Innovation and Culture Influence on IT Adoption: A Hierarchical Analysis

In previous blog entries we have introduced La Salle Innova Institute research on Culture & IT adoption (see Culture and IT adoption). It is a remnant worry among researchers to find suitable models to explain better the influence of cultural values at an individual level and the adoption of new technologies in fast paced and dynamic technological environments.

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The works of Bagchi & Kirs (2009) shed some light on this research field by introducing Schwartz's (2003) cultural framework for studying culture at individual levels. In contrast, with other approaches based on individual measurement of the national level cultural dimensions developed by Hofstede (2001), the research line of Bagchi & Kirs (2009) proposes a new approximation to the individual culture values' measurement.

At La Salle Innova Institute, in a research project leaded by Laura Wong, we are contributing to this line of research by introducing the moderating effect of the innovation environment in the individual cultural values' influence on IT adoption. Using Archibugi & Colo (2005) IT innovation capabilities indicators (innovation capacity, ICT diffusion and technology transfer), we extend Bagchi & Kirs (2009) work by using Hierarchical Linear Models (HLM) techniques to study the effects of cultural values (at an individual level) and innovation environment (at a national level) to explain the IT adoption differences. Have you observed differences in IT adoption levels across countries? How would you explain such differences? References:

• Bagchi, K., Kirs, P. (2009). The Impact of Schwartz’s Cultural Value Types on ICT Use: A Multi-National Individual-Level Analysis, ICIS 2009 Proceedings, pp. 205.
• Archibugi, D., Coco, K. (2005). Measuring technological capabilities at the country level: A survey and a menu for choice. Research Policy 34, pp. 175–194.
• Hofstede, G., (2001). Culture’s Consequences: Comparing Values, Behaviors, institutions, and Organizations across Nations. 2nd Ed., Thousand Oaks: Sage Publications.
• Schwartz, S.H. (2003) A Proposal for Measuring Value Orientations across Nations, Chapter 7 in the Questionnaire Development Package of the European Social Survey, vol. 7, 2003