University of Twente Student Theses
Cultural Differences in the Use of Instant Messaging Applications: Cross-Cultural Case Study of China and the Netherlands
Li, Jingya (2016) Cultural Differences in the Use of Instant Messaging Applications: Cross-Cultural Case Study of China and the Netherlands.
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| Abstract: | Purpose: This study aimed to investigate mediation effects of features on different instant messaging apps, and to explore how cultural differences influence the appropriation of instant messaging apps. Method: Two studies were conducted. The first study was a content analysis of 24 instant messaging apps, focusing on the various features of these apps. An online survey focusing on users’ appropriation of different features on instant messaging apps was conducted in the second study. Results: The results of the first study show that features on instant messaging apps played different mediating roles on users’ communication. The second study shows that there were significant differences in the appropriation of instant messaging apps between participants from different cultural background. A conceptual model was drawn to connect Hofstede’s and Hall’s cultural dimensions with the appropriation of instant messaging apps. Conclusion: Results show that there are various features on instant messaging apps, which mediate users’ communication in different ways. Some of them are important and should attract more attention from the app designers. The second study shows that culture dimensions do matter in the appropriation of instant messaging apps, which indicates that instant messaging apps could be designed with cultural consideration to be more applicable. |
| Item Type: | Essay (Master) |
| Clients: | Unknown organization, Netherlands |
| Faculty: | BMS: Behavioural, Management and Social Sciences |
| Subject: | 02 science and culture in general, 05 communication studies, 73 cultural anthropology |
| Programme: | Communication Studies MSc (60713) |
| Link to this item: | https://purl.utwente.nl/essays/69112 |
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