1. Master Thesis
The influence of cultural values on the adoption of privacy
threatening features in social networks
A first approach measuring culture and information technology user
acceptance,
acceptance in the environment of social network sites
Rosa Rudó Mauné
Advisor: Ph.D Francesc Miralles Torner
November 11th 2011
11th,

2. Agenda
• Introduction
• Motivation
• Key aspects of the Literature Review
• Research Question
• Hypotheses and Model
• Research Design
• Results
• Discussion
• Conclusions and Further Steps
2

3. Introduction
• Social network sites (SNS), such as Facebook, LinkedIn,
MySpace, etc., offer broad functionalities: sharing photos,
telephone numbers, etc.
• Some of these functionalities have personal information uploaded
from the users.
• A voluntary or an involuntary disclosure of personal information is
due to th
d t the usage of privacy th t i f t
f i threatening features:
– Those features need personal information to be used.
• The usage of these privacy threatening features can harm users.
– For instance:
• A teacher from Georgia was fired (Abc2 2009, Kypost 2009).
– This is not an isolated case there are some more cases (BBC 2010
case, 2010,
FacebookNoticias 2009).
3

4. Motivation
• There is social anxiety about the harm that privacy threatening
features can cause, it can be seen in:
– Government warnings.
warnings
– Newspapers.
• However, it is not enough as can be seen in the news.
• Therefore, what has been done and what will b d
Th f h th b d d h t ill be done i thi
in this
knowledge area is relevant for society in order to minimize
damage.
4

5. Key aspects of the Literature Review (1/3)
• Privacy threatening features can be studied from the perspective of
IT user acceptance theories since these theories study the factors
theories,
that allow a technology to be adopted.
• According to Leidner and Kayworth (2006), culture influences the
user acceptance of IT.
• The main research areas of this research project are:
– User acceptance theories of Information Technologies (IT).
– Culture.
influences IT User
Culture Acceptance
Leidner & Kayworth
2006
5

6. Key aspects of the Literature Review (2/3)
influences IT User
Culture Acceptance
Leidner & Kayworth
2006
• Schwartz’s model (Schwartz 1992):
– 10 values: Self-direction, Stimulation, Conformity, etc.
, , y,
• Hofstede’s framework (Hofstede 1980):
– Dorfman and Howell (1988)  individual level.
– Constructs: Power Distance, Uncertainty Avoidance, Individualism,
Masculinity, and Long- versus Short- term Orientation.
– Bagchi et al. (2003) studied the Hofstede’s constructs that have more
influence on IT user acceptance.
– Hwang (2004)  Open Cultural Orientation.
6

7. Key aspects of the Literature Review (3/3)
influences IT User
Culture Acceptance
Leidner & Kayworth
2006
• Theory of Planned Behavior (TPB) (Ajzen 1985).
– Constructs: Attitude toward the Behavior, Subjetive Norm and
Perceived Behavioral Control.
• Technology Acceptance Model (TAM) (Davis 1986)
1986).
– Constructs: Perceived Usefulness and Perceived Ease of Use.
• Unified Theory of Acceptance and Use of Technology (UTAUT)
(Venkatesh et al. 2003).
– Constructs: Performance Expectancy, Effort Expectancy, Social
Influence and Faciltating Conditions.
7

8. Research Question
influences IT User
Culture Acceptance
Leidner & Kayworth
2006
• e commerce
e-commerce (Gefen & Straub 2000)
• Internet banking (Tan & Teo 2000)
• 3G mobile communications (Wu et al. 2007)
Do individual’s l
D i di id l’ cultural values i fl
l l influence the
h
adoption of privacy threatening features in
social networks?
i l k ?
8

9. Hypotheses and Model
Perceived
Individualism
Usefulness
H1+ H4+ H7+
Open
Power H2‐ H5+ Perceived H8+ Behavioral H10+
Cultural Use
Distance Ease of Use Intention
Orientation
H3‐ H6‐
H9+
Uncertainty Social
Avoidance Influence
CULTURE: Open Cultural Orientation IT USER ACCEPTANCE: Simplified UTAUT
(Hwang 2004) (Venkatesh et al. 2003)
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10. Research Design (1/2)
• Social Network Site  Facebook (750 m. of active users in July
m
2011 (Facebook 2011).
• Qualitative versus quantitative approach:
– Quantitative approach, since it is going to offer more accurate results
of the proposed objectives (Easterby-Smith et al. 2008).
(Easterby Smith
• According to the quantitative approach and the objective of the
research, th possible options are:
h the ibl ti
– Multiple regression.
– Structural Equation Modeling (SEM).
q g( )
• Covariance-based SEM.
• Partial Least Squares (PLS).
10

