2013 46th Hawaii International Conference on System Sciences
Impact of Cultural Influences on Internet Adoption
Reem Ayouby
Concordia University
[email protected]
Anne-Marie Croteau
Concordia University
[email protected]
perspective” on culture when in fact culture is
“dynamic and changing” [2]. Thus there is a need to
study culture in IS research from a different
perspective, that is, from a more dynamic perspective
[7].
To better understand the effects of culture upon IT
adoption, the present study thus turns to a more
dynamic conceptualization of culture which includes
cognitive structures and processes that change in
response to environmental influences and external
forces [7]. The dynamic view of culture allows us to
account for the effects of globalization on local
cultures. For instance, it takes into account the degree
of interchange between different minority groups
within one country, when each group has strong ethnic
heritages. This results in the exposure of members of
such groups to multiple cultures simultaneously. Such
an attempt has been made in conceptualizing the notion
of acculturation to the global culture which will be
explained in more details later.
In addition to the dynamic view of culture,
orthogonal cultural identification theory can be
referred to in order to better identify differences
between ethnic groups within one nation [8]. In
attempting to explain Internet adoption, this would be
more appropriate given that the main difference
between the dynamic and the static views is that the
dynamic perspective assumes that cultural change
happen more frequently than has been assumed in the
static single culture assessment modeled by Hofstede
[3]. Additionally, the incorporation of orthogonal
cultural identification theory allows us to account for
the presence of more than one cultural influence
simultaneously, which more accurately models the
modern world.
Building on the above, we consider that culture is
fluid and new cultural identities can be formed,
strengthened or weakened depending on the cultural
environment as proposed by Oetting and Beauvais [8].
The concept of a cultural identity may be thought of as
a “qualitative measure” of the idea of culture. An
individual either identifies him or herself with a group,
or is so identified by others [9]. Once a cultural identity
is formed, one can speak of the strength, or level, of
the cultural identification [10]. According to the
orthogonal cultural identification theory [8], it is
Abstract
This research illustrates the importance of
investigating the impact of cultural influences on
Internet adoption. Two constructs related to cultural
identification (national and ethnic) are elaborated
based on orthogonal cultural identification theory.
Another construct related to acculturation to the global
culture is developed to provide a dynamic view of
culture. Members of two different ethnic groups living
in an emerging country completed a total of 307
questionnaires analyzed by estimating a structural
model with PLS. For both groups, national and ethnic
identification had a negative impact on acculturation
to the global culture which had a positive influence on
the intention to adopt the Internet. Only ethnic
identification had a negative impact on the intention to
adopt the Internet whereas national identification had
no impact. Our results indicate that taken cultural
influences improves our understanding of IT adoption.
1. Research context
The implications of culture for IT, namely the
cultural influences on the individual adoption of IT
need to be addressed [1]. This research aims at a better
understanding of the impact of culture on the intention
to adopt the Internet by taking a dynamic view of
culture and looking more deeply at the characteristics
of ethnic groups through the lens of the cultural
identification theory.
Hofstede’s conception of culture has been
frequently used in the IS field to examine a variety of
propositions related to IS issues [2]. As such, the IS
field has focused strongly on the effect of national
culture through the lens of Hofstede’s concept of
national culture [3], where culture is defined as "the
collective programming of the mind which
distinguishes the members of one group or category of
people from another" [4, p.5]. Four dimensions of
culture were proposed: masculinity / femininity, power
distance, individualism / collectivism, and uncertainty
avoidance. Later, long-term orientation was added as a
fifth
dimension
[5].
However,
Hofstede’s
conceptualization of culture has some weaknesses [6].
One of these is related to the fact that it takes a “static
1530-1605/12 $26.00 © 2012 IEEE
DOI 10.1109/HICSS.2013.258
Louis Raymond
Université du Québec à Trois-Rivières
[email protected]
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possible to independently measure multiple cultural
identities in order to determine the extent to which a
person identifies with a culture. Further, it is unlikely
that one cultural identity is associated with any other.
