Self-service personalisation: a cross-cultural study

The paper considers the personalisation of technology with a focus on Automated Teller Machines (ATMs). The concept of personalisation is explored in terms of users’ perceptions of and requirements from modern technology in four countries (India, Australia, the UK and the USA) through a large-scale survey. Our findings show that the evolving cultures such as India show a positive attitude toward ATM personalization. Further, to obtain an understanding of overall user attitude from the four countries toward personalisation, Hofstede’s cultural dimensions are also taken into account. It is argued that Hofstede’s dimensions do not fully explain Indian users’ attitude in comparison with western users’ attitude toward technology personalisation. We conclude that Hofstede’s model may be used as a useful tool to understand the western cultures but its role in the evolving cultures such as India, China and Africa needs to be further investigated in relation to modern technology adoption.