Journal of Marketing Communications, 2017

VOL. 23, NO. 6, 592–613

https://doi.org/10.1080/13527266.2016.1147486

Analysis of visual presentation of cultural dimensions: Culture

demonstrated by pictures on homepages of universities in
Pakistan
Muhammad Akif Hamid 
College of Journalism and Communication, Hebei University, Baoding, China

ABSTRACT ARTICLE HISTORY

The recent prominence of culturally rich visuals for effective global Received 25 July 2015
communication and establishing brands of organizations cannot be Accepted 19 January 2016
denied. This inquest observed how Pakistan universities used their KEYWORDS
homepages to demonstrate culture through a content analysis of Cultural Communication;
1064 pictures from 100 top universities. The researcher tried to take Hofstede’s Cultural
a stance on visual presentation of cultural aspects by using Hofstede’s Dimensions; gender;
cultural dimension theory, and evaluated the impact of cultural individualism/collectivism;
elements in choosing pictures as part of web design and marketing user-centered design; power
strategy. Results indicated that faculty in groups doing academic and distance; higher education
official activities were the predominant visual element, and websites marketing
mostly marketed faculty. Choice of pictures was positively correlated
with Hofstede’s scores on power distance, individualism, uncertainty
avoidance and indulgence, but a different trend was observed for
masculinity and pragmatism. Findings suggest that institutions
should ameliorate their web marketing according to cultural needs of
local as well as international students, and further research is needed.

Introduction
We live in a visually rich information culture, based on images intended to capture our atten-
tion and build brand names. Without realizing the importance of these visuals, in providing
us information about our world, we pay little attention to understand them (Schroeder
2002). The fact is that an organization relies on visual signs like images, color, language, etc.
to present itself to its target audience. These visual elements are helpful for branding and
marketing, using different communication tools, for effective communication with the con-
sumers (Scott 1994). This century witnessed a turn from television, telephone, and newspaper
to web technologies as a primary source of information, and Internet has allowed people to
connect globally with nifty methods of communication (Callahan 2005; Singh, Zhao, and Hu
2005a; Waters and Lo 2012; Zahedi, Van Pelt, and Srite 2006). Internet has presented an easy
indispensable forum, for almost simultaneous exchange of information and presentation of

CONTACT  Muhammad Akif Hamid  [email protected]; [email protected]

© 2016 Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis Group
 Journal of Marketing Communications   593

contemporary cultural items (Huberman and Adamic 1999; Pauwels 2012) to more than 3
billion users (Internet World Stats 2015b), in the form of World Wide Web (www).
Tim Berners-Lee invented www by extending the basic idea of sharing information
among scientists. Now, websites have not only improved business, communication, enter-
tainment, and socialization among people (Berners-Lee and Fischetti 2000), but emerged as
an unusual medium also for presenting local as well as global cultural values (Gong, Li, and
Stump 2007; Hongladarom 1999; Pauwels 2012). Websites have become a dynamic com-
munication medium for societal and cultural growth (Bargh and McKenna 2004; Lievrouw
and Livingstone 2002). Union of website contents, culture and internal and external com-
munication policy of organizations becomes unassailable to appeal target users (van der
Geest and Spyridakis 2000). This growing interdependence of cultures and web contents
has dramatically increased the role of cultural dimensions in many fields, and researchers
believed that cultural dimensions shown in web documents could speed up or deter the
usability and communication effectiveness of websites (Zahedi, Van Pelt, and Srite 2006).
Organizations realized the importance of culturally appropriate features to make their web-
sites effective and worth surfing (Singh, Zhao, and Hu 2005b).
As Internet has revolutionized the process of communication in all sectors of life, educa-
tion is not an exception (Chapleo, Durán, and Díaz 2011; Hartman 1998; Veloutsou, Paton,
and Lewis 2005); having positive as well as negative information and communication tech-
nology impacts on the academic life of students (Chou and Hsiao 2000; Gross 2004; Jones
2002; Ramasubramanian, Gyure, and Mursi 2003). Dependence on Internet, for their routine
activities, has made students heavy users of Internet compared to the general population
(Jones 2002). Consequently, institutes are becoming more and more dependent on web-
based marketing to connect to their target audience. Through their websites, the universities
promote advantages of taking admission to their potential students (Callahan 2005; Chapleo,
Durán, and Díaz 2011; Ramasubramanian, Gyure, and Mursi 2003), especially, to those who
are geographically remote (Veloutsou, Paton, and Lewis 2005). Presently, designing a cultur-
ally appropriate website is no longer a sideline business of information technology people,
but an indispensable part of internal and external communication strategy of the universities
(Sun 2001; Urciuoli 2003; Zhang and Gelb 1996). Research shows that culturally effective
designed websites enriches emotional appeal for the users, and human images tempt a user
to perceive the website as more appealing and trustworthy (Cyr et al. 2009). Consequently,
universities have started using different iconographies e.g. faculty, environment, sports,
or academic excellence to differentiate themselves from other institutions (Baldwin 1994;
Callahan 2005; Gray, Fam, and Llanes 2003; Wernick 1991).
Use of graphics on Internet was started in 1995, and transformed textual nature of web-
sites to pictorial practices, filling websites with pictures, cartoons, and streaming videos
(Nakamura 2008). Now, websites are considered as highly visual in nature, and pictures
are replacing words (Hsieh, Chen, and Hong 2013). Using pictures in websites is argued
differently by scholars, but it has been favored that images are used to attract attention,
increase credibility, induce emotional response, have universal understanding and symbolic
meanings (Bai, Law, and Wen 2008; Cyr et al. 2009; Riffe, Lacy, and Fico 2005, Schroeder 2002;
Tang 2011; Wang and Cooper-Chen 2009). Eye tracking research also shows that pictures
on webpages receive more eye fixation as compared to other contents (Russell 2013). If
a website is designed with culturally appropriate images, it may receive more attraction.
Although previous research has contributed markedly to our understanding regarding effect
594    M. A. Hamid

of culture on advertising, the demonstration of cultural dimensions in pictures on websites

remains unexplored, especially in Pakistan.
Furthermore, research about branding and marketing higher education through Internet
has got growing academic focus, but little work has been done in Pakistan on how univer-
sities promote their brands through web world (Chapleo, Durán, and Díaz 2011), and how
cultural dimensions play their role in selection of pictures for web homepages. The need to
study the cultural role in selection of web contents whether globally or locally has been a
question yet to be answered, and focus of many research studies. As all worldwide business
activities involve communication and exchanging information, there is need in Pakistan to
study the process of computer mediated information exchange, whether through words
or pictures, as it can affect decision-making and motivations. Pakistan, being a developing
country especially in information technology sector, lack ample information and have a need
to explore the cultural needs of users to design an effective web design.
In 2000, Pakistan had 64 universities (Maryam 2014), now degree awarding institutes have
increased to 160 (Money 1994) with enrolment of 1.6 million students during 2012–2013
(Zaila 2014). Out of these 160 universities, 91 are working under umbrella of public sector,
and 69 belong to private sector. Almost all universities have websites, except three universi-
ties whose websites are under construction (Zaila 2014). An estimated number of 29 million
Internet users, with 14.6% Internet penetration (Internet World Stats 2015a), have made it
imperative to critically understand the cultural aspects of web documents in Pakistan. On
account of growing number of universities and their interest in using websites as market-
ing tool, there is need to pay attention on web based marketing strategies of universities
in Pakistan.

Aim and objectives of study

The study aims to explore how Pakistan universities use their homepages to demonstrate
culture and how cultural dimensions impact the process of image selection. Accordingly,
the paper investigates
(1) The cultural values reflected in pictures used on homepages of universities in Pakistan.
(2) The differences and similarities between cultural values demonstrated in pictures and
Hofstede’s cultural dimensions’ scores for Pakistan.

Significance of the study

This study is significant as an epitome for how pictures, used on webpages of Pakistan
universities, demonstrate cultural dimensions. Pakistani context is important as no com-
prehensive research has been conducted as per researcher knowledge regarding depic-
tion of cultural dimensions in pictures on university websites in Pakistan. It addresses the
matters which should be focused, by communication experts and web designers, during
the process of image selection for web designing. This analysis of visual presentation may
offer a guideline, to design a website, for better communication with prospective students.
It may be helpful for communication experts of foreign universities, who have interest in
education market of Pakistan, to localize their websites. This study may also be suitable for
other sectors to understand the cultural features of Pakistani society. On academic level, the
subject of cultural values and selection of pictures for advertising appeal is not discussed in
 Journal of Marketing Communications   595

most universities of Pakistan, this research can be an initiator to explore this area more and
taken up by the universities in Pakistan. Though this study is limited to university websites in
Pakistan, the analysis may provide fundamental concepts, for other sectors, to study cultural
dimensions in Pakistan.

