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Main page of the French makeup brand "L'Oréal Paris"

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Main page of the Japanese makeup brand "KISS"

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The first medium is the current French website of the makeup brand “L’Oréal Paris”. This advertisement is especially addressed to women wearing makeup. It is striking that the target group is no specific age group as the picture shows women at a younger age and women at an older age. Besides that, the women have different skin colours. This aspect underlines the diverse target group of the makeup brand.

The second medium is the current Japanese website of the makeup brand “KISS”. The pictures on the website depict a young woman in different situations. Besides that, the website highlights their instagram account and their other social media accounts. Therefore, one can argue that the target group represents younger women because this is usually the age group that is the most active and up to date with technology and social networks compared to the elderly.

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Working out the linguistic and textual differences of the two advertisements, we compare the statement at the top of the website of “L’Oréal Paris” with the brand concept of “KISS” stated on their main page (see the translation table).

Firstly, it is striking that the Japanese website stresses the pronouns “I” and “you” (we marked them in bold to emphasise the argument). In contrast to that, the French website only uses the “you” once. On the Japanese website, the individual is called to be self-confident, powerful and optimistic. The focus is clearly on the individual and the self-enhancement. Looking at Hofstede’s country comparison tool, one would assume the opposite as the bar of France is higher than the Japanese one. This aspect will be developed further in the cultural dimensions section.

Another striking difference represents the content of the slogans. The text of “KISS” does not describe the products of the brand in detail, it rather emphasises the feeling you get when wearing the makeup. Besides that, the brand name is included and used as a stylistic device at the end.

Contrary to that, the advertisement of “L’Oréal Paris” uses many adjectives (marked in italics) and even the superlative “best”. The goal of this website is to describe the products in a detailed way and to show why they are the best.

This aspect clearly aligns with France being a low-context culture and communicating in a direct and precise way (see Wurtz, 2006, p. 278).

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It is clear that individualism is a cultural dimension in the “KISS” website because of the emphasis of the Subjective personal pronoun “i” and the use of the Possessive Pronoun “my” on the homepage. Even though society in Japan is seen as generally collectivistic (see Hofstede insight, 2023), the ‘KISS’ website depicts some individualistic aspects. As well as the literal emphasis on the "I", young individuals are shown on the website. According to Wang, this strategy aligns to the dimension of individualism (Wang, 2016, p. 263). Besides that, one can find a link to a newsletter at the bottom of the website, which can clearly be identified as an individualistic feature (Wang, 2016, p. 263). The concept of the "KISS" website centralises on the following sub categories that can also be seen as individualistic:

Self-fulfilment - “Every day, I continue to be the person I love”

Beauty - “I do makeup for my precious self.”

Self-determination and independent achievements - “Be the best version of yourself today for tomorrow.”

These aspects show how just because a specific country falls under a specific cultural dimension, it does not mean that there is no exception or that they are stuck to that category. Therefore, a critical approach to these dimensions is crucial!

However, there is also an aspect that aligns to the general tendency of being collectivistic. The depiction of women and the use of images of individuals can be seen as collectivistic web strategies (Wang, 2016, p. 263) and therefore align to Japan being a collectivist country.

In Japanese culture, beauty plays an important role in society, having one of the world's most unique and rigorous beauty practices. It is common practice to wear natural and light looking makeup in Japan which in-turn will make you appear happier and healthier. Women are also idolised if they’re on the thinner side of the scale. This is all evident in the “KISS” website because the makeup products advertised are blush cosmetics and eyeshadow palettes that all range in the lighter shades.

There is also not much diversity in relation to skin colour, hair colour and other physical features. On the “KISS” website, the women displayed all have the same skin tone, hair colour, petite frame and eye colour.

In contrast, the french website “L’Oréal” is much more diverse when it comes to beauty standards. On the homepage, they have included women of various backgrounds. They have women of different skin shades, hair textures, ages, eye colour and sizes. However, L’Oreal also falls under the individualistic cultural dimension. It is evident because one can find images of groups of women and a newsletter at the bottom of the websites (Wang, 2016, p. 263). Besides that, costumer endorsement is very important on the French website as one can see the ratings with stars on the main page. “L'Oréal Paris" even goes further and includes written reviews of costumers when clicking on the products. All these aspects can be seen as individualistic according to Wang (Wang, 2016, p. 263). The "L’Oréal" website also has an image of the Eiffel tower which can be viewed as a symbol of national identity to French culture - particularly Parisiens. This is another sign of individualism compared to "KISS" which has no symbols of national identity (Wang, 2016, p. 263).

Another trait of individualism on the website is the presence of links which is highly evident in both “L’Oréal” and “KISS”. They both have links to their social profiles and local platforms in order to allow their consumers to connect with them further on their other social media networks.

