A Study of the Relationship Between Internet Diffusion and Culture

The unevenness in the diffusion rates of the Internet across nations is commonly referred to as the “digital divide.” Technological, economic and political factors are often mentioned as the primary contributing factors to this digital gap. However, there is sufficient evidence in support of the proposition that a nation’s culture also plays a role in how citizens adopt and use technology innovations. This paper examines the relationship between the cultural dimensions proposed by Hofstede and the Internet adoption rate of nations. Data from sixty-two countries are used to establish a regression model and the empirical results show that cultural traits such as “uncertainty avoidance” and “masculinity” index of a nation are significantly related to the nation’s Internet diffusion rate. These findings suggest that policy makers must also consider these national culture traits along with technological, economical, and political factors in setting national policies to promote Internet-related innovations.