THE EFFECT OF CULTURE ON THE ADOPTION PROCESS - A COMPARISON OF JAPANESE AND AMERICAN BEHAVIOR

The classic study of the relationship between technological innovation and culture has been that of the influence and changes wrought by a t echnological innovation on a culture. This paper examines the opposite flow: the influence of culture on the adoption of technological innov ations within a society. In particular, the paper examines differences in innovative adoption between the United States and Japan as a direc t result of their different cultural attributes. Generalizations are p ostulated concerning cultural influences on national adoption behavior to determine possible relationships that would allow greater understa nding and explanation of the adoption of innovation and diffusion phen omena.