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