Programa Erasmus+

As stated above (section 2.5.3), in Hofstede culture framework (Hofstede, 1980) four dimensions can be used to distinguish different cultures; namely power distance, uncertainty avoidance, masculinity and individualism. It can be noted from the following Table (2.8) that KSA is a collectivism, high power distance, high uncertainty avoidance and moderate level of masculinity and femininity culture, while the UK is an individualism, low power distance, masculinity and low uncertainty avoidance culture.

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Table 2. 11: Culture Dimension Differences across KSA and the UK

Culture Dimensions Kingdom of Saudi Arabia United Kingdom

Individualism/Collectivism 38 (low) 89 (high)

Low/High Power Distance 80 (high) 35 (low)

Masculinity/Femininity 52 (moderate) 66 (high)

Low/High Uncertainty Avoidance 68 (high) 35 (low)

Long-term Orientation (LTO) Not Applicable 25 (low)

Source: Hofstede (1980)

Individualism and Collectivism ‎

The above table 2.8 indicated that KSA is collectivism culture. It has low score (38) ‎in the individualism scale, while the UK has high score (89) that indicated ‎individualism culture.

This means that individuals from KSA are more likely to respect ‎their family, tribe and religions. In addition, they are more likely to be influenced by ‎their groups’ members. People from KSA are learning from each others, asking for ‎advance and recommendations from their groups’ members. They are also responsible ‎for their own people.

‎

On the other hand, individuals from the UK are more likely to be independent. They ‎believe their own opinions and have self-interest. According to this dimension, ‎individuals may not be influenced by their groups (families, friends and colleagues). ‎They depend on themselves in decision making. They develop their own skilled and ‎knowledge. They cannot be protected by any member of the group. ‎

‎ ‎

Power Distance

It can be noted from the above table that KSA classified as high power distance ‎culture with (80). Individuals from KSA are more likely to accept the inequality in the ‎society. Individuals in the high position and who with high social power and authority ‎in the society consider themselves to be responsible for others. According to this ‎dimension, there is a large gap between individual in high and low positions in KSA. ‎

On the other hand, the UK was classified as low power distance. Individuals tend to ‎be equal and no large difference can be found. Inequality is not acceptable position in ‎the UK culture.

In addition, they tend to have an equivalence power in the decision ‎making and providing their opinions. ‎

68 Uncertainty Avoidance

According to the above table, high uncertainty avoidance culture was highly ‎considered in KSA. KSA scored high in this dimension at (68). This indicated that ‎individuals tend to avoid the uncertainty situation in which the outcomes cannot be ‎predicted. They are more likely to follow a clear, save and detailed structure so that ‎any risk or unwanted outcome can be avoided. ‎

On contrary, UK was considered as low uncertainty avoidance. Individuals tend in ‎some level accept situation that have a certain level of risk and the outcomes cannot be ‎predicted. They are more likely to be self-confidence to take a risky action and be ‎responsible about their behaviour. ‎

Masculinity and Femininity

According to the above table, KSA had a moderate score in the masculinity and ‎femininity scale. This indicated that individuals from KSA neither masculinity nor ‎femininity but between the two. Individuals tend to be assertive, successful and ‎competitor. In addition, they consider the values of quality of life and having good ‎and healthy personal relationships are importance in the society. ‎

In contrast, in the UK, masculinity culture is more value comparing with femininity. ‎This indicated that individuals are more likely to focus on the assertiveness, ‎performance, success and competition. ‎

Long-Term Orientation

This dimension of culture was not measured in the culture of KSA, but it was ‎measured in UK culture. The more score country has, the more it has long-term ‎orientation. This dimension was examined across 23 countries and Britain was ranked ‎in 18 with 25 score in the long-term orientation scale. According to this result, the UK ‎was considered to be short-term orientation culture. This indicated that individuals ‎tend to have personal steadiness and stability, protect their “faces” and respect for ‎tradition. They also less vision towards the past and present. Individuals ‎are‎ more ‎likely to accept changes and have short goals and vision. ‎

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The first four culture dimensions (Individualism and Collectivism, Power Distance,

‎Uncertainty Avoidance and Masculinity and Femininity) are importance for the ‎current study for a number of reasons. First, they are the most cited dimensions of ‎culture and have been applied for many of the previous studies including marketing ‎and information technology acceptance such as (Straub, 1994, Gefen and Straub, ‎‎1997, Straub et al., 1997, Furrer et al., 2000, Liu et al., 2001 , Liu et al., 2004, Gefen ‎and Heart, 2006, Al-Gahtani et al., 2007, Jin et al., 2008, Kim, 2008, Reimann et al., ‎‎2008, Vance et al., 2008, Schoefer, 2010). In addition, they were applied in the ‎context of online banking (Tsikriktsis, 2002, Singer et al., 2008).

Second, these four ‎culture dimensions are the only dimensions that have been measured in the ‎environments of KSA and the UK. They might be helpful for explaining how ‎individuals might behave in both cultures so that the results can be understood clearly. ‎For example, individualism and collectivism is an important dimension of culture that ‎might explain some constructs in the conceptual model such as trust, subjective norms ‎and behavioral intention toward internet banking. In addition, using internet banking ‎involves some risks that customers might face so that uncertainty avoidance maybe a ‎significant dimension to explain customers’ behaviour intention. Accordingly, ‎Hofstede’s culture dimensions are considered to be more appropriate for the current study than others ‎dimensions that stated in the appendix 1.

2.7 Summary

This chapter highlighted the demographic characteristics of KSA and the UK in terms of their size, geographic locations, populations, language, religion, industry and natural resources in section 2.2. This chapter also illustrated the students’ characteristics in section 2.3. Section 2.4 the importance on the internet technology in general and more specific in the KSA and the UK. It also covers and illustrates information concerning the context of the study (Internet banking) in section 2.5. This section also illustrated the Internet banking definition, the importance of Internet banking from banking and customers’ perspectives. This is followed by illustrating the Internet banking in KSA and the UK. Because the current study is carried out across different countries, culture background of the countries is provided in section 2.6. The section highlighted the culture definition and levels, the importance of culture, culture frameworks and dimensions. The study illustrated specifically Hofstede’s culture dimensions. According to Hofstede’s culture dimension, the culture differences in KSA and the UK are highlighted.

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The following chapter will provide a review of previous literature in the area of trust, loyalty, psychology theories, technology acceptance models, across culture studies and Internet banking. It will also illustrate the theoretical gaps that the study’s conceptual model tries to fill.

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