11. Research Design (2/2)
• Implementation of the research method (PLS):
– Data Collection  Questionnaire
Questionnaire.
• The questionnaire was based on the literature review and improved with
workshops, focus groups, etc. in order to achieve content validity.
– Sampling:
• 66 students from La Salle (Ramon Llull University)  International
students of Business management bachelor
bachelor.
– 62 with Facebook profile.
– 4 with no Facebook profile.
• 87 students from Cracow University of Economics  National students
of Business management bachelor.
– 61 with Facebook profile (1 with patterns in the response).
– 26 with no Facebook profile.
• Number of samples > 30  They are enough to use PLS.
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12. Results - Introduction
• Developed with smartPLS tool
tool.
– http://www.smartpls.de
• Steps:
– Bootstrapping:
• 500 bootstrap re-sample as recommended Chin (1998)
re sample (1998).
• Estimates t-values of the model  Significance level.
– Measurement model:
• Convergent validity: Average Variance Extracted (AVE)
(AVE).
• Discriminant validity: loadings of CFA and Fornell-Lackers Criterion.
• Reliability: Cronbach’s Alpha and Composite reliability
– St
Structural model:
t l d l
• Path coefficients (~ regression coefficients).
• Explained variance (R2).
12

13. Results of La Salle, URL, sample
Perceived
Percei ed
Individualism Usefulness
H1+ H4+ H7+
-0.274* 0.506*** 0.281*
Power
P Open Perceived Behavioral
B h i l Use
U
H2- Cultural H5+ Ease of H8+ H10+
Distance Intention R2=0.337
0.192(ns) Orientation 0.475*** Use 0.058(ns) 0.580***
H3- H6-
H6 H9+
-0.125(ns) -0.260(ns) 0.307** Lack of reliability &
convergent validity
No significant
Uncertainty item Social
Avoidance Influence
“ns”: no significance, * 10% significant level, ** 5% significant level, *** 1% significant level
13

14. Results of Cracow University of Economics sample
Lack of
Perceived
Individualism reliability
Usefulness
H1+ H4+ H7+
0.190(ns) 0.087(ns) 0.289*
Power
P Open Perceived Behavioral
B h i l Use
U
H2- Cultural H5+ Ease of H8+ H10+
Distance Intention R2=0.372
0.257(ns) Orientation 0.072(ns) Use 0.183(ns) 0.554***
H3
H3- H6- H9+
0.270** -0.172(ns) -0.131(ns) Lack of reliability &
convergent validity
Uncertainty Social
Avoidance Lack of Influence
reliability
“ns”: no significance, * 10% significant level, ** 5% significant level, *** 1% significant level
14

15. Discussion
• La Salle (URL) sample:
– H4 H5 and H7 are supported
H4, supported.
– H1 is not supported.
• Cracow University of Economics sample:
– Lack of statistical validity and reliability.
• English comprehension difficulties.
• Non-validated questionnaire with this sample.
• Regarding the measurement tool:
– Culture constructs:
• New socio-technological environment related to initial design (1980).
• Focused on professional employees of a multinational company.
– IT user acceptance constructs:
• Social Influence is not as relevant as it used to be.
• Perceived Ease of Use does not matter for today’s higher education
students.
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16. Limitations
• Method limitations:
– Cultural models lack a comprehensive understanding.
– Limited possibility of an in-depth analysis of the relationship between
constructs.
• Design research limitations:
es g esea c tat o s
– Trust and Attitude were not considered.
– Only one SNS: Facebook.
– Affew privacy threatening features are considered.
i th t i f t id d
– Privacy threatening features can be used consciously and
unconsciously.
– Only students behavior is studied.
– Results cannot be generalized.
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17. Conclusions and Further Steps
• Conclusions about the research:
– A questionnaire that measures students culture is proposed.
proposed
– IT Acceptance models have been improved and tested by introducing
individual cultural attributes in SNS environment.
• Conclusions about th master thesis:
C l i b t the t th i
– A comprehensive understanding of SEM methods have been
acquired.
– A formal research methodology approach has been applied to a
quantitative design.
• A starting point for further research:
– Improving the study of culture at individual level in social media
environment.
i t
– Improving the models of IT user acceptance in social media
environment.
17

18. Questions and Comments
Rosa Rudó Mauné
Innova I tit t - L S ll
I Institute La Salle
Ramon Llull University
Barcelona (Spain)
E mail:
E-mail:
rrudo@salleurl.edu