Product values, risk perception, privacy concerns, and cost-benefit trade-offs are traditionally investigated in business, economic, and psychological research. A countless number of theoretical and empirical studies dealing with these topics have been published over the last decades. For a survey see Brachinger and Weber (1997).
The vast majority of studies present results on the individual level without further aggregation.
Nevertheless, there is reason to assume that the cultural background systematically affects individuals’ perceptions of costs and benefits. Culture, as a determinant of personal values an
39 Since we focus on health-related issues – with a rather societal goal -, we decided not to include the cost side issues of significant service remuneration in our investigations. Money-related aspects were however incorporated in study 6, yet in a different context and solely for methodological purposes.
Jarvenpaa and Tractinsky, 1999) often refer to trust
s ceptions of
possible losses caused by the website offer (e.g. in terms of data disclosure, financial losses because
to diminish the prone to influence what is perceived as a benefit, what is perceived as a loss, and what is perceived to be the chances of either occurring.
Ko et al. (2004) showed, for example, that individuals’ cultural backgrounds affect how aware they are of specific risks (see below) which results in a culturally determined need for information. On the other hand, the few cross-cultural studies that were conducted in this field found little influence of culture on overall risk behaviour. It can be assumed that insignificant results were obtained in even a larger number of analyses, but were not published due to their insignificance.
Predictions of online shopping behaviour (e.g.,
model that disregard potential specific needs. They only emphasize the users’ per
product is not delivered or does not fulfil expected requirements). In Jarvenpaa’s and Tractinsky’s model the role of culture with regard to attitudinal variables is mixed. Culture was shown to directly affect trust, the antecedents of trust as well as perceived risk -which is an outcome of trust. On the other hand no link between culture and how much the purchased product was actually needed was found. Culture’s overall impact was also found to be limited (see also 3.2.1).
Further cross-cultural examinations in the context of online shopping focus on culturally adapted design as antecedents of trust and website loyalty (e.g., Cyr, et al., 2004). Nielsen (2000) ascribes the link between website design elements and loyalty to positive cognitive user experiences.
In contrast to the abundance of predictive analyses of online shopping behaviour, analyses of the utility and usage behaviour of online information services are rare - in particular with respect to cross-cultural differences. In addition, existing insight was gained almost exclusively from laboratory experiments using students as test-subjects (see also Davison, et al., 2002). Our research therefore represents a contribution towards bridging this gap. We gathered data about (a) cross-cultural differences during the use of (b) online information services, and (c) primarily obtained reactive and non-reactive data collection from the audience of an existing website.
In our analysis of resulting risk reduction strategies we analyse participants originating from a large number of countries as suggested in section 1.3.3.2.1. The reason behind this is
potential impact of situational and national particularities, thereby limiting the risk of sampling bias.
In our first two studies we focussed on the benefit website users got from visiting the website.
These investigations regarded differences in individual information need (and hence risk) before
risk on information search was investigated by a number of authors in the following years (Cox,
erceived risk, differentiating between functional, financial, social, and psychological risk. Functional risk
ether a product will perform as expected and financial risk denotes roduct or service ip with other people. In particular the latter two types of risk – social and psychological – are first indicators of the subjectivity of perceived risk. In fact,
oblems and their resolutions. Based on individuals’ culturally determined world views, divergences occur in the perceived risk of nuclear power and in attitudes
erences in risk perception and risk behaviour on the Internet are rare. A first important contribution was provided by Jarvenpaa & Tractinsky (1999) who visiting a website, and differences in the perceived utility of a website’s products and services.
Hereafter, “cost” perceptions of visiting a website are examined, namely in terms of data disclosure.
3.2.1 Culture and Perception of Risk through Information Deficit Prior to Visiting the Website (Benefit Side) We refer to established concepts and measures that are widely used in marketing or psychological research. Cunningham (1967) classifies perceived risk as the importance of potential negative consequences as well as the probability that these occur. As a result of this initial risk’s extent, individuals engage in various strategies to reduce their perceived risk. The influence of perceived 1967; Dowling and Staelin, 1994; Punj and Staelin, 1983; Srinivasan and Rathford, 1991; Sundaram and Ronald, 1998).
