Information & Management 46 (2009) 294–301

Contents lists available at ScienceDirect

Information & Management

journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/im

The effects of national culture values on consumer acceptance of e-commerce:

Online shoppers in China
Cheolho Yoon *
Dept. of Business Administration, Mokpo National University, 61 Dorim-ri, Chungkye-myun, Muan-gun, Chonnam 534-729, Republic of Korea

A R T I C L E I N F O A B S T R A C T

Article history: E-commerce is now international, and thus national culture can affect the behavior of customers. But e-
Received 15 March 2008 commerce studies related to national culture are limited. Our study explored the effect of national
Received in revised form 2 October 2008 culture on consumer acceptance of e-commerce in China.
Accepted 1 June 2009
Our consumer e-commerce acceptance model considered the effect of culture on perceived
Available online 7 June 2009
usefulness, perceived ease of use, trust, and intention to use. We adopted Hofstede’s cultural dimensions
(power distance, individualism, masculinity, uncertainty avoidance, and long-term orientation) as
Keywords:
moderators. Our results showed that uncertainty avoidance and long-term orientation had moderate
E-commerce
National culture
effects on the relationship between trust and intention to use and that masculinity also had a moderate
TAM effect on the relationship between perceived usefulness and intention to use and the relationship
Hofstede between perceived ease of use and intention to use. Contrary to expectations, power distance and
Trust individualism had no significant effect.
Cross-culture ß 2009 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

1. Introduction 2. Conceptual background

E-commerce has rapidly proliferated, even in developing
countries. However, though it is now global, e-commerce research
has been conducted almost exclusively in advanced countries.
Also, in spite of the fact that differences in national culture can
affect customer behavior, most e-commerce research has ignored
the effect of culture [5].
A few studies have focused on the effects of national
culture on customer trust or perceived risk in e-commerce.
Accordingly, our purpose was twofold. First to verify the
consumer acceptance model of e-commerce developed by
advanced countries’ researchers when applying it to a devel-
oping country. Second to explore the effects of national culture
in the consumer e-commerce acceptance model that include
trust and the variables of perceived usefulness (PU) and
perceived ease of use (PEOU). To achieve these objectives, we
examined consumer acceptance of e-commerce in China with
the research model adapted from Gefen et al.’s [7] study and
incorporating Hofstede’s cultural dimensions as moderators in
the model.
2.1. National culture values and consumer behavior
Culture is the collective programming of the mind that
distinguishes the members of one group or category of people
from another [8]. Hofstede had suggested that there were five
work-related cultural dimensions along which countries differ [2].
These were:
 Power distance (PDI): the degree to which the less powerful
members of organizations accept that power is distributed
unequally.
 Individualism (IDV): the degree to which a society emphasizes
the role of the individual.
 Masculinity (MAS): the degree to which a society emphasizes
traditional masculine values (such as competitiveness, achieve-
ment, and ambition), as opposed to others (such as nurturing,
helping others, and valuing quality of life).
 Uncertainty avoidance (UAI): the degree to which people feel
threatened by uncertain, unstructured situations and ambiguity.
 Long-term orientation (LTO): fostering of virtues oriented
towards future rewards.

Although Hofstede used a work-related context and originally

* Tel.: +82 61 450 2611; fax: +82 61 450 6466. applied his framework to human resource management, it is now
E-mail address: carlyoon@empal.com. used increasingly in business and marketing studies. Suh and

