Page 68 - Electronic Commerce

Introduction to Electronic Commerce

shopping trolleys. In the United States, people often form a hand signal (the index finger
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touching the thumb to create a circle) that indicates “OK” or “everything is just fine.” A
Web designer might be tempted to use this hand signal as an icon to indicate that the
transaction is completed or the credit card is approved, unaware that in some countries,
including Brazil, this hand signal is an obscene gesture.
The cultural overtones of simple design decisions can be dramatic. In India, for
example, it is inappropriate to use the image of a cow in a cartoon or other comical
setting. Potential customers in Muslim countries can be offended by an image that shows
human arms or legs uncovered. Even colors or Web page design elements can be
troublesome. For example, white, which denotes purity in Europe and the Americas, is
associated with death and mourning in China and many other Asian countries. A Web
page that is divided into four segments can be offensive to a Japanese visitor because the
number four is a symbol of death in that culture.
Japanese shoppers resisted the U.S. version of electronic commerce for many years
because they preferred to pay in cash or by cash transfer instead of by credit card, and
they had a high level of apprehension about doing business online. Softbank, a major
Japanese firm that invests in Internet companies, created a joint venture with 7-Eleven,
Yahoo! Japan, and Tohan (a major Japanese book distributor) to sell books and CDs
online. This venture, called eS-Books, allowed customers to order items on the Internet,
and then pick them up and pay for them in cash at the local 7-Eleven convenience store.
By adding an intermediary that satisfied the needs of the Japanese customer, Softbank
was highly successful in bringing business-to-consumer electronic commerce to Japan.

Culture and Government
Some parts of the world have cultural environments that are extremely inhospitable to the
type of online discussion that occurs on the Internet. These cultural conditions, in some
cases, lead to government controls that can limit electronic commerce development. The
Internet is a very open form of communication. This type of unfettered communication is
not desired or even considered acceptable in some cultures. For example, Human Rights
Watch regularly reports on countries in the Middle East and North Africa that do not allow
their citizens unrestricted access to the Internet; Saudi Arabia, Yemen, and the United
Arab Emirates all filter the Web content that is available in their countries.
In many North African and Middle Eastern countries, officials have publicly
denounced the Internet as a medium that helps distribute materials that are sexually
explicit, anti-religion, or that cast doubts on the traditional role of women in their
societies. In many of these countries, uncontrolled use of Internet technologies is so at
odds with existing traditions, cultures, and laws that electronic commerce is unlikely to
exist locally at any significant level in the near future. In contrast, some countries in that
part of the world, including Algeria and Morocco, do not limit online access or content.
A number of governments in the world control Internet access as a way to prevent the
formation and growth of internal independent political activist organizations. By limiting
access or monitoring all Internet traffic, the planners of rebellions against the government
can be thwarted. During the Arab Spring of 2011, young people in Egypt and Tunisia used
social media to share information and coordinate protest locations and activities. The

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