Theoretical framework and related studies

Research related to advertising, marketing and consumer behavior suggests that consumer
behavior can be estimated in a better way, if someone has clear understanding of consumer
culture and pattern of search for information (Mueller, Diehl, and Terlutter 2015; Tang 2011).
The correlation between culture and media use indicated the importance of culture in con-
sumer decision-making (Hermeking 2005). Culture can affect cognitive process as it offers
the lens or context for image interpretation, so people learn to associate cultural value
and themes with various objects and signs representing visual symbols (Malamed 2009).
Cognitive Schema may help researchers in organization of knowledge about a particular
concept by specifying relationships between concepts, which facilitates pattern detection.
Different cultural groups interpret various aspects of the world and their experiences accord-
ing to their cultural conceptualizations (Sharifian 2003). It is important to understand cultural
schemas as meanings are assigned to any text or picture according to previously acquired
knowledge (Carrell 1984). Information in the pictures on websites of universities are taken
on the basis of the cultural-linked associations that constitute the cultural schema.
The researchers agreed that pictures have a deep role in presenting cultural values in
advertising and marketing (Featherstone 1982). Currently, education sector has emerged
as a global business, and universities have to promote themselves to compete with other
universities (Campbell 2012, 14 November; Tang 2011). Using pictures on websites to rep-
resent university culture and attract students in competitive market has become important
in this Internet era.
Many scholars studied and published theories about culture, but there is no single defi-
nition for the word ‘culture’. However, Hofstede, Hofstede, and Minkov’s (2010) definition
‘the collective programming of the mind which distinguishes the members of one group
or category of people from another’ is prevalent particularly in the web design arena. Many
scholars have used Hofstede’s theory of cultural dimension (Albers-Miller and Gelb 1996;
Armando et al. 2014; de Mooij and Hofstede 2010) to study cultural values and his model
has become a primary part of intercultural communication studies, especially related to new
media tools (de Mooij and Hofstede 2010), present study used Hofstede’s cultural dimensions
to study pictures on Pakistani websites owing to the fact that his work is one of the most
cited in the field of social sciences (Cardon and Marshall 2008; Getz, Andersson, and Carlsen
2010), its popularity, originality and impact among the scholars from different sectors cannot
be ignored, as many studies used this model to design and advance the cultural knowledge
about different societies. Almost all critics and readers of Hofstede’s study, despite their
reservations and questions on his proposition, have accredited the importance of his contri-
bution; some willingly and entirely, others more rancorously (Westwood and Everett 1987).
Although it is no more a new field for researchers, most studies are related to USA repre-
senting Western culture, China and Japan for Asian culture (Okazaki 2004; Tang 2011; Wang
and Cooper-Chen 2009), and Saudi Arabia (Al-Olayan and Karande 2000; Khashman and
Large 2011) for Muslim culture. Pakistan, as Asian Islamic country (Zia 2003), still needs the
596    M. A. Hamid

Table 1. Hofstede’s cultural dimensions of Pakistan.

Cultural Power Uncertainty Long term
dimension distance Individualism Masculinity avoidance orientation Indulgence
Rank 48 70–71 34–36 35–38 42 93
Score 55 14 50 70 50 0
Source: Hofstede, Hofstede, and Minkov (2010).

attention of researchers, as no significant research is found dealing with cultural aspects of

visual presentation on university websites in Pakistan. This study is an attempt to fill the gap
regarding less debated Pakistan culture, with intermediate scores and no definite preference
for power distance, masculinity, and pragmatism on Hofstede’s cultural dimensions.
In this study, Hofstede’s dimensions of masculinity, power distance, individualism,
uncertainty avoidance, pragmatism (long-term vs. short-term orientation), and indulgence
(Hofstede, Hofstede, and Minkov 2010, Hofstede and Hofstede 2004, Hofstede) have been
used (Table 1).
Following are the research questions that guided this study:
RQ 1:  To what extent the pictures on the universities’ homepages demonstrate the culture
of Pakistan?

RQ 2:  What are the similarities and differences between cultural representation through pic-
tures on websites and scores on Hofstede’s cultural model?

RQ 3:  What are the web promotion strategies employed by universities in Pakistan?
To get a meaningful analysis, avoid ambiguity, and investigate these questions, eight
hypotheses were made to study websites of higher educational institutions in Pakistan, and
an attempt was made to analyze the extent to which cultural factors affected the choice of
pictures.

Masculinity
Masculinity differentiates the societies on the basis of traditional male and female roles,
authority, and power. These differentiations between both genders, due to assigned division
of labor, vary widely across societies (Hofstede, Hofstede, and Minkov 2010). As gender por-
trayal is an importance component of cultural fabrics, the researchers dealing with interna-
tional marketing have become interested in cultural account of roles attached to male and
female in different societies (Cheng 1997; Ford et al. 2015; Huang and Lowry 2015). In high
masculine culture, a male is expected to be professional, more reliable, and more responsive
than a female; on the other hand, a female is expected to be more empathic. In this way, a
preference is usually given to male in high masculine society, whereas both are considered
equal in feminine societies.
Previous researches signposted that females were represented limitedly in terms of fre-
quency as compared to male and assigned mostly unimportant or subordinate levels, where
are males were presented better in terms of position, frequency, and roles (Holliday et al.
2015; Hsiu-Feng 2014; Lindquist, Steinfeldt, and Belonax, 2015; Sciglimpaglia, Lundstrom,
and Zikmund 2015; Shattuc 2014; Zotos and Tsichla 2014), and that difference is linked to
cultural values of a country (Wiles, Wiles, and Tjernlund 1995, Zhang, “Tony” Srisupandit, and
Cartwright 2009). A high masculinity ranking indicates high degree of gender differentiation
 Journal of Marketing Communications   597

with male dominance, whereas low masculinity ranking indicates more gender equality with
same standard for both genders in the society.
Pakistan has an exactly intermediate score i.e. 50 on this dimension, so its preference for
masculinity or femininity cannot be determined (Hofstede, Hofstede, and Minkov 2010). This
paper tries to analyze the visual presentation in terms of gender, and assesses any gender
preference on universities websites in Pakistan. Scholars suggest that countries with high
masculinity ranking see male and female roles differently, present more images of buildings
as compared to people, and use images for utilitarian purposes (tall buildings with grandeur
etc.), whereas countries having low masculinity ranking tend to have same standard for
male and female, present more people, and use images with more focus on esthetics for
example natural sights etc. (Callahan 2005; De Troyer et al. 2006; Hofstede, Hofstede, and
Minkov 2010; Tang 2011). Thus:
H1. Pictures of human elements will be equal to pictures without human elements portrayed
on homepages of Pakistani universities’ websites.
H2. Pictures of buildings will be equal to pictures of natural sights portrayed on the homepages
of Pakistani universities’ websites.
H3. Pictures of male will be equal to pictures of females portrayed on the homepages of Pakistani
universities’ websites.

Power distance
Power distance focuses on inequality between people in the society based on power, status,
or wealth. Countries with high power distance tolerate relatively high social inequalities and
show more power respect (Kotabe and Helsen 2014; Marcus and Gould 2000), whereas a low
power distance indicates that society is disparaging the differences on the basis of power
or wealth; equality and opportunity for everyone is stressed with a show of more power
tolerance (Morschett, Schramm-Klein, and Zentes 2011).
In Pakistan, educational settings are usually teacher-centered, where teachers are consid-
ered as ‘guru’ (wise man) and got respect inside and outside class. Student–teacher relation
is usually formal and students behave with shyness, don’t dare to ask questions and prefer
teacher to speak instead of discussion with teacher. Students do not disagree with teachers
and keep strict discipline in class to show respect for position of teacher (Mohammad and
Harlech-Jones 2008; Shamim 1996). Same case may be observed regarding choice of picture,
where teachers or faculty might get preference in terms of frequency.
Pakistan has an intermediate score of 55, making it difficult to determine a preference for
this dimension (Hofstede, Hofstede, and Minkov 2010). An attempt is made, in this study, to
judge the level of attachment to a person’s hierarchy by analyzing the frequency of images
of faculty as authoritative images verses students or common people. As previous studies
show that frequency of images of leaders, actors, faculty, and people with authority is posi-
tively correlated whereas frequency of images of students and common people is negatively
correlated with country scores on power distance (Bond et al. 1985; Callahan 2005; Marcus
and Gould 2000), it is expected that:
H4. Faculty and/or leaders will be portrayed more than students in pictures on homepages of
Pakistani universities’ websites.
598    M. A. Hamid

Individualism
Individualism focuses on importance given to individual or collective achievement and inter-
personal relationships. A High individualism ranking favors individuality and individual rights
whereas low individualism ranking signifies a more collectivist nature with close ties between
individuals (Hofstede, Hofstede, and Minkov 2010; Hsieh, Holland, and Young 2009). Pakistan,
with a very low score of 14 on individualism, is considered a highly collectivistic society, and
tends to prioritize group welfare over the individual’s target. Family cohesion is highly val-
ued in Pakistan, and people show a high level of interdependence and duty towards group
welfare and family. Islam (2004) stated that family rules and norms were given preference
over professional rules or even laws in Pakistan. Similarly, Students, who share same ethnic
or clan background, tend to form subgroups in class. If the teachers share same background,
students expect preferential behavior from them.
H5. Pictures on homepages of universities in Pakistan will portray groups of people more than
individuals.

