Cross-cultural Effects Research Articles

Technological innovation capacity of MNEs in China: studying the cross-cultural effects

ABSTRACT This study investigates how home country cultural dimensions influence the technological innovation capacity (TIC) of multinational enterprises (MNEs) in China. Drawing on Hofstede’s cultural framework, we examine five key dimensions of national culture in relation to TIC indicators, including patents, R&D centres, and foreign direct investment. We also consider how the cultural distance between home and host countries moderates these relationships. Data were collected from a sample of prominent MNEs in China across diverse home countries and industries. Using structural equation modelling, results reveal significant positive effects of power distance, collectivism, and long-term orientation on TIC. However, uncertainty avoidance and masculinity have no significant impact. Cultural distance positively moderates the effects of power distance and uncertainty avoidance, but not other dimensions. These findings contribute new insights into how home country culture shapes MNEs’ development of innovation capacity abroad. The results have key implications for research integrating culture and innovation in international business.

Sensory attributes and quality perception of red natural wines: a comparative study in Spain and France

Although the definition of natural wine remains contested and still lacks official recognition, it can be broadly described as a wine made with organic or biodynamic grapes without oenological additives in the cellar and minimal intervention in all winemaking stages. Despite growing interest in natural wines, uncertainty prevails about their sensory and quality attributes among both consumers and experts. In light of this research gap, this study aims to determine, first, if there are specific sensory dimensions allowing to differentiate natural wine as a wine category from conventional wines; second, if this sensory dimension affects the perception of the quality; and third, to characterise the physicochemical differences in terms of basic oenological parameters between natural wines and their conventional counterparts. To do so, 24 red wines (12 self-defined as natural and 12 conventional wines) were sensory and chemically characterised. The sensory evaluation was first carried out by winemakers from Spain. It consisted of a descriptive task (labelled sorting task) followed by a quality evaluation under two conditions: with and without information regarding the production method. A second panel of French experts carried out the same quality assessment, also with and without information. The aim was to find out whether expectations existed linked to each type of wine and to explore potential cross-cultural effects. The results of the labelled sorting task showed that natural wines tended to be different from conventional wines, but the difference was not clear-cut. However, natural wines were perceived to be of lower quality than their conventional counterparts, both with and without the information provided, regardless of the origin of winemakers. Results of the chemical analysis showed that natural wines presented higher values for volatile and total acidity and turbidity, while they had lower values for total and free sulphur. The study points to the existence of sensory dimensions with an impact on overall quality associated with the production method.

Moral Dilemma: The Exam Dilemma

In daily life, it is widespread for people to encounter numerous moral dilemmas, which is, in fact, a decision-making process—in which people often make different choices for a variety of reasons, making it a "moral dilemma" that is hard to decide rather than a " fact" that everyone agrees on. Thus, a specific moral dilemma (the exam dilemma) is demonstrated: a girl named Lisa found that her best friend cheated in a critical exam while her sister took part in it. The question is whether or not to report the friend, as reporting the friend could cause everyone to retake the exam (which could be harsher). In this case, two experiments are designed to obtain data from different influencing variables, including age, cultural context, marital status, etc. Based on this situation, this article will elaborate on some hypothetical factors and different theoretical perspectives that could be argued to be responsible for the deviation of the results of the two experiments, including (a) Morality as Cooperation; (b) age; (c) cross-cultural effects; (d) Erikson’s Theory of Psychosocial Development; (e) marriage; and finally the aspect of (f) deontology and utilitarianism. This article will analyse what they are from these perspectives and why they can be a possible factor in the final result.

Cross-cultural effects of reminiscence therapy on life satisfaction and autobiographical memory of older adults: a pilot study across Mexico and Spain

BackgroundThere are increasing reports on the cognitive and emotional benefits of positive reminiscence therapy in older people. The objective of this study is to assess the differential improvement of the quality of life for older people in different vital situations (three different types of aging) and from different countries by implementing a positive reminiscence therapy program (REMPOS).MethodsThe participants were 144 older adults above the age of 65, 77 participants from Spain (45 experimental groups, 32 control groups) and 67 from Mexico (34 experimental groups, 33 control groups). The participants were recruited from nursing and retirement homes. A factorial randomized design with pre–post measurement with three independent variables: country (Mexico, Spain), condition (experimental, control), and types of aging (healthy aging, HA., mild cognitive impairment, MCI., Alzheimer’s disease, AD). The experimental groups received REMPOS therapy and control groups received standard cognitive stimulation program. The quality of life was measured with the Life Satisfaction Inventory for adults (LSI-A) and autobiographical memory test (AMT) before and after REMPOS therapy.ResultsThe REMPOS intervention showed significantly higher positive effects than the control condition on the recall of specific positive memories across countries and types of aging, except for the Spanish MCI group. Life satisfaction in the Alzheimer’s and MCI group only improved with REMPOS in the Mexican sample.ConclusionsThe REMPOS effects showed generalizable effects across countries, but the cross-cultural differences shown highlight the necessity of running studies to test those differential effects.