0378-7206/$ – see front matter ß 2009 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
doi:10.1016/j.im.2009.06.001
 C. Yoon / Information & Management 46 (2009) 294–301
Kwon [18] reported that consumers from different cultures had
different attitudes, preferences, and values, and remained reluc-
tant to buy foreign products even after considerable exposure to
globalization. Therefore, differences in national culture can affect
consumers’ behavior in e-commerce situations.
2.2. Customer acceptance of e-commerce
Early e-commerce researchers suggested that anxiety about
security of their information, trust of the vendor, and personal
privacy were antecedents to e-commerce acceptance. Conse-
quently, many studies focused on trust as a precursor and were
designed to find its antecedents and consequences [4,10].
Jarvenpaa and Tractinsky [9] empirically analyzed size and
perceived reputation of an Internet store as antecedents of trust.
Gefen showed that familiarity and disposition to trust influenced a
customer’s trust, which, in turn, influenced purchases and
inquiries. McKnight et al. empirically analyzed structural assur-
ance (consumer perceptions of the safety of the web environment),
perceived web vendor reputation, and perceived web site quality
as antecedents of trust in a trust building model. Thus, most studies
regarded trust as a proxy variable of e-commerce acceptance.
Gefen et al. argued that online shopping intentions were the
product of both consumer assessments of the IT itself and trust in
the online shopping mall. They proposed that PU and PEOU,
together with trust were antecedents of e-commerce acceptance;
they empirically tested this. Consequently, e-commerce studies
proposed PU and PEOU together with trust as key drivers of e-
commerce acceptance. Therefore, we employed Gefen et al.’s
integrated model of trust as the basic model for our research.
3. Research model and hypotheses
In order to explore the effects of national culture on consumer
e-commerce acceptance, the research model included both the
consumer e-commerce acceptance model together with variables
of PU and PEOU and incorporated Hofstede’s cultural dimensions
of PDI, IDV, MAS, UAI and LTO as moderators in the model. Fig. 1
shows our model.
Gefen et al.’s model integrated trust and PU and PEOU as main
influencing variables of acceptance of IT. These variables have an
effect on the intention to use, which in turn affects actual usage.
Most studies use the intention to use as a dependent variable.
3.1. Consumer e-commerce acceptance model
Our model was based on Gefen et al.’s study. We included the
following hypotheses, which were proposed and empirically tested
there.
Fig. 1. Research model.
295
Hypothesis 1. Perceived usefulness (PU) has a positive impact on
intention to use (IUSE) of the online shopping mall.
Hypothesis 2. Perceived ease of use (PEOU) has a positive impact
on intention to use (IUSE) of the online shopping mall.
Hypothesis 3. Perceived ease of use (PEOU) has a positive impact
on perceived usefulness (PU).
Hypothesis 4. Perceived ease of use (PEOU) has a positive impact
on trust.
Hypothesis 5. Trust has a positive impact on intention to use
(IUSE) the online shopping mall.
Hypothesis 6. Trust has a positive impact on perceived usefulness
(PU).
3.2. Power distance
In high PDI societies, superiors and subordinates consider each
other as unequal and subordinates expect to be told what to do,
while in low PDI societies, superiors and subordinates consider
each other as equal and thus they are interdependent. This is a
necessary condition for trust because it is a willingness to be
vulnerable under conditions of risk. Therefore, we argue that low
power distant societies will exhibit more interpersonal trust.
Customers from high PDI countries believe that a service
provider will be more likely to engage in unethical behavior than
customers from low PDI countries. Thus, customers from high PDI
countries have less trust toward an online shopping mall than do
customers from low PDI countries.
Hypothesis 7. The higher the degree of power distance (PDI), the
lower the effect of trust on intention to use the online shopping mall.
3.3. Individualism
IDV is viewed on a high/low continuum, with collectivistic
countries occupying the low end of the spectrum and individualistic
nations at the high end. Because collectivistic societies emphasize
strong relationships and interdependence, collectivists are sensitive
to the in-group and out-group boundary [19]. They regard trust as a
necessary condition for in-group membership and therefore, are less
likely to trust someone who is outside their in-group. Unlike these
societies, individualistic ones are characterized by universalism:
members identify themselves with broader groups of society. Also,
they are very good at meeting new people [20] and thus are generally
more willing to rely on strangers and trust them.
Thus a collectivist may express less trust toward an online
shopping mall than an individualist.
Hypothesis 8. The higher degree of individualism (IDV), the higher
the effect of trust on intention to use in using the online shopping
mall.
3.4. Masculinity
Srite and Karahanna [14] argued that because PU is closely
related to achievement of work goals and advancement, the higher
the degree of MAS, the higher the effect of PU on IT adoption.
Conversely, because effort-free use is more concerned with creation
of a pleasant and less frustrating work environment, and quality of
work life concerns are typically feminine values, the lower the
degree of MAS, the higher the effect of PEOU on IT adoption.
The online shopping mall is an IS based on the web and Internet,
and online shopping intentions are the product of both consumer
296 C. Yoon / Information & Management 46 (2009) 294–301

