Social Networking Sites: An Exploration of the Effect of National Cultural Dimensions on Country Adoption Rates

Rodney L. Stump, Wen Gong

2015

Abstract

This study investigates the impact of the several dimensions of Hofstede’s cultural framework on the adoption rates of social networking sites (SNS) across 30 countries, while controlling for a country’s median age, its urban population level and mobile internet penetration. Hierarchical regressions are conducted. Our findings reveal that three cultural dimensions, i.e., masculinity/femininity, uncertainty avoidance and long-term orientation, significantly impact nations’ adoption levels of SNS above and beyond the effects of median age and urban population level. While there is a growing body of literature that examines the influence of national culture on the adoption and use of a variety of high-tech innovations and services mediated by these technologies, our study is among the first to specifically relate cultural perspectives to country adoption levels of social networking sites using an array of cultural dimensions. We provide a theoretical framework and supporting empirical evidence to underscore the importance of understanding how culture impacts consumers’ SNS adoption behavior across countries. Implications from our findings, limitations and directions for future research are provided.

Paper Citation

in Harvard Style

L. Stump R. and Gong W. (2015). Social Networking Sites: An Exploration of the Effect of National Cultural Dimensions on Country Adoption Rates . In Proceedings of the 12th International Conference on e-Business - Volume 1: ICE-B, (ICETE 2015) ISBN 978-989-758-113-7, pages 233-245. DOI: 10.5220/0005509002330245

in Bibtex Style

@conference{ice-b15,
author={Rodney L. Stump and Wen Gong},
title={Social Networking Sites: An Exploration of the Effect of National Cultural Dimensions on Country Adoption Rates},
booktitle={Proceedings of the 12th International Conference on e-Business - Volume 1: ICE-B, (ICETE 2015)},
year={2015},
pages={233-245},
publisher={SciTePress},
organization={INSTICC},
doi={10.5220/0005509002330245},
isbn={978-989-758-113-7},
}

in EndNote Style

TY - CONF
JO - Proceedings of the 12th International Conference on e-Business - Volume 1: ICE-B, (ICETE 2015)
TI - Social Networking Sites: An Exploration of the Effect of National Cultural Dimensions on Country Adoption Rates
SN - 978-989-758-113-7
AU - L. Stump R.
AU - Gong W.
PY - 2015
SP - 233
EP - 245
DO - 10.5220/0005509002330245