Onboarding and Culture - A multiple case study on the effect of culture in user-onboarding

Abstract

This study investigates how digital platforms handle cultural aspects during the onboarding process. The goal was to better understand the role culture has during the onboarding process to increase the likelihood of a successful internationalisation of digital platforms. The data gathered was mainly done through conducting interviews with employees at different companies which could be described as being digital platforms. These companies all had prior experience with onboarding new users on new markets. The study showed that culture plays an important role in the onboarding process and it needs to be taken into consideration to succeed when internationalising. When there were larger differences in culture, more actions needed to be taken by digital platforms to succeed. Trust was the key factor that contributed to success and trust is mainly built through the cultural factors of shared language, common heritage and religious beliefs. These factors all contribute to personal values and beliefs. When humans feel more similar to each other, trust is being built more easily.