Uncertainty avoidance
Uncertainty Avoidance refers to extent of tolerance for uncertainty and ambiguity in the
members of society. Hofstede’s (Hofstede and Hofstede 2004; Hofstede, Hofstede, and
Minkov 2010) stated that a country with high uncertainty avoidance has respect for rule
and regulations, whereas risks and changes are welcomed by people with low uncertainty
avoidance.
Pakistan, with preference for precision, rules and uncertainty avoidance, scores 70 on
uncertainty avoidance. In a study, Shamim (1996) shared the experience of resistance to
innovation in class room methodology in Pakistan, where students did not welcome the
innovative method and showed their frustrations and unhappiness. Being passive learners
in the traditional classroom, students do not have frequent opportunities to become creative
and independent in their thinking.
Innovation and uncertainty are not welcomed in Pakistani society; similar fashion is seen
regarding choice of pictures, where the relative amount of abstract images is negatively
related to country scores on uncertainty avoidance. Thus, abstract images will be less fre-
quent in case of Pakistan with scores higher on uncertainty avoidance (Callahan 2005). Hence,
H6. Number of abstract pictures will be less than number of meaningful pictures without human
element on homepages of Pakistani universities’ websites.
Pragmatism, also known as long-term versus short-term orientation, refers to the importance
of future rewards in a society. It is related to the preference of a society for maintaining its
links to its own past as compared to challenges with its present and future. A country with
high pragmatism ranking prefers to maintain time-honored traditions and norms while
viewing societal change with suspicion, whereas people living in low pragmatism ranking
make efforts in modern education as a way to prepare for the future.
In Pakistan, traditional teaching methods are considered more important rather than try-
ing new methods of teaching or extracurricular activities. But the culture of Pakistan cannot
be said to indicate a preference with an intermediate score of 50 on Hofstede’s dimension
of pragmatism. This is assumed that university websites will use pictures of traditional way
of teaching, and student teacher interaction in balance with the pictures related to extra-
curricular activities and games in universities as their marketing strategy.
 Journal of Marketing Communications   599

H7. Pictures showing traditional educational activities will be equal to pictures showing extra-
curricular activities and games in campus on homepages of Pakistani universities’ websites.
Indulgence refers to relatively weak control whereas restraint presents relatively strong con-
trol on the impulses and desires based on social learning and upbringing. The indulgence
dimension has not yet widely adopted among cultural researchers, because it is relatively
new dimension and added in 2010 as sixth dimension. This dimension was based on working
of a Bulgarian sociologist Minkov and findings of world values survey (Hofstede, Hofstede,
and Minkov 2010; Minkov and Hofstede 2012). It is important dimension to study as it has
certain ambiguities related to conceptual differences on being happy across cultures. Instead
of asking questions how happy a person is, present research used frequency of pictures
focusing laughing faces on websites to access the extent of indulgence in Pakistani society.
Pakistan, with an extremely low score of 0 on this dimension, presents the picture of a
very restrained society. Pakistani people show an inclination toward pessimism, control of
gratification of desires, and less interest in leisure activities (Hofstede and Hofstede 2004;
Hofstede, Hofstede, and Minkov 2010). As the relative amount of laughing faces in university
is positively associated with country scores on the indulgence index, it is assumed that,
H8. Pictures showing laughing faces will be portrayed less often as compared to picture showing
people with serious poses on homepages of universities.
This study, in the light of these hypotheses, tried to see how culture was depicted in pictures
on universities homepages. Secondly, it analyzed the cultural role in choosing pictures as
web-based marketing strategy in Pakistan. The research also studied the extent to which
pictures come to an understanding with Hofstede’s cultural dimensions.

Methodology
Several scholars, including journalists, recommended content analysis to investigate the
way social and cultural issues are represented in the mass media (Riffe, Lacy, and Fico 2005;
Wimmer and Dominick 2011). This research technique helps the researchers for ‘the objective,
systematic, and quantitative description of the manifest content of communication’ (Berelson
1952). A number of researchers dealing with cultural topics preferred content analysis to
study website contents especially when they deal with pictures (Choi, Lehto, and Morrison
2007; Marsh and White 2006; Ribisl et al. 2003; Tang 2011). Hence, the study selected content
analysis to analyze cultural dimensions of 1064 pictures from university websites of Pakistan.

Sample
Top 100 university websites from Pakistan were selected as a sample for data coding and
analysis. University ranking was based on the website titled as ‘ranking web of universi-
ties’ (www.webometrics.info). Homepage of university website was used as sampling unit;
because many researchers favored web homepage as the door, primary presentation or
navigation source for website (Cyr, Kindra, and Dash 2008; Dahal 2011; Russell 2013; Wang
and Cooper-Chen 2009).

Unit of analysis
Pictures, with meaningful visual information, on the homepage were taken as unit of anal-
ysis. However, banner ads and other small icons were excluded due to inconsistency of
600    M. A. Hamid

their appearance or lack of visual data. January 2015 to April 2015 was the time period for
collection of data. Finally, the data collection process resulted in 1064 pictures available for
examining the cultural dimensions on university homepage.

Coding
Content was coded and analyzed from 98 websites between January 2015 and April 2015.
To prepare a coding sheet, the available literature on Hofstede’s cultural model and website
design was studied. Research conducted by Cyr (2013), Tang (2011), Callahan (2005) and
Marcus and Gould (2000) was used to develop the coding sheet for this study. Selected
pictures, taken from homepages, were coded into one of two basic categories i.e. pictures
with human element and pictures without human element, and both were recoded.
Pictures with human element were coded for the following information: number of people
to measure individualism (picture with single person, with two or three persons, and with
four or more than four persons), gender to determine masculinity (male, female, male and
female together, and imperceptible), job of the person in picture to measure power distance
(faculty/important personalities with faculty, students, faculty and students, vice chancellor/
principal/chancellor, common people, artist/government officers, and others), and activities
to measure indulgence and pragmatism (people involved in convocation, addressing sem-
inars/events, inauguration, academic, official, extracurricular, causal, or award distribution
activities. People sitting or standing to pose for photograph, headshots, and laughing people
were also added in the coding of activities). Coding was based on titles, captions, picture
background, text, and coders’ judgment. The pictures selected as ‘others’ were also specified
by coders at the time of coding.
Pictures without human element were coded, to determine masculinity and uncertainty
avoidance, into building (when building was the most prominent feature of the picture),
university gates (where name is prominent), natural sights, library, study items, abstracts,
and others (specified by coder at the time of coding).

Inter-coder reliability
The researcher and a graduate student from Pakistan coded pictures, using set of pictures
collected during pilot study of 20 universities websites. Coders practiced on these pictures
to attain reliable agreement on each of these individual coding categories. Later, pictures
from top 40 universities were coded by both coders independently.
In quantitative research, inter-coder reliability is considered as the base of content anal-
ysis. Without reliable coding, content analysis is not trusted by others (Lombard, Snyder‐
Duch, and Bracken 2002). Overall reliability was .94 using Cohen’s Kappa, and the Individual
reliability scores for each coding category ranged from .89 for activities, .92 for picture type
by human versus without human elements, .93 for gender, to .95 for single versus group as
well as for occupation. This showed that there was significant agreement between the two
coders’ findings.

