Usability,quality, value and e-learning continuance decisions

Previous research suggests that an eventual information technology (IT) success depend on both its initial adoption (acceptance) and subsequent continued usage (continuance). Expectancy disconfirmation theory (EDT) has been successfully used to predict users’ intention to continue using information technologies. This study proposed a decomposed EDT model to examine cognitive beliefs and affect that influence users’ continuance decision in the context of e-learning service. The proposed model extended EDT by decomposing the perceived performance component into usability, quality, and value. Research hypotheses derived from this model are empirically validated using the responses to a survey on e-learning usage among 183 users. The results suggest that users’ continuance intention is determined by satisfaction, which in turn is jointly determined by perceived usability, perceived quality, perceived value, and usability disconfirmation.     

Usability, quality, value and e-learning continuance decisions

Previous research suggests that an eventual information technology (IT) success depend on both its initial adoption (acceptance) and subsequent continued usage (continuance). Expectancy disconfirmation theory (EDT) has been successfully used to predict users’ intention to continue using information technologies. This study proposed a decomposed EDT model to examine cognitive beliefs and affect that influence users’ continuance decision in the context of e-learning service. The proposed model extended EDT by decomposing the perceived performance component into usability, quality, and value. Research hypotheses derived from this model are empirically validated using the responses to a survey on e-learning usage among 183 users. The results suggest that users’ continuance intention is determined by satisfaction, which in turn is jointly determined by perceived usability, perceived quality, perceived value, and usability disconfirmation.     

Exploring Chinese users’ acceptance of instant messaging using the theory of planned behavior,the technology acceptance model,and the flow theory

Instant messaging (IM) is a popular Internet application around the world. In China, the competition in the IM market is very intense and there are over 10 IM products available. We examine the intrinsic and extrinsic motivations that affect Chinese users’ acceptance of IM based on the theory of planned behavior (TPB), the technology acceptance model (TAM), and the flow theory. Results demonstrate that users’ perceived usefulness and perceived enjoyment significantly influence their attitude towards using IM, which in turn impacts their behavioral intention. Furthermore, perceived usefulness, users’ concentration, and two components of the theory of planned behavior (TPB): subjective norm and perceived behavioral control, also have significant impact on the behavioral intention. Users’ intention determines their actual usage behavior.     

A longitudinal investigation of continued online shopping behavior: An extension of the theory of planned behavior

The purpose of this study is to propose an extended model of Theory of Planned Behavior (TPB) by incorporating constructs drawn from the model of Expectation Disconfirmation Theory (EDT) and to examine the antecedents of users’ intention to continue using online shopping (continuance intention). Prior research has demonstrated that TPB constructs, including attitude, subjective norm, and perceived behavioral control, are important factors in determining the acceptance and use of various information technologies. These factors, however, are insufficient to explain a user's continuance intention in the online shopping context. In this study we extended TPB with two EDT constructs—disconfirmation and satisfaction—for studying users’ continuance intention in the online shopping context. By employing longitudinal method with two-stage survey, we empirically validated the proposed model and research hypotheses.     

Understanding Chinese users’ continuance intention toward online social networks: an integrative theoretical model

This study explores users’ continuance intention in online social networks by synthesizing Bhattacherjee’s IS continuance theory with flow theory, social capital theory, and the unified theory of acceptance and use of technology (UTAUT) to consider the special hedonic, social and utilitarian factors in the online social network environment. The integrated model was empirically tested with 320 online social network users in China. The results indicated that continuance intention was explained substantially by all hypothesized antecedents including perceived enjoyment, perceived usefulness, usage satisfaction, effort expectancy, social influence, tie strength, shared norms and trust. Based on the research findings, we offer discussions of both theoretical and practical implications.     

