New Technology Mirrors Old Habits: Online Buying Mirrors Cross-National Variance of Conventional Buying

The purpose of this article is to examine the relationship between Internet shopping and national cultural differences, controlling for financial variables. Prior research suggested convergence of technology but continued divergence of usage and ownership of various product categories across countries, with culture being a stable predictor variable over time. This article examines if similar differences in product acquisition via the Internet exist as via conventional shopping channels (De Mooij 2004; De Mooij and Hofstede 2002). Results suggest that culture, relative to national wealth, is a significant predictor of Internet buying differences, supporting predictions from prior research (De Mooij and Hofstede 2002). In particular, cultural variables are significantly correlated with online buying for 11 of 14 product categories, similar to buying via conventional channels. Generally, changes in retail channels don't change existing variance. The implication is that online marketing managers must be culturally sensitive in their approaches.