Taking Traditional Chinese Medicine International and Online: An Examination of the Cultural Rhetorical Factors Affecting American Perceptions of Chinese-created Web Sites

International interest in traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) has prompted companies in China to examine new ways to sell related goods and services in the global marketplace. Web sites provide an effective mechanism for tapping such global interest, but cultural communication factors can affect how audiences form other cultures react to online information. This article reports the results of an initial research project that investigated what cultural rhetorical factors seem to cause problems for American users of Chinese-created Web sites on TCM. This article presents both the findings of that research and examines the underlying cultural factors that could contribute to such problematic communication differences. Such information can assist technical communicators who might be asked to revise or redesign Chinese-created TCM Web sites for audiences from other cultures.