assessments of the IT itself and trust in the online shopping mall.
Gefen et al. proposed PU and PEOU as the important variables in
consumer e-commerce acceptance. Therefore, the online shopping
mall would be affected by consumers’ perceptions about IT
adoption.
Hypothesis 9. The higher degree of masculinity (MAS), the higher
the effect of perceived usefulness on intention to use the online
shopping mall.
Hypothesis 10. The higher degree of masculinity (MAS), the lower
the effect of perceived ease of use on intention to use the online
shopping mall.
3.5. Uncertainty avoidance
UAI is expected to be intimately associated with trust. It refers to
the extent to which people feel threatened by uncertain, unstruc-
tured situations, and ambiguity. In high UAI cultures, people usually
feel threatened by uncertain situations [3]. However UAI might
increase perceived risk of online shopping; UAI and perceived risk
may have similar effects on trust in online shopping.
In a study that examined the effects of trust and perceived risk
on consumers’ willingness to purchase online, Stewart [16]
considered perceived risk to be a moderating factor on the relation
between consumers’ trust and their willingness to purchase
products from Internet vendors. Therefore, trust would be likely to
have less effect on people’s behavior in a high UAI culture.
Hypothesis 11. The higher the degree of uncertainty avoidance
(UAI), the lower the effects of trust on intention to use the online
shopping mall.
Uncertainty accepting societies are open to change and
innovation, while UAI societies are characterized by conservatism,
law, and order [15]. Therefore, people in uncertainty accepting
societies are willing to try new products and technologies, whereas
people in UAI societies tend to be hesitant toward new products
and information, thus they were slower in introducing electronic
communication tools [21].
UAI has been cited as influencing IT adoption. Straub et al. [17]
suggested that the reason perceived usefulness did not have the
expected effect on e-mail usage by Japanese workers was because
of Japan’s high UAI culture. Png et al. [12] proposed that higher UAI
countries were less likely to adopt an IT infrastructure (frame
relay). Therefore, we also posited.
4. Research methodology
We wished to verify the validity of the consumer acceptance
model of e-commerce that was developed for advanced countries’
research for use in a developing country; we selected China as our
survey area. We also wished to explore the effect of national
culture on the model. For this, we employed the Mark Srite and
Elena Karahanna approach, which assessed cultural traits at the
individual level of analysis using Hofstede’s cultural dimensions.
4.1. Data collection
In order to test the hypotheses, data was collected from
university students in China. In total, 270 valid questionnaires
were used in our analysis. 141 of the respondents were male and
129 were female. About 80 percent of the respondents reported
experience with the Internet for over 3 years, and only 10 percent
had experienced Internet shopping by buying more than once a
month. Detailed descriptive statistics on the respondents’ char-
acteristics are shown in Table 1.
Although we had some concern about homogeneous back-
ground caused by gathering data from university students, we
think it decreased the bias causing sample inequivalency in terms
of educational experience, organizational position, cultural differ-
ence, etc. in addition, the fact that only 10 percent of the
respondents had experience with Internet shopping more than
once a month suggests that this sample was appropriate in
performing a consumer e-commerce acceptance study.
Table 2 shows the mean scores and standard deviations of
constructs. All items had been scored using a Likert-style score
ranging from 1 (strongly disagree) to 7 (strongly agree), and
showed a relatively high dispersion in their distributions across the
ranges, as seen in the standard deviations. These results may
include some bias caused by social desirability of responses or high
inconsistent scoring across populations.
As shown in Table 2, the mean scores range from 2.41 (for IDV)
to 6.28 (for LTO), which is similar distribution to the scores on
Table 1
Descriptive statistics of respondents’ characteristics.
Measure Value Frequency Percent
Gender Male 141 52.2
Female 129 47.8

Hypothesis 12. The higher the degree of uncertainty avoidance Age Below 20 30 11.1
Over 20 240 88.9
(UAI), the lower the effect of perceived usefulness on intention to
use the online shopping mall. Degree of Internet experience <3 year 55 20.4
3 year 215 79.6