Jacoby and Kaplan (1972) introduced further facets of the multidimensional construct of p refers to the uncertainty of wh
the price-quality relationship; social and psychological risks express the harm a p might cause to one’s self-esteem or relationsh
risk “…is an inherently subjective construct because what is considered a loss and what its significance and its chance of occurring is particular to the person concerned.” (Brachinger and Weber, 1997).
Within the broader field of risk perception research, Gaenslen (1986) found cultural differences in the conceptualization of decision pr
towards that technology, as shown by Peters & Slovic (1996). Weber et al. (1998) emphasize the importance of insight into cross-cultural differences of risk perception for understanding investment behaviour or creating bargaining solutions in negotiation. However, the authors also point out that possible reasons for national differences are twofold: long-standing cultural values as well as current situational circumstances (e.g. economic reward of investments) are determinants.
Investigations of cross-cultural diff
incorporated perceived risk in his cross-cultural model of consumer trust in an internet store.
However, results from his sample of Australian, Israeli and Finnish students suggest little impact of
obtained in a study comparing American and Korean online-shopping behaviour (Ko, et al., 2004). Countries rging Individualism level. Both cultural groups exhibited analogous
3.2.2 Culture & Perception of Risk through Information Disclosure on the Website (Cost Side)
rs” (Davies, 1996). In particular,
ubjects of investigations were privacy legislations in Europe (Harris, et al., 2003), the United States (Harris, et al., 2003) and Asia (Hann, et al., 2002; Ishikawa, 2000; Tam, 2000).
or example, Milberg, Smith and Burke (2000) found in their study of a cross-cultural sample from 19 countries that members of lism index scores are more concerned about privacy. The authors
le to show that the level of Individualism affects also the cost-benefit trade-off over information privacy.
the users’ cultural backgrounds on risk perception, nor on trust or willingness to buy. Australia is characterized by a much higher invidiualism score than Israel. Finland was added later. Its Individualism score is in between that of the two other countries. Similar results were
were again chosen for their dive
degrees of perceived risk towards online shopping. Yet, findings from this study also provided evidence for culturally determined divergences regarding the significance of the various dimensions of risk. Whereas Korean participants systematically rated higher on social risk, Americans did so on time-related, financial, and psychological risks.
Early studies in cross-cultural investigations of privacy concerns primarily aimed to describe differences in approaches and in attitudes towards privacy. Privacy was mainly investigated under the aspect of “How far can society intrude into a person’s affai
divergences between Europe and the United States were emphasized: whereas in Europe privacy is perceived as a fundamental human right, it is considered part of contractual negotiation in the United States (Hessler and Freerks, 1995; Kirtley, 1999). Later on, studies focussed increasingly on investigating culture as an explanatory variable for these differences: In the vast majority of the studies s
Cultural values as defined by Hofstede, the contextual level of culture, communication patterns, and interaction norms were found to affect privacy perceptions (Rustemli and Kokdemir, 1993;
Taylor, et al., 2001). Within these studies, Hofstede’s cultural dimension of Individualism was mostly used to explain cultural differences of privacy perception. F
societies with a high Individua
showed furthermore that cultural values are mirrored in different regulatory approaches towards privacy. The finding of higher privacy concern within high Individualism societies was replicated by Smith (2001). However, a study conducted by Hann et al. (2002) was not ab
Without referring explicitly to Hofstede’s cultural system, Tam (2000) sees reasons for potential low awareness of privacy and the common violations of privacy in Asia in the habitual subservience to authorities, in the lack of private space, and in the uncommon notion of confidentiality and anonymity – the latter ones are a characteristic of low Individualism countries.
lt separation of culture from other processes, in particular socio-economic developments. The problematic
on 1.1.3.2, evidence is provided in favour as well as against the
ies culture was used as a given concept without questioning
’s view of culture. In non-quantitative studies, cultural research was for the most part based on general descriptions of national specifics.
evance. In the context of health information, knowledge atient from going to a doctor, saving them money ir risk.
ith the result.
on behavioural data without looking at success or satisfaction metrics. They did not provide any information about whether the website’s given characteristics benefit one user group However, beside these classic cultural values, Tam also emphasizes the effect of the economic situations in most Asian countries and their ambition to boost their economies. Strict privacy legislation would constitute an obstacle to these economic ambitions. This shows that it is not a trivial task to determine the impact of culture on privacy concerns due to the difficu
separation is also due to the ambiguous causality between cultural values and socio-economic developments. As illustrated in secti
existence of such correlations, and studies also indicate both directions of causal inter-relationships.
