Culture is defined as ‘‘the collective of programming of the mind
which distinguishes the members of one human group from another’’
([54], p. 260). Culture is viewed as humans’ mental ‘software’ that
affects how they think, feel and act [13]. It has a profound impact
at the national level, as it affects many aspects of a society.
Drawing on the notion of culture at the national level, Hofstede
(1983) proposes a theory that includes four cultural dimensions:
Power Distance, Individualism, Uncertainty Avoidance and Masculinity
[54]. This theory has been used by many IS and EC scholars to
examine the influence of national cultural differences on the
adoption of technology [17,54,65–68]. Countries with a low Power
Distance index are characterized by minimal power inequality and
interdependency between less and more powerful members
within the society, including between managers and employees.
By contrast, countries with a high Power Distance index accept
unequal power within the society and unequal rights between
members with different levels of power. Within organizations,
power is often centralized, and less powerful members respect and
obey their managers. In addition, the individualism index
determines how members of a society are interlinked and value
their social networks. Countries with a low individualism index
are more likely to conform to the values and beliefs of their social
groups. The Uncertainty Avoidance index determines a society’s
level of anxiety when addressing uncertainties and means of
reducing these uncertainties. Such anxiety affects the way that
members of a society express themselves within their group and
resolve conflicts. Countries with a low score on this dimension
tend to strive for harmony in the workplace and avoid confrontations.
Finally, in terms of the masculinity dimension, a society with
a low score tends to be more caring of others and focus more on
quality of life compared to a society with a high index on this
dimension. Understanding different national cultures helps
explain organizational culture and different attitudes toward
technology adoption and acceptance [66,68,69]. Therefore, it may
be useful to embed this theory within the TOE framework to help
explain the influence of organizational and environmental factors
on EC adoption in a culturally sensitive context in which culture is
expected to play an important role in shaping organizational
actions.