Cultural Differences In Testimonials

Cindy King — Tue, 14 Oct 2008 23:00:02 +0000

Most online sellers are aware of the power of testimonials. They often fill up several screens on the single online sales page. Testimonials can look like the who’s who in a particular industry. The more recognizable and famous the person the better.

Testimonials must work.

They break down objections.
They can add credibility.

But do these testimonials work well for everyone?

Well, they certainly work in North America.

Read here to learn where testimonials get you more international sales

But you do not see the same style of testimonials systematically throughout other countries. And when you notice differences in different countries, it is usually a good sign to dig further. People usually do things differently for very good reasons.

Cultural Differences In Perception

This is also why different cultures respond to testimonials differently.

From experience, I can tell you that today’s “American-style” testimonials have the opposite effect on many French people around me.

Instead of creating credibility, this style of testimonial inspires distrust:

Why do they have to put such hype like that here?
What are they trying to cover up?
How much did they pay this person to give a testimonial?

In fact, I have seen French people around me immediately turn away from such testimonials in disgust.

Now, of course, French buyers online can become culturally acclimatised to “American-style” testimonials. And they can “accept” this cultural difference when they go looking abroad.

But, would this same French audience respond well to a North American company actively promoting their wares to a French market using the same tactics?

Probably not.

Even when the communication is in English.

This also raises the issue of why so many French companies have a hard time cracking North American markets. They have a totally different approach to creating credibility and answering sales objections.

Your Foreign Buyer’s Cultural Mindset

The buyer is in a different mindset when he is looking and when he is being sold.

This reminds me of the Eugene Schwartz book, Breakthrough Advertising. And also brings to mind his guidelines to different levels of market sophistication.

International web marketing is not only about adapting to cultural differences.

Another interesting viewpoint is to look at market sophistication. And more precisely the cultural differences in market sophistication. These differences can give you good guidelines on how to adapt your international marketing.

If you want to target international markets through web marketing in English, you need to evaluate:

your foreign target market’s cultural profile
their online “maturity”
a comparison between their domestic market and online market sophistication

Adjusting Testimonials

The best testimonials have a purpose. They are a response to specific objections or questions for your readers. The challenge with an international audience is that readers from different countries:

Have different questions and objections
Want your answers in different formats

…and not necessarily in testimonials.

This is why you should evaluate how you use testimonials when targeting international audiences, and particularly online.

If you are marketing to different foreign markets you will find yourself adjusting your testimonials and how you use them. This is part of creating the right connection with your different foreign markets.

Testimonials are just one of the cultural web tools you can use in your international marketing strategy.

Cindy King's International Business Blog » american style testimonials

Cultural Differences In Testimonials

Cultural Differences In Perception

Your Foreign Buyer’s Cultural Mindset

Adjusting Testimonials

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