Frequency of Internet shopping <1/a month 239 88.5

3.6. Long-term orientation 1/a month 31 11.5

This involves the fostering of virtues oriented towards future

Table 2
rewards—in particular, perseverance and thrift. Future rewards are
Descriptive statistics of data.
contingent assets that have not yet been secured. Therefore, an LTO
society emphasizes behavior, such as thrift or perseverance, Construct Mean (Std.) of construct
intended to secure future rewards. Generally, trust recognizes risk, Perceived usefulness 5.08(1.18)
such as vulnerability and/or uncertainty, about an outcome. People Perceived ease of use 4.78(1.32)
of a high LTO culture have strong beliefs that allow them to take Trust 4.68(1.31)
Intension to use 4.17(1.52)
risk during uncertainty. Also an LTO society encourages trust
because the value of short-term gains from untrustworthy actions Cultural dimension
are reduced. Therefore, we posited. Power distance 3.47(1.31)
Individualism 2.41(1.40)
Hypothesis 13. The higher degree of long-term orientation (LTO), Masculinity 3.01(1.50)
Uncertainty avoidance 3.79(1.47)
the higher the effects of trust on intention to use the online
Long-term orientation 6.28(0.79)
shopping mall.
 C. Yoon / Information & Management 46 (2009) 294–301 297

Table 3 5. Results
Measurement sources.

Construct Measurement sources SEM was used to validate the research model, while PLS-Graph
Version 3.0 was used to perform the analysis. Although the LISREL
Perceived usefulness Gefen, Gefen et al. and Pavlou’s studies
Perceived ease of use technique is widely used for the analysis of empirically based
Trust studies, PLS is more appropriate in analyzing the moderating
Intension to use effects of our study.
Cultural dimension
Power distance Hofstede, Srite and Karahanna and Shin et al.’s studies 5.1. Reliability and validity of measurement items
Individualism
Masculinity PLS was used to test the convergent and discriminant validity of
Uncertainty avoidance
Long-term orientation
the scales. In a CFA by PLS, convergent validity is proved if a
measurement loads highly [with a coefficient above 0.60] or very
significantly [if its t-values are within the 0.01 level of their
cultural dimensions of China reported by Hofstede. IDV and LTO assigned construct [6]. Table 4 shows the factor loadings of the
scores of China are 20, 118, respectively. measurement items and t-values.
The factor loadings therefore demonstrate convergent validity,
4.2. Measurements and all t-values are also above 1.96.
Discriminant validity is shown when:
The questionnaire used for data collection contained scales to
measure the various constructs of the model. As shown in Table 3, (1) measurement items load more strongly on their assigned
the measurements were adapted studies by Gefen, Gefen et al. and construct rather than on the other constructs in the CFA, and
Pavlou [11] and the measurements for national culture values were (2) the square root of the Average Variance Extracted (AVE) of each
adapted from Srite and Karahanna and Shin et al.’ [13] studies. construct is larger than its correlations with the other constructs.
Some items for national culture values were newly developed
based on the Hofstede study. A pilot test of the measures was As shown in Table 4, all the measurement items loaded
conducted by university students in Korea. Individuals indicated considerably more strongly on their respective factor than on the
their agreement or disagreement with the survey items using a other constructs. Table 5 shows the square root of AVE and the
seven-point Likert-scale. The wording of items was modified on inter-construct correlations. Comparison of the correlation with
the basis of results of the pilot test. Appendix A shows all items the squared AVE shows that all correlations between two
used in the study. constructs were less than the squared AVE of both constructs.

Table 4
Results of confirmatory factor analysis.