Indeed, this idea would be appropriate for multicultural
settings where a person may identify with multiple
cultures such as a national culture (national
identification) and an ethnic culture (in the form of
ethnic identification). In this way, different cultural
sources or identities influence the individual.
With this research, we aim at a better
understanding of three cultural influences, namely
acculturation to the global culture, national
identification and ethnic identification, as determinants
of an individual’s intention to adopt technology, and
more specifically Internet applications. This research
thus asks the following question: What are the effects
of an individual’s various cultural identities upon his
or her intention to adopt the Internet?
This paper is organized as follows. The next
section introduces the research constructs, that is,
cultural identification in terms of both national and
ethnic identification, acculturation to the global
culture, and technology adoption. The research model
and the research hypotheses are presented next along
with the results. The paper closes with a discussion of
the findings, research limitations, and directions for
future research.
2.1.1. National identification. National identification
is defined as the extent to which individuals view
themselves as involved with a group, here a nation, that
shares an historic territory or homeland, common
myths and historical memories, a common, mass public
culture, common legal rights and duties for all
members, and a common economy with territorial
mobility for members [8]. National identification also
refers to individual differences in the emotional and
motivational aspects of being part of a significant and
valued group or nation [12]. The closest concepts
related to national identification in the IS literature are
based on using Hofstede’s concept of national culture
and its associated cultural dimensions. However, this
conceptualization has been criticized in IS research [2]
due to several issues, one of which has been that
modern nations have not existed for a historically long
period of time.
2.1.2. Ethnic identification. An ethnic group is a type
of cultural collectivity, one that emphasizes the role of
myths of descent and historical memories, and that is
recognized through one or more cultural differences
such as religion, customs, language or institutions [13].
Ethnic groups form ethnic communities which have the
following attributes: a collective proper name, a myth
of common ancestry, shared historical memories, one
or more differentiating elements of common culture, an
association with a specific ‘homeland’, and a sense of
solidarity for significant sectors of the population [13].
Therefore, ethnic identification refers to the extent to
which individuals are able to retain, or possibly lose,
some aspects of their culture of origin [14]. To our
knowledge, ethnic identification has rarely been
addressed in previous IS studies.
2. Theoretical background
2.1. Cultural identification
Cultural differences can be captured through
cultural identification among other concepts. Cultural
identification is seen as a personality trait and as such,
is understood to be a persistent, long-term underlying
characteristic that organizes an individual’s cognitions,
emotions, and behaviors [10]. This concept refers to a
person’s self-identification and his or her sense of
belonging to a certain group of people, a sentiment that
can be felt strongly or weakly [9]. Cultural
identification is defined as “the existence of specific
sets of values and beliefs in which specific human
groups recognize themselves” [11, p.117]. At a macro
level, the cultural identification of a population may be
seen as having two levels of identification: national
and ethnic [10]. Although national identification and
ethnic identification appear to be similar, they must be
distinguished as separate constructs as in the
orthogonal cultural identification theory [8], especially
in the context of culturally non-homogeneous countries
[2]. This means that increasing identification with
national culture does not require decreasing
identification with ethnic culture, or vice-versa.
2.2. Acculturation to the global culture
The concept of acculturation to the global culture
is defined as the process of learning a culture different
from the one in which a person was originally raised
due to the exposure to new cultures from various
sources [15]. It is a dynamic, complex and multifaceted
process because individuals and communities are
continually changing at different paces and under
various influences [16]. To the best of our knowledge,
the concept of acculturation to the global culture has
rarely been studied in information systems research.
One research found that Arab workers who were
trained by experts in technically advanced countries or
those who visited other organizations in the same type
of countries were more likely to use their companies’
IT application [17]. More research is needed to further
the impact of cultural influences on IT adoption.
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culture, or the intention to adopt the Internet, has not
been tested before, to the best of our knowledge.
However, we posit that the more individuals identify
themselves to their national culture, the less influenced
they will be by the global culture. A previous empirical
study having obtained contradictory results in
attempting to relate Hofstede’s cultural dimensions to a
nation’s Internet penetration [23], such a relationship
will be revisited through the concept of national
identification instead. We therefore hypothesize that
the more individuals identify themselves to their
national culture, the less inclined they are to adopt a
new technology such as the Internet, relying more on
their traditional media to communicate among
themselves, entertain or educate themselves, or
conduct transactions. Therefore:
H1a: National identification will have a negative
influence on acculturation to the global culture.
