Website design in an international context: The role of gender in masculine versus feminine oriented countries

Previous research confirms there are differences between men and women concerning website design preferences. A few researchers have further suggested website preferences based on gender (i.e. whether one is a man or a woman) differ in countries that are typically considered higher in masculinity versus higher in femininity. As such, this supposes fewer differences exist between men and women in more feminine societies, while more significant differences occur in more masculine societies. To test this assumption, we survey a total of 955 participants located in six countries. More particularly, we examine design constructs of Information Content, Navigation Design, Visual Design modeled to Website Trust and Website Satisfaction. We are interested to determine if gender differences are strong in higher masculinity countries and weak in lower masculinity countries. We also investigate if gender moderates the various relationships in our model. As predicted, in higher masculinity countries there are more differences between men and women, and gender is more likely to moderate the relationships in the model. This research has implications for the complexity of website design preferences, and extends earlier work on website design in a multiple country sample where masculinity–femininity differs. Theoretical contributions and design issues are elaborated.

► Examination of five website design elements in six countries.
► Investigate if gender differences are strong in higher masculinity countries and weak in lower masculinity countries.
► In higher masculinity countries there are more differences between men and women.
► Gender is more likely to moderate relationships in the model in higher masculinity countries.