A Comparative Study on the Effect of Cultural Dimensions on Social Capital and Life Satisfaction between Filipinos and Korean Facebook Users

Abstract

Facebook is considered as the leading social network site that has attracted millions of users across countries. However, the motivations for using Facebook may differ with each country. Studies on the relationship between Facebook motivation, usage, social capital and life satisfaction have been conducted in a relatively limited context, such as within in a single country or a single demographic population. Although much research has shown significant results in their studies concerning SNS by just using one or two dimensions of Hofstede’s cultural dimension, taking out the other cultural dimensions may not really represent the whole cultural attributes of the samples. Comparative research about Facebook has had so much emphasis on comparisons between Western and Asian countries not much of two Asian countries. This study showed the influence of all of Hofstede’s cultural dimensions on to the motivation to use Facebook and the impact of their usage to their social capital and life satisfaction between Filipinos and Koreans. The 243 Filipino and 235 Korean respondents of the survey were processed using SPSS and AMOS. The findings of the study suggest that for Filipinos, the overall Hofstede cultural dimension has a significant influence on the identified motivations such as seeking friends, entertainment, information, convenience and social support. On the other hand for South Koreans, Hofstede cultural dimensions influence motivation such as seeking friends, information, convenience, and social support except entertainment. The study also reveals that the primary motivation for Filipinos to use Facebook is seeking convenience, information, entertainment, and seeking friends. Filipinos don’t see Facebook as a source for social support. While for South Koreans, their primary motivation to use Facebook is seeking social support, convenience, seeking friends and information. South Koreans do not perceive Facebook as a source of entertainment. Both Filipino and South Korean Facebook activity does enhance their overall social capital and life satisfaction, suggesting that uses and gratification has been attained through their Facebook engagement.