Explaining Mobile Services Adoption between China and Developed Countries from a Cultural Perspective

Abstract

Little research has been done to explore the adoption of mobile information services from a cultural perspective. This research is designed to study mobile information services adoption from a cultural perspective. Based on the two cultural dimensions (individualism/collectivism, uncertainty avoidance), two research hypotheses are presented. To examine these hypotheses, an exploratory study is carried out with a mobile information service called Mobile Tourist Service Recommender (MTSR) system with both respondents from developed countries and China. According to the results, one research hypothesis is supported, while the other research hypothesis (H1) is not supported in this exploratory study. The findings indicate that the cultural dimensions play important roles in how mobile information services are used and adopted in two different cultural settings: culture in developed countries and the Chinese culture. The results also highlight the relevance of the cultural dimensions (individualism/collectivism, uncertainty avoidance) as the factors affecting the adoption of mobile information services.