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Information & Management 50 (2013) 344–355
Success of electronic commerce Web sites: A comparative study in twocountries
Jengchung V. Chen a,1,*, Duangjai Rungruengsamrit a, T.M. Rajkumar b, David C. Yen b
a Institute of International Management, National Cheng Kung University, Taiwanb Farmer School of Business, Miami University, Oxford, OH 45056, United States
A R T I C L E I N F O
Article history:
Received 30 August 2010
Received in revised form 26 August 2011
Accepted 15 February 2013
Available online 24 May 2013
Keywords:
IS success model
Attitude toward the site (Ast)
User satisfaction
Website evaluation
Uncertainty avoidance
National identity
Attitude toward the online shopping
A B S T R A C T
This study incorporated attitude toward a site (Ast) in the proposed model together with moderating
factors like cultural effects and attitude toward online shopping (Ashop). The proposed model and
hypotheses were partially supported in Taiwan’s and Thailand’s data. Information quality affected both
user satisfaction and attitude toward the web site and was the dimension common across both countries.
Ashop moderated the effects of system quality on user satisfaction in Taiwan, but moderated
information quality in the Thailand. National identity moderated the effect of system quality on both
user satisfaction and attitude toward the site in the Thai data.
� 2013 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
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1. Introduction
Websites (abbreviated to ‘‘sites’’ here) that are of poor qualityhave difficulty in attracting, satisfying, and retaining customers.Site quality thus affects the financial performance of an e-commerce site [6] and significantly impacts success by influencingconsumer purchase intention.
We propose attitude toward the site (Ast) as an indicator ofWeb site effectiveness and value. Ast is positively related to variousaspects of the purchasing decision such as purchase intent, brandbelief, and strength [8], as well as, shopping likelihood and siteloyalty. Ast can also aid in predicting user intentions to respondfavorably or unfavorably to site content.
In the IS domain, IS success has been widely studied and Ast hasbeen mainly ignored. The major objective of our research was tointegrate the notions of quality and user satisfaction in the ISsuccess model with those of Ast.
A second objective of our work was to investigate culturaleffects of e-commerce sites and their moderating effects on usersatisfaction and Ast. As management and behavioral research is
* Corresponding author.
E-mail addresses: [email protected] (J.V. Chen), [email protected]
(D. Rungruengsamrit), [email protected] (T.M. Rajkumar),
[email protected] (D.C. Yen).1 Fax: +886 6 275-1175.
0378-7206/$ – see front matter � 2013 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.im.2013.02.007
substantially based on North American organizations and subjects,a majority of the theories including Ast and the IS success modelhave western perspectives, which might not be valid for othernational cultures For example, Canadian perceptions of IS successis different from German perceptions of IS success [1].
2. Review of literature and research hypotheses
2.1. IS success
The DeLone and McLean IS success models are heavily cited in ISresearch. The latest model is shown in Fig. 1 [8]. They adapted thismodel to incorporate the new challenges by emphasizing the needand importance of service quality in e-commerce settings [9]. Theupdated model includes six interrelated components of success:information quality, system quality, service quality, use, usersatisfaction, and net benefits. The model assumes that the threequalities affect user satisfaction and intention of the customer touse the IS and that user satisfaction and use jointly provide the netbenefits that users derive from the IS.
The definition and measurement of many constructs in the ISsuccess model are dependent on the context of the study. Tofacilitate comparison and validation of IS success research, DeLoneand McLean argued that an attempt should be made to reduce thenumber of different measures used to measure IS success. We
Informa�on
Quality
System
Quality
Service
Quality
User Sa�sfac�on
Net B enefits
UseInten�on to use
Fig. 1. D&M IS success model.
Informa�on
Quality
System
Quality
Service
Quality
A�tud e toward
the site (As t)
User Sa�sfa c�on
Fig. 2. Our research model (partial).
J.V. Chen et al. / Information & Management 50 (2013) 344–355 345
selected user satisfaction as one of the primary measures of successin our study.
Wang [30] asserted that the measures, DeLone and McLeanrecommended for net benefits in e-commerce settings overlappedwith the measures of user satisfaction and further that usersatisfaction is essentially a surrogate for net benefits in the context ofe-commerce. Hence, in this study, we limited e-commerce success tothat of user satisfaction and did not consider net benefits.
2.2. Attitude toward the site
Relying on the technology acceptance model, Wixom and Todd[31] proposed that it is the attitudes related to behaviors thatpredict the intent to use and system usage (It is essentially abehavioral intention), a commitment to a certain kind of usagesuch as the intent to purchase at a Web site. Wang suggested thatmeasures of user satisfaction represent object-based attitude.Attitudes about objects such as information systems and Web sitesare generally poor predictors of behaviors such as system usage orintent to purchase at a site.