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Transform your business with a culture that supports your strategy, and gain a competitive edge with The Culture Factor. Discover our tailored solutions for lasting results.

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Another cultural dimension that comes into play on the websites represents the notion of masculinity vs femininity.

It is evident that Hofstede’s masculinity dimension comes into play both in the “L’Oréal “website and the “KISS” one.

On both sites, the brand concept is centred around a society driven by achievement, ambition and materialism. In this case, makeup is materialistic because both KISS and L'Oréal emphasise how beauty can furnished and achieved by their buying and consuming their cosmetic products. in reality, makeup products should not be the sole grounds of defining who we are as individuals.

On the website of "L’Oréal Paris", the product names are ‘PERFECT match’ and ‘age PERFECT’ and the concept of the brand justifies itself as being the ‘Best ally for women's beauty’. This whole idea of makeup being a women's best friend and that it perfects their faces links with these masculine cultural dimensions.

The brand concept of "KISS" is clearly focused on makeup being the drive to your success in which beauty is emphasised by makeup.

‘Be the best version of yourself’.

Another element of masculinity in both brands is the high presence of women on the sites. Even though "L’Oréal Paris" has 1 man on one of their advertised products, he is outnumbered by the number of women present.

"KISS" also has a movie section that links an ad on their youtube channel. This falls under the website interactivity strategy because it allows its consumers to view the video, comment and leave feedback (Wang, 2016, p. 264).

There also seems to be limited choices - the products are pretty much just blush, lipstick or eyeshadow palette with little variation since the colours are all on the lighter shade. This aspect also aligns to the dimension of masculinity (Wang, 2016, p. 264).

This is different to "L’Oréal Paris" which has a mixture of femininity on the site because there is a lot of products on display ranging from hair and skin to facial products in many different shades and colours. This freedom of choice is an aspect of femininity in website strategies (Wang, 2016, p. 264). The website of "L'Oréal Paris" also offers website activity through the "Need help?" button in the top left corner. Furthermore, one can find a search box, contact forms, many links and feedback forms. All these elements contribute to a high website activity and can therefore considered to be masculine (Wang, 2016, p. 264).

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Bai, H. (2016). A Cross-Cultural Analysis of Advertisements from High-Context Cultures and Low-Context Cultures. English Language Teaching, 21-27.

Hofstede Insights. (2023) Country Comparison - France Japan https://www.hofstede-insights.com/country-comparison/france,japan/

Hofstede, G. (1985). The interaction between national and organisational value systems. Journal of Management Studies, 347.

Wang, Q. e. (2016). Website Location Strategies Review Under Hofstede's Cultural Dimensions. In F. Nah, & C. Tan, HCI in Business, Government, and Organizations (pp. 258-269). Switzerland: Springer.

Würtz, E. (2006). Intercultural Communication on Websites: A cross-cultural Analysis of Websites from High-Context Cultures and Low-Context Cultures. Journal of Computer-Mediated Communication, 274-299.

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Based on Hofstede's country comparison tool, Japan scores a total of 54 in comparison to France that ranked a total score of 68. One can say that both countries are not very high on the scale. However, both countries have a relatively low score. Hofstede defines power distance as “the extent to which the members of a society accept that power in institutions and organisations is distributed unequally” (Hofstede, 1985, p. 347).

Both websites have an organized layout where content elements are evenly distributed. One can also observe a horizontal grid on both homepages. Therefore, one can tell that it is a symmetrical layout which is a characteristic of high power distance (Wang, 2016, p. 262).

In both sites, the brand logo is displayed on all of the products which is another intertwining feature of high power distance in website strategies (Wang, 2016, p. 262).

It is striking that both websites do not show other salient features of high or low-power distance as mentioned by Wang (Wang, 2016, p. 262). We might have expected that there are more aspects that show Japan as a high-power distance country (as stated in Wang). This point clearly underlines once more that the cultural dimensions are only tendencies and do not necessarily represent the whole country.

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Cultural Dimension: Uncertainty Avoidance: 

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Cultural Dimension: Uncertainty Avoidance: 

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Based on Hofstede's country comparison tool website, Japan ranked a total marking of 92 which is extremely high and France marked equally just as high but just a few points lower with a total score of 86.

The websites both have guided navigation in the format of navigation menus at the very top of the homepages. This gives their customers a sense of structure and organisation to know exactly what product they are looking for and where exactly to find it on their site. This is a feature of high uncertainty avoidance (Wang, 2016, p. 263) and aligns to the prediction of Hofstede (see above).

In both sites, there is reference to daily life. In L’Oréal it is mentioned in the brand concept “To sublimate you. Each day.” and in KISS it is “Every day, I continue to be the person I love.”

References to daily life is a key concept in high uncertainty avoidance cultures (Wang, 2016, p. 263). This proves that both sites and cultures are high in uncertainty avoidance.

