Analyzing National Differences in IT Adoption Between Culturally Close Countries - A Conceptual Model

Cross-cultural research in IT adoption has so far most often concentrated on disparities in IT adoption between countries with highly different culture profiles. Instead, we argue that there are also differences between cultural closely related countries (which, e.g., are geographically close and share the same language) which need to be understood. The question raises whether the dimensions of culture applied in prior literature to analyze IT adoption in highly distinct cultures are sufficient for explaining the differences in a close culture context as well or whether a more differentiated model of cultural dimensions has to be drawn. Based on indicative results from a three-country comparison within Central Europe, we find substantial differences in adoption drivers (Perceived Usefulness, Perceived Ease of Use) which seem to be impacted by “microcultural” disparities. As a consequence, we develop a conceptual model based on human values and cross-national differences in IT adoption which will allow us to analyze and explain these differences in future research.