Factors influencing the adoption of internet banking: An integration of TAM and TPB with perceived risk and perceived benefit

Online banking (Internet banking) has emerged as one of the most profitable e-commerce applications over the last decade. Although several prior research projects have focused on the factors that impact on the adoption of information technology or Internet, there is limited empirical work which simultaneously captures the success factors (positive factors) and resistance factors (negative factors) that help customers to adopt online banking. This paper explores and integrates the various advantages of online banking to form a positive factor named perceived benefit. In addition, drawing from perceived risk theory, five specific risk facets – financial, security/privacy, performance, social and time risk – are synthesized with perceived benefit as well as integrated with the technology acceptance model (TAM) and theory of planned behavior (TPB) model to propose a theoretical model to explain customers’ intention to use online banking. The results indicated that the intention to use online banking is adversely affected mainly by the security/privacy risk, as well as financial risk and is positively affected mainly by perceived benefit, attitude and perceived usefulness. The implications of integrating perceived benefit and perceived risk into the proposed online banking adoption model are discussed.     

Empirical study on continuance intentions towards E-Learning 2.0 systems

Although E-Learning 2.0 has played a significant role in training and development within the organisational environment, after an initial acceptance, its use is frequently discontinued. Prior studies offered insights into participation in E-Learning; however, there is limited research on continuance intention towards E-Learning 2.0 systems in organisational contexts. Furthermore, the most widely used research models, such as technology acceptance model (TAM), neglect the interactive social processes in E-Learning 2.0. Therefore, this study proposes a unified model integrating the TAM, the information system success model and social motivation theories to investigate continuance intentions towards E-Learning 2.0 in an organisational context. A sample of 284 participants from companies in China that have already implemented E-Learning 2.0 systems took part in this study. Structural equation modelling was conducted to test the research hypotheses. The results show that the unified model provides a more comprehensive understanding of the cognitive processes and behaviours related to this context: (1) perceived usefulness and attitude were critical to the continuance intention towards an E-Learning 2.0 system; (2) perceived usefulness was a significant mediator of the effects from perceived ease of use, information quality and social influence on continuance intention; (3) perceived ease of use, information quality and social influence were found to play important roles in predicting the continuance intention; (4) system quality played an important role in affecting the perceived ease of use; and (5) unexpectedly, social motivations had no significant effect on attitude.     

Understanding the role of an IT artifact in online service continuance: An extended perspective of user satisfaction

Given increasing investment in an IT (information technology) artifact (i.e., online service website), it is becoming important to retain existing customers. In order to help link website design and investment decisions to the strategy for retaining customers, we propose a model by extending the user satisfaction perspective into research on online service continuance. We empirically tested the model within the context of a social network service. The analysis results found that website information satisfaction and system satisfaction play key roles in forming continuance intention through perceived usefulness and perceived enjoyment. It is also noted that computer anxiety serves as an important moderator toward continuance intention. Theoretical and practical implications are offered for better understanding of the role of the IT artifact in online service post-adoption phenomena.     

An empirical examination of users' post-adoption behaviour of mobile services

Extant research has focused on the initial adoption and usage of mobile services and paid little attention to the post-adoption and continuance usage. However, unless users continue using mobile services, service providers cannot achieve success. Drawing upon the expectation confirmation theory, this research develops a mobile post-adoption model. The post-adoption behaviour includes three variables: continuance intention, recommendation and complaint. We conducted data analysis with partial least squares. The results indicated that expectation confirmation, perceived ease of use, perceived usefulness and usage cost significantly affect users' satisfaction, further determining their post-adoption behaviour. In addition, perceived usefulness has a direct effect on the continuance intention.     

Determinants of students’ continuance intention to use blogs to learn: an empirical investigation

This study examines factors influencing students’ continuance intention to use blogs to learn in an undergraduate-level course. The research uses constructs from relevant theoretical frameworks, including the technology acceptance model, social cognitive theory, innovation diffusion theory, and expectation–confirmation model. A survey administered to 108 university students in a Canadian university was analysed using the partial least squares technique. The results show that perceived usefulness and perceived compatibility have positive effects on students’ attitudes towards blog use; perceived ease of use did not. Perceived compatibility, perceived self-efficacy, and perceived support for enhancing social ties with blogs have significant effects on the positive impacts of learning with such tools. Attitude and positive impacts of learning with blogs influence satisfaction with blog use. Both attitude and satisfaction are determinants of students’ continuance intention to use blogs to learn. Satisfaction with blog use is the main predictor of continued use intention.     