Construct Construct loading scores t-Value

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9

PU PU1 0.751 0.465 0.452 0.286 0.067 0.049 0.094 0.063 0.135 18.149
PU2 0.800 0.452 0.503 0.472 0.071 0.05 0.064 0.064 0.059 32.253
PU3 0.714 0.415 0.349 0.341 0.021 0.031 0.122 0.058 0.124 19.722
PU5 0.801 0.551 0.481 0.457 0.016 0.087 0.070 0.073 0.145 31.283

PEOU PEOU1 0.479 0.784 0.469 0.481 0.09 0.101 0.105 0.112 0.054 30.146
PEOU2 0.527 0.848 0.462 0.449 0.131 0.103 0.040 0.083 0.170 43.781
PROU3 0.487 0.847 0.468 0.456 0.164 0.066 0.183 0.089 0.085 37.312
PROU4 0.524 0.793 0.531 0.396 0.053 0.077 0.004 0.140 0.151 25.595

TRUST TRS1 0.542 0.564 0.901 0.566 0.081 0.059 0.095 0.052 0.147 45.197
TRS2 0.525 0.558 0.921 0.558 0.073 0.111 0.062 0.071 0.123 56.358
TRS2 0.506 0.456 0.858 0.603 0.105 0.056 0.096 0.012 0.107 29.669

IUSE IUSE1 0.494 0.462 0.596 0.863 0.085 0.147 0.089 0.120 0.120 46.775
IUSE2 0.436 0.496 0.581 0.883 0.172 0.120 0.117 0.128 0.144 61.485
IUSE3 0.337 0.386 0.394 0.731 0.111 0.046 0.166 0.087 0.063 23.486

PDI PDI2 0.059 0.104 0.084 0.129 0.827 0.157 0.343 0.223 0.084 6.538
PDI3 0.103 0.117 0.069 0.090 0.696 0.164 0.105 0.198 0.001 3.881
PDI4 0.061 0.074 0.055 0.102 0.658 0.336 0.269 0.145 0.117 3.149

IDV IDV1 0.052 0.116 0.048 0.127 0.259 0.897 0.284 0.115 0.303 4.37
IDV2 0.049 0.002 0.027 0.002 0.263 0.655 0.382 0.173 0.198 2.885
IDV3 0.077 0.053 0.102 0.093 0.241 0.795 0.412 0.121 0.178 4.701

MAS MAS1 0.064 0.012 0.050 0.068 0.242 0.372 0.668 0.126 0.231 2.797
MAS2 0.123 0.078 0.074 0.117 0.234 0.280 0.798 0.064 0.098 3.095
MAS3 0.124 0.107 0.076 0.116 0.279 0.255 0.717 0.066 0.052 2.816

UAI UAI1 0.102 0.083 0.045 0.109 0.310 0.144 0.176 0.783 0.018 4.786
UAI2 0.040 0.112 0.001 0.100 0.210 0.080 0.132 0.856 0.018 7.333
UAI3 0.062 0.122 0.072 0.123 0.127 0.108 0.028 0.810 0.006 8.15

LTO LTO1 0.131 0.163 0.126 0.124 0.04 0.216 0.155 0.011 0.807 4.937
LTO2 0.136 0.082 0.115 0.106 0.028 0.267 0.079 0.025 0.790 4.893
LTO4 0.034 0.036 0.053 0.056 0.055 0.158 0.090 0.010 0.617 2.365

The high loadings per construct are emphasized in bold font.

298 C. Yoon / Information & Management 46 (2009) 294–301

Table 5
Average Variance Extracted and correlation matrix.

Construct Factor CCRa AVE

(1) (2) (3) (4) (5) (6) (7) (8) (9)

PU (0.767) 0.851 0.588

PEOU 0.617 (0.819) 0.890 0.671
TRUST 0.587 0.590 (0.894) 0.923 0.799
IUSE 0.516 0.544 0.643 (0.828) 0.867 0.686
PDI 0.045 0.134 0.096 0.148 (0.730) 0.772 0.533
IDV 0.073 0.106 0.084 0.133 0.294 (0.789) 0.829 0.623
MAS 0.110 0.100 0.094 0.143 0.344 0.395 (0.729) 0.772 0.531
UAI 0.084 0.130 0.051 0.137 0.260 0.137 0.107 (0.817) 0.857 0.667
LTO 0.149 0.141 0.141 0.136 0.005 0.293 0.149 0.003 (0.743) 0.785 0.552

: square root of AVE.

a
CCR: composite construct reliability.