H1b: National identification will have a negative
influence on the intention to adopt the Internet.
2.3. Culture and technology adoption
The adoption of technology has been studied
through several theories and models, most of them
being based on the theory of reasoned action (TRA)
[18]. Within this theory, an individual’s behavioral
intention is determined by his or her attitude and
subjective norm toward the behavior, where attitude is
determined by his or her beliefs and evaluations.
Attitude captures the individual’s personal feelings
about the behavior whereas subjective norm captures
the individual’s social impressions about the behavior
[18]. Here, the intention to adopt the Internet is
conceptualized as a behavioral category.
To the best of our knowledge, very little cultural
research has been done in the IS field using TRA.
However, the technology acceptance model (TAM)
developed by Davis [19], based on the TRA, has been
tested in different cultural settings. It has been found
that TAM could apply to the Arab world [20].
Furthermore, in an international study of three
countries, the TAM was used with index values of
Hofstede’s cultural dimensions to create a computerbased media support index [21]. Hofstede’s four main
cultural dimensions have also been studied as
moderators of the TAM extended to include subjective
norm and measured at the individual level of analysis
[22].
As far as we know, no empirical study has been
made to-date of the influence of individuals’ cultural
identification upon their intention to adopt information
technology. As the TRA was designed to unearth
attitude and influences, and given our research
objective of capturing the impact of cultural influences
on individuals’ intention to adopt the Internet, this
theory will be the one upon which our research model
will be founded, as presented next.
Figure 1. Research model
Little research has been done with regard the
ethnic identification concept except for Cleveland’s
work [24-26]. We propose that the more individuals
are attached to and practice their traditional rituals, and
the more they are influenced by the values of their
original culture, the less they are open to other cultural
influences. Regarding IT adoption, it has been found
that ethnic identification is significantly but negatively
related to PC/laptop use, Internet surfing and e-mailing
[24]. Therefore, we posit that:
H2a: Ethnic identification will have a negative
influence on acculturation to the global culture.
H2b: Ethnic identification will have a negative
influence on the intention to adopt the Internet.
Finally, based on the TRA, it has been found that
the subjective norm was a significant antecedent to the
behavioral intention to adopt IT [22, 27]. It was also
found that the adoption of communications and
consumer electronics was mainly and positively
influenced by the consumer’s level of acculturation to
the global culture influence [24]. These findings
supports the idea that acculturation to the global
3. Research model
Our research model is derived from the TRA by
testing the links between cultural influences and the
behavioral intention to adopt the Internet. In order to
study globalization and the influence of culture on
technology adoption, our research adopts the dynamic
view of culture by proposing that an individual’s
national identification, ethnic identification and
acculturation to the global culture are antecedents to
his or her intention to adopt the Internet. Both links
between the two types of identification and the
dependent variable are also mediated by the
acculturation to the global culture, as presented in
Figure 1.
The respective links between the national
identification and the acculturation to the global
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National identification involves concepts related
to the common legal rights and duties for all members
of a nation as well as the common economy with
territorial mobility for national members [13, 24, 31].
National identification has five formative dimensions
as follows: National language use refers to the extent
to which a person uses the national language (the
Arabic language in the case of Jordan) in daily
interactions with family, friends and during social
events; national language use on a personal basis, such
as reading, writing and thinking is also included in this
dimension. National media use reflects the extent to
which a person uses or is exposed to his or her national
language through mass media such as radio and
television. National interpersonal relationships
correspond to the degree to which a person is involved
in social relationships with others from the national
community on a voluntary basis. Identification and
desire to maintain national culture indicates the degree
to which a person identifies with the national culture
and has a desire to maintain its cultural norms and
values. The economic, territorial, and legal dimension
reflects the degree to which individuals feel they have
participation rights in the economy, territorial
ownership rights, and legal rights in the nation to
which they belong [13].
