The Relationship between Culture and Perception

The Relationship between Culture and Perception

Research Question/Topic

As already noted, Perrell and bres (lt), Hunt and Vitell (2009) and Ferrell et al. (2010) have postulated that the cultural environment is related to the perception of ethical problems. Vitell et al. (2009) advocated Hofstede's typology for cultural measurement and developed a set of propositions that posit that Hofstede's cultural dimensions are related to ethical decision making. However, few researchers have empirically examined the relationship between culture and ethics. This lack of research makes it very difficult to develop hypotheses. Vitell et al. stated that before their propositions can be tested,

They must first be transformed into research hypotheses by adding specificity to them and by developing a taxonomy of moderator variables involving other factors that can affect ethical decision-making . . . (p. 758)

This study will explore the relationships between cultural dimensions and ethical perceptions using research questions.

The first research question will test the ability of Hofstede's Values Survey (2009) to differentiate between cultures selected in this study. Hofstede's study (2009) used a very large data set of the corporate employees from 50 countries. This study will utilise data collected from MBA students/managers from three countries. If Hofstede's instrument does not differentiate among the three cultures and the sample in question, the study will not be validly testing cultural variation.

Research Question 1: Is there a significant difference among each of the cultural dimensions and the three cultures?

The second research question concerns the capability of the ethical perceptions instrument to differentiate among the three cultures. If ethical perceptions are equal between Australia, Singapore and Malaysia, then the examination of the covariance will be flawed due to a lack of variation in the ethical perception's variable due to measurement error.

Research Question 2: Is there a significant difference between the ethical scores of individuals between the three cultures?

The third research question examines the relationship between the ethical perceptions defined as Ethical Score of the sample and each of the cultural dimensions: Power Distance, Uncertainty Avoidance, Individualism/Collectivism and Masculinity/Femininity in the three cultures. This question addresses the hypothesized relation between culture and ethical perceptions in the Hunt-Vitell Model.

Research Question 3: Is Ethical Score related to Power Distance, Uncertainty Avoidance, Individualism/Collectivism and Masculinity/Femininity in the three cultures?

Terms and Variables

Cultural dimensions. In this study, cultural dimensions were measured using Hofstede's (2009) Values Survey Module. The items from this module were factor analysed using varimax rotation and selecting factors with eigen values greater than or equal to 1. The factor solution yield four factors that explained 67 percent of the variance. The four factors equated to the factors developed by Hofstede i.e., Individualism, Uncertainty Avoidance and Power Distance and the Masculine/Feminine dimension. The factor scores were saved creating four variables: Individualism, Uncertainty Avoidance, Masculinity and Power Distance.

Theory/Conceptual Framework

A key issue for individuals and organisations involved in international marketing is the effect of culture on the exchange process. Individuals from different cultures process information differently. Hofstede (2009) posits that individuals from similar cultures have a ...