Table 6 the hypotheses. The coefficients, and their t-value on the structural
Hypothesis testing results of consumer e-commerce acceptance model.
model, and the coefficients of determination (R2) for dependent
Hypothesis Path Path coefficient (t-value) R2 construct are shown in Table 6.
As indicated, the paths were significantly above the 0.05 levels.
H1 PU ! IUSE 0.130 (1.983)* 0.465
H2 PEOU ! IUSE 0.198 (2.771)** Therefore, all hypotheses of the consumer e-commerce acceptance
H3 PEOU ! PU 0.415 (6.550)** model were supported.
H4 PEOU ! TRUST 0.590 (12.678)** To test the hypotheses dealing with the effect of national
H5 TRUST ! IUSE 0.450 (6.968)**
culture on the model, we analyzed interaction effects of the
H6 TRUST ! PU 0.342 (5.402)**
national culture construct for each hypothesis. In testing for
*
Significant at the 0.05 level. interaction effects using PLS, one needs to follow a hierarchical
**
Significant at the 0.01 level.
process similar to that used in multiple regression [one compares
the results of the two models shown in Fig. 2 (i.e., that with and the
In order to assess measurement items’ reliability, we computed other without the interaction construct)].
a composite construct reliability coefficient. The composite In total, 14 structural models from 7 hypotheses were tested.
reliabilities ranged from 0.772 (for PDI, MAS) to 0.923 (for trust), The results of the interaction effects are summarized in Table 7.
which exceeded the recommended level of 0.70. AVE ranged from As indicated, the interaction effects of TRUST  PDI and
0.531 (for MAS) to 0.799 (for trust), which also exceeded the TRUST  IDV have insignificant effects on intention to use. Thus,
recommended level of 0.50. This therefore demonstrated a we cannot accept Hypotheses 7 and 8. But the path coefficient and
reasonable reliability level of the measured items. t-value in the Main Effects Model showed that PDI have significant
effects on intention to use at the 0.05 levels. Therefore, we may
5.2. Hypothesis testing assume that PDI is not a moderator of the relationship between
trust and intention to use but an antecedent of intention to use.
We examined the coefficients of the causal relationships The interaction effects of PU  MAS and PEOU  MAS were
between constructs in our model in order to validate or disprove significant at the 0.1 level but the interaction effect of PEOU  MAS

Fig. 2. Two models for Hypothesis 1 testing.

 C. Yoon / Information & Management 46 (2009) 294–301 299

Table 7
Hypothesis testing results of national culture values’ moderate effects.

Hypothesis Main Effects Model Interaction model

Path Path coefficient (t-value) R2 Path Path coefficient (t-value) R2

H7 TRUST ! IUSE 0.461 (7.539)** 0.476 TRUST ! IUSE 0.492 (4.744) 0.479
PDI ! IUSE 0.074 (1.700)* PDI ! IUSE 0.113 (1.077)+
TRUST  PDI ! IUSE 0.055 (0.431)

H8 TRUST ! IUSE 0.449 (7.120)** 0.469 TRUST ! IUSE 0.413 (5.392)** 0.471
IDV ! IUSE 0.065 (0.933) IDV ! IUSE 0.128 (1.114)+
TRUST  IDV ! IUSE 0.079 (0.883)

H9 PU ! IUSE 0.125 (1.776)* 0.469 PU ! IUSE 0.006 (0.050) 0.472

MAS ! IUSE 0.068 (1.391)+ MAS ! IUSE 0.158 (0.977)
PU  MAS ! IUSE 0.275 (1.335)+

H10 PEOU ! IUSE 0.196 (2.940) 0.469 PEOU ! IUSE 0.099 (1.130) 0.474
MAS ! IUSE 0.068 (1.451)+ MAS ! IUSE 0.096 (0.825)
PEOU  MAS ! IUSE 0.211 (1.382)+

H11 TRUST ! IUSE 0.454 (6.604)** 0.471 TRUST ! IUSE 0.268 (2.215)* 0.477
UAI ! IUSE 0.079 (1.861)* UAI ! IUSE 0.335 (2.500)**
TRUST  UAI ! IUSE 0.319 (2.240)*

