Culturally Contingent Crowdsourcing : Examples from Three Arab Gulf Countries

The focus of this research paper is to identify areas of future research relevant to identifying the appropriate culturally contingent crowd for innovative ideas and products among the Arab Gulf States. Preliminary research, using proxies for the individual Gulf Arab states, indicates that these countries have a high level of cultural tightness. This contrasts with countries in Western Europe and the United States with lower values of cultural tightness. There also appears to be a large cultural distance between these two groupings of countries. Past research indicated that these differences may lead to less fertile ground for crowdsourcing opportunities, for example, of an innovator from Western Europe or the United States using the Arab Gulf States as a source for innovation. The role of occupational culture will also be explored. Are those who choose one occupation over another more or less predisposed to innovation, entrepreneurial thinking, and participation in crowdsourcing? The following research provides a foundation for future investigation, which may lead to a reevaluation as to the potential of the Arab Gulf States as target audiences for innovative ideas or products or as originators of creative solutions and innovations in the 21st century