Ethnic identification is also an adaptation of the
construct elaborated by Cleveland and colleagues [24,
31]. In addition, religious affiliation was added to
account for the religious aspect of ethnic identity [32].
Ethnic ID has five formative dimensions as follows:
Ethnic language use refers to the extent to which a
person uses the ethnic language in daily interactions
with family, friends and during social events; ethnic
language use on a personal basis, such as reading,
writing and thinking is also included in this dimension.
Ethnic media use reflects the extent to which a person
uses or is exposed to his or her ethnic language through
mass media such as radio and television. Ethnic
interpersonal relationships corresponds to the degree
to which a person is involved in social relationships
with others from the ethnic community on a voluntary
basis. Identification and desire to maintain ethnic
culture indicates the degree to which a person
identifies with the ethnic culture and has a desire to
maintain its cultural norms and values. Religious
affiliation reflects the degree to which a person is
involved in their religious practices and religionrelated activities on a regular basis [33]. Although
religion is distinct from ethnicity, it has been found
that it acts as an “ethnic-like” identity marker, or group
binder [33]. Additionally, religious practices,
especially the social aspects such as religious
celebrations, are heavily influenced by the ethnic
culture in the Middle East. For this reason, it is
culture may have a positive influence on the intention
to adopt the Internet. Therefore:
H3: Acculturation to the global culture will have a
positive influence on the Intention to adopt the
Internet.
4. Research method
To study the effects of cultural identification, one
would need to look at a culture where the national
identification and the ethnic identification may vary
between different ethnic groups. In our case, Jordan is
an example of a country whose culture strongly varies
between such groups. More precisely, the ethnic
communities studied here are the Chechen and
Circassian communities of Jordan. Both have a myth of
common ancestry, shared historical memories, multiple
differentiating elements of common culture and an
association with a specific ‘homeland’ (Chechnya and
Circassia respectively). The Circassians began to arrive
in what is now Jordan in 1878 [28]. The Chechens on
the other hand arrived at the beginning of the twentieth
century [29]. A sense of solidarity for significant
sectors of the population can be seen in the social and
charitable organizations present in areas where
significant numbers of both these ethnic groups are
present. The Chechen community is characterized by
patriarchal gender relations and highly values the
importance of education and the promotion of the
Chechen cause [29]. The Circassian community has a
strong sense of social hierarchy and a rigid etiquette
which is related to the strong military heritage of this
ethnic group. The Circassians are also known for their
chivalry, hospitality and courage [28].
Another reason for choosing Jordan as an
interesting research site was the low penetration rate of
the Internet among the general public [30]. Now, many
efforts have been made to increase the Internet
adoption rate among the Jordanian population. For
instance, one project was supported by United States
Agency for International Development (US-AID),
among others, and was designed to incite people in the
poorer parts of the country to adopt Internet
technologies by providing them with knowledge
stations equipped with all the necessary hardware,
software and Internet connections. At the moment of
our study, those knowledge stations were just being
implemented throughout communities.
4.1. Operational definitions and measures
All items were measured using a five-point Likert
scale (1: strongly disagree to 5: strongly agree). Fivescales are used to simplify choice as the target
population is of diverse educational backgrounds.
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modeled as a dimension of ethnic identification in this
study.
Acculturation to the global culture is a concept
adapted from the work done by Cleveland and Laroche
[25]. Cosmopolitanism refers to the degree to which a
person is cosmopolitan. A cosmopolitan person is one
who is familiar with and at ease in many different
countries and cultures (The New Oxford American
Dictionary, 2005). Exposure to marketing activities of
multinational companies corresponds to the degree of a
person’s exposure to the marketing and advertising
activities of multinational or global corporations.
Exposure to / use of the English language represents
the degree to which a person is exposed to the English
language and the degree to which a person uses the
English language. Social interactions, including travel,
migration, and contacts with foreigners, reflects the
degree to which a person travels, has migrated, or is in
contact with foreigners. Global / foreign mass media
exposure refers to the degree to which a person is
exposed to foreign or global television, literature such
as magazines or books, and other types of media.