E-commerce sites succeed when users purchase its products.They must therefore communicate effectively and persuade the userto purchase. Historically, market researchers have used the attitudetoward the advertisement (Aad) as a measure of offline communi-cation effectiveness [19]. It has long been established in marketingthat Aad has a strong direct influence on attitudes toward the brandand that it influences consumer’s choice behavior and intentions topurchase [23]. Similarly, the more favorable an individual’s Ast, themore positive is its impact on the hierarchy of effects, and intentionto purchase. Ast is an indicator of Web site value, suggesting that Astcan serve a similar predictive purpose as Aad. Ast has been findingincreasing acceptance in evaluating the effectiveness of sitesbecause of its broad approach to the total effect of a site and itsclose alignment to traditional offline communications performance.Studies in marketing have shown that Ast is positively related topurchasing intent, shopping likelihood, site loyalty, and intention touse [14]. In contrast to user satisfaction or the affective andemotional appeal of the site [27], Ast is a measure of the user’sbehavioral attitude. Hence, we included both user satisfaction andAst as measures of Web site success.
2.3. Hypotheses and research model
Our integrated research model is shown in Fig. 2. Thehypothesized relationships between user satisfaction and thethree quality variables were based on the work of DeLone andMcLean.
2.3.1. Information quality
Based on the study of approximately 100 papers on IS success[22], we concluded that the relationship between informationquality and user satisfaction was strongly supported. Traditionally,information quality is measured in terms of accuracy, timeliness,
relevance, and consistency. Three dimensions that account formost of the variation in attitude toward a site: providinginformation, its organization, and entertainment it provides.
We contend that the three dimensions used to explain Astessentially capture similar attributes and are dimensions ofinformation quality. Studies have shown that the organizationof information is an important factor influencing user attitudestoward sites [21]. To maintain information quality, the systemmust present information in such a way that the information isinterpretable, understandable, easy to manipulate, and accessible.Ast gauges how well a Web site presents itself and serves as a tourguide for its users and essentially contributes to informationquality. Consumers value both utilitarian and hedonic benefits intheir shopping experience [29]. The entertainment dimension ofAst targets the hedonic benefits that consumer’s value and tapsinto a site’s ability to position itself as fun, exciting, cool, andimaginative. Consumers’ perception that the Web site is visuallypleasing and innovative creates pleasant feelings, and positivepost-visit attitude [15]. We therefore hypothesize:
H1. User satisfaction is positively influenced by informationquality.
H2. Attitude toward the (e-commerce) site is positively influencedby information quality.
2.3.2. System quality
System quality is a multidimensional construct but there is noconsistent measure of it DeLone and McLean suggested thatusability (clarity of interaction, ease of reading, arrangement ofinformation, consistency of layout, and ease of getting the Web siteto do what the user intends it to do) and availability (whether theWeb site is up and accessible) are important measures of systemquality. Petter, DeLone and McLean [22] concluded that at theindividual level, there is strong support for a relationship betweensystem quality and user satisfaction. We therefore hypothesized:
H3. User satisfaction is positively influenced by system quality.
Chakraborty et al. [5] found that usability positively affects Astin a B2B context. This is consistent with both TAM and the theory ofplanned behavior. Hence, we hypothesized:
H4. Attitude toward the (e-commerce) site is positively influencedby system quality.
2.3.3. Service quality
E-commerce service quality is a multi-dimensional constructthat includes the dimensions of reliability, responsiveness,
Table 2.1Culture scores for Taiwan and Thailand.
Country NATID Uncertainty avoidance index Internet penetration rate
Taiwan 16.57 69 65.9%
Thailand 19.59 64 24.4%
Fig. 3. Our research model.
J.V. Chen et al. / Information & Management 50 (2013) 344–355346
assurance, and empathy. In our study we limited the servicequality dimension to trust/assurance (the knowledge and courtesyof employees to the customer and their ability to conveyconfidence) and empathy (caring and individualized attentionprovided to customers). Hence, we used both trust and empathy asmeasures of service quality.
We also hypothesized that:
H5. User satisfaction is positively influenced by service quality.
Role-taking actively engages customers in their shoppingexperiences and creates a more involved consumer with morefavorable attitudes toward the site. Consumer perception that thesite is interactive and more experientially pleasing may result in amore positive attitude toward the site. Hence, we hypothesized that
H6. Attitude toward the (e-commerce) site is positively influencedby service quality.
2.3.4. National identity, uncertainty avoidance, and attitude toward
online shopping
Agourram and Ingham [2] find that people with different culturalbackground do not define and perceive IS success equally at the userlevel. For example, user independence from management and userdependence on the group is an IS success factor for German users,whereas user independence from IS professionals is an IS successfactor for French users. As online shoppers originate from manycountries, understanding what influences consumers in differentcountries is an imperative [12]. The web is full of cultural markersthat give country-specific Web sites a look and feel unique to thelocal culture.
