Journal Article 1: Williamson, D. (2002). Forward from a critique of Hofstede’s model of national culture. Human Relations, 55, 1373–1395.

Abstract: McSweeney’s critique (2002) rejects Hofstede’s model and finds national culture implausible as a systematically causal factor of behaviour. His critique is examined for its useful warnings to those who follow Hofstede’s research and for its logical consistency. A paradigmatic perspective identifies where McSweeney argues against Hofstede’s logic and where he rejects Hofstede’s paradigm and premises. This indicates that both the functionalist and other paradigms are needed for future research into national culture and for understanding social behaviour in different national cultures.

Journal Article 2: Hsu, S. Y, Woodside, A. G., & Marshall, R. (2013). Critical tests of multiple theories of cultures’ consequences: Comparing the usefulness of models by Hofstede, Inglehart and Baker, Schwartz, Steenkamp, as well as GDP and Distance for Explaining Overseas Tourism Behavior. Journal of Travel Research, 52, 679–704.

Abstract: The study provides critical tests of the usefulness of four alternative theories, proposed by Hofstede, Inglehart, Schwartz, and Steenkamp, of national cultures’ influences for explaining consumers’ consumption of international services. The study applies critical testing of these four theories in two research contexts: visiting Australia by holiday (vacation) travelers from 5 Asian and 5 Western nations and visiting the United States by holiday (vacation) travelers from 12 nations. The study is unique and valuable in proposing and testing configurational perspectives of cultural influences rather than testing via “unpacking” the net effects of cultural dimensions separately. The findings indicate that cultural configurations do impact consumption behavior of international services beyond the influences of demographic conditions (distance and national wealth) and that Schwartz’s theory is useful in particular in explaining unique aspects of consuming international services.

Journal Article 3: Fischer, R., Vauclair, C. M., Fontaine, J. R., & Schwartz, S. (2010). Are individual-level and country-level value structures different? Testing Hofstede’s legacy with the Schwartz value survey. Journal of Cross-Cultural Psychology, 41, 135–151.

Abstract: Hofstede identified four value dimensions at the country level but did not find matching dimensions at the individual level. Schwartz discriminated different sets of value constructs at individual and country-levels, based on separate analyses per level. In this article, the authors directly examine the degree of similarity or isomorphism between the structure of values in individual- and country-level analyses, using multidimensional scaling followed by generalized Procrustes analysis. Using data from the Schwartz Value Survey from 53 and 66 countries, the authors find substantial similarity in structure across levels, but indices fall somewhat short of structural isomorphism. The authors then test hypotheses regarding possible causes of the less than perfect isomorphism between the levels. Number of countries (sample size at country level) and structural shifts in individual items account for some of the lack of isomorphism. Implications for future cross-cultural research are discussed.

Journal Article 4: Merritt, A., (2000). Culture in the cockpit: Do Hofstede’s dimensions replicate? Journal of Cross-Cultural Psychology, 31, 283–301.

Abstract: Survey data collected from 9,400 male commercial airline pilots in 19 countries were used in a replication study of Hofstede’s indexes of national culture. The analysis that removed the constraint of item equivalence proved superior, both conceptually and empirically, to the analysis using Hofstede’s items and formulae as prescribed, and rendered significant replication correlations for all indexes (Individualism-Collectivism .96, Power Distance .87, Masculinity-Femininity .75, and Uncertainty Avoidance .68). The successful replication confirms that national culture exerts an influence on cockpit behavior over and above the professional culture of pilots, and that “one size fits all” training is inappropriate.

Journal Article 5: Schmid, H., & Klimmt, C. (2011). A magically nice guy: Parasocial relationships with Harry Potter across different cultures. International Communication Gazette, 73, 252–269.

Abstract: This study explored parasocial relationships (PSRs) with Harry Potter that readers from different cultures have developed. An overall sample of 2551 Potter fans from Germany (individualistic culture) and Mexico (collectivistic culture) completed an online questionnaire assessing their parasocial relationship with the character. Fans from the collectivistic culture rated Potter’s sociability higher than fans from the individualistic culture. For fans from both cultures, social attraction turned out as most important determinant of PSRs with Potter, while homophily ranked lowest. Overall, PSRs and fandom turned out to be quite similar across cultures, with some differences in character perception and relative importance of social attraction. Implications for parasocial relationships as (inter)cultural phenomena and cross-cultural appreciation of media entertainment are discussed.