Openness to and desire to emulate global consumer
culture corresponds to the degree to which a person
admires the lifestyles of other countries and is likely to
desire ownership of consumption symbols from other
countries. Finally, self-identification with global
consumer culture is the degree of self-ascribed
membership in or outright identification with a global
consumer culture.
Intention to adopt the Internet is conceptualized
as an intention to adopt a behavioral category (a set of
actions). Each action was measured using Ajzen and
Fishbein’s [18, pp. 46-47] standard 2-item intention
instrument; however the questions were qualified with
a time limit of six months. Each action in this
behavioral category corresponds to the use of an
Internet application. An Internet application is any
application which requires an Internet connection to
function. The applications are grouped under four
formative dimensions: Communication, Entertainment,
Education, and Transaction.
translation of the Arabic survey was then conducted to
ensure that the survey was accurate as translated [1].
Some corrections were thus made to increase the
accuracy of the initial translation. The back translation
was performed by a university translation professor.
An added linguistic check was then performed by a
third person on the corrected Arabic survey and the
final adjustments were made.
Because we wanted to reach the general
population of two specific ethnic groups, we went
through social clubs and associations. The Chechen
sample obtained for this study was through a “cold
call” to a charity organization which agreed to
distribute 150 surveys. As 140 surveys were returned,
out of which 136 were useable, the response rate for
this first group was 91%. The Chechen sample was
composed of 57% female with an age distribution
mostly evenly distributed between 16 years of age up
to 41 years of age and above, with a slight
concentration in the age group of 17 to 20 years old
(22%). Most survey respondents had bachelor degrees
(46%) and there were approximately as many single
respondents as married respondents.
The Circassian sample obtained was through a
contact with an administrative volunteer of a social
club. The club agreed to distribute 300 surveys of
which 90 were returned blank, and 174 were completed
out of which 171 were useable, which gives a response
rate of 57% for the second group. The majority of
respondents were male (57%) with the highest
concentration of respondents from the 17 to 20 year old
group. The majority of this sample also had bachelor
degrees (53%); however, most of this group was single
(89%). Therefore, the overall response rate was 68%
and the total sample size was 307 respondents.
5. Results1
Structural equation modeling was used to validate
the research model. To this effect, a component-based
technique, PLS, was chosen for its robustness as it is
much less exacting with regard to the size of the
sample and the distribution of residuals than
covariance structure analysis techniques such as
LISREL, EQS and Amos [34]. PLS is also more apt to
handle measurement models that include endogenous
“formative” constructs [35]. Given their composite and
multidimensional nature, all four constructs in the
research model (Figure 1), are modeled as being
formative rather than reflective [36]. A formative
4.2 Data collection
The population targeted for the study was the
general public, all Arabic speakers. A first version of
the questionnaire was first constructed in English,
based on the literature as presented above, and pretested, which led to no changes in the cultural
identification constructs or the Internet adoption
construct. No further pre-testing was deemed
necessary. The questionnaire was then translated into
classical Arabic by a native Arabic speaker who was
also a fluent English language speaker. A back
1
In the results section, acronyms are used to simplify the
presentation. AGC: Acculturation to the global culture, NID:
National identification, EID: Ethnic identification, and IAI: Intention
to adopt the Internet.
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support their convergent validity [40]. Discriminant
construct is composed of many indicators that each
validity is confirmed if the shared variance between an
captures a different aspect; hence changes in these
indicator and another indicator (i.e. the squared
indicators bring or “cause” change in their underlying
correlation between the two) is less than each
construct [37]. More precisely, they are modeled here
component's AVE value [41]. This proved to be the
as second-order formative constructs derived from ten,
case for all indicators.
five, five and four formative indicators respectively,
each indicator being itself a first-order reflective
construct.