Moreover, in all of the mentioned stud
its appropriateness. In quantitative studies the concept of culture was generally based on Hofstede’s cultural index scores, and consequently on Hofstede
3.3 EMPIRICAL WORK
3.3.1 Study 5: The Impact of Culture on Risk Perception and Risk Reduction Behaviour 3.3.1.1 Conceptual Framework and Hypotheses
The benefit or usefulness of a website’s information is partly determined by the users’ need for information. For the user, a lack of information may represent a certain risk - depending on the extent of the lack of information and its rel
about the negligibility of a disease might keep a p
and time. As a consequence, users may wish to gather information about a certain topic online and consequently reduce the
The users’ initial perceived risk is investigated with regard to financial, social, and time-related aspects – in line with Jacoby and Kaplan (1972 - see above). We relate to risk reduction as the extent to which a website (1) contributes towards the reduction in a user’s perceived risk (regarding health related aspects). To measure the contribution of the information source (i.e. the website) for risk reduction, we relate to the perceived quality of information obtained, the contribution of a website’s structural design in obtaining this information (search efficiency), as well as the users’
overall satisfaction w
The role of a website’s structure/design was already examined in chapter 2. Yet those studies focussed
med that these three parts are causally linked to each other, from the first to the last. In addition, it is expected that the exogenous
Risk Reduction Efforts. Risk reduction efforts result from evaluating the level of perceived initial ectations
ved information quality erall satisfaction with the website in terms of perceived risk reduction.
edium, the Internet.
High uncertainty avoidant cultures feel
“threatened” by unknown or uncertain situations. Our study’s outcomes (see chapter 2) indicate that the greater need for information of high uncertainty avoidant cultures results in more extensive more than the other. Does the website provide sufficient navigational choices in order to satisfy various user preferences? Do content and structure affect the users’ attitudes towards the website?
To test these variables we suggest a model that is described in the following section.
3.3.1.1.1 Endogenous Variables
The main structure of our model consists of three parts: the level of initial risk, risk reducing efforts, and risk-related outcomes of risk-reducing efforts. It is assu
variables (basic and broadened aspects of culture) are determinants of each of these parts according to the following assumptions.
Level of Perceived Initial Risk. The level of perceived initial risk is the risk a user perceives prior to the website visit. As mentioned, financial, physical, psychological, and social risks are assessed – for the purpose of our study with respect to health related issues.
risk. However, we also expect risk reducing efforts to be affected by exogenous variables. Risk Reduction Efforts are divided in a perceptual and a behavioural part: first, the users’ exp
about the benefit of their search efforts and second, their actual behaviour, i.e. their actual search efforts.
Outcomes of Risk Reduction Efforts. Here again we differentiate between various elements to illustrate the different aspects of risk reduction behaviour: the percei
(website content aspect), the perceived search efficiency (website structure aspect), and the ov
3.3.1.1.2 Exogenous Variables
Culture. For the purpose of this analysis, the role of culture is investigated in terms of its stable (basic concept) and dynamic aspects (broadened concept). Two key issues are examined: the need for (medical) information and attitudes towards the m
Uncertainty Avoidance has been classified in chapter 2 as a cultural dimension that describes individuals’ need for information. The degree of a society’s Uncertainty Avoidance illustrates a society’s tolerance for uncertainty and ambiguity.
tently higher amount of information need than low uncertainty avoidant individuals, influencing all three endogenous variables of the risk reduction model: the
H20a: Members of high uncertainty avoidant cultures perceive a higher initial risk than members of
H20b: Members of high uncertainty avoidant cultures engage in more search effort than members
mbers of individualistic countries. In particular, easily visible or/and contagious diseases such as dermatological diseases (including sexual diseases) may lead to embarrassment and an unwillingness to talk about it among the patients concerned. These diseases are therefore likely to trigger
differences in social risk ected to be the main
e e perceived initial risk.
collectivistic cultures perceive a higher initial risk than members of
The attitude towards the Internet is expected to be influenced by a culture’s degree of Masculinity.
n edium. A culture with a high Masculinity index tends to foster
H20e her search benefit than members of masculine
cultures.
information collection (Kralisch, et al., 2005). In line with these findings we expect high uncertainty avoidant individuals to have a consis
degree of the initial perceived risk, the search effort, as well as the search outcome.
low uncertainty avoidant cultures.
of low uncertainty avoidant cultures.
