Glocalization in Website Writing: The Case of MNsure and Imagined/Actual Audiences

Glocalization is an approach that considers audience expectations related to both local and global concerns. As websites become increasingly complex, glocalization requires closer attention to the needs of multiple and layered audiences. This case study uses a glocal perspective to examine one website that represents different audience groups that might wish to purchase health insurance in Minnesota as mandated by the Affordable Care Act (2010). In this case, attention to actual audiences was just as critical as attention to imagined audiences. Usability methods including personas, site visits, and usability testing—in combination with dimensions of difference—are mentioned as ways to anticipate glocal audience needs.