5.1. Assessment of the measurement model
A preliminary step in the data analysis aimed at
assessing the unidimensionality, internal consistency,
The second step in the data analysis consists in
convergent validity and discriminant validity of these
simultaneously estimating with PLS the measurement
indicators (first-order constructs) so that each can be
and theoretical models. The psychometric properties of
treated as a single distinct factor when testing the
the four construct measures are thus assessed within
research model, and a valid score for each factor can be
the context of the structural model. Given that the
obtained by averaging its corresponding item scores
usual reliability and validity criteria do not apply to a
[38]. Employing the PLS Graph (version 3.1) software,
formative construct [36], one must first verify that
a PLS confirmatory factor analysis of the items used to
there is no multicollinearity among the indicators that
operationalize the formative indicators was thus
form such a construct [42]. This is verified with the
initially conducted for each of the four constructs.
variance-inflation-factor (VIF), the guideline being that
Unidimensionality was assessed by examining the
this statistics should not be greater than 3.3 for any
strength of item loadings [39]. As these four initial
formative indicator [43]. As can be seen in Tables 1 to
analyses showed a few items to load poorly on their
4, this is true for all constructs’ indicators.
corresponding indicator, these items were removed and
Formative indicator validity is confirmed by a
the factor analyses were rerun. As indicated in Tables 1
weight that is significant and above the 0.10 threshold.
to 4, this led to the removal of seven items (out of 64)
However, Cenfetelli et Basselier [44] recommend
for the AGC indicators, four (out of 38) for NID, one
examining the loading” (λ) of a formative indicator
(out of 40) for EID and two (out of 32) for IAI.
when its weight (γ) is weak or non-significant, so as
Internal consistency was assessed with the
not to underestimate its contribution to the construct’s
composite reliability coefficient (c.r.), that is, the ratio
content validity. In the case of the AGC construct, four
of construct variance to the sum of construct and error
(of ten) formative indicators have weights and loadings
variance. The 0.85 - 0.98 range obtained for the
that are both non-significant and weak (Table 1).
coefficient values, well above the required 0.70 level,
Hence these four indicators are candidates for removal
confirms the internal consistency of the formative
as they show no contribution to the AGC measure. In
indicators [39]. Convergent validity is confirmed by
similar fashion, three (of five), one (of five) and two
looking at the average variance extracted (AVE), i.e.,
(of four) indicators are candidates for removal from the
the proportion of variance not due to measurement
NID, EID and IAI measures respectively (Tables 2-4).
error. Here, AVE values greater than 0.50 for all
indicators save for IAI for communication at 0.49,
Table 1. Validity of acculturation to the global culture (AGC) as a formative construct
Formative indicators of AGC (initial/final no. of items)
c.r.a
AVEb
VIFc
weight (γ)
loading (λ)
Cosmopolitanism (6/6)
[removed]
English language use and exposure (12/8)
Social interaction (6/5)
Exposure to multinationals’ marketing 7/6)
[removed]
[removed]
Openness to the global culture (3/3)
Self-identification with global culture (6/5)
Global mass media exposure – America (6/6)
Global mass media exposure – Mideast (6/6)
Global mass media exposure – Asia (6/6)
[removed]
Global mass media exposure – Europe (6/6)
0.94
0.96
0.85
0.88
0.91
0.92
0.90
0.92
0.93
0.92
0.74
0.65
0.54
0.54
0.78
0.69
0.59
0.65
0.70
0.67
1.21
1.33
1.36
1.25
1.15
1.54
1.79
1.23
1.29
1.72
-0.14
0.50***
0.10
-0.01
0.06
0.28
0.12
-0.34*
-0.15
0.32**
0.05
0.80***
0.40***
0.22*
0.23
0.56**
0.61***
-0.35
-0.15
0.57***
composite reliability
average variance extracted
c variance inflation factor
*: p < 0.05 **: p < 0.01 ***: p < 0.001
a
b
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Table 2. Validity of national identification (NID) as a formative construct
Formative indicators of NID (initial/final no. of items)
c.r.
AVE
VIF
National language use (12/8)
National media usage and exposure (5/5)
National interpersonal relationships (5/5)
Desire to maintain national culture (11/11)
Economy, territory and legal (5/5)
0.92
0.88
0.93
0.97
0.92
0.62
0.60
0.72
0.72
0.69
1.05
1.14
1.55
1.77
1.09
*: p < 0.05
[removed]
[removed]
[removed]
weight (γ)
-0.19
0.98***
-0.20
0.19
-0.01
loading (λ)
-0.03
0.97***
0.07
0.35*
0.12
***: p < 0.001
Table 3. Validity of ethnic identification (EID) as a formative construct
Formative indicators of EID (initial/final no. of items)
c.r.
