Title: National culture and national adoption and use of mobile telephony

Authors: Rodney L. Stump, Wen Gong, Cristian Chelariu

Addresses: Department of Marketing, College of Business and Economics, Towson University, 8000 York Road, Towson, MD 21252-0001, USA. ' School of Business, Howard University, 2400 Sixth Street, NW, Washington, DC 20059, USA. ' Sawyer Business School, Suffolk University, 8 Ashburton Place, Boston, MA 02108-2770, USA

Abstract: The study investigates the effects of national culture on the five-year adoption growth rates of mobile telephones using both Hall|s cultural classifications and Hofstede|s multicultural framework. Results indicate that polychronic cultures are more conducive to the adoption of mobile telephones, as hypothesised. Individualism and uncertainty avoidance were also found to be negatively related to mobile adoption growth rates. Findings from the study provide insights into the role of national culture in explaining differences in the adoption rates and will help global marketers formulate more effective marketing and communication strategies by accommodating for cultural influences during the adoption/diffusion process.

Keywords: national culture; mobile phones; cell phones; adoption; Hofstede; Hall; cultural classifications; multicultural framework; adoption rates; cultural influences; individualism; uncertainty avoidance.

DOI: 10.1504/IJEB.2010.035296

International Journal of Electronic Business, 2010 Vol.8 No.4/5, pp.433 - 455

Published online: 21 Sep 2010 *

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