The Influence of Culture on Consumer-Oriented Electronic Commerce Adoption

ABSTRACT Consumer-oriented electronic commerce is a global phenomenon. However, while online transactions are readily accepted by consumers in some countries, in others consumers seem to be less accepting. This paper uses innovation adoption theory in combination with literature on culture and information technology to examine the question of whether culture influences consumers' intentions to purchase goods or services online. A multi-country survey was conducted to gather data in order to empirically investigate this question. Results indicate that national culture does influence intentions to purchase online. In addition to the direct impact, the influence of culture is also mediated by e-commerce beliefs. Keywords: electronic commerce, cultural differences, adoption, trust 1. Introduction Consumer-oriented electronic commerce is an increasingly global phenomenon as consumers worldwide turn to the Internet as a means for purchasing goods and services. While conducting transactions online is widely accepted in some countries, adoption of consumer-oriented e-commerce is lagging in others. A number of factors may contribute to this, including the impact of culture on information technology (IT) use and related beliefs regarding the technology and its use [Straub et al., 1997; Van Slyke et al., 2004]. Despite the dot-com collapse, online consumer spending continues to grow. According to a U.S. Department of Commerce report, in 2007 retail e-commerce sales amounted to over $126 billion, which was an increase of almost $20 billion over 2006 [Commerce 2009]. The growth of e-commerce is not limited to the United States. Other countries, both developed and developing, are seeing consumers embrace the Internet and e-commerce. For Journal of Electronic Commerce Research, VOL 11, NO 1, 2010 Page 31 example, Brazil currently has over 67 million Internet users, which represents a 1,200% increase from 2000 [InternetWorldStats 2009]. Despite the global growth in e-commerce, most consumer-oriented e-commerce practices and conventions were developed for use in Western cultures. If global e-commerce is to reach its potential, it is important to understand how culture impacts e-commerce use. In this paper, we use an innovation adoption perspective to investigate whether culture impacts consumer-oriented e-commerce adoption, given the impact of other factors known to influence e-commerce adoption. In addition, we consider the question of whether this impact is direct, or mediated by e-commerce beliefs, as stated in the following questions: Does the national culture of a consumer influence his or her intentions to purchase goods or services online? Does the national culture of a consumer influence his or her beliefs related to purchasing goods or services online? The results of our study will confirm the usefulness of using a composite view of culture in a study of information technology-related adoption. Further, we are able to demonstrate that culture has both direct and indirect impacts on intentions to make purchases online, and we are able to demonstrate the impact of culture on a specific set of beliefs that have been shown to influence intentions to make purchases online. 2. Background and Research Model In order to investigate the above research questions, we developed a research model shown in Figure 1. Hypothesis numbers are included in the figure. Note that we do not state formal hypotheses for some well-established paths, but we do include these paths in our analysis. The foundations for the model are innovation adoption theory and prior literature on culture's role in information technology (IT) adoption/use. Future use intention, rather than past use is employed as the dependent variable because we are interested in how current (at the time of survey administration) perceptions impact intentions to perform a behavior. The remainder of this section discusses the literature and theory underlying the model. …