Culture

Rule: If I do not understand it then it is not important.

People ignore the things they do not understand. For example, most people do not read the small print on a contract or try to understand complex maths.

Investment web site: "Profiting from investing is simply a case of buying low and selling high. Our multi-faceted subscription based trading platform identifies buy and sell event analysis signals to show you how to make a profit!"

Most readers will understand the first line of text and only take any notice of the show you how to make a profit! in the second line of text.

Rule: If you dress and look like me then you adhere to my culture.

When meeting people we all jump to conclusions based largely upon the clothing we wear. If you look like a tramp, people will treat you like a tramp, even though you may be a millionaire.

Investment web site: I would show images on the site of people who look like the people I expect to be my customers. They will not be in business suits but will we casually dressed sitting at a home computer.

Rule: If I ruled the world things would be better.

We all think we would do a better job of things than other people. We are very critical of the failed attempt of others.

Investment web site: "If you have ever invested in a managed fund then you will have experienced how poorly investment managers looked after your money. You can do a better job making your own decisions."

Rule: If I do something bad to other people my actions are justified. They do not have the right to seek revenge. If other people do bad things to me it is because they are inconsiderate and evil people.

Most people believe they have the right to take revenge against someone else but nobody has the right to take revenge against them. If we do something that badly affects someone else, we did it because we had to i.e. the means justified the end.

Investment web site: "Profit by investing in businesses located in low labour cost zones in the Far East. Beat the tax man by using our tax avoidance service."

Rule: My rules make sense. Other people's rules are illogical.

People believe the rules adhered to in their culture are the right rules because that is the culture they belong to.

Investment web site: "Create and manage your investment portfolio in the way you feel is right. Run your investments your way, not the way fund managers force upon you."

Rule: If I understand something then anyone can understand it. If they do not understand it, this is because they are ignorant.

We take our own abilities for granted and struggle to understand why other people are unable to achieve what we can. We assume they cannot be bothered to.

Investment web site: "If you know how to buy your weekly groceries at the best price then you have the already have most of the skills required for share trading. A can of baked beans with a P/E of 20 is twice as expensive as a can of baked beans with a P/E of 10. It's that simple, except they are shares not cans of baked beans."

Rule: I would rather risk a gain than suffer a guaranteed loss.

Experiments have proven that when it comes to making a gain people will take a risk. But when it comes to taking a loss people will avoid risk.

Investment web site: "Our service allows you to hedge your investments between safe, inflation proof sectors and high growth, higher risk companies."

Rule: I trust people from my own culture before I trust people of another culture.

We trust our own kind first before we trust people from another culture. This is because we have a better understanding of people in our own culture.

Investment web site: I would show images of everyday people such as grandparents, middle aged workers, younger people. Gaining the recommendations of common people, not business professionals, would have promote a greater degree of trust.

Rule: If I succeed it is because of my own abilities. If I fail it is because of external events I had no control over.

We do not like taking the blame for our own failures. When we succeed we believe it is our own personal achievement, not the result of a beneficial environment.

Investment web site: "What could be better than to profit from your own investment success. For a little bit of work you can identify the best investment opportunities."

Rule: If I do something I am impressed with then the world should recognize it. If I do something stupid then the world should ignore my stupidity.

We expect recognition for our successes. At the same time we expect sympathy and understanding when we fail, not criticism.

Investment web site: I would introduce a star rating system. This would identify those customers who are frequent traders with gold stars against investments that have proved successful.

Rule: If I want to get somewhere, I have to go to it. It will not come to me.

We believe that to achieve something we have to take actions towards it. It will not come to us.

Investment web site: "To take your first step towards a profitable portfolio, register with us online, setup your payment details and view our trading video demo."

Rule: If something is rare then it is more interesting and more valuable than something that is common.

We ignore things that are very common but place great attention to the unusual.

Investment web site: "DynoPet Inc. is the world's leading supplier of pet tracking devices. Their devices are fitted into dog and cat collars allowing owners to track thier pets movements from their home computers. An unusual application of technology but their shares have risen 233% in the last year."

Rule: The people who set the rules for my culture are not to be challenged.

The rules we adhere to are normally set by authority figures.  If we live our life by the rules of rock music then we do not question the behavior of rock star celebrities.  Instead we imitate them.

Investment web site: I would show logos and links to the relevant trading authorities used in the process of buying investments such as the New York Stoke Exchange, NASDAQ and news channels such as Bloomberg.

Rule: I am ethical.  I do not deal with unethical people.

We do not believe our ethics are perfect but we do believe that they are better than any other ethics.

Investment web site: "We believe in giving you the best service we can because we want to keep you as our customer.  We guarantee to respond to any issues you raise as soon as feasibly possible."

Rule: My memories define how the world works. If I have no recollection of it then I doubt it exists.

The only real view of the world we have is in the memories of experiences we collect over time.  It is these memories that cement our image of the world.

Investment web site: "Use our technical analysis tools and stop loss feature to avoid losing your money when events like the dot com collapse and credit crisis hit the stock markets."

The customer and the product being offered both exist within their own cultures and adhere to their cultural rules. Below is an example where the rules of the two cultures overlap and differ.

So comparing the rules of the customer against the rules of the online service where is there overlap and where is there none.  Is there even a clash between the rules the customer lives by and the rules the service sticks to?  The more overlap that exists, the greater the chance that the customer will purchase the product.  And what impression the service exhibits could be altered to fit into David's cultural rules?  Perhaps the robotic mascot could be replaced by a high flying aircraft logo as a metaphor for high performance. Does having images and a message from Mike Healey fit into David's rules? Does a bright and brash web site clash with David's rules?  Maybe the home page of the investment tool site should exhibit more intricate detail of the tools available and use a green color scheme to fit into David's rules regarding detail and ethical investing?  Should the site make it clear that it uses the very latest software technology?  After all, David believes that technology is the saviour of the world's problems, including his own.  The web site promotes a special introductory offer.  But for David perhaps promoting a donation to the planting of trees in the developing world would be of more significance.   Maybe there is even some imagery in U2 videos that could be applied to the site.

Though it is not sensible to develop a web site around the rules one person lives their life by, it is possible to understand the rules that a dozen people live by, and then fit these rules into the impression and services your site provides.