H12 PU ! IUSE 0.128 (1.985)* 0.471 PU ! IUSE 0.088 (0.976) 0.479

UAI ! IUSE 0.079 (1.832)* UAI ! IUSE 0.449 (2.948)**
PU  UAI ! IUSE 0.424 (2.562)**

H13 TRUST ! IUSE 0.449 (5.805) 0.466 TRUST ! IUSE 0.007 (0.028) 0.472
LTO ! IUSE 0.026 (0.550) LTO ! IUSE 0.145 (1.453)+
TRUST  LTO ! IUSE 0.502 (1.794)*

Path coefficient and t-value in interaction models were calculated using the procedure described in Chin et al. [1].
*
Significant at the 0.05 level.
**
Significant at the 0.01 level.
+
Significant at the 0.1 level.

Fig. 3. Path diagram for research model.

was in the opposite direction to that hypothesized, so we could not
accept Hypothesis 10. But, the interaction effects of TRUST  UAI
and PU  UAI had significant effects on intention to use at the 0.05
and 0.1 levels, respectively. And the UAI also had a direct effect on
intention to use. Therefore, we believe that UAI is a quasi-
moderator of relationships between perceived usefulness, trust,
and intention to use, supporting Hypotheses 11 and 12. A quasi-
moderator does not only interact with the predictor variable but it
is also a predictor variable.
The interaction effect of TRUST  LTO has significant effects
on intention to use above the 0.05 levels. But the LTO has no
direct effect on intention to use. Therefore, we believe that LTO
was a pure moderator of trust and intention to use, thus
supporting Hypothesis 13. A pure moderator interacts with its
predictor variable, having negligible correlation with the
criterion itself.
Fig. 3 illustrates the direct effect or the interaction effect of
paths and their significance in our model.
6. Discussion and conclusions
We empirically tested a model of consumer acceptance of e-
commerce. Data were collected in China and also used to explore
the effect of national culture values on consumer acceptance of e-
commerce by incorporating values of PDI, IDV, MAS, UAI and LTO as
moderators in the model.
300 C. Yoon / Information & Management 46 (2009) 294–301
The findings of the hypotheses testing of this study were as
follows.
First, we confirmed that the consumer acceptance model
developed by advanced countries’ researchers could be applied in
developing countries. PU, PEOU, and trust must be important
factors of consumer e-commerce acceptance in developing as well
as advanced countries.
Second, we found that UAI was the most influential national
culture value affecting consumer e-commerce acceptance. It not
only had a moderate effect on the relationships between PU, trust,
and intention to use but also had direct effect on intention to use. In
a high UAI culture, people may decrease online shopping. This is
consistent with the result of a marketing study in which. Yeniyurt
and Townsend found that UAI had a negative effect on the
acceptance rates of new products.
Third, LTO has also a huge impact on e-commerce acceptance.
LTO increases the impact of trust on intention to use an online
shopping mall. In LTO societies, building relationships is a social
characteristic. And, trust is a core factor in forming business
relationships. Therefore, in a high LTO culture such as China, trust
is not only an important factor for social networking but is also a
very important factor in acceptance of e-commerce.
Fourth, contrary to expectations, PDI and IDV had no significant
effect on trust and intention to use e-commerce. It is surprising
that PDI had positive effects on intention to use at the 0.05 levels.
Since customers in high PDI societies are less open to new ideas
and products, consumer acceptance of e-commerce in high PDI
societies was expected to be lower. But the results showed the
opposite. One possible explanation for the unexpected result was
that customers in high PDI societies may regard online shopping as
an authoritarian value. The result that IDV had no significant effect
on trust and intention to use was also unexpected.
Finally, we found that MAS had a moderating effect between PU
and PEOU and intention to use in e-commerce acceptance.
However, the moderate effect of MAS on relationships between
PEOU and intention to use was in the opposite direction that
hypothesized.
6.1. Contributions and implications
Our study provided important results for research and practice.
We extended prior research by including national culture values. In
addition, we used a new approach in examining the effects of
national culture on customer behavior; we employed the Mark
Srite and Elena Karahanna approach, which assessed cultural traits
at the individual level of analysis using Hofstede’s cultural
dimensions.
The results showed that national culture values affect consumer
acceptance of e-commerce. In particular, UAI and LTO played
