Cultural Values and Internet Banking in Europe. The Moderating Effect of Gender

Abstract

This study analyses how national culture influences the use of Internet banking (IB) in Europe while considering the moderating effect of gender. Using Hofstede’s cultural model, we posit six hypotheses and we predict a different relationship between cultural values and IB in men and women. A sample of 19,255 individuals residing in 27 European Union countries was used. The results demonstrate that the cultural values of European countries can explain the use of IB. Specifically, the results highlight that the greatest use of IB is found in countries that have an individualistic culture and low levels of masculinity, along with varying levels of intensity between men and women. Regarding indulgence, it exerts a positive influence on IB, but only for men. Conversely, high scores for uncertainty avoidance reduce IB usage for women. Furthermore, using protective measures partially offsets the negative effect of high levels of uncertainty avoidance, but only for women.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Notes

1 Although Hofstedés cultural dimensions were designed for national-level analysis, many studies confirmed its use at individual level too (Faqih & Jaradat, 2015).

2 Cybersecurity as the ‘preservation of the confidentiality, integrity and availability of information in Cyberspace’ (ISO/IEC 27032: 2012).

3 These authors find that this favourable attitude is especially on the dimensions of belief (e.g., believing in the societal usefulness of technology) and self-efficacy (e.g., self-confidence in one’s ability to learn and use technology effectively).

4 Among the studies that have used the Eurobarometer are (Lee & Kim, 2020; Martínez Guerrero et al., 2007; Rughiniş & Rughiniş, 2014; Sun, 2011).

5 This includes the United Kingdom, whose official departure from the EU took place on 31 January 2020.

6 The Special Eurobarometer 499 Report contains the exact number of respondents in each country (European commission, 2020).

7 Hofstede insights: https://www.hofstede-insights.com/country-comparison/(Retrieved 17 April 2019).

8 Based on the Eurobarometer, these levels correspond to those who leave school before they are 15 years old, between 16 and 19 years old, or 20 years old and over, respectively.

9 Among the studies that have used the multilevel hierarchical model in the context of cultural studies, specifically the Hofstede model, is Mihet (2013)

10 The difference between odd ratio and probability is that the probability is the result of dividing the number of favourable cases by the total number of cases, while the odd ratio is the result of dividing the number of favourable cases by the number of unfavourable cases.

11 To facilitate the interpretation of the results, we have rescaled the values, dividing by 100.

12 For a recent review of studies analysing the safety of IB clients in the last few years, see Sundaram et al. (2019).

13 Numerous studies have analysed the incidence of COVID-19 in online banking, although practically all of them refer to Asian and developing countries. Among the few works referring to Europe are (Carbó-Valverde et al., 2021), (Branzoli et al., 2023) and (Anysiadou et al., 2021).

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Inmaculada Aguiar-Díaz

Inmaculada Aguiar-Díaz is PhD in Business Administration and professor of Finance at the University of Las Palmas de Gran Canaria (Spain). Her research topics focus on financial and ownership structure, information quality, financial performance, resolution of bankruptcy, university-industry relations, and financial behavior. She has published in several prestigious international journals.

María Victoria Ruiz-Mallorquí

María Victoria Ruiz-Mallorquí has received PhD in Business Administration from the University of Las Palmas de Gran Canaria (Spain). Currently, serving as Associate Professor of Finance at that university. Her research interests include banking and financial institutions, firm financial performance, and bankruptcy proceedings. She has published articles in leading journals.