Investigating the Impact of Cultural Dimensions on Social Media Behavior - A cross cultural study

In today’s world, the user rate of social media is steadily increasing. While individuals use social media for the purpose of personal communication or information exchange, global companies use it for the launch of international marketing campaigns and standardized online advertisements. As these campaigns are published across different nations, in order to produce successful online content, it is mandatory to consider cultural values. In these terms, Hofstede’s research on the so-called cultural dimensions helps to understand the complex structures of a culture and how cultural differences influence social media behaviors. Thus, previous research already considered the relationship between cultural background and social media usage. Therefore, this research is focused on investigating how motivations for using social media depend on cultural dimensions, and furthermore how cultural dimensions affect the relationship between motivations for using social media and the actions taken on social media. By applying a quantitative methods approach, an online survey was conducted. In these terms, 161 social media users were asked questions in regard to their cultural background and social media habits. To be more precise, the researcher gathered data to conduct a cross-cultural study and to uncover how cultural background and the corresponding motivations for using social media are related to one another. The research found out that cultural dimensions can serve as a moderator when considering the relationship between actions taken on social media and the motivations for using social media. The main findings indicated that social media behavior is related to the motivations for using social media. To be more precise, it has been found that depending on the reason for using social media, the user tends to make use of specific actions. Overall, the study recommends international marketers to closely consider the cultural dimensions of the target audience and understand how cultural differences lead to different motivations for using social media.