CEO overconfidence and firm performance: A meta-analytic review and future research agenda

Abstract We provide a meta-analytic examination of the CEO overconfidence–firm performance relationship. Our results support a positive relationship between these focal variables. Drawing from trait activation theory and national cultural differences literatures, we find that cross-cultural effects moderate the focal relationship. More specifically, we find that the CEO overconfidence–firm performance relationship is stronger in high assertive, low institutional collectivistic, low in-group collectivistic, high future-oriented, high gender egalitarian, high performance-oriented, low power distance, and low uncertainty avoidance cultures. Consistent with the resource orchestration literature, we also find that entrepreneurial orientation mediates the focal relationship between CEO overconfidence and firm performance. Taken together, our results present a more nuanced picture of the CEO trait–firm performance relationship. In the future, researchers may consider examining additional CEO traits as well as additional contextual factors including internal, as well as environmental, factors.

Valuing Your Patient's Opinion

Online reviews have a continuing impact across all industries. Even industries with highly skilled workers are affected by online reviews, despite large gaps in experience and skill between reviewers and reviewees. The authors conducted a study amongst physicians in Nevada and China to measure the perception of online patient reviews from the perspective of healthcare providers to explore whether this skill gap affected the perception of online reviews. The authors distributed and collected survey responses from over 200 physicians and used structural equation modeling techniques to evaluate the relationships. These findings show that physician perception of online patient reviews is partially mediated by power distance, direct effects exist between the relationships identified in our model, and that cross-cultural effects are present between physician responses across Nevada and China. This study expands the existing work in the field of review evaluations by operationalizing social-psychological distance into the construct of power distance within the context of healthcare.

Prototypes in emotion concepts

Abstract Although we have gained great insight into the variety of cultural influences on emotion concept prototypes from a plethora of studies examining such cross-cultural effects, there has been relatively little academic focus on the nature of emotion concept prototypes within a cultural perspective. Our discussion of the nature of emotion concept prototypes centres on essentialist versus non-essentialist principles. We argue that at a general, decontextualised level, essentialist and non-essentialist principles predict similarity in the structure of emotion concept prototypes. We further argue that context is central in assessments of the nature of emotion concept prototypes from a cultural perspective. Rather than asking how emotion concept prototypes differ as a consequence of how certain influences might vary from one culture to another, a key question is whether emotion concept prototypes vary in different contexts within and between cultures and what this might inform us about the nature of emotion concept prototypes.

Cross-Cultural Effects and Attention in Active Inference

Cross-Cultural Effects and Attention in Active Inference

Cross-cultural effects on drivers’ use of explicit and implicit communicative cues to predict intentions of other road users

This study explored whether British and Malaysian drivers differ in their use of explicit (turn signals) and implicit (e.g., vehicle position, speed) communicative cues when judging the intention of other road users. Participants viewed videoclips of car drivers and motorcyclists who either continued straight or turned into a junction. The clips terminated immediately prior to any manoeuvre being made and participants were asked to judge whether or not the vehicle would turn. Explicit signals (turn indicators) were manipulated such that valid signals were made 50% of the time. Although both groups of drivers were more accurate on validly signalled trials, British drivers were more affected by signal validity, performing particularly poorly on invalid trials. British drivers were better at judging intentions of cars than motorcycles, whereas Malaysians performed better for motorcycles than cars on invalid trials. We conclude that British drivers heavily rely on explicit signals when judging intention whereas Malaysian drivers are more attuned to implicit signals. Familiarity with vehicle type may also impact performance, especially where cues are ambiguous. Implications for driving abroad and autonomous vehicles are discussed.

Exploring determinants of the green smart technology product adoption from a sustainability adapted value-belief-norm perspective

This study proposes a novel theoretical framework to explore the impact of sustainability-adapted value belief-norm factors on green smart technology product adoption using green smartwatches as an example, considering cross-cultural effects in emerging markets. A total of 829 responses were analyzed using the partial least squares structural equation model and multigroup analysis. The results imply the following:1) personal environmental beliefs of sustainability and perceived green value of sustainability (PGV) significantly affect attitude toward green smart technology product (ATT); 2) personal norm of sustainability and PGV significantly affect the subjective norm; 3) ATT and the subjective norm affect green smart technology product adoption intention (SAI); 4) cross-cultural effects moderate the relationships in the two groups; especially, the Chinese group has a stronger relationship between personal environmental beliefs of sustainability and ATT, while the South African group has a stronger relationship between the subjective norm and SAI; and 5) the Chinese group also has a stronger relationship between PGV and ATT with the highest difference between the groups. This study enriches the theories of value-belief-norm and Hofstede's Cultural Framework, and contributes to propose the green smart technology products adoption theoretical framework revealing cross-culture effects with empirical testing in emerging markets. This study also provides references for the corresponding enterprises and other stakeholders for decisions and policy-making. Finally, implications are discussed comprehensively for both research and practice.