Analysis and results

Out of top 100 websites analyzed, one university, in the list given at http://www.webometrics.
info/, did not belong to Pakistan1 and one university had no picture on the homepage. A total
of 1064 pictures were found on the homepages of remaining 98 websites. These pictures
 Journal of Marketing Communications   601

Table 2. Categories of pictures.

Pictures categories Frequency Percentage Mean SD χ2
Pictures having people 736 69.2 7.51 7.22 156.45*
Pictures having no people 328 30.8 3.35 3.20
Total 1064 100
p = .000.
*

Table 3. Categories of pictures without people.

Pictures without people Frequency Percentage Means SD χ2
Building 192 58.5 2.25 2.4 554.51*
Gate with name 16 4.9 .19 .42
Nature 22 6.7 .26 .19
Library 16 4.9 .19 .42
Study items 16 4.9 .19 .58
Abstract pictures 10 3.0 .12 .36
Other 56 17.1 .86 1.22
Total 328 100
p = .000.
*

were taken from 32 universities belonged to Punjab, 29 to Sindh, 17 to Khyber Pakhtunkhwa,

16 to Islamabad, and 2 to Baluchistan and Azad & Jammu Kashmir each. It can be said that
pictures taken from these universities’ websites represent an overall culture of Pakistan.
According to Hofstede, Hofstede, and Minkov (2010), Pakistan has an exactly intermedi-
ate score i.e. 50 on masculinity dimension, the researcher assumed that pictures of human
elements should be equal to pictures without human element. The data collected for this
paper presented a different picture, the average number of pictures portraying people per
university was higher (M = 7.51, SD = 7.22) than pictures without people (M = 3.35, SD = 3.20).
Overall universities’ homepages preferred pictures portraying people (n = 736, 69.2%) as
compared to 328 pictures without human element (30.8%). A two-tailed Chi-square analysis
indicated that percentage of pictures with human element was significantly different as
compared to percentage of pictures without human element (χ2=156.45, p = .000), which
means that first hypothesis according to Hofstede’s masculinity score was not supported by
the data collected from top 100 universities (Table 2).
On analyzing 328 pictures without people, it was found that campus views and university
buildings were the most frequent items (N = 192, 58.5%) on homepages, whereas 4.9% pic-
tures were dedicated for showing university gates with institute names, library pictures, and
study items each. In comparison, only 22 (6.7%) pictures were used showing natural sights,
which demonstrated a trend towards a high masculine culture (see Table 3). Result of two
tailed chi square shows that types of pictures without human element differ significantly
(χ2 = 554.51, p = .000) from each other.
Seven hundred and thirty-six pictures portraying people were analyzed independently
to test hypothesis related to human elements. The comparison of pictures on the basis of
gender did not favor third hypothesis of this paper, since one half (n = 378, 51.8%) were
pictures having male characters, and 30.7% pictures had both male and females, whereas
63 pictures (8.6%) with only female characters were selected for homepages of universities
(see Table 4).
602    M. A. Hamid

Table 4. Gender.
Gender Frequency Percentage Means SD χ2
Males 381 51.8 4.08 4.78 912.95*
Females 63 8.6 .73 1.47
Both male and female 226 30.7 2.47 3.14
Males with 1 female 39 5.3 .43 .98
Females with one male 4 .5 .04 .20
Imperceptible 23 3.1 .24 .56
Total 736 100.0
p = .000.
*

Table 5. Teachers’ gender.

Gender of teachers Frequency Percentage
Males 201 72.0
Females 3 1.0
Both male and female 45 16.1
Males with 1 female 28 10.0
Female with 1 male 0 0
Imperceptible 2 .7
Total 279 100

Same pattern was seen regarding presentation of gender in role of teacher. Pictures of
male teachers are much higher in frequency as compared to pictures of female teachers
(Table 5).
Further analysis of 279 pictures having teachers revealed that 201 pictures (72%) have
just male teachers in comparison to 16% pictures (N = 45) having both male and female,
and 3 pictures having just female teachers.
Table 4 showed an interesting observation that, in 39 pictures (5.3%) only one female
was seen with a group of male characters, and 28 pictures belonged to faculty members.
Only pictures showing males, and grouping of male and female had the average of more
than one per university, whereas all other categories had the average of less than one. The
Chi-square result was also significant (χ2 = 912.95, p = .000) which marked a clear difference
in presentation of male and females on homepages. Overall, this indication of male prefer-
ence supported other studies and showed that Pakistan is a male dominated society with
preference of male representation in respected positions (Ali 2014; Kausar and Anwar 2015).
On analyzing the pictures in terms of occupation, it was found that majority (N = 279,
37.9%) of the pictures with human element showed faculty members and/or people in key
positions (leaders, army officials, businessmen, etc.). Other than these faculty pictures, 64
images (8.7%) showed chancellors, vice chancellors, or principals, etc. individually and nearly
all these pictures (n = 60, 94%) were headshots. In total, nearly half of the pictures (46.6%)
covered people in position and showed a respect for power distance in the society. Students
were shown in 33.6% pictures on homepages, whereas 15% pictures had both faculty as well
as students. Result of non-parametric χ2chi square showed that pictures with human models
differed significantly (χ2 = 739.08, p = .000) in terms of their jobs. This result is consistent with
the study hypothesis and other research studies (Cardona and Morley 2013; Islam 2004; Malik
2014) with results that Pakistan has respect for individuals’ ranks, and authorities (Table 6).
Next hypothesis of study, dealing with individualism, was also proved. Large groups were
presented in more than half (N = 480, 65.2%) pictures with human element on homepages.
 Journal of Marketing Communications   603

Table 6. Occupation.
Occupation Frequency Percentage Means SD χ2
Faculty/important personalities with faculty 279 37.4 3.07 5.06 739.08*
Students 247 33.6 2.71 4.21
Both faculty and students 108 14.7 1.19 1.50
Vice Chancellor/Principal/Chancellor 64 8.7 .70 .82
Common people 14 1.9 .15 .61
Artist/government officers 12 1.6 .13 .43
Others 12 1.6 .13 .43
Total 736 100
*
p = .000.

Table 7. Individual versus Group status.

Picture status No of people Frequency Percentage Means SD χ2
Individual Single 166 22.6 1.82 2.52 688.22*
Small groups Two persons 50 6.8 .55 1.25
Three persons 40 5.4 .44 .94
Large group More than three persons 480 65.2 5.27 5.15
Total 736 100.0
p = .000.
*

In comparison, individual human model and small groups (with two or three human mod-
els) got 22.6 and 12.2% coverage in websites’ pictures, respectively. The data collected for
this paper showed that the average number of pictures showing groups was much higher
(M = 5.27, SD = 5.15) than pictures with individual model (M = 1.82, SD = 2.52). The Chi-square
result was also significant (χ2 = 688.22, p = .000) which indicated a difference in presentation
of groups and individuals on homepages. The results are exactly according to the low score
(14) of Pakistan on individualism index which substantiated the hypothesis (Table 7).
Coming to hypothesis related to uncertainty avoidance, the percentage of abstract pic-
tures was very low (3%) among pictures without human elements. This lack of abstract pic-
tures on university homepages was consistent with a high score for uncertainty avoidance
and sixth hypothesis of the study was approved (see Table 3).
Next, pictures related to educational activities in campus were compared with pictures
of extracurricular activities and games. 116 pictures (15.8%) with an average of 1.3 showed
educational activities, in comparison of 8.6% pictures displayed extracurricular activities on
homepages of university websites in Pakistan. The results did not prove the hypothesis as
Chi-square test value for these two types of activities was 15.69, and the associated p-value
was .000 with one degree of freedom, which indicated a significant difference (Table 8).
The hypothesis about people portrayed more often in serious poses rather than laughing
or merrymaking was supported by the data. 99 pictures (13.5%) were serious headshots,
plus 76 pictures (10.3%) showed people posing for photographs, sitting or standing seriously
and looking towards the camera. In total, 175 pictures showed serious poses of the people
in pictures, whereas laughing faces were shown as major part in only 1% (N = 7) of pictures
(shown in Table 8). A two-tailed Chi-square analysis indicated that percentage of pictures with
serious poses was significantly different as compared to percentage of pictures with laughing
faces (χ2 = 155.08, p = .000). This is consistent with extremely low score of 0 on indulgence
index, and also in line with the fact that Pakistan is a very restrained society (Islam 2004).
604    M. A. Hamid

Table 8. Activities.
Activities Frequency Percentage Means SD χ2
Academic activities 116 15.8 1.3 1.79 184.09*
Headshots 99 13.5 1.09 1.47
Addressing seminars/events 95 12.9 1.04 1.84
Posing for picture 76 10.3 .83 1.63
Official activities 65 8.8 .71 1.47
Extracurricular activities 63 8.6 .69 1.12
Convocation pictures 62 8.4 .68 1.40
Award distribution activities 53 7.2 .58 1.24
Others 43 5.8 .47 .92
Causal activities 30 4.1 .33 .65
Inauguration 27 3.7 .29 .79
Laughing 7 1.0 .08 .31
Total 736 100.0
p = .000.
*

Discussion and recommendations

This study evaluated strengths and weaknesses of Pakistan universities in using their home-
pages for cultural demonstration through pictures. Pictures were studied as cultural items
and their role was analyzed for marketing.
Pictures with human elements outnumbered pictures without human characters, and
majority of the pictures with human characters showed people in groups. Focus on portrayal
of this collectivistic behavior is replication of low score of Pakistan on individualism index.
The frequent use of group pictures by universities is because of the fact that collectivism
appeals more to Pakistanis, who give importance to family, kinship, or tribes (Islam 2004).
The high frequency of group pictures is also related to the real-life behavior of students in
Pakistan, who are used to making subgroups in class and consider education as a source to
develop an individual to a good group member.