important roles. These findings suggest that in high UAI countries,
customers are reluctant to engage in online shopping because they
usually perceive e-commerce as having uncertain outcomes.
Therefore, e-commerce managers should help consumers feel safe
in the web environment by introducing institutional mechanisms
such as customer feed back, third-party escrow services, and credit
guarantees. In high LTO countries such as China, customers feel
trust is more important than PU or PEOU in using online shopping.
6.2. Limitations
Our study had some limitations. First, our model does not have a
strong theoretical background. Although it and the hypotheses
were established in the literature, we could not provide a
theoretical background for our model. Second, in Table 4, the
measurement items for all of the national culture values showed
an acceptable level of reliability and convergent validity. However,
several items of national culture values (PDI1, UAI4 and LTO3)
were dropped due to their low-level factor loading values for
convergent validity. Finally, most data collection in this study was
conducted with respect to university students in China. This might
have affected the external validity of the empirical results.
Acknowledgements
This work was supported by the Korea Research Foundation
Grant funded by the Korean Government (MOEHRD, Basic
Research Promotion Fund) (KRF-2007-332-B00111).
Appendix A
Perceived usefulness: Likert scale of strongly disagree to
strongly agree
PU1. The web site is useful for searching and buying goods.
PU2. The web site enhances my effectiveness in searching and
buying goods.
PU3. The web site enables me to search and buy goods faster.
PU4. The web site enhances my effectiveness in searching and
buying goods (dropped).
PU5. The web site is useful for shopping for goods.
Perceived ease of use: Likert scale of strongly disagree to
strongly agree
PEOU1. It is easy to become skillful at using the web site.
PEOU2. Learning to operate the web site is easy.
PEOU3. My interaction with the web site is clear and under-
standable.
PEOU4. The web site is easy to use.
Trust: Likert scale of strongly disagree to strongly agree
TRS1. The web site is reliable in shopping goods.
TRS2. The web site is trustworthy.
TRS3. I trust the web site.
Intention to use: Likert scale of strongly disagree to strongly
agree
IUSE1. Given the chance, I intend to use the web site.
IUSE2. I will frequently use the web site.
IUSE3. I am very likely to provide the online shopping mall with
the information it needs to better serve my needs.
Power distance: Likert scale of strongly disagree to strongly
agree
PDI1. Subordinates afraid to express disagreement with their
superiors (dropped).
PDI2. Subordinates should follow their superior’s decisions
unconditionally.
PDI3. Managers should make most decisions by themselves.
PDI4. Subordinates should not question their superior’s
decisions.
Individualism: Likert scale of strongly disagree to strongly
agree
IDV1. Individual rewards are more important than group
welfare.
IDV2. Individual success is more important than group success.
IDV3. Having autonomy and independence is more important
than being accepted as a member of a group.
 C. Yoon / Information & Management 46 (2009) 294–301
Masculinity: Likert scale of strongly disagree to strongly
agree
MAS1. The fulfillment of tasks is more important than caring for
others.
MAS2. A job with high earnings is better than a job with quality
of life.
MAS3. A man should be strong and a woman should be tender.
Uncertainty avoidance: Likert scale of strongly disagree to
strongly agree
UAI1. When starting a new job, I fear doing it.
UAI2. I fear uncertainty about the future.
UAI3. I fear ambiguous situations and an unfamiliar adventures.
UAI4. It is risky to do something that has never been done before
(dropped).
Long-term orientation: Likert scale of strongly disagree to
strongly agree
LTO1. Thrift.
LTO2. Persistence (perseverance).
LTO3. Ordering relationships by status and observing this order
(dropped).
LTO4. Having a sense of shame.
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Cheolho Yoon currently serves as Assistant Professor of
MIS in the Department of Business Administration at
Mokpo National University. He studied computer
science at Kwangwoon University, from where he also
earned his doctoral degree in MIS. He joined the faculty
of Mokpo National University in 2005. Before joining
the university, he worked for SK C&C Co. and Arthur
Anderson Korea (now BearingPoint) as an IT consultant.
His recent works have appeared in Electronic Com-
merce Research and Applications, Computers in Human
Behavior, and Korean Management Review.