Why college undergraduates choose IT: a multi-theoretical perspective

In this paper, we study factors that may influence college undergraduates’ decisions to pursue a major in information technology (IT). We develop and test a theoretical model based on social cognitive career theory and the theory of planned behavior. Data were collected through a multi-section survey given to college undergraduates at four large universities in the southeastern United States. We found that college undergraduates with positive attitudes towards IT careers and high perceived behavioral control (PBC) regarding IT majors had a greater intention of pursuing IT majors. The study also found positive links between self-evaluating outcome expectations (SEOE) and attitudes towards an IT career. In addition, males were more likely to choose IT than females, as they scored higher on computer self-efficacy, SEOE, attitudes towards IT careers, and PBC. Future research may wish to explore this disparity and may also explore factors influencing outcome expectations and attitudes. Practical recommendations include educational and media outreach efforts aimed at emphasizing the vitality of the IT job market and the interpersonal aspects of IT.     

The influences of system usability and user satisfaction on continued Internet banking services usage intention: empirical evidence from Taiwan

This study proposes an extended technology acceptance model to investigate the effects of system usability and satisfaction on users’ intention to continue using Internet banking services. Based on a survey data from 304 respondents, structural equation modeling technique was employed to validate the model. The empirical results found that users’ continuance usage intention is jointly determined by perceived usefulness, perceived compatibility and satisfaction level. The hypothesized model explains 48.2 % of the variance in continuous usage intention. Results of multi-group analysis reveal that there are different concerns and priorities between skilled and less skilled users. Given that the sample of this study is collected from a particular industry in Taiwan, the generalizability of the findings may be limited. However, the comprehensiveness and representativeness of the research sample is a major strength of this study.     

Social virtual world continuance among teens: uncovering the moderating role of perceived aggregate network exposure

Engagement in virtual worlds has become pervasive, particularly among the young. At the same time, the number of virtual environments has increased rapidly. Due to intensifying competition, promoting sustained usage, i.e. continuance, has become a top priority for virtual world operators. Prior research has shown that network externalities play a key role in the adoption of communication technologies. However, a small amount of research has examined the role of network externalities in continued IT usage in general or with respect to the virtual world participation in particular. To fill in this gap, we examine how perceived network externalities affect the continuance of social virtual worlds. To this end, we introduce the concept of perceived aggregate network exposure (PANE). We extend the original information systems (IS) continuance model with perceived enjoyment and position PANE as a moderator. We test the model with data collected from 2134 Finnish Habbo Hotel users and employ structural equation modelling in the analysis. The results demonstrate that PANE moderates the influence of motivational factors on continued use intention and satisfaction.     

Investigation of IS professionals’ intention to practise secure development of applications

It is well known that software errors may lead to information security vulnerabilities, the breach of which can have considerable negative impacts for organizations. Studies have found that a large percentage of security defects in e-business applications are due to design-related flaws, which could be detected and corrected during applications development. Traditional methods of managing software application vulnerabilities have often been ad hoc and inadequate. A recent approach that promises to be more effective is to incorporate security requirements as part of the application development cycle. However, there is limited practice of secure development of applications (SDA) and lack of research investigating the phenomenon.Motivated by such concerns, the goal of this research is to investigate the factors that may influence the intention of information systems (IS) professionals to practise SDA, i.e., incorporate security as part of the application development lifecycle. This study develops two models based on the widely used theory of planned behaviour (TPB) and theory of reasoned action (TRA) to explain the phenomenon. Following model operationalization, a field survey of 184 IS professionals was conducted to empirically compare the explanatory power of the TPB-based model versus the TRA-based model.Consistent with TPB and TRA predictions, attitude and subjective norm were found to significantly impact intention to practise SDA for the overall survey sample. Attitude was in turn determined by product usefulness and career usefulness of SDA, while subjective norm was determined by interpersonal influence, but not by external influence. Contrary to TPB predictions, perceived behavioural controls, conceptualized in terms of self-efficacy and facilitating conditions, had no significant effect on intention to practise SDA. Thus, a modified TRA-based model was found to offer the best explanation of behavioural intention to practise SDA. Implications for research and information security practice are suggested.     