Masculinity and choice of pictures

Many researchers stated that Pakistan is a male dominated conservative society with edu-
cational and financial inequalities between male and females (Ali 2014; Kausar and Anwar
2015; Khan, Rehman, and Rehman 2015; Qadir et al. 2005; Ullah and Skelton 2012). Male
domination is visible on universities websites also, as half of the pictures on homepages
were dedicated to show just male characters.
Selection of more pictures having male teachers showed that the prestigious profession
of teaching is more associated with male members of the society. Designers keep this fact
in their mind while selecting pictures. Female teachers get less representation on the web-
pages, and usually they are presented with male teachers. The interesting observation has
been seen from the results that 10% pictures having teachers had only one female teacher
with male teachers. A similar trend is seen for selection of pictures showing chancellors,
vice chancellors, or principals, etc. individually where 59 pictures (92%) out of 64 portrayed
males. This preference in the choice of male teachers as well as male students showed that
Pakistan is a masculine society.
Real life picture is changing in Pakistani universities, where the number of females in
‘professional colleges’ had increased at a rate of eight per cent per annum from 1993 to 2010.
 Journal of Marketing Communications   605

In 2010, more than 261,000 females attended higher education institutes, as compared to
100,400 in 1993. The proportion of female students increased from 36 to 57% in total pop-
ulation of these colleges, making them more than male students (Burki 2012, July 1). Higher
Education Commission Pakistan also strengthened this fact by stating that an increase from
37 to 46% in enrollment of female students was observed during 2001–2008 (Malik 2014).
Burki (2012, July 1) further stated that universities had less than 15,000 girls in 1993 which
increased to 436,000 in 2010, making female proportion near to 50%. Imran (2012, June
11) gave specific examples of universities in Pakistan where females outnumbered male
students. But this situation is not completely portrayed on homepages, and pictures having
only female characters got less than 10% coverage.
The preference of male pictures for homepages is directly associated with deep rooted
socio culture values and practices of Pakistani society. Men in Pakistan have access to more
opportunities in all fields of life. Although women are a significant part of the workforce in
Pakistan, official data showed that only 16% females are working as compared to 50% male.
Burki (2012) challenged these numbers by stating the example of active participation of
female in livestock sector, which went unnoticed in official data. Similarly, the female pro-
portion in universities and colleges was not presented truly on homepages of universities.
Low portrayal of females as teachers as well as students can also be related to use of hijab
among female students because of Islamic values in Pakistan. Pakistan is a predominantly
Muslim country, with philosophy based on teachings of Islam. Women have fewer rights in
the Pakistani patriarchal family system. Since birth, women are taught to subordinate their
individual interests and desires to the family, and female portrayal on website is not encour-
aged by many families. The research suggests that in order to attract female students in
Pakistan, and to present a balanced view to the world, proper female portrayal on university
websites is required. The communication experts, educational policy-makers and university
officials could combine to present a balanced portrayal of female in prestigious roles on
university websites which can result in improved female access to university education.

Power distance and choice of pictures

A dominant frequency of faculty and/or leaders’ pictures on homepages shows that Pakistani
society has a respect for power distance. According to Reches (2014), Pakistani society is
an example of power distanced society where workers usually tolerate boss mistakes and
offensive comments, and do not try to correct their behavior. Powerful rich persons and
people in position are respected by common people. This fact can be seen on homepages of
university websites (e.g. PMAS Arid Agriculture University Rawalpindi http://www.uaar.edu.
pk, UVAS Lahore http://www.uvas.edu.pk/index.php, and DOW Medical University Karachi
http://www.duhs.edu.pk etc.) where deans were part of almost all pictures on homepages.
It seems that websites were used for promotion of deans, rather than marketing the insti-
tutes. Additionally, more than half universities have headshots of vice chancellors on their
homepages. This shows an acceptance of hierarchical order and further strengthens the idea
of existence of power distance in Pakistan.
In Pakistan, teacher has the authority and status of a parent, and the status of parents in
Islam is very high and sacred. This means that teachers enjoy the highest authority in the
Islamic social system. This fact favors use of faculty and/or leaders pictures as they appeal
606    M. A. Hamid

more to people in Pakistan and university promotion usually depends on who they have
as faculty.

Collectivism and choice of pictures

Pakistan is highly collectivistic society, so it is not strange that more than half (65%) pictures
with human element showed people in groups. As people are born in large families, so they
value belonging to a group and have the ‘we’ consciousness rather than ‘I’ way of thinking. So
pictures of people in groups appeal more than pictures of individual person as a marketing
strategy. Likewise, in collectivistic society of Pakistan, educational degrees bring honor not
only to the individuals, but to family also.

Long-term versus short-term orientation and choice of pictures

Educational degrees are considered to be a tool for raising status and living standard, and
institutions are mainly considered as a place for education only. So pictures related to edu-
cational activities got more place on homepages instead of pictures showing games and
extracurricular activities as part of education. The significant role of parents in choosing
higher education institution is another factor, which makes pictures of educational activities
imperative on homepages, because educational activities in universities are valued more by
parents. Similarly, less focus on games and extracurricular activities on homepages shows the
pragmatic culture of Pakistan, where traditional way of teaching is respected more compared
to emerging game based learning methods and extracurricular activities.

Uncertainty avoidance and choice of pictures

Less number of abstract pictures is replication of high score on uncertainty avoidance, which
shows that uncertainty and ambiguity are not welcomed by members of Pakistani society.
The other reason for less number of abstract pictures might be the low advertising appeal
in abstract pictures as people feel more attracted to clear messages.

Indulgence and choice of pictures

Similarly, laughing faces could not get much place on homepages because of restrained
nature of Pakistani society. This shows that Pakistani people have control over their desires
and they are less interested in leisure activities. Similar behavior is seen in universities, where
students do not prefer enjoying life and having fun to gratify their impulses and desires, and
like to remain busy in educational activities.

Overall analysis and interesting observations

An interesting observation is made by analyzing the data of this study that addressing sem-
inars, award distribution ceremonies, convocations and inaugurations were also focus of
universities homepages. Faculty and/or leaders were common part of these pictures, which
shows a respect for power distance.
 Journal of Marketing Communications   607

Furthermore, English is the main communicative language of all (100%) websites, and
no university has Urdu version of their websites. This may be associated with the fact that
Urdu is unifying national language of Pakistan, and English is the official language of inter-
national correspondence and interaction (Holton 2011). Here the point can be taken, that
universities websites used English to attract students and build image in international arena.
But Pakistan’s universities lack both characteristics in their advertising appeal.
Foreigners were part of only 42 (5.8%) pictures portraying people, and except three uni-
versities, websites did not have link for international page on the homepage. It also shows
their lack of interest to enter the global education market place. Universities should have
Urdu version of their websites to cater the needs of local people. Although these websites
may be considered comprehensive for Pakistani culture, the communication experts have
to think and adjust their marketing techniques to fulfill cultural needs of local students and
attract students from other cultures. HEC Pakistan claimed that various institutions had for-
eign students from different countries, esp. South Asia, Central Asia, Arab Gulf region along
with students from various developing and under-developed countries of Africa and South
East Asia (Aslam 2009). The pictures should be chosen accordingly as pictures have universal
appeal and meanings, and can be used to attract international students in a better way.
Overall, the analysis shows that culture of Pakistan has its role in selection of pictures for
universities homepages, and pictures are selected according to local needs and appeals of
students. Choice of pictures is positively correlated with Hofstede’s scores on power distance,
individualism, uncertainty avoidance, and indulgence, but a different trend is observed when
it comes to masculinity and pragmatism. The study also found that faculty pictures in group
with academic activities and serious behavior were used to appeal Pakistani students on
university homepages in Pakistan.
Though success and reputation of institutions do not depend on pictures, no one can deny
their place in decision-making regarding choice of educational institution. This shows that
education, marketing, and communication are becoming an integrated phenomenon, and
needs attention of communication experts, information technology people and education
sector of Pakistan for effective cultural communication, so further research is needed to
explore relation of culture and communication with new media in Pakistan.