Farmers’ Strategies for Drought Adaptation Based on the Indigenous Knowledge System: The Case of Iran

Abstract Considering the widespread and cross-cultural effects of climate on various production sectors, environmental factors, and human societies, drought is nowadays regarded as one of the most important environmental challenges of the current century. Because of their close relationship with the natural environment and their limited opportunities, rural communities have long been exposed to drought, and farmers in dry and semiarid regions have been applying measures to adapt to and cope with it. The main purpose of this study was to investigate and identify farmers’ native methods to reduce the effects of drought. The research method was phenomenological and survey based. The population included villagers in Kangavar County, Kermanshah Province, in Iran. Sampling was done by the targeted and snowflake method. The data collection instrument was an in-depth interview in the qualitative section and a self-designed questionnaire in the quantitative section. The results showed that farmers used different measures for coping with and adapting to drought, including using no-tillage farming; uprooting trees with high water demands; hope and oblation; mulching; reducing, changing, and/or mixing livestock types (reaction behaviors); diversifying the sources of livelihoods; changing cropping patterns; correcting irrigation practices; changing planting time; seeding before the drought; and using water storage techniques (fractional behaviors). In addition, farmers had a weaker capability to cope with the environmental, economic, and social vulnerabilities than with drought. This presented the vulnerability of farmers to drought in all economic, social, and environmental spheres.

Cross-cultural Evidence of the Relationship between Subjective Well-being and Job Performance: A Meta-analysis

This meta-analysis examined the differences across countries/regions, and the moderator effects of the study type (cross-sectional vs. longitudinal) on the SWB-job performance relationship. The database consists of 78 independent samples (N = 18,853), located through electronic and manual searches. The results showed that overall SWB (ρ = .37), cognitive SWB (ρ = .27), and affective SWB (ρ = .37) are predictors of job performance. Evidence of cross-cultural effects showed that the magnitude of the SWB-job performance relationship was larger in the Asia-Pacific region than in Europe and the US-Canada region (Asia-Pacific ρ = .41, Europe ρ = .33, USA ρ = .23). Moderator analyses indicated that, on average, cross-sectional (concurrent) and longitudinal (predictive) studies showed similar validity (ρ = .33 vs. ρ = .32). Lastly, we discuss the main contributions, and some practical implications and some limitations of the study are mentioned.

Cross-Cultural Effects of the COVID-19 Pandemic on Willingness to Share Possessions

Cross-Cultural Effects of the COVID-19 Pandemic on Willingness to Share Possessions

Cross-cultural effects of COVID-19 on higher education learning and teaching practice: A case study from Greece

COVID-19 has greatly impacted all aspects of our everyday lives. A global pandemic of this magnitude, even as we now emerge from strict measures such as lockdowns and await the potential for a 'new tomorrow' with the arrival of vaccines, will certainly have long-lasting consequences. We will have to adapt and learn to live in a different way. Accordingly, teaching and learning have also been greatly impacted. Changes to academic curricula have had tremendous cross-cultural effects on higher education students. This study will investigate, by way of focus groups comprised of students studying at Greek universities during the pandemic, the cross-cultural effects that this 'global experience' has had on higher education, and particularly on students in Greek universities. The data collection tools are interviews and observations gathered from focus groups.

Cross-Cultural Effects in Adoption Patterns of a Mobile Coaching Service for studies

This study applied an adoption model, inspired by the Technology Acceptance Model (TAM) and Multipurpose Information Appliances Adoption Model (MIAAM), to compare key variables explaining adoption patterns of a mobile coaching app that guides and encourages students via a technology-based platform. This article constitutes a pioneer effort to compare adoption behaviors across a developed country and an emerging country (France and Mexico) with differences in level of use of mobile apps. A multi-group structural equation modelling approach was used to test the causal structure of the conceptual model. Results confirmed significant differences and similarities across samples and identified critical factors. Perceived usefulness was found to be the most important driver with mediating effects. Organizations implementing coaching services with an improved perceived usefulness could boost their adoption rates.

