Standardization or Localization – Organizational Communication on Social Media from a Cultural Perspective

A few years back, globalization and standardization were considered to be the paradigms in the area of international business. But, with changing times, it has lost its lustre considering the branding perspective in global brands. The consumers do not feel connected with highly standardized products and centralized decision-making; most global brands have even stopped any relationship with the typical standardization strategy for communication. Therefore, there is seen a rise in the influence of the localization strategies in communication. A new term is seen emerging lately, and that is 'glocalization' that encourages all the global brands to think internationally while they should act locally. Thus, this paper discusses whether global brands should localize or standardize their communication strategies using social media to be successful. The degree of cultural adaptation of web content impacts the perception of customers on the site's effectiveness. Some consumers prefer localized web content in culturally different areas, whereas some countries prefer localized web content. Keeping all these aspects in mind, organizations need to develop proper communication strategies using social media to be effective in the market and to create a strong brand image.