Theoretical and practical implications

Theoretical implication
The main contribution of this paper is the collection of facts, which allows a discussion based
on measurable parameters instead of subjective opinions. These facts might be interesting
for scholars of cultural studies and cultural differences, esp. those who are studying culture
of Pakistan.

Practical implication
The results might be helpful also for web designers, advertisers, and communication experts
who want to enter in market of Pakistan, esp. education market. The findings might help
them to decide regarding choice of pictures for their websites.
608    M. A. Hamid

Academic implications
As few studies are available on Pakistani cultural dimensions and new media, this study can
be a guideline for those who want to research in this arena.

Future implication
Further research is needed, as culture is an ever-changing phenomenon, to explore more
facts about new media use and culture of Pakistan.

Limitation
This study provides a guideline for communication and ICT people, from Pakistan and other
countries, to attract students from Pakistan. But it has certain limitations. Firstly, this study
was done on a small scale with focus on pictures, education sector, and homepages only, to
generalize; the future research should be large scaled including textual analysis at different
levels, sectors other than education and more webpages. Secondly, this study is not a com-
parative study, as it is focuses on Pakistan’s universities only. Further research can be done to
compare the culture of Pakistan with culture of other countries. Lastly, there are additional
sub‐cultures in Pakistan. Future research can take these sub‐cultures into consideration also.

Note
1. 
The website included Shri Ram College of Commerce at 98 position, but it’s an Indian college.

Disclosure statement
No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author.

Notes on contributor
Muhammad Akif Hamid is currently doing his PhD in Journalism from Hebei University, Baoding, China.
His primary research interest is cross-cultural communication, in particular new media, educational
institutions, and business organizations. He is also involved in teaching activities.

ORCID
Muhammad Akif Hamid   http://orcid.org/0000-0001-7018-5432

References
Al-Olayan, Fahad S., and Kiran Karande. 2000. “A Content Analysis of Magazine Advertisements from
the United States and the Arab World.” Journal of Advertising 29 (3): 69–82. doi:10.1080/00913367
.2000.10673618.
Albers-Miller, Nancy D., and Betsy D. Gelb. 1996. “Business Advertising Appeals as a Mirror of Cultural
Dimensions: A Study of Eleven Countries.” Journal of Advertising 25 (4): 57–70. doi:10.1080/009133
67.1996.10673512.
 Journal of Marketing Communications   609

Ali, Zarqa S. 2014. “Visual Representation of Gender in Flood Coverage of Pakistani Print Media.” Weather
and Climate Extremes 4: 35–49.
Armando, Calabrese, Capece Guendalina, Pillo Francesca Di, and Martino Federico. 2014. “Cultural
Adaptation of Web Design Services as Critical Success Factor for Business Excellence.” Cross Cultural
Management: An International Journal 21 (2): 172–190. doi:10.1108/CCM-09-2012-0070.
Aslam, Muhammad. 2009. “Foreign Students Admission.” Higher Education Commision. Last
Modified 7 February 2013. Accessed June 27. http://www.hec.gov.pk/InsideHEC/Divisions/AECA/
ForeignStudentsAdmission/Pages/Welcome.aspx
Bai, Billy, Rob Law, and Ivan Wen. 2008. “The Impact of Website Quality on Customer Satisfaction and
Purchase Intentions: Evidence from Chinese Online Visitors.” International Journal of Hospitality
Management 27 (3): 391–402. doi:10.1016/j.ijhm.2007.10.008.
Baldwin, Gabrielle. 1994. “The Student as Customer: The Discourse of ‘Quality’ in Higher Education.”
Journal of Tertiary Education Administration 16 (1): 125–133. doi:10.1080/1036970940160110.
Bargh, John A., and Katelyn Y. A. McKenna. 2004. “The Internet and Social Life.” Annual Review of
Psychology 55 (1): 573–590. doi:10.1146/annurev.psych.55.090902.141922.
Berelson, Bernard. 1952. Content Analysis in Communication Research. Glencoe, IL: Free Press.
Berners-Lee, Tim, and Mark Fischetti. 2000. Weaving the Web: The Original Design and Ultimate Destiny
of the World Wide Web by Its Inventor. San Francisco: HarperInformation.
Bond, Michael H., Kwok-Choi Wan, Kwok Leung, and Robert A. Giacalone. 1985. “How Are Responses
to Verbal Insult Related to Cultural Collectivism and Power Distance?” Journal of Cross-Cultural
Psychology 16 (1): 111–127.
Burki, Shahid Javed. 2012 “A quiet revolution by women in Pakistan.” The Express Tribune, July 1. Accessed
June 29. http://tribune.com.pk/story/401995/a-quiet-revolution-by-women-in-pakistan/
Callahan, Ewa. 2005. “Cultural Similarities and Differences in the Design of University Web Sites.” Journal
of Computer-Mediated Communication 11 (1): 239–273. doi:10.1111/j.1083-6101.2006.tb00312.x.
Campbell, Gordon. 2012. "Our universities have become factories." The Telegraph, November 14.
Accessed April 12. http://www.telegraph.co.uk/education/universityeducation/9675360/Our-
universities-have-become-factories.html
Cardon, Peter W., and Bryan A. Marshall. 2008. “National Culture and Technology Acceptance: The
Impact of Uncertainty Avoidance.” Issues in Information Systems 9 (2): 103–110.
Cardona, P., and M. J. Morley. 2013. Manager-Subordinate Trust in Different Cultures. New York, NY: Taylor
& Francis.
Carrell, Patricia L. 1984. “Schema Theory and ESL Reading: Classroom Implications and Applications.”
The Modern Language Journal 68 (4): 332–343. doi:10.1111/j.1540-4781.1984.tb02509.x.
Chapleo, Chris, María Victoria Carrillo Durán, and Ana Castillo Díaz. 2011. “Do UK Universities
Communicate Their Brands Effectively through Their Websites?” Journal of Marketing for Higher
Education 21 (1): 25–46. doi:10.1080/08841241.2011.569589.
Cheng, H. 1997. “‘Holding up Half of the Sky’? A Sociocultural Comparison of Gender-Role Portrayals
in Chinese and US Advertising.” International Journal of Advertising 16 (4): 295–319. doi:10.1111
/j.0265-0487.1997.00063. pp. x.
Choi, Soojin, Xinran Y. Lehto, and Alastair M. Morrison. 2007. “Destination Image Representation on
the Web: Content Analysis of Macau Travel Related Websites.” Tourism Management 28 (1): 118–129.
Chou, Chien, and Ming-Chun Hsiao. 2000. “Internet Addiction, Usage, Gratification, and Pleasure
Experience: The Taiwan College Students’ Case.” Computers & Education 35 (1): 65–80. doi:10.1016/
S0360-1315(00)00019-1.
Cyr, D. 2013. “Website Design, Trust and Culture: An Eight Country Investigation.” Electronic Commerce
Research and Applications 12 (6): 373–385.
Cyr, Dianne, Gurprit S. Kindra, and Satyabhusan Dash. 2008. “Web Site Design, Trust,
Satisfaction and E-Loyalty: The Indian Experience.” Online Information Review 32 (6): 773–790.
doi:10.1108/14684520810923935.
Cyr, Dianne, Milena Head, Hector Larios, and Bing Pan. 2009. “Exploring Human Images in Website
Design: A Multi-Method Approach.” MIS Quarterly 33 (3): 539–566.
Dahal, S. 2011. Eyes Don’t Lie: Understanding Users’ First Impressions on Website Design Using Eye Tracking.
Missouri, United States: Missouri University of Science and Technology.
610    M. A. Hamid