AVE
VIF
Ethnic language use (12/12)
Ethnic media usage and exposure (5/5)
Ethnic interpersonal relationships (5/5)
Desire to maintain ethnic culture (11/11)
Religious affiliation (7/6)
0.98
0.93
0.94
0.95
0.87
0.79
0.73
0.75
0.64
0.54
1.23
1.22
1.36
1.41
1.06
*: p < 0.05
**: p < 0.01
[removed]
weight (γ)
0.56***
-0.61
-0.08
-0.51**
0.46***
loading (λ)
0.33*
-0.50
-0.36**
-0.52***
0.47***
***: p < 0.001
Table 4. Validity of intention to adopt the internet (IAI) as a formative construct
Formative indicators of IAI (initial/final no. of items)
c.r.
AVE
VIF
weight (γ)
IAI for Communication (14/12)
IAI for Entertainment (4/4)
IAI for Education (4/4)
IAI for Transaction (10/10)
0.92
0.90
0.90
0.94
0.49
0.68
0.70
0.62
1.64
1.19
1.34
1.56
0.84*
0.43*
0.00
-0.20
*: p < 0.05
[removed]
[removed]
loading (λ)
0.91***
0.71***
0.35*
0.38
***: p < 0.001
(see Figure 2). While PLS does not provide model fit
indices, the performance of the structural model can be
ascertained by the strength and significance of the path
coefficients and by the proportion of construct variance
(R2) that is explained [41]. Moreover, one should
consider as truly significant only those path
coefficients greater than 0.20, as PLS tends to
underestimate structural paths when compared with
covariance structure-based techniques such as LISREL
or EQS [36].
The first result of assessing the structural model
allows us to conclude that hypothesis 1a, referring to
the negative influence of an individual’s level of
National Identification (NID) upon his or her
Acculturation to the Global Culture (AGC) is
supported (β = -0.443, p < 0.01). Hypotheses 1b
referring to the direct negative influence of NID upon
the individual’s Intention to Adopt the Internet (IAI) is
not supported however (β = 0.009, p > 0.10). The
influence of NID on IAI is thus indirect only, that is,
through its influence on AGC. Hypothesis 2a, referring
The last property to be verified is discriminant
validity, showing the extent to which each construct in
the research model is unique and different from the
others. In the case of formative constructs, the fact that
each shares less than 50% variance with any other
construct (inter-construct correlation inferior to 0.70),
as seen in Table 5, is evidence of discriminant validity
[37].
Table 5: Inter-construct correlation
Construct
1. Accultur. to global culture
1.
2.
3.
4.
-
2. National identification
-0.51
-
3. Ethnic identification
-0.36
0.25
-
4. Intent. to adopt the Internet
0.35
-0.18
-0.30
-
5.2. Assessment of the structural model
The research hypotheses are tested by assessing
the path coefficients (β) estimated by the PLS software
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to the negative influence of an individual’s level of
Ethnic Identification (EID) upon his or her AGC is
supported (β = -0.246, p < 0.05). Hypothesis 2b,
referring to the direct positive influence of EID on IAI,
is supported (β = 0.201, p < 0.10). Hypothesis 3
referring to the positive influence of AGC upon IAI, is
also supported (β = 0.283, p < 0.01). Overall, these
results provide conclusive evidence of the research
model’s empirical validity as four out of five research
hypotheses were confirmed and as a significant
percentage of variance was explained for both
endogenous constructs, that is, 31% for AGC and 16%
for IAI.
This increase is due to the fact that older
individuals tend to be less acculturated to the global
culture, whereas single (as opposed to married,
widowed or divorced) individuals show a stronger
intention to adopt the Internet.6.
