Organizational Acceptance of Social Media Marketing: A Cross-Cultural Perspective

ABSTRACT

By surveying 115 social media marketing professionals in 17 different countries and regions, this study extends Technology Acceptance Model (TAM) and digital divide research at the organizational level in the cross-cultural context. There are three major findings. First, there are significant differences in perceived ease of use (PEU), perceived usefulness (PU), and behavioural intention (BI) among different types of organizations (U.S. vs. Non-U.S. and global vs. domestic). Second, cultural convergence and cultural divergences theories may complement, instead of contradict, with each other. Finally, second-level digital divide may exist between non-U.S. based domestic organizations and the other three types of organizations.

KEYWORDS:

• Globalization
• cultural convergence theory
• cultural divergence theory
• Technology Acceptance Model (TAM)
• social media marketing
• digital divide

Acknowledgments

The author would like to thank Dr. Carl Zangerl, Northeastern University Alumni Relations Office, Amy Smith, Alex Wu and other colleagues for their help with data collection, and Dr. Ronald E. Rice, Dr. Lea P. Stewart, and the anonymous reviewers for their suggestions for an earlier version.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Ming-Yi Wu

Ming-Yi Wu, Ph.D., is a Graduate Faculty in Master Program of Corporate and Organizational Communication at Northeastern University, U.S.A.  Her research areas are consumer behaviors, customer insights, e-commerce, social media marketing, intercultural communication, leadership communication, and international public relations.