On the "L’Oréal Paris" website they mention “Samples x2 per order”. This kind of falls under the Free trials category of the high uncertainty avoidance dimension (Wang, 2016, p. 263). They give 2 free samples in every order which is similar to giving them a free trial of the product to persuade them into buying more and thus becoming loyal, regular customers. This is a difference to the KISS website because there’s no free samples mentioned.

The frequency of horizontal pages is another salient feature that both websites show. The products are organised in a horizontal way, therefore they align to the high uncertainty avoidance (Wang, 2016, p. 263).

The French website shows both content and navigation redundancy. One example represents the multiple mentioning of their newsletter (at the top and at the bottom) and their help button (also at the top and bottom). As they also show the same content, one can say that they are redundant. This aligns to the high uncertainty avoidance mentioned by Wang (Wang, 2016, p. 263).

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Both countries are relatively low on the indulgence scale (Hofstede Insight, 2023). However, makeup itself can be considered to be an indulgent product as it is used to increase happiness and fun. Besides that, it is no basic need like food, but rather improves the quality of live for many people.

Other than that, Wang did not point out certain website strategies (Wang, 2016). That's why we are not analysing this dimension further.

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Looking at the visual communication on websites, Wurtz examines how the layout and the use of images and photographs differ between high-context cultures and low-context cultures (Wurtz, 2006, p. 282). In the following, we will examine the categories “images of individuals separate or together with the product” (Wurtz, 2006, p. 289), “transparency” (Wurtz, 2006, p. 291) and “linear versus parallel navigation around the site” (Wurtz, 2006, p. 293).

Looking at the images of the main page of the makeup section, it is striking that the “KISS” main page represents a picture of a woman and the used product is right next to the picture. Therefore, one can find a clear connection between the individual and the product. This connection is underlined by the colours of the products matching the image. In contrast to that, the main page of “L’Oréal Paris” only depicts four women at different ages and with different skin colours. The used products are not mentioned or linked to the picture, only the transition of the background colours suggests that the product is makeup. Following Wurtz’s assumption (Wurtz, 2006, p. 289), we would have expected the opposite - that the French website would make a direct connection to the product and that the Japanese website would be more implicit. The suggested explanation of Wurtz by referring to Marcus and Gould (Wurtz, 2006, p. 289) can also be used for the Japanese advertisement. Showing the product together with an individual, it draws the focus “towards what the person receives when enjoying the product” (Wurtz, 2006, p. 289). The woman becomes proud and self-confident through the use of the makeup products. However, the Japanese website does not seem to place high importance on people and relations as the picture only shows one individual. In contrast, the French website depicts four women with completely different looks. The haptics, namely the touch and proximity of the women, show the closeness and encouragement of the women. This picture clearly aligns with French culture as French people tend to have the habit of touching each other approximately 110 times per hour (see Lekaviciene, 2010, p. 236).

The next aspect represents the transparency of the website. Therefore, it is important to define this term. According to Wurtz, it refers “to the extent to which the users are required to make an extra effort in order to find the information they are looking for” (Wurtz, 2006, p. 291). The website of “L’Oréal Paris” can be described as a transparent website, as it features a detailed menu on the left side. Besides, one can find a large collection of links at the end of the website. Through the use of headings and subheadings (see figure 2), it gets clear what to expect from these links.

Besides that, the website of “L’Oréal Paris” provides the links “Quick buy now”, “Find out” and “Add to chart”. These links help the visitor to quickly find what they are looking for and give an easy orientation. As all of the aspects align with a low-context culture, one can say that the French website corresponds to the predictions of France being a low-context culture (Hall, 1959). In comparison, one can find fewer links at the end of the Japanese website and they are not explained by headings or subheadings. There is also a menu on the right side of the “KISS” website. But in contrast to “L’Oréal Paris”, the visitor does not immediately see all of the categories. You have to click on the menu button and then you see the different categories. However, the menu does not look totally different from the French menu. As Wurtz states, the menu of many high-context websites are supported by more low-context versions (see Wurtz, p. 292). One explanation could be that the western makeup companies often represent a role model for Asian companies. Therefore, they might adapt to the way products are presented on a website.

The last aspect in terms of visual communication is the “linear versus parallel navigation around the site” (Wurtz, 2006, p. 293). The French website can be identified as a linear one because it is tabular and functional in its design. Therefore, it aligns with the low-context culture (Wurtz, 2006, p. 293). In comparison to that, the Japanese website uses many bright colors and shapes. Through the moving pictures at the top of the website, the whole page seems to be vivid. These moving pictures also cover another picture from being a starting point, which is a typical feature of high-context cultures (Wurtz, 2006, p. 293). It can be said that the “KISS” website has a parallel navigation around the site, even though it is not as clear-cut as one would assume.