Editorial: Cyber-Slacking and NASA’s Semantic Web: Two Papers

In this issue of JITTA we are pleased to publish two papers in the domain of web usage that, however, address very different issues

The Influence of National Culture on the Acceptance and Use of Information Technologies: An Empirical Study

This dissertation examines the influence of national culture on the acceptance and use of information technologies. An extended model of technology acceptance is developed and specific cultural dimensions are hypothesized to influence the extended model

Benign Envy, Social Media, and Culture

Researchers have very limited understanding of how continuous usage intention of social media (SM) are associated with online benign envy and individual-level culture. This paper addresses this gap and provides a theoretical framework to illustrate how manifestations of national cultural values at the individual level of analysis may influence SM use behaviors through online envy. We argue that espoused individualism/collectivism and espoused uncertainty avoidance are important antecedents for eliciting benign envy, while the espoused power distance and espoused masculinity/femininity dimensions are salient moderators for the consequences resulting from online benign envy. Empirical results from a sample of 387 SM users supported the majority of the hypotheses, suggesting that espoused national culture interplaying with online benign envy are important factors for continuance use intention of SM. Finally, theoretical contributions and practical implications are provided

A Cultural Perspective on Technology Acceptance

This preliminary study focused on the cultural dimension of masculinity/femininity. Unlike many cultural studies that have utilized previously published country-level scores for dimensions of culture, this study surveyed individuals from thirty-four different countries to determine their score on the masculinity/femininity continuum. These results were part of a research model containing culture, gender, and intention to use computers. Three 2X2 between-subjects factorial ANOVAs were conducted. We found statistically significant main effects for the masculinity/femininity, and national origin. The results indicate that a user’s masculinity/femininity score, and national origin have an impact on his or her intention to adopt a technology

Does Culture Affect the Usage of Digital Disruption Innovations: A Study Using Instagram

Online social networks are growing rapidly. As people from all over the world can use these sites without any geographic boundaries, it becomes difficult for organizations to predict user behavior. Prior literature revealed that most previous studies focused on a single culture and on a single social networking site, mainly Facebook. Also, even if there were cross-national cultural studies, they were primarily based on Hofstede’s cultural index scores. In this study, we focus on espoused national cultural values in the usage of Instagram. We propose a model and conduct a pilot test. Results indicate that people who espouse more collectivistic values tend to use Instagram more frequently and are more likely to share more posts

Positive Affect and Group Decision Making

This paper presents a research model and empirical findings on the relationship between positive affect and group decision making. In the research model positive affect is posited to influence an individual’s willingness to communicate which in turn improves group decision making. Group cohesion is posited as moderating the relationship between positive affect and willingness to communicate. Results from an experiment involving teams in a group systems support (GSS) environment support the hypothesized relationships

Investigating the Role of Cultural Factors in Developing Smartphone Addiction

By developing and testing a new conceptual model we extend prior research on smartphone addiction by accounting for the role of individuals\u27 espoused cultural values. Specifically, we theorize that the major aspects of culture, namely uncertainty avoidance, individualism/collectivism, and power distance interact with one\u27s personality aspects to determine the level of her major antecedents of smartphone addiction (i.e., self-regulation, anxious attachment style, and non-social app usage) thereby affecting the way she develops addictive behaviors. The model was validated using a sample of 257 college students and the results were promising