Cultural Differences, Information and Code Systems

Abstract

This paper explores an alternative way of framing information systems research on the role and impact of national culture. It argues that the widely accepted structural framework of Hofstede reduces interpretation to a simplistic categorical description which in many cases ignores differentiation within cultures. The alternative model suggests, that national culture can be better understood by seeking out the dominant codes that frame the discourse pervasive in a culture and understanding how that discourse affects the obvious social codes of ritual, custom and behavior and the textual codes which express the nature of that culture. This framework is applied to two different case studies — one in New Zealand and one in Thailand — to demonstrate its applicability.

MIDDLE-EAST.COM: Diffusion of the Internet and Online Shopping in Jordan and Turkey

“…Cultural research on technology diffusion is limited in outlook, being based largely on Hofstede's classic but decades-old studies which never developed individual-level perspectives of cultural factors that might influence adoption (cf., Corbitt, Peszynski, Inthanond, Hill & Thanasankit, 2004;Goodman, Press, Ruth & Rutowski, 1994;McCoy, Galetta & King, 2005). This paper contributes to an emerging body of literature in that regard by examining user perceptions of online shopping and Internet use in Middle Eastern nations using established constructs of media use, technological affinity, Internet involvement, computer self-efficacy and technology acceptance.…”