Understanding cultural influence on creativity in ideation

Creativity is considered a necessity and an exceptional capacity of human beings, and it can be influenced by certain factors, such as culture. Culture establishes expected ways of thinking and behaving as well as what is considered right or wrong or acceptable or unacceptable. Cultural differences reflect how individuals interact with one another and how they vary in terms of creative and design performance. The impact of culture on creativity, particularly the influence of cultural values, such as power distance, on the creative process, has been substantiated. However, the findings remain inconclusive, giving rise to the need for additional explorations into other cultural values. Accordingly, this research was aimed at identifying the relationship between culture and creativity.

Moreover, it would be advantageous to investigate how cultural effects can be used to influence creativity. The emergence of digital technological advancements has led to an increased focus on innovation, such as virtual reality. Previous studies confirmed that the incorporation of digital technologies into the design process potentially facilitates the augmentation of individual creativity. Thus, the present dissertation endeavours to examine the effects of digital technology use on creativity, with focus directed specifically towards virtual reality-based and video-based stimuli for priming cultural values regarding creativity.

To achieve the abovementioned objectives, experiments were carried out to identify the cultural dimensions affecting creativity. Next, stimuli for priming culture via integrated digital technologies were designed, after which two experiments were conducted to verify the influence of cultural priming on design and creativity. Finally, the research validated pathways that integrate digital technologies for priming culture to influence creativity in the design process.