Editorial: The cross-cultural effects of COVID-19 on higher education learning and teaching practice

The novel coronavirus pandemic (COVID-19) that began in the late part of 2019 in Wuhan, China has created significant challenges for higher education. Since the inception of COVID-19 research and practice in the higher education discipline, there has continued to be a focus on exploring its effects in localised contexts. The place-based context, while useful in enhancing individual practice, limits the potential to examine the pandemic from a broader lens. There are for many of us, shared examples of good practice that can serve to collectively improve the higher education sector during and beyond the pandemic. This Special Issue came about as an effort to reinvigorate collaboration across jurisdictional boundaries in a discipline environment characterised by exponential growth in local case studies. This Editorial explores the role that we can play in supporting collaboration among researchers as both a process and end-product to support innovation in the university learning and teaching domain. We believe this Special Issue provides a curated cornerstone for the future of COVID-19 in higher education research. This work, contributed from each corner of the globe seeks to understand not just what is occurring now, but what might occur in the future. We find inspiration in the manuscripts within this Special Issue as they provide innovative responses to the pandemic and opportunities for us to collectively grow to better support academics, students, employers, and communities. We hope you find benefit in progressing through this knowledge dissemination project.

Cross-cultural effects of COVID-19 on higher education learning and teaching practice: A case study from Greece

COVID-19 has greatly impacted all aspects of our everyday lives. A global pandemic of this magnitude, even as we now emerge from strict measures such as lockdowns and await the potential for a ‘new tomorrow’ with the arrival of vaccines, will certainly have long-lasting consequences. We will have to adapt and learn to live in a different way. Accordingly, teaching and learning have also been greatly impacted. Changes to academic curricula have had tremendous cross-cultural effects on higher education students. This study will investigate, by way of focus groups comprised of students studying at Greek universities during the pandemic, the cross-cultural effects that this ‘global experience’ has had on higher education, and particularly on students in Greek universities. The data collection tools are interviews and observations gathered from focus groups. Keywords: Cross-cultural effects; COVID-19; international students; higher education teaching and learning; global education; higher education; online education.

Cross-Cultural Effects in Adoption Patterns of a Mobile Coaching Service for Studies

This study applied an adoption model, inspired by the Technology Acceptance Model (TAM) and Multipurpose Information Appliances Adoption Model (MIAAM), to compare key variables explaining adoption patterns of a mobile coaching app that guides and encourages students via a technology-based platform. This article constitutes a pioneer effort to compare adoption behaviors across a developed country and an emerging country (France and Mexico) with differences in level of use of mobile apps. A multi-group structural equation modelling approach was used to test the causal structure of the conceptual model. Results confirmed significant differences and similarities across samples and identified critical factors. Perceived usefulness was found to be the most important driver with mediating effects. Organizations implementing coaching services with an improved perceived usefulness could boost their adoption rates.

Cross-cultural effects on graphical password memorability and design

PurposeThis study aims to examine the impact of cultural familiarity with images on the memorability of recognition-based graphical password (RBG-P).Design/methodology/approachThe researchers used a between-group design with two groups of 50 participants from China and the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, using a webtool and two questionnaires to test two hypotheses in a four-week long study.FindingsThe results showed that culture has significant effects on RBG-P memorability, including both recognition and recall of images. It was also found that the login success rate depreciated quickly as time progressed, which indicates the memory decay and its effects on the visual memory.Research limitations/implicationsCollectively, these results can be used to design universal RBG-Ps with maximal password deflection points. For better cross-cultural designs, designers must allow users from different cultures to personalize their image selections based on their own cultures.Practical implicationsThe RBG-P interfaces developed without consideration for users’ cultures may lead to the construction of passwords that are difficult to memorize and easy to attack. Thus, the incorporation of cultural images is indispensable for improving the authentication posture.Social implicationsThe development of RBG-P with cultural considerations will make it easy for the user population to remember the password and make it more expensive for the intruder to attack.Originality/valueThis study provides an insight for RBG-P developers to produce a graphical password platform that increases the memorability factor.

Content Analysis of Hospital Reviews From Differing Sources: Does Review Source Matter?

Social media has had an impact on how patients find and evaluate medical professionals and their experiences of modern healthcare. Qualitative research in healthcare has increased its focus on social media. The present study examined 497 reviews of hospitals in the Pittsburgh area across three websites: Google, Yelp, and Healthgrades. Using computerized content analysis tools (CATA), we analyzed positive and negative comments to identify key themes. Key themes and words included “doctor,” “hospital,” “staff,” and “time.” These findings highlight the importance of medical staff to patient experience. Results indicated that Yelp had the lowest average rating. CATA also revealed that the central term for Google reviews was “hospital,” for Healthgrades reviews it was “doctor,” and the central term for Yelp reviews was “patient.” These central terms reflect the focus of each website. The present study highlights the importance of healthcare professionals understanding the source of reviews and being cautious about how social media comments are used in decision-making about the practice. Future research should try to expand this approach to other cities and countries to evaluate cross-cultural effects on social media comments.