Content Sharing in Global Brand from Geographic Perspective

Though websites offer a direct channel for global brands to communicate in the international market, the presence of outdated and inconsistent content can potentially create poor impressions. This study foresees the occurrence of inter- and intra-regional discrepancies in information shared via country-specific websites, for example, inconsistent content in product specifications shared with customer in the Asia-Pacific and North American regions. To deal with regional discrepancies, this study examined managerial preferences for content sharing within and beyond geographic regions in global brands and identified traits such as coupling and scales in sharing. High coupling in websites within Europe suggest that intra-regional discrepancies are more likely to occur in content shared inside the European region and high coupling in websites among Asia-Pacific, Europe, and Middle-East-Africa suggest vulnerability to inter-regional discrepancies. Preferences in sharing revealed in this study have implications in the design of consistency policy customized for specific regions.