Global use and access of social networking web sites: a national culture perspective

Abstract

Purpose– This study aims to investigate the role and effect of national culture on social networking web sites (SNWs) use and access across countries while controlling for socio-economic factors, specifically networked readiness, level of education and mobile penetration.Design/methodology/approach– Hofstede's multidimensional framework serves as the conceptual basis for the study. Hierarchical regressions are conducted to test the hypothesized effects of cultural dimensions beyond that of the control variables on the penetration of SNWs using a secondary dataset for 36 countries.Findings– The results provide supporting empirical evidence linking three of Hofstede's cultural dimensions to nations' SNWs use and access.Research limitations/implications– Limitations include the use of secondary data for a limited number of countries. Only three social-economic variables were included as controls on the relationship between culture and SNWs access and usage. Future research will benefit from examining other cultural frameworks (such as Hall's classifications) and potential factors such as a nation's demographic composition and their roles in adoption and diffusion of the SNWs. Further research is needed to validate the results by including more nations and employing time-series data of social media penetration and diffusion.Practical implications– Managerial implications are discussed with respect to formulating more effective online marketing strategies for brand engagement and promotional media choice by accommodating for cultural differences.Originality/value– The paper's original contribution stems from the fact that little can be found in the literature about the influence of national culture on the use of social media. It attempts to establish the importance of understanding cultural impact on consumers' SNWs adoption behavior across countries.