A Cultural Dimensions Model based on Smart Phone Applications

One of the major factors influencing the phenomenal growth of the smart phone market is the active development applications based on open environments. Despite difficulties in finding and downloading applications due to the small screens and inconvenient interfaces of smart phones, users download applications nearly every day. Such user behavior patterns indicate the significance of smart phone applications. So far, studies on applications have focused mainly on technical approaches, including recommendation systems. Meanwhile, the issue of culture, as an aspect of user characteristics regarding smart phone use, remains largely unexamined throughout the world. Hence, the present study attempts to analyze the highest ranked smart phone applications downloaded and paid for that are ranked the highest in 10 countries (Korea, Japan, China, India, the UK, USA, Indonesia, Canada, France, and Mexico) and we then derive the CDSC (Cultural Dimensions Score of Content) for these applications. The results derived are, then, mapped to the cultural dimensions model to determine the CISC (Cultural Index Score for Country). Further, culturally significant differences in smart phone environments are identified using MDS analysis.