Globalization of innovations: A multilevel -multimethod framework to explain diffusion and adoption of the Internet

Little research has been conducted to understand the factors influencing the global diffusion of information and communications technologies (ICTs) such as the Internet. Moreover, the existing literature has a severe lack of studies dealing with the diffusion of ICTs in developing countries. The developing countries\u27 increasingly important roles in international relations and global e-commerce make research focusing on Internet diffusion in these countries still more important. A focus on the developing world—home to 80% of humanity—is also an antidote to the tendency in the field of consumer research of becoming “increasingly isolated and of marginal relevance”. To fill these research gaps, this dissertation attempts to explain global diffusion of the Internet with special emphasis on developing countries. Studies were conducted at global, national/regional and consumer levels. First, using the country as a unit of analysis, several theories on innovation diffusion are tested with econometric analysis of global country-level data on Internet diffusion. Intensively examining the relevant factors, the historical method constructed a paradigm to explain Internet diffusion in the Andhra Pradesh (AP) State of India. This state is home to Hyderabad, one of the biggest centers of Information Technology and software development in India. Indepth interviews conducted in India, Nepal and the U.S., and their interpretation using grounded theory techniques, helped understand the Internet adoption decision and its integration in existing ways of lives. Taken collectively, these studies have advanced the state of knowledge about global diffusion of information and communications technologies. They have provided an insight into the factors that could be important in country entry decisions of technology marketers. The predictors of major dependent variables and their variation across cultures would help managers in designing appropriate marketing mixes and making appropriate adaptations across countries. The resulting knowledge would also help policymakers formulate appropriate policy to accelerate Internet diffusion and work towards bridging the existing global “digital divide”