De Troyer, Olga, Abdalghani Mushtaha, Hélène Stengers, Martine Baetens, Frank Boers, Sven Casteleyn,
and Peter Plessers. 2006. “On Cultural Differences in Local Web Interfaces.” Journal of Web Engineering
5 (3): 246.
Featherstone, Mike. 1982. “The Body in Consumer Culture.” Theory, Culture & Society 1 (2): 18–33.
Ford, J. B., E. D. Honeycutt Jr, M. S. LaTour, P. K. Voli, M. Joseph, and J. Job. 2015. “A Comparison of
American and New Zealand Consumer Perceptions of Sex Role Portrayals in Advertising.” Paper
presented at the Proceedings of the 1993 Academy of Marketing Science (AMS) Annual Conference,
Miami, FL.
van der Geest, Thea, and Jan H. Spyridakis. 2000. “Developing Heuristics for Web Communication: An
Introduction to This Special Issue.” Technical Communication 47 (3): 301–310.
Getz, Donald, Tommy Andersson, and Jack Carlsen. 2010. “Festival Management Studies: Developing
a Framework and Priorities for Comparative and Cross-Cultural Research.” International Journal of
Event and Festival Management 1 (1): 29–59.
Gong, Wen, Zhan G. Li, and Rodney L. Stump. 2007.“Global Internet Use and Access: Cultural Considerations.”
Asia Pacific Journal of Marketing and Logistics 19 (1): 57–74. doi:10.1108/13555850710720902.
Gray, Brendan J., Kim Shyan Fam, and Violeta A. Llanes. 2003. “Branding Universities in Asian Markets.”
Journal of Product & Brand Management 12 (2): 108–120. doi:10.1108/10610420310469797.
Gross, Elisheva F. 2004. “Adolescent Internet Use: What We Expect, What Teens Report.” Journal of Applied
Developmental Psychology 25 (6): 633–649. doi:10.1016/j.appdev.2004.09.005.
Hartman, Kenneth E. 1998. “The Internet & College Admissions Implications and Opportunities.” Change:
The Magazine of Higher Learning 30 (2):54–55. doi: 10.1080/00091389809602609.
Hermeking, Marc. 2005. “Culture and Internet Consumption: Contributions from Cross-Cultural
Marketing and Advertising Research.” Journal of Computer-Mediated Communication 11 (1): 192–216.
doi:10.1111/j.1083-6101.2006.tb00310.x.
Hofstede, Geert. 2015. “The Hofstede Centre Strategy Culture Change.” Accessed June 2. http://geert-
hofstede.com/
Hofstede, Geert, Gert Jan Hofstede, and Micheal Minkov. 2010. Cultures and Organizations: Software
of the Mind: Intercultural Cooperation and its Importance for Survival. 3rd ed. London: McGraw-Hill
Education.
Hofstede, Geert, and Getr Jan Hofstede. 2004. Cultures and Organizations: Software of the Mind. London:
McGraw-Hill Education.
Holliday, Ruth, David Bell, Meredith Jones, Kate Hardy, Emily Hunter, Elspeth Probyn, and Jacqueline
Sanchez Taylor. 2015. “Beautiful Face, Beautiful Place: Relational Geographies and Gender in Cosmetic
Surgery Tourism Websites.” Gender, Place & Culture 22 (1): 90–106.
Holton, Robert J. 2011. Globalization and the Nation State. 2nd ed. Hampshire, United Kingdom: Palgrave
Macmillan.
Hongladarom, Soraj. 1999. “Global Culture, Local Cultures and the Internet: The Thai Example.” AI &
Society 13 (4): 389–401. doi:10.1007/BF01205985.
Hsieh, HsiuChing, Ray Holland, and Mark Young. 2009. “A Theoretical Model for Cross-Cultural Web
Design.” In Human Centered Design, edited by Masaaki Kurosu, 712–721. Berlin: Springer Heidelberg.
Hsieh, HsiuChingLaura, Chi-Hsiung Chen, and SinDai Hong. 2013. “Incorporating Culture in Website
Design: A Comparison of Taiwanese and Australian Website Characteristics.” In Cross-Cultural Design.
Cultural Differences in Everyday Life, edited by P. L. Patrick Rau, 393–403. Berlin: Springer Heidelberg.
Hsiu-Feng, Wang. 2014. “Picture Perfect: Girls’ and Boys’ Preferences towards Visual Complexity in
Children’s Websites.” Computers in Human Behavior 31: 551–557.
Huberman, Bernardo A., and Lada A. Adamic. 1999. “Internet: Growth Dynamics of the World-Wide
Web.” Nature 401 (6749): 131–131.
Imran, Myra. 2012. "Higher education indicators portray bright future for women." The News International,
June 11. Accessed June 27. http://www.thenews.com.pk/Todays-News-6-113697-Higher-education-
indicators-portray-bright-future-for-women
Internet World Stats. 2015a. “Internet Usage Statistics. The Internet Big Picture: World Internet Users and
Populations Stats.” Miniwatts Marketing Group. Last Modified June 30, 2015. Accessed November
9. http://www.internetworldstats.com/stats3.htm
 Journal of Marketing Communications   611

Internet World Stats. 2015b. “Internet Usage Statistics. The Internet Big Picture: World Internet Users
and Populations Stats.” Miniwatts Marketing Group. Last Modified June 30, 2015 Accessed November
9. http://www.internetworldstats.com/stats.htm.
Islam, Nasir. 2004. “Sifarish, Sycophants, Power and Collectivism: Administrative Culture in Pakistan.”
International Review of Administrative Sciences 70 (2): 311–330. doi:10.1177/0020852304044259.
Jones, Steve. 2002. “The Internet Goes to College. Pew Internet & American Life.” USDLA Journal 16 (10).
Kausar, Ghazala, and Dania Anwar. 2015. “Stress in Pakistani Working Women.” Journal of Culture, Society
and Development 5: 58–64.
Khan, Muhammad Zia Ullah, Sumaira Rehman, and Chaudhry Abdul Rehman. 2015. “Education and
Income Inequality in Pakistan.” Management and Administrative Sciences Review 4 (1): 134–145.
Khashman, Nouf, and Andrew Large. 2011. “Measuring Cultural Markers in Arabic Government Websites
Using Hofstede’s Cultural Dimensions.” In Design, User Experience, and Usability. Theory, Methods, Tools
and Practice, edited by Aaron Marcus, 431–439. Berlin: Springer Heidelberg.
Kotabe, M., and K. Helsen. 2014. Global Marketing Management. 5th ed. New Jersey, United States:
John Wiley & Sons.
Lievrouw, L. A., and S. Livingstone. 2002. Handbook of New Media: Social Shaping and Consequences of
ICTs. London, United Kingdom: Sage.
Lindquist, Jay D., Kimberly A. Steinfeldt, and Joseph J. Belonax Jr. 2015. “Women’s Role Stereotypes in
Magazine ADS: A 25 Year Perspective-from Suburbia through the Feminine Mystique to Liberation.”
Proceedings of the 1994 Academy of Marketing Science (AMS) Annual Conference, London.
Lombard, Matthew, Jennifer Snyder-Duch, and Cheryl Campanella Bracken. 2002. “Content Analysis in
Mass Communication: Assessment and Reporting of Intercoder Reliability.” Human Communication
Research 28 (4): 587–604.
Huang, Y., and D. T. Lowry. 2015. “Toward Better Gender Equality? Portrayals of Advertising Models’
Occupational Status in Chinese Magazines.” Journal of International Consumer Marketing 27 (1): 69–83.
Malamed, C. 2009. Visual Language for Designers. Singapore: Rockport.
Malik, N. 2014. Corporate Social Responsibility and Development in Pakistan. New York, NY: Taylor &
Francis.
Marcus, Aaron, and Emilie West Gould. 2000. “Crosscurrents: Cultural Dimensions and Global Web
User-Interface Design.” Interactions 7 (4): 32–46.
Marsh, Emily E., and Marilyn Domas White. 2006. “Content Analysis: A Flexible Methodology.” Library
Trends 55 (1): 22–45.
Maryam, Rab. 2014. “What Higher Education Reforms Have Done for Pakistan’s Women.” Accessed
September 2. http://blog.britishcouncil.org/2014/03/16/what-higher-education-reforms-have-
done-for-pakistans-women/
Minkov, M., and G. Hofstede. 2012. “Is national culture a meaningful concept? Cultural values delineate
homogeneous national clusters of in-country regions.” Cross-Cultural Research 46 (2): 133–159.
doi:10.1177/1069397111427262.
Mohammad, Razia Fakir, and Brian Harlech-Jones. 2008. “Working as Partners for Classroom Reform.”
International Journal of Educational Development 28 (5): 534–545.
Money, John. 1994. “The Concept of Gender Identity Disorder in Childhood and Adolescence after
39 Years.” Journal of Sex & Marital Therapy 20 (3): 163–177.
de Mooij, Marieke, and Geert Hofstede. 2010. “The Hofstede Model: Applications to Global Branding and
Advertising Strategy and Research.” International Journal of Advertising 29 (1): 85–110. doi:10.2501/
S026504870920104X.
Morschett, D., H. Schramm-Klein, and J. Zentes. 2011. Strategic International Management: Text and
Cases. 3rd ed. Wiesbaden, Germany: Springer Gabler.
Mueller, Barbara, Sandra Diehl, and Ralf Terlutter. 2015. “GLOBE Cultural Dimensions: Providing Insights
for Advertising Execution in the Global Marketplace.” In Advances in Advertising Research (Vol. V),
edited by Ivana Bušljeta Banks, Patrick De Pelsmacker and Shintaro Okazaki, 161–175. Wiesbaden:
Springer Fachmedien.
Nakamura, L. 2008. Digitizing Race: Visual Cultures of the Internet. London: University of Minnesota Press.
612    M. A. Hamid

