Comparing direct-to-consumer genetic testing services in English, Japanese, and Chinese websites

Abstract

Direct-to-consumer genetic testing (DTC-GT) has rapidly become available and affordable throughout developed countries. However, comparative research on DTC-GT services beyond Western countries has remained scarce, particularly in East Asian countries such as Japan and China. Hence, this study’s hypothesis is that although DTC-GT services in three languages might utilize the same underlying testing technology, such services are likely to represent the social, economic, and political characteristics of each country. For the study, a total of 267 websites (182 English, 32 Japanese, and 53 Chinese) were analyzed and coded reflexively into five categories for content analysis before interpretation using cluster and factor analyses. The results demonstrated variation between the three languages that reflected their respective consumer cultures: English, Chinese, and Japanese genetic testing websites focused on empowerment and ancestry; cultural values, especially familism; and health and beauty, respectively.