Culture and acceptance of global web sites

Abstract

E-businesses have experienced the challenges of developing global web sites that serve consumers with different national cultures. Researchers have studied the influence that national cultural values have on technology-related beliefs and behaviors, and have noted the need for further research on cultural issues. This study investigates the influence of national cultural values on acceptance of a personal web portal by users in China and the United States. Subjects from these two countries evaluated country-specific versions of a personal web portal designed to support the gathering of news, blogs, and other shared information and to provide communication features. The five national cultural dimensions of power distance, individualism/collectivism, masculinity/femininity, uncertainty avoidance, and time orientation were measured at the individual level to enable assessment of the influence from each cultural dimension on technology beliefs and adoption intentions. A research model integrating both moderating and direct effects of cultural values was proposed. Individualism and time orientation were found to influence perceived ease of use and perceived usefulness directly. No moderating cultural effects were significant. The results stress the importance of including the cultural value of time orientation in studies of technology acceptance and measuring cultural values at the individual level. Our findings suggest that e-businesses should continue to focus on the cultural congruency of global web sites and consider how personalization features may assist in pursuit of this congruency.