Trust or Cultural Distance—Which Has More Influence in Global Information and Communication Technology (ICT) Adoption?

Abstract

Interpersonal trust (or simply trust) plays an important role in global information and communications technology (ICT) adoption. Similarly, cultural distance (CD) could also be an important factor. This article provides empirical evidence that trust matters in global ICT adoption, but not CD, after controlling for education and economy. This may provide a partial explanation as to why Asian tiger nations, despite their big cultural distance values were successful in phenomenal ICT/economic growth. Pooling data for three ICT products from multiple nations, it was found that trust is significant when ICT adoption is considered. It is possible that although the direct influence of CD on ICT adoption is not significant, CD may influence global ICT adoption indirectly.