Culturally sensitive Web site content has been shown toenhance usability, accessibility, and Web site interactivity.Processing information on culturally aware Web sites take placethrough the use of cultural schemas, resulting in lower cognitiveload, easier navigation and favorable attitude toward the Web site[24]. Cultural norms and values determine the appropriateness ofservice features; the relative importance given to dimensions ofservice quality is likely to vary from culture to culture [32].
National identity (NATID) suggests that in some countries peoplebelieve there is one dominant culture distinct from other culturesand that consumers should be loyal to their own culture. Similaritiesor differences in dimensions of NATID may indicate the degree ofcustomization or standardization that need to be made for productsas they are introduced into different countries. Cultural congruityweighs more heavily in countries that are high on NATID [26] andcould enhance perceived value judgments. Therefore, the degree ofNATID is believed to moderate the relationships between informa-tion, system, and service quality and Web sites’ user satisfaction and/or the user’s attitude toward the site.
Uncertainty avoidance reflects how threatened the members ofa culture feel when confronted by uncertain or ambiguoussituations. Customers who have a greater tendency to avoiduncertainty have higher service quality expectations [10] com-pared with people with low uncertainty avoidance. Uncertaintyavoidance is positively correlated with dimensions of Web sitequality such as reliability, responsiveness, trust and, assurance.
Kim et al. [17] identified user’s attitude toward online shopping(Ashop) as an individual characteristic that may play a role indeveloping perceptions of the quality of a Web site. Hence, Ashop isexpected to moderate the relationships between information,system, and service quality and Web sites’ user satisfaction and/orattitude toward the site. Thus, we hypothesized:
H7. National identity, uncertainty avoidance, and attitudetoward online shopping have a significant impact on the
relationship of the information, system, and service qualitiesand user satisfaction.
H8. National identity, uncertainty avoidance, and attitude towardonline shopping have a significant impact on the relationship of theinformation, system, and service qualities and attitude toward thesite.
In our study, we looked at respondents’ views of e-commerceWeb sites in two different countries, Taiwan and Thailand. TheProject Globe research study grouped 61 countries into ten clustersbased on similarities and differences in nine dimensions of culture.Thailand is part of the Southern Asia cluster (characterized ashighly group oriented, humane, male dominated, and hierarchical)while Taiwan is part of the Confucian Asia cluster (which valuespower distance, and practices relatively high level of societalcollectivism characterized by an emphasis on networks and trust).As can be seen in Table 2.1, Thailand has the highest NATID whileTaiwan’s is a relatively low.
Thailand and Taiwan differ in internet penetration and e-commerce usage. Thailand had 16.1 million internet users as ofSeptember 2009, with a 24% penetration. In contrast, Taiwan had15.1 million internet users as of June 2009 with a 66% penetration.In 2009, there were 950,000 broadband subscribers in Thailand,compared to about five million in Taiwan. The Thai B2C market was45.9 billion Baht in 2008, representing 8.7% of total e-commercespending in Thailand. In contrast, Taiwan’s B2C market was nearly200 billion NT in 2009 [13].
We summarize the scores of Taiwan and Thailand on thedimensions of NATID and Uncertainty Avoidance Index, and theinternet penetration rate (users as percentage of population) inTable 2.1.
Our research model is shown in Fig. 3.
J.V. Chen et al. / Information & Management 50 (2013) 344–355 347
3. Research methodology
3.1.1. Measures
All the measures used in this study were used in earlier studiesand are shown in Appendix A. The independent constructs in ourstudy are: information, system, and service quality. Informationquality measures of informativeness, organization, and entertain-ment were taken from [7]. System quality measures of usabilityand availability were taken from WebQual 4.0 [3] and E-S-Qual[20]. Service quality measures of trust and empathy were alsotaken from WebQual 4.0.
The dependent variables used were user satisfaction and Ast.The four item satisfaction measure from Spreng et al. [25] was usedin our study. The six item Ast measure from [7] was used.
The moderating constructs used were NATID, uncertaintyavoidance, and attitude to online shopping. A 17 item scale fromKeillor and Hult [16] was used to measure NATID. Hofstede’sVSM94 measures of uncertainty avoidance were used in our study.Attitude toward online shopping was measured using the 14 itemscale used in Kim et al.’s [18] research.
3.2. Data collection procedure
The participants in our study were required to browse a florist’sWeb site from their country (Thailand or Taiwan) for 10–20 min,find two products, choose one, and exit before completing thetransaction. The Thai participants browsed either Misslily
Table 4.2.1CFA of Taiwanese and Thai dataa: loadings, VE and CR.
