Cultural Factors That Influence Diffusion of E-Commerce in Ethiopia

Abstract

A large amount of research has been conducted in order to seek explanations that clarify e-commerce acceptance throughout the world; however, there is a gap in the research as to how e-commerce acceptance is attributable to national culture. The objective of the study was to examine the influence Hofstede’s cultural factors including individualism, uncertainty avoidance, power distance, masculinity and femininity, and long-term orientation on acceptance and adoption of E-commerce in Ethiopia. The study adopted explanatory research design. The study collected primary data from 238 respondents via Hofstede’s five dimensions of national culture in an online survey questionnaire. The data was analyzed using Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS). From statistical tools, descriptive statistics Pearson correlation, and multiple regressions were used to investigate the relationship among the variables. The result of regression indicates that the Hofstede cultural dimensions namely individualism, uncertainty avoidance, power distance, masculinity and femininity, and long-term orientation considered were jointly relevant in influencing the acceptance and adoption of E-commerce in Ethiopia. The result shows that the five independent variables (individualism, uncertainty avoidance, power distance, masculinity and femininity, and long-term orientation) that were studied, explain 69.7% of diffusion of E-commerce in Ethiopia as represented by the R² value. However, in terms of individual effect, among the five service Hofstede cultural dimensions, only uncertainty avoidance and long-term orientation are significant in predicting the diffusion E-commerce in Ethiopia. Long-term orientation and uncertainty avoidance dimension have negatively influenced the acceptance and adoption of E-commerce in Ethiopia. The remaining three Hofstede’s cultural factors, namely: individualism, power distance and masculinity have not significant influenced the acceptance and adoption of E-commerce in Ethiopia. By virtue of this research, managers can find out what cultural factors are associated with acceptance and adoption of e-commerce in Ethiopian context.

Keywords: Culture, E-commerce, Ethiopia

DOI: 10.7176/RHSS/13-17-01

Publication date:October 31^st 2023