPPXQLW\WKDWKDVHYHUH[LVWHG,WLVDVFL¿
community of the future that enables members to interact and live in the virtual world. http://www.
cybertown.com/info/about/business.html
Fantasy; Interest &
³7KH\´
Bolt
Bolt is one of the most popular Websites in the U.S. Bolt provides a communication platform
targeting teenagers. The current member number is about 6 million. Its services include news and
features, email, chat, message boards, and etc. />,QWHUHVW³7KH\´
Bianca Bianca is an alternative online community; a home of Bianca’s Smut Shack. It provides different
interest topics, BBS and chat.
,QWHUHVW³7KH\´

Meet Up
Meetup connects people around their own interest topics locally. Events are held for members to join
across 45 countries and 604 cities. Its registered members are nearly 1 million, with 2745 topics to
choose from. />,QWHUHVWDQG³7KH\´
SmartGroups.
com
SmartGroups is powered by Freeserver, a company established in 1998. SmartGroups helps the
members to organize the different groups of people in their life. Services provided are email and the
Internet Web page. />,QWHUHVWDQG³7KH\´
Makeoutclub
Makeoutclub established in the year 2000. The purpose is to share personal interest, and bring
people together. It was initially a personal Web site and has become an online independent music and
subculture community. />,QWHUHVWDQG³7KH\´
1641
An Exploratory Study of the Design Preferences of U.S. and Chinese Virtual Communities
Table 8. Background information of Chinese virtual communities
Group name
Community background Community type
新浪 (Sina)
Sina started in the year 1997. It is voted the most popular Chinese site. It provides community services
for Chinese globally. Its registered users are about 83 million. A total of 693 topic groups are available.
/>,QWHUHVW³7KH\´
5HODWLRQVKLS³<RX´
网易 (NetEase)
Started in 1997, NetEase now has about 144 million registered members. It is also the second most
popular site in China. Communities are divided based on geographical areas and interest topics. http://
corp.163.com/eng/aboutus/aboutus.html
,QWHUHVW³7KH\´
5HODWLRQVKLS³<RX´
Fantasy

天涯虚拟社区
(Tianyaclub)
The Tianya Club has about 3000 members. It offers nearly 40 interest groups. The main services
provided are posting and checking messages, articles and ideas. />,QWHUHVW³7KH\´
第九城市(4)
The9City
The ‘9’ city was established in 1999 and has become one of the top 15 Chinese Websites, with an
average of 400 million pagea viewed per day. It is a virtual city that allows its citizens to interact and
exchange ideas together. The number of members has reached 14 million. />corp_intro.htm
Fantasy
碧聊大观园
Biliao
The Biliao chat community is powered by Yansha. The community includes the most popular Chinese
on-line chat rooms; with not only text chatting but also voice chatting available. All chat rooms are
FDWHJRULVHGLQWRJURXSVDQGIXUWKHUFODVVL¿HGLQWRPDQ\PRUHVXEJURXSV
,QWHUHVW³7KH\´
塞迪网 
Ccidnet
Ccidnet, established in 2000, now has 13 million members . The focus of the communities is to provide
Information Technology (IT) related Bulletin boards services for members. Other IT information is also
made available on-line.
,QWHUHVW³7KH\´
雨後池塘
Trueme
Trueme was established in the year 2000. It provides community services to both individuals and other
organisations. It has about 1 million registered members. Each member can apply for a virtual space in
the community. />,QWHUHVW³7KH\´
5HODWLRQVKLS³<RX´
Fantasy
逸海情天

Seasky
Seasky established in 2002, and has 50 thousand members now. It provides services such as personalised
space, and Mud to enable member interactions. />,QWHUHVW³7KH\´
5HODWLRQVKLS³<RX´
Fantasy
乐乐社区
Joyie
Joyie was established in 2000. It has more than 1 million registered members. The community enables
members to build a virtual home in the virtual world, with other services provided to encourage
interactions between the members. />Fantasy
异侠
Exia
Exia provides services for members to enjoy on-line games and join different topics of discussion. It
also provides spaces for members to upload their serial stories on-line and share them with others. http://
www.exia.cn/
Fantasy
1642
An Exploratory Study of the Design Preferences of U.S. and Chinese Virtual Communities
Table 9. Item frequency comparison between Chinese and U.S. communities
Categories Features Chinese U.S.
Content
Job list 30% 30%
Corporate history 80% 50%
Financial reports 20% 10%
Social responsibility 70% 80%
Design focus is use of art 70% 40%
Design focus is informative content 30% 60%
Promotion
Soft sell approach 70% 30%
Hard sell approach 30% 60%

Interactivity
FAQ
100% 80%
Free choice of interactions
90% 80%
Guided choice of interactions
0% 0%
Interactions support group activity
80% 60%
Interactions support individual effort
60% 70%
Social communication
100% 90%
Secure communication
10% 40%
Clubs
60% 40%
Navigation
Hierarchical structure
90% 40%
Search-based structure
10% 60%
Links to local Websites
40% 0%
Links to consumer groups
20% 0%
Site map/index
70% 20%
Others
Cookies

20% 70%
Registration
20% 10%
Hit or visitor counter
100% 10%
Quizzes and games
70% 30%
Free trials and downloads
50% 40%
Customer service
50% 10%
Local stores & terminology
50% 0%
Search engine
60% 60%
Tools
Asynchronous tools
40% 32%
Synchronous tools
40% 18%
Types
7UDQVDFWLRQ³,W´W\SH
0% 0%
Fantasy type
60% 10%
5HODWLRQVKLS³<RX´W\SH
50% 40%
,QWHUHVW³7KH\´W\SH
60% 100%
1643

An Exploratory Study of the Design Preferences of U.S. and Chinese Virtual Communities
Figure 2. Frequency comparison