Constructs Taiwan Standardized factor loadings VE CR
ENT 0.61 0.89
ent2 0.75
ent3 0.76
ent4 0.79
ent5 0.79
ent6 0.80
INFO 0.54 0.85
inf2 0.68
inf3 0.78
inf4 0.71
inf5 0.78
inf6 0.72
INFQ 0.64 0.78
INFO 0.79
ENT 0.81
SYS 0.76 0.93
usb1 0.85
usb2 0.88
usb3 0.89
usb4 0.90
SERV 0.61 0.83
emp1 0.80
emp2 0.82
emp3 0.73
USTF 0.74 0.92
ustf1 0.85
ustf2 0.89
ustf3 0.82
ustf4 0.87
ASITE 0.60 0.86
asite2 0.80
asite4 0.80
asite5 0.75
asite6 0.73
a INFO, informativeness; ENT, entertainment; INFQ, information quality; SYS, system q
(www.misslily.com) or Siam florist (www.siamflorist.com) Websites and the Taiwanese participants browsed either FlowerDJ(www.flowerdj.com) or Seasoncity (www.seasoncity.com.tw)Web sites. After exiting the transaction, the participants completedan online survey. If the participants failed to find two products, ordid not try the purchasing process, their survey was discarded. Ausable total of 285 Thai (Misslily 138 and Siam florist 147) and 250Taiwanese (FlowerDJ 128 and Seasoncity 122) responses wereused.
4. Measurement model
4.1. Respondent characteristics
Sixty three percent of the Thai respondents were female. Onefourth of them were freshmen and another fourth were seniors.Less than 40% had previously purchased goods online. Fifteenpercent of the Thai respondents shopped online at least once peryear. Forty five percent of the Taiwanese respondents were female.More than 70% of the Taiwanese respondents were studying intheir first or second year. Thirty percent of the Taiwaneserespondents had not previously purchased goods online. Fortypercent of Taiwanese respondents shopped online at least once ayear.
Thailand and Taiwan differ substantially in culture, internetpenetration and e-commerce usage. To avoid any skewing theresults, analysis of Thai and Taiwanese data were conducted andpresented separately.
Constructs Thailand Standardized factor loadings VE CR
ENT 0.62 0.89
ent2 0.82
ent3 0.80
ent4 0.80
ent5 0.76
ent6 0.76
INFO 0.57 0.87
inf2 0.72
inf3 0.80
inf4 0.70
inf5 0.78
inf6 0.76
INFQ 0.64 0.78
INFO 0.78
ENT 0.81
SYS 0.64 0.88
usb1 0.76
usb2 0.76
usb3 0.87
usb4 0.83
SERV 0.53 0.76
emp1 0.77
emp2 0.74
emp3 0.66
USTF 0.69 0.90
ustf1 0.78
ustf2 0.85
ustf3 0.86
ustf4 0.84
ASITE 0.57 0.84
asite2 0.81
asite4 0.63
asite5 0.82
asite6 0.76
uality; SERV, service quality; USTF, user satisfaction; ASITE, attitude toward the site.
Table 4.2.2CFA of data: model fit (chi-square and goodness of fit indices).
Taiwan Thailand
Chi-square 502.65 519.28
Chi-square/degree of freedom 1.91 1.97
Comparative fit index (CFI) 0.94 0.94
Root mean square error of approximation (RMSEA) 0.06 0.06
Standardized root mean square residual (SRMR) 0.05 0.05
J.V. Chen et al. / Information & Management 50 (2013) 344–355348
4.2. Reliability test
4.2.1. Taiwanese data
An initial CFA was run without including the moderatorvariables of NATID. A second order model with organization,informativeness and entertainment loading on information quali-ty, usability and system availability loading on system quality andtrust and empathy loading on service quality was analyzed. The CFIwas 0.90. Organization and system availability had a standardizedregression weight of less than 0.5 and were dropped. In addition,the loading of trust was low, and was dropped. The CFI thenimproved to 0.94. All variances extracted estimates were above 0.5and the construct reliabilities were good. The final retained itemsand their factor loadings are shown in Table 4.2.1.
4.2.2. Thai data
The Thai data CFA was similar to that of Taiwan with bothorganization and system availability loadings having a regressionweight of less than 0.5. In addition, trust also loaded weakly. Theseitems were dropped to achieve a final CFI of 0.94. All variancesextracted were above 0.5 and the construct reliabilities were good.Table 4.2.1 shows the retained items, and their factor loadings forThai data. Table 4.2.2 presents the fit indices for both Taiwaneseand Thai data.
Table 4.2.4EFA of national identity of Thai data.