Understanding continuance usage of mobile shopping applications in India: the role of espoused cultural values and perceived risk

We drew on the unified theory of acceptance and use of technology (UTAUT2) model, and perceived risk construct to propose an integrated model to explain continuance usage of mobile shopping applications. Espoused national cultural values of individualism/collectivism, masculinity/femininity, power distance, uncertainty avoidance, and long-term/short-term orientation act as moderators to examine the influence of within-culture variation on app usage. Findings reveal habit as the strongest predictor of both continuance intention and use behaviour, but interestingly perceived risk did not influence the post-acceptance behaviour of users significantly. Individualism/collectivism, masculinity/femininity, and long-term/short-term orientation espoused cultural values significantly moderated the relationships in the model. Noteworthy theoretical and managerial implications of the research are discussed further.     

Continual use of microblogs

Some studies show that the Twitter's growth is leveling off and that its marketing has become ineffective. The purpose of this paper is to analyse what is needed for microblogs’ perpetuation. Factors such as message quality, source credibility, perceived usefulness, perceived interactivity, perceived playfulness, confirmation, and satisfaction were tested for their impact on continuance intention. A post-acceptance model of microblog continuance was proposed based on information system continuance model. We found that continuance intention to use microblogs is greatly affected by satisfaction, which in turn is affected by perceived interactivity and perceived usefulness, but satisfaction is not affected by confirmation or perceived playfulness. Although confirmation has no direct effect on satisfaction, it affects perceived interactivity and perceived usefulness, which in turn affect satisfaction.     

User experience,satisfaction, and continual usage intention of IT

The purpose of this paper is to develop and test a research model that investigates the effects of user experience with information technology (IT) on user satisfaction with and continual usage intention of the technology. The research model uses the concept of cognitive absorption (CA) to conceptualize the optimal holistic experience that users feel when using IT. A set of hypotheses are proposed regarding the direct and indirect effects of CA on user satisfaction through the perceived utilitarian and hedonic performance and expectation disconfirmation of IT. An online survey was conducted to test the model and its associated hypotheses. The results provided support for the hypothesized effects of CA and indicated its importance for the formation of post-adoption satisfaction and continuance intention with IT.     

Toward an understanding of the behavioral intention to use mobile banking

Although millions of dollars have been spent on building mobile banking systems, reports on mobile banking show that potential users may not be using the systems, despite their availability. Thus, research is needed to identify the factors determining users' acceptance of mobile banking. While there has been considerable research on the technology acceptance model (TAM) that predicts whether individuals will accept and voluntarily use information systems, limitations of the TAM include the omission of an important trust-based construct in the context of electronic/mobile commerce, and the assumption that there are no barriers preventing an individual from using an IS if he or she chooses to do so. Based on literature relating to the theory of planned behavior (TPB) and the TAM, this study extends the applicability of the TAM in a mobile banking context, by adding one trust-based construct (“perceived credibility”) and two resource-based constructs (“perceived self-efficacy” and “perceived financial cost”) to the model, while paying careful attention to the placing of these constructs in the TAM's existing nomological structure. Data collected from 180 users in Taiwan were tested against the extended TAM, using the structural equation modeling approach. The results strongly support the extended TAM in predicting users' intentions to adopt mobile banking. Several implications for IT/IS acceptance research and mobile banking management practices are discussed.     

Explaining and predicting users’ continuance intention toward e-learning: An extension of the expectation–confirmation model

Although e-learning has been prompted to various education levels, the intention to continue using such systems is still very low, and the acceptance-discontinuance anomaly phenomenon (i.e., users discontinue using e-learning after initially accepting it) is a common occurrence. This paper synthesizes the expectation–confirmation model (ECM), the technology acceptance model (TAM), the theory of planned behavior (TPB), and the flow theory to hypothesize a theoretical model to explain and predict the users’ intentions to continue using e-learning. The hypothesized model is validated empirically using a sample collected from 363 learners of a Web-based learning program designed for continuing education. The results demonstrate that satisfaction has the most significant effect on users’ continuance intention, followed by perceived usefulness, attitude, concentration, subjective norm, and perceived behavior control as significant but weaker predictors. The implications of these findings for e-learning practitioners are discussed at the end of this work.