Exploring the impact of individualism and uncertainty avoidance in Web-based electronic learning: An empirical analysis in European higher education

Our research specifically focuses on the effects of the national cultural background of educators on the acceptance and usage of ICT, particularly the Web as an extensive and expanding information base that provides the ultimate in resource-rich learning. Most research has been used North Americans as subjects. For this reason, we interviewed European educators from diverse cultures; in particularly, we analysed the cultural differences and their moderating effects on acceptance-based relationships between European universities: European Nordic culture in contrast to European-Mediterranean culture. The empirical results provided strong support for the hypotheses. Cultural differences have a significant impact on attitudes and behaviours towards using Web-based applications. The Nordic culture is driven more by instrumental factors and intrinsic enjoyment-based factors. On the other hand, the PSG-Mediterranean culture (Portugal, Spain and Greece) seems to regard the Web more as a means to a social end. (C) 2008 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.