Factor Variable Factor loading Eigen value
National heritage and
cultural homogeneity
ni3 0.81 4.19
ni6 0.81
ni4 0.80
ni5 0.79
ni2 0.67
ni7 0.64
ni1 0.64
Consumer ethnocentrism ni15 0.80 3.20
ni14 0.77
ni13 0.75
ni17 0.72
ni16 0.72
Belief system ni9 0.79 1.94
ni12 0.68
ni11 0.61
Table 4.2.3EFA of national identity of Taiwanese data.
Factor Variable Factor loadings Eigen value
Consumer ethnocentrism ni14 0.85 3.37
ni17 0.82
ni13 0.82
ni15 0.80
ni16 0.78
Historical and cultural heritage ni3 0.80 2.37
ni6 0.75
ni2 0.73
ni7 0.73
4.2.3. Moderator variables
National identity, uncertainty avoidance, and attitude towardonline shopping constructs were tested using Exploratory FactorAnalysis (EFA) in order to compare the results of these data withprevious work. Table 4.2.3 provides the EFA of NATID of theTaiwanese data. Two factors of the NATID construct, consumerethnocentrism and historical and cultural heritage, were retained.The belief system and religious philosophy factors of NATID weredropped.
Table 4.2.4 shows the EFA of NATID for the Thai data, on whichall four factors of the NATID construct were retained. However,both national heritage and cultural homogeneity factors wereloaded into a combined single factor and were renamedaccordingly. Similar to earlier studies, the scores of nationalheritage and cultural homogeneity of Thailand were higher thanconsumer ethnocentrism.
Although the mean score of uncertainty avoidance of theTaiwanese data in general was higher than that of the Thai data, theEFA results suggested that the variables used for this factor mightnot be a good representation. The items did not pass a totalvariance explained criteria of 60% and the reliability test showed avery low item-to-total correlation, ranging from 2.3 to 2.6.Cronbach’s alpha of the data was 0.42, far below 0.6, suggestingbad internal consistency measuring a single one-dimensionallatent construct.
5. Results
The relationship between the second order construct (informa-tion quality), two independent constructs (system and servicequality) and the two dependent constructs (user satisfaction andattitude toward the site) in the Taiwanese data and the Thai datawas tested by examining the SEM separately for each country.
Total variance explained Item-to-total correlation Cronbach’s a
62.22 0.75 0.89
0.72
0.71
0.75
0.66
0.63
0.61
0.72 0.87
0.76
0.66
0.60
0.72
0.45 0.63
0.45
0.40
Total variance explained Item-to total correlation Cronbach’s a
63.72 0.76 0.88
0.71
0.73
0.68
0.70
0.61 0.76
0.56
0.56
0.51
Table 5.1SEM of Taiwanese and Thailand data.
Relations Taiwan Thailand
Variables Standardized
estimate
CR Standardized
estimate
CR
Entertainment (ENT) ent2 This florist Web site is exciting 0.75 A 0.82 A
ent3 This florist Web site is cool 0.76 12.03*** 0.80 15.40***
ent4 This florist Web site is imaginative 0.79 12.42*** 0.80 15.28***
ent5 This florist Web site is flashy 0.79 12.54*** 0.76 14.26***
ent6 This florist Web site is entertaining 0.80 12.59*** 0.76 14.34***
Informativeness (INFO) inf2 This florist Web site is knowledgeable 0.68 A 0.72 A
inf3 This florist Web site is helpful 0.78 10.61*** 0.80 12.66***
inf4 This florist Web site is resourceful 0.71 9.83*** 0.70 11.12***
inf5 This florist Web site is useful 0.78 10.62*** 0.78 12.33***
inf6 This florist Web site is intelligent 0.72 10.01*** 0.76 12.01***
Information ENT 0.81 8.11*** 0.78 9.31***
Quality (INFQ) INFO 0.79 A 0.81 A
System quality (SYS) usb1 I find this florist Web site easy to learn to operate 0.85 19.04*** 0.76 14.01***
usb2 My interaction with this florist Web
site is clear and understandable
0.88 20.49*** 0.76 14.16***
usb3 I find this florist Web site easy to navigate 0.89 20.82*** 0.87 16.62***
usb4 I find this florist Web site easy to use 0.90 A A
Service quality (SERV) emp1 This florist Web site creates a sense of personalization 0.80 A 0.77 A
emp2 This florist Web site conveys a sense of community 0.82 13.36*** 0.74 12.20***
emp3 My personal information feels secure on this florist Web site 0.73 11.75*** 0.66 10.76***
User satisfaction (USTF) ustf1 I am very contented with the information system 0.85 A 0.78 A
ustf2 I am very pleased with the information system 0.89 18.49*** 0.85 15.52***
ustf3 I feel delighted with the information system 0.83 16.26*** 0.86 15.79***
ustf4 Overall, I am satisfied with the information system 0.87 17.80*** 0.84 15.38***
Attitude toward the site (ASITE) asite2 I’m satisfied with the service provided by this Web site 0.80 A 0.81 A
asite4 I feel comfortable in surfing this Web site 0.80 13.62*** 0.63 11.05***
asite5 I feel surfing this Web site is a good way
for me to spend my time
0.75 12.55*** 0.81 15.00***
asite6 Compared with other Web sites, I would
rate this Web site as one of the best
0.73 12.16*** 0.76 14.02***
PathsUSTF INFQ 0.64 3.53*** 0.48 2.09*
ASITE INFQ 0.89 3.80*** 0.60 2.38*
USTF SYS 0.16 2.94** 0.11 1.501
ASITE SYS 0.13 1.96* �0.00 �0.05
USTF SERV 0.19 1.26 0.31 1.59
ASITE SERV �0.05 �0.26 0.31 1.50
Fit indexChi-square (p-value) 502.65 (0.00) 519.28 (0.00)
Degree of freedom (d.f.) 263 263
Chi-square/d.f. 1.91 1.97
CFI 0.94 0.94
RMSEA 0.06 0.06
* p < .05.** p < .01.*** p < .001.