Discussion
This research illustrates the importance of
investigating the impact of cultural influences on IT
adoption. In particular, it confirms the appropriateness
for IS research of adopting a more dynamic view of
culture than Hofstede’s concept of national culture. An
initial model wherein both national identification and
ethnic identification were hypothesized to have a direct
effect on the intention to adopt the Internet was first
proposed. A negative relationship was found between
ethnic identification and the intention to adopt the
Internet dependent construct. However, no such
relationship was found for national identification.
This finding is an important one because it
contrasts two important dimensions of the cultural
identification felt by an individual. It appears that an
ethnic identification is more deeply anchored in
individuals than a national identification might be.
Ethnic identification is reflected in individuals through
the use of their ethnic language, the use and exposure
to the media from their ethnic group, the identification
with - and desire to - maintain their ethnic culture, and
their religious affiliation within the ethnic group.
Ethnic identification thus seems to constitute a deeper
layer of culture than national identification, as revealed
by its influence on an individual’s intention to adopt
information technology.
When addressing this finding from an IT adoption
perspective, it implies that the intent to adopt a new
technology is affected by the extent to which
individuals are attached to their basic values. This
intent may be enhanced or inhibited dependent upon
the individual viewing the new technology as being in
accordance with his or her ethnic values. In this
research, both Chechen and Circassian ethnic
identifications were found to inhibit the intention to
adopt the Internet whereas identification with the
Jordanian nation had no such influence. One may
surmise in this case that individuals who more strongly
identify with their ethnic group are more incline to
refrain adopting a new technology, notwithstanding an
environment that pushes them to do so. More
specifically, Chechen or Circassian individuals who
feel a stronger sense of cultural identification with their
ethnic group show less interest for any new
technological
forms
of
communication
or
entertainment, as their ethnic group provides them with
sufficient relational support.
Figure 2. Assessment of the
initial structural model (PLS, n= 307)
To further confirm the validity of the preceding results,
the structural model was revised and reassessed after
removing the non-significant formative indicators and
the non-significant path from NID to IAI initially
hypothesized (H1b), and adding control variables
(respondents’ age, education level, marital status) as
determinants of the endogenous constructs, AGC and
IAI. As shown in Figure 3, the results of testing the
revised model remain essentially the same in terms of
path coefficients, with a 6% and 3% increase in the
proportion of variance explained for AGC and IAI.
Figure 3. Assessment of the
revised structural model (PLS, n = 307)
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2847
the stage for further research in cultural identification
and Internet adoption, or even IT adoption in general.
One possibility of furthering this line of research is to
use a more sophisticated measure of normative beliefs
which also considers the motivation of a person to
comply with the social pressures of normative behavior
[46]. The theoretical premises of the research could
also be extended by using for instance Venkatesh and
Davis’ [27] unified theory of acceptance and use of
technology. Finally, there may be other possibilities of
using the dynamic view of culture in trying to further
understand the IT adoption and appropriation process.
Another important result of this research is that
both the national and ethnic identifications of an
individual were found to significantly and negatively
influence this individual’s level of acculturation to the
global culture. In other words, the stronger their
national and ethnic cultural identities, the less inclined
these individuals will be to identify themselves with
the new global culture associated with the globalization
phenomenon, and in particular with the new
information technology “push” exemplified by the
emergence of social media. Here again, one may
surmise that national and ethnic cultural values and
beliefs operate at a deeper cultural level, and thus
anchor individuals who share these values in resisting
the pressures put upon them to conform to the
emerging information technology-based global culture.
Now, despite the levels of national and ethnic
cultural identification reported by the respondents to
this survey study, further results show that when these
individuals are more exposed to - and use - the English
language as well as the global mass media, and when
they travel more to foreign countries and thus interact
with different national and ethnic cultures, their intent
to adopt the Internet for communication and
entertainment purposes is greater. This would confirm
that the Internet has become a tool among others to
extend one’s capacity to communicate with others and
to entertain oneself. Being exposed to other cultures on
a regular basis would lower the cultural barriers to
change. And for Chechen and Circassian individuals in
Jordan, this would be even truer of younger
individuals.
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Results obtained from two different ethnic groups
within the same emerging country provide a better
understanding of the role played by cultural influences
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cultural constructs and the development of the
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