Page 103 - Culture Technology Communication

88 Carleen F. Maitland and Johannes M. Bauer

• What are the results of an analysis of the impact of cul-
ture in global diffusion using the Internet as a case study?

This chapter is organized as follows. First, the theoretical questions
concerning global diffusion and culture will be presented. Second,
the findings of a case study concerning the role of culture in global
Internet diffusion will be presented. Finally, the implications of the
findings of the case study for culture in future global diffusion stud-
ies will be addressed.

Culture and Diffusion

In this section the role of culture in Diffusion of Innovation theory will
be discussed. The section begins with a discussion of culture, its quan-
tification, and levels of analysis. This is followed by a discussion of dif-
fusion theory and its use in research at various levels of analysis.

Culture
Prior to embarking on a discussion of the issue of national cul-
ture, the term culture must first be defined. Culture is such a broad
construct that the best one can do is place boundaries on its meaning
for a particular application. Geertz (1973) defines culture as:

. . . an historically transmitted pattern of meanings embod-
ied in symbols, a system of inherited conceptions expressed
in symbolic forms by means of which men communicate, per-
petuate, and develop their knowledge about and attitudes
toward life. (89)

More simply, culture can generally be described as the way of life
of a people (Rosman and Rubel 1995). Specifically, it refers to the
socially learned behaviors, beliefs, and values that the members of
a group or society share. Certain cultural features, known as cul-
tural universals, are present in each society. These universals in-
clude language and other symbols, norms and values, and the
tension between ethnocentrism and cultural relativism. Ethnocen-
trism refers to the belief that one’s culture is superior to all others,
while cultural relativism requires that the value of customs and
ideas of a society must be judged from within the context of that so-
ciety (Persell 1984).