H20c: Members of high uncertainty avoidant cultures are less satisfied with the search outcome than members of low uncertainty avoidant cultures.
Whereas Uncertainty Avoidance determines an individual’s general need for information, the dimension of Individualism is expected to play a role in this specific context. In line with Ko et al.
(2004) we expect members of collectivistic countries to perceive a higher social risk than me
perception. These issues of social risk are exp compon nt of th
H20d: Members of individualistic cultures.
The Inter et is a relatively new m
long-standing traditions whereas opposite cultures show stronger tendencies to collapse traditional roles and values. Feminine cultures are less bound to traditional behaviour and should consequently be more open to receiving information besides the normal information paths (going to the doctor).
Hence, feminine cultures are expected to expect higher benefits from using the website as an information source.
: Members of feminine cultures expect a hig
stem. The perceived quality of the health care system was chosen as an obtain medical information, and how reliable existing medical treatments are. A higher quality health care system
ocieties with a higher quality health care system perceive a lower initial risk than individuals from societies with a lower quality health care system.
than individuals from societies with a lower quality health care system.
Here again it is not clear to which extent this variable is interrelated with the users’ cultural
er web experience. (e.g., more traditional, highly Masculinity cultures refer
ality, higher web experience should therefore lead Quality of Health Care Sy
example of a socio-economic variable. The health care system available determines, for instance, how expensive health information from a physician is, how much time it takes to
reduces the importance of the health information offered on the website. Individuals from societies with a high quality health care system should therefore perceive a lower physical risk than individuals from societies with a health care system of lower quality.
H21a: Individuals from s
Perceived information quality is compared to other available information and therefore depends on expectations formed by personal experiences, such that high experience leads to lower perception of information quality. Consequently, a better health care system is expected to diminish users’
perceptions of information quality.
H21b: Individuals from societies with a higher quality health care system perceive lower information quality
Web Experience and Domain Knowledge. Web experience has been shown to significantly influence risk perception (Jarvenpaa and Tractinsky, 1999; Ko, et al., 2004). Higher web experience leads to a lower perceived risk when shopping online. In line with these findings web experience is also assumed to have an impact on the expected benefit of search efforts.
H22a: The higher a user’s web experience the higher the expected benefit of search efforts.
background. A number of cultural characteristics could correspond with the peculiarities of the Internet better than others. As a result, the Internet might be used more by some cultures than others, leading to high
more to more traditional information sources, etc.).
Also, higher web experience provides the user with a large knowledge base for comparing websites.
Similar to the impact of a health care system’s qu to lower perceived quality of the website’s information.
H22b: The higher a user’s web experience the lower the perceived quality of a website’s information.
In a parallel fashion, high domain knowledge increases the users’ topic specific knowledge and is
rceive a lower information quality than users with low domain knowledge.
our proposed model. Endogenous variables (initial perceived risk, risk reduction effort and perceived risk reduction/satisfaction) are displayed within
e arrangement from left to right reflects the order and direction of impact, i.e. the therefore expected to diminish perceived information quality.
H23: Users with high domain knowledge pe
Figure 18 depicts a simplified version of the grey box. Th
initial perceived risk has an impact on risk reduction effort which in turn affects the perceived risk reduction/satisfaction. The exogenous variables of culture, quality of health care system, web experience and domain knowledge are displayed outside the box. The arrows indicate which endogenous variables are supposed to be influenced by the exogenous variables (e.g. the quality of health system affects the initial perceived risk and the perceived risk reduction/satisfaction.)
Figure 18. Simplified Proposed Risk Reduction Model
Data was collected by means of a questionnaire posted on website A and the users’ corresponding rs from 39 different countries filled out the questionnaires.
website language. The questionnaire was developed in German and subsequently translated by
s measured through five questions with answer scales proposed by Jacoby and Kaplan (1972). The authors multiplied the perceived probability of losses with the subjective
a better decision when I gather more information”, “I know which treatment is the best for me when I extensively collect information”, “There is much to
The Perceived Quality of Information (PIQ) was measured with eleven 7-point semantic
The Perceived Quality of Information (PIQ) was measured with eleven 7-point semantic