J.V. Chen et al. / Information & Management 50 (2013) 344–355 349
5.1. Taiwanese data
All the items from the CFA were retained in the SEM analysis toachieve the values shown in Table 5.1. The chi-square/d.f. value of1.91 (<2) and the CFI value at 0.95, root mean square error ofapproximation (RMSEA) of 0.06 indicated a good fit for this SEM. Inaddition, the RHS Standardized Residual (RMR) was 0.045. Thehypotheses (H5 and H6) of service quality influencing attitudetoward the site was rejected. Fig. 4 shows the SEM diagram for theTaiwanese data. Moreover, variance extracted and inter constructcorrelations were checked and showed no problem with discrimi-nant validity.
5.2. Thai data
Fig. 5 shows the SEM diagram for the Thai data and Table 5.1provides the SEM analysis data. The chi-square/d.f. at 1.97 and theCFI at 0.94 indicate a good model fit. Four hypotheses (H3, H4, H5and H6) were rejected as the p-values are higher than 0.05. The
model shows that information quality affects both user satisfactionand attitude toward the site significantly.
5.3. Multiple regression and effect of moderator variables
The effect of moderator variables (NATID, uncertainty avoid-ance, and attitude toward online shopping) on the causalrelationship of the independent variables (information, system,and service qualities) to the dependent variables (user satisfactionand Ast) was tested by using multiple regressions. Testing formoderator effects takes place in multiple steps. In the first step, theindependent variables including the moderators were entered intothe regression. Subsequently, an interaction variable (product ofindependent and moderator variable) was introduced into theregression model. If the interaction term explained a statisticallysignificant amount of variance in the dependent variable, thenmoderator effects existed. The analysis was done using onedependent variable at a time and was repeated on both theTaiwanese and Thai data. In this part of the analyses we included all
Fig. 4. SEM diagram of Taiwanese.
J.V. Chen et al. / Information & Management 50 (2013) 344–355350
items of each construct as a mean, not just the remaining itemsafter the SEM analysis.
5.3.1. Taiwanese data
The regression analysis result for user satisfaction is shown inTable 5.3. Model 1 confirmed the relationship of the independentvariables (information, system, and service quality) and usersatisfaction accounting for an R2 of 0.61. Attitude toward the onlineshopping has a negative moderating effect on system quality andimproves the (see Model 3 in Table 5.3) R2 to 0.62.
The regression analysis result for attitude toward the site isgiven in Table 5.4. Despite service quality not influencing thedependent variable Ast in the SEM analysis, Model 1 confirms therelationship of system, service quality and Ast, account for an R2 of0.59. However, no interaction term is significant and for the Taiwansample we concluded that national identity, uncertainty avoid-ance, and attitude toward online shopping were not variables thatimprove the model in predicting Ast.
5.3.2. Thai data
The regression analysis result for user satisfaction is shown inTable 5.5. Even though some of the relationships in the model inthe SEM analysis of the Thai sample were rejected, Model 1 in Table5.5 confirms the relationship of the independent variables and usersatisfaction, accounting for an R2 of 0.50. Model 2 in Table 5.5 showsthat national identity, uncertainty avoidance, and attitude towardonline shopping does not significantly improve the relationshipbetween the independent variables and user satisfaction. Model 3 in
Table 5.5 shows that national identity moderates system quality andthat attitude toward online shopping moderates informationquality, improving the R2 to 0.54.
The regression analysis result for attitude toward the site isshown in Table 5.6. Even though some of the relationships in theSEM analysis of the Thai sample were rejected, Model 1 in Table 5.6confirms that attitude toward the site can be predicted by theindependent variables. The R2 of 0.60 is similar to the Taiwanesesample data. Model 3 indicates that national identity moderatessystem quality’s effect on attitude toward the site.
A summary of the results of the study is shown in Table 5.7.
6. Findings and limitations of the study
While Delone and Mclean’s original model of IS success hasbeen widely studied and verified, the application and validation ine-commerce settings have not. Our study contributes by partiallyvalidating the model in two countries.
6.1. Information quality
Information quality significantly influenced both user satis-faction and attitude toward the site in both Thailand and Taiwan.Information quality represents the one factor that contributed tosuccess in both countries. Information quality is itself asecond order factor encompassing the first order factors ofinformativeness and entertainment. This implies that for e-commerce sites to be successful, they must be both resourceful,
Fig. 5. SEM diagram of Thai data.
Table 5.3Multiple regression of the moderating effects on user satisfaction in Taiwan data.
Dependent variable – user satisfaction
Model 1 Model 2 Model 3
IQ 0.15** 0.15** 0.14**
SysQ 0.29*** 0.29*** 0.26***
SerQ 0.54*** 0.50*** 0.50***
Ashop – 0.09* 0.09
NI – �0.01 �0.03
Uav – 0.03 0.03
IQ � Ashop – – 0.08
IQ � NI – – 0.02
IQ � Uav – – �0.08
SysQ � AShop – – �0.11*
SysQ � NI – – �0.01
SysQ � Uav – – �0.04
SerQ � AShop – – �0.004
SerQ � NI – – 0.05
Ser Q � Uav – – 0.05
R2 0.61 0.62 0.62
Adjusted R2 0.61 0.61 0.62
R2 change 0.61 0.01 0.02
F-value 130.51 66.42 28.01
Durbin–Watson Stat. 2.13
Ashop, attitude toward online shopping.* p < .05.** p < .01.*** p < .001.
Table 5.4Multiple regression of the moderating effects on attitude toward the site in Taiwan
data.
Dependent variable – attitude toward the site
Model 1 Model 2 Model 3
IQ 0.08 0.06 0.04
SysQ 0.23*** 0.17*** 0.18***
SerQ 0.60*** 0.56*** 0.56***
Ashop – 0.17*** 0.15**
NI – 0.08 0.07
Uav – �0.01 0.01
IQ � Ashop – – 0.05
IQ � NI – – 0.08
IQ � Uav – – 0.02
SysQ � Ashop – – �0.05
SysQ � NI – – �0.02
SysQ � Uav – – �0.03
SerQ � Ashop – – 0.01
SerQ � NI – – �0.04
Ser Q � Uav – – 0.004
R2 0.59 0.62 0.63
Adjusted R2 0.59 0.61 0.61
R2 change 0.59 0.03 0.01
F-value 118.49 66.12 26.91
Durbin–Watson Stat. 2.09
Ashop, attitude toward online shopping.** p < .01.*** p < .001.
J.V. Chen et al. / Information & Management 50 (2013) 344–355 351
Table 5.5Multiple regression of the moderating effects on user satisfaction in the Thai data.
Dependent variable – user satisfaction
Model 1 Model 2 Model 3
IQ 0.20*** 0.18** 0.18**
SysQ 0.27*** 0.25*** 0.23***
SerQ 0.41*** 0.35*** 0.32***
Ashop – 0.07 0.12**
NI – 0.06 0.04
Uav – 0.03 0.04
IQ � Ashop – – 0.18*
IQ � NI – – �0.14
IQ � Uav – – �0.09
SysQ � Ashop – – �0.17
SysQ � NI – – 0.27**
SysQ � Uav – – �0.12
SerQ � Ashop – – 0.04
SerQ � NI – – �0.11
Ser Q � Uav – – 0.13
R2 0.50 0.51 0.54
Adjusted R2 0.49 0.50 0.51
R2 change 0.50 0.01 0.03
F-value 95.55 47.87 10.17
Durbin–Watson Stat. 1.92
Ashop, attitude toward online shopping; NI, national identity.* p < .05.** p < .01.*** p < .001.
Table 5.6Multiple regression of the moderating effects on attitude toward the site in the Thai
Data.
Dependent variable – attitude toward the site
Model 1 Model 2 Model 3
IQ 0.23*** 0.19*** 0.20***
SysQ 0.21*** 0.16*** 0.16***
SerQ 0.51*** 0.41*** 0.40***
Ashop – 0.18** 0.21***
NI – 0.01 0.01
Uav – 0.06 0.080
IQ � Ashop – – �0.04
IQ � NI – – 0.01
IQ � Uav – – �0.09
SysQ � AShop – – �0.10
SysQ � NI – – 0.26**
SysQ � Uav – – �0.10
SerQ � AShop – – 0.15
SerQ � NI – – �0.16
Ser Q � Uav – – 0.11
R2 0.60 0.62 0.65
Adjusted R2 0.60 0.61 0.63
R2 change 0.60 0.02 0.03
F-value 139.96 76.43 32.92
Durbin–Watson Stat. 1.90
Ashop, attitude toward online shopping; NI, national identity.** p < .01.*** p < .001.
J.V. Chen et al. / Information & Management 50 (2013) 344–355352
knowledgeable, and entertaining (exciting, cool) to target differenttypes of users. Consumers value both utilitarian and hedonicbenefits from their shopping experience on e-commerce sites.
6.2. System quality
In the Thai data, system quality was not a significant measure ofeither user satisfaction or attitude toward the site. In contrast, forthe Taiwanese data, system quality significantly influenced bothuser satisfaction and attitude toward the site. The mixed resultssuggest that some country characteristics account for thedifference.
Teo et al. [28] in a study of e-government sites, report that forpassive users (whose main aim is information search) systemquality is not an important criterion, but for active users (who
Table 5.7Hypotheses result summary.
Hypotheses
H1 User satisfaction is significantly influenced by information quality
H2 Attitude toward the site is significantly influenced by information quality
H3 User satisfaction is significantly influenced by system quality
H4 Attitude toward the site is significantly influenced by system quality
H5 User satisfaction is significantly influenced by service quality
H6 Attitude toward the site is significantly is influenced by service quality
H7 National identity, uncertainty avoidance, and attitude toward online
shopping have a significant impact on the relationship of the information,
system, and service qualities and user satisfaction
H8 National identity, uncertainty avoidance, and attitude
toward online shopping have a significant
impact on the relationship of the information, system,
and service qualities and attitude toward the site
a Attitude toward online shopping moderates system quality effect on user satisfactb National Identity moderates system quality and attitude toward online shopping mc National identity moderates system quality effect on Ast (attitude toward the site)
expect to conduct a transaction), system quality is important. Themain dimension that affected system quality in both countrieswas usability. However, once a basic level of usability is achieved,this will not discriminate an e-commerce retailer from others andperhaps this is the reason that system quality does not influenceattitude toward the site in Thai users.
6.3. Service quality
Service quality was not found to affect attitude toward thesite or user satisfaction. Service quality is sensitive to the mannerin which it is measured. Teo et al. suggested that servicequality was related to user satisfaction only when userspurchase or perform transactions on the system. In addition,the empathy dimension of service quality requires that two way
Results
Taiwan Thailand
Supported Supported
Supported Supported
Supported Not supported
in SEM, but supported
in multiple regression
Supported Not supported in SEM,
but supported in multiple
regression
Not supported in SEM,
but supported in multiple regression
Not supported in SEM, but
supported in multiple regression
Not supported in SEM, but supported
in multiple regression
Not supported in SEM, but
supported in multiple regression
Partially supporteda Partially supportedb
Not supported Partially supportedc
ion.
oderates information quality effect on user satisfaction.
.
J.V. Chen et al. / Information & Management 50 (2013) 344–355 353
communications exist between the user and the e-commerceWeb site. In our study, the subjects had to search and go throughthe motions of completing a transaction but the respondents didnot actually make an online purchase. Users also did notcommunicate via chat or email with customer representativeson the site. These two factors might explain the lack ofsignificance of service quality on attitude toward the site anduser satisfaction in both countries.
6.4. Moderating factors
In the Thai data, attitude toward online shopping moderatedinformation quality effect on user satisfaction. Similarly, attitudetoward the online shopping moderated system quality’s effect onuser satisfaction for Taiwan data. This indicated that onlinepurchasers prefer the latest product information, comparisonshopping, and freedom from hassles.
Attitude toward the online shopping moderated differentquality dimensions in the two countries may be explained bythe different internet diffusion and usage patterns in the twocountries.
The cultural dimensions of NATID are important for e-commerce sites as they moderate the effects of the systemquality dimension on both user satisfaction and attitude towardthe site in Thailand. NATID variations in consumer ethnocen-trism, cultural homogeneity may indicate the degree ofcustomization or standardization needed to enhance theusability of e-commerce sites to cater to customers originatingfrom different countries.
E-commerce providers should rethink their sites and whatinformation they will include and realize that one Web site will notsatisfy all users [11]. Therefore, providers must either tailor theirsites to their target, or adjust the site dynamically to meet theneeds of different users.
6.5. Research limitations
The limitations of this study stem from the way the data wasgathered in the two countries. The Thai sample consisted ofstudents from the Faculty of Science and the Faculty ofCommunication and Arts. The Taiwanese sample consisted ofstudents from the College of Management and the College ofComputer Engineering. The