Okazaki, Shintaro. 2004. “Does Culture Matter? Identifying Cross-National Dimensions in Japanese
Multinationals’ Product-Based Websites.” Electronic Markets 14 (1): 58–69. doi:10.1080/101967804
2000175306.
Pauwels, Luc. 2012. “A Multimodal Framework for Analyzing Websites as Cultural Expressions.” Journal
of Computer-Mediated Communication 17 (3): 247–265. doi:10.1111/j.1083-6101.2012.01572.x.
Qadir, Farah, Padmal de Silva, Martin Prince, and Murad Khan. 2005. “Marital Satisfaction in Pakistan:
A Pilot Investigation.” Sexual and Relationship Therapy 20 (2): 195–209.
Ramasubramanian, Srividya, James F. Gyure, and Nasreen M. Mursi. 2003. “Impact of Internet Images:
Impression-Formation Effects of University Web Site Images.” Journal of Marketing for Higher Education
12 (2): 49–68. doi:10.1300/J050v12n02_04.
Reches, Daniel. 2014. “A Comparative Study of Cultural Dimensions in the U.S. and Pakistan.” Allshore
Virtual Staffing. Accessed June 20. http://www.allshorevirtualstaffing.com/a-comparative-study-of-
cultural-dimensions-in-the-u-s-and-pakistan/#.VY953lIfSt0
Ribisl, Kurt M., Rebecca E. Lee, Lisa Henriksen, and Harry H. Haladjian. 2003. “A Content Analysis of Web
Sites Promoting Smoking Culture and Lifestyle.” Health Education & Behavior 30 (1): 64–78.
Riffe, D., S. Lacy, and F. G. Fico. 2005. Analyzing Media Messages: Using Quantitative Content Analysis in
Research. New York: Routledge.
Russell, Mark. 2013. “Using Eye-Tracking Data to Understand First Impressions of a Website.” Software
Usability Research Laboratory. Accessed September 15. http://usabilitynews.org/using-eye-tracking-
data-to-understand-first-impressions-of-a-website/
Schroeder, Jonathan E. 2002. Visual Consumption. New York: Routledge.
Sciglimpaglia, Donald, William J Lundstrom, and William G Zikmund. 2015. “Sex Roles in Advertising:
Additional Evidence.” In Venkatakrishna V. Bellur (Ed.), The 1980’s: A Decade of Marketing Challenges,
181–183. New York, NY: Springer.
Scott, Linda M. 1994. “Images in Advertising: The Need for a Theory of Visual Rhetoric.” Journal of
Consumer Research 21 (2):252–273.
Shamim, Fauzia. 1996. “Learner Resistance to Innovation in Classroom Methodology.” In H. Coleman
(Ed.), Society and the Language Classroom (pp. 105–121). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Sharifian, Farzad. 2003. “On Cultural Conceptualisations.” Journal of Cognition and Culture 3 (3): 187–207.
Shattuc, Jane M. 2014. The Talking Cure: TV Talk Shows and Women. New York, NY: Routledge.
Singh, Nitish, Hongxin Zhao, and Xiaorui Hu. 2005a. “Analyzing the Cultural Content of Web Sites.”
International Marketing Review 22 (2): 129–146. doi:10.1108/02651330510593241.
Singh, Nitish, Hongxin Zhao, and Xiaorui Hu. 2005b. “Cultural Adaptation on the Web: A Study of
American Companies’ Domestic and Chinese Websites.” In Advanced Topics in Global Information
Management, edited by M. Gordon. Hunter and B. Tan Felix, 203–220. Hershey, PA: IGI Global.
Sun, Huatong. 2001. “Building a Culturally-Competent Corporate Web Site: An Exploratory Study
of Cultural Markers in Multilingual Web Design.” Proceedings of the 19th Annual International
Conference on Computer Documentation, New York, NY.
Tang, Tang. 2011. “Marketing Higher Education across Borders: A Cross-Cultural Analysis of University
Websites in the US and China.” Chinese Journal of Communication 4 (4): 417–429.
Ullah, Hazir, and Christine Skelton. 2012. “Gender Representation in the Public Sector Schools Textbooks
of Pakistan.” Educational Studies 39 (2): 183–194. doi:10.1080/03055698.2012.702892.
Urciuoli, Bonnie. 2003. “Excellence, Leadership, Skills, Diversity: Marketing Liberal Arts Education.”
Language & Communication 23 (3–4): 385–408. doi:10.1016/S0271-5309(03)00014-4.
Veloutsou, Cleopatra, Robert A. Paton, and John Lewis. 2005. “Consultation and Reliability of Information
Sources Pertaining to University Selection.” International Journal of Educational Management 19 (4):
279–291. doi:10.1108/09513540510599617.
Wang, Xiaopeng, and Anne Cooper-Chen. 2009. “Asian Images Portrayed in the Websites
of US Higher Education Institutions.” Chinese Journal of Communication 2 (2): 193–211.
doi:10.1080/17544750902826715.
Waters, Richard D., and Kevin D. Lo. 2012. “Exploring the Impact of Culture in the Social Media Sphere: A
Content Analysis of Nonprofit Organizations’ Use of Facebook.” Journal of Intercultural Communication
Research 41 (3): 297–319. doi:10.1080/17475759.2012.728772.
 Journal of Marketing Communications   613

Wernick, A. 1991. Promotional Culture: Advertising, Ideology and Symbolic Expression. London, United
Kingdom: Sage.
Westwood, Robert G., and James E. Everett. 1987. “Culture’s Consequences: A Methodology for
Comparative Management Studies in Southeast Asia?” Asia Pacific Journal of Management 4 (3):
187–202.
Wiles, Judith A., Charles R. Wiles, and Anders Tjernlund. 1995. “A Comparison of Gender Role Portrayals
in Magazine Advertising: The Netherlands, Sweden and the USA.” European Journal of Marketing 29
(11): 35–49.
Wimmer, R. D., and J. R. Dominick. 2011. Mass Media Research: An Introduction. 9th ed. Boston: Thomson,
Wadsworth.
Zahedi, Fatemeh “Mariam”, William V. Van Pelt, and Mark Srite. 2006. “Web Documents’ Cultural
Masculinity and Femininity.” Journal of Management Information Systems 23 (1): 87–128. doi:10.2753/
mis0742-1222230103.
Zaila, Husnain. 2014. Pakistan Economic Survey 2013–14, edited by Ministry of Finance. Islamabad:
Government of Pakistan.
Zhang, Lin, Pataradech “Tony” Srisupandit, and Debra Cartwright.2009. “A Comparison of Gender Role
Portrayals in Magazine Advertising: The United States, China and Thailand.” Management Research
News 32 (7): 683–700.
Zhang, Yong, and Betsy D. Gelb. 1996. “Matching Advertising Appeals to Culture: The Influence of
Products’ Use Conditions.” Journal of Advertising 25 (3): 29–46. doi:10.1080/00913367.1996.10673505.
Zia, Rukhsana. 2003. “Religion and Education in Pakistan: An Overview.” Prospects 33 (2): 165–178. do
i:10.1023/A:1023690712978.
Zotos, Yorgos C, and Eirini Tsichla. 2014. “Female Stereotypes in Print Advertising: A Retrospective
Analysis.” Procedia-Social and Behavioral Sciences. 148:446–454.
Copyright of Journal of Marketing Communications is the property of Routledge and its
content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the
copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email
articles for individual use.