Should all firms adapt websites to international audiences?

The authors investigate the moderating roles of brand equity and purchasing risk in the relationships between website cultural congruity (WCC) and two dependent variables: attitude toward the website (AST) and trust in the e-vendor. An exploratory study identifies typical French website design elements (graphic design and layout factors) to use in a subsequent experimental study to manipulate WCC. The results reveal that the effect of WCC on AST increases when brand equity is weak; for trust, both brand equity and purchasing risk act as moderators. The interaction between brand equity and purchasing risk reveals that WCC only influences trust when brand equity is weak. Overall, the results suggest that strong brand equity outweighs the effects of WCC in terms of improving site attitudes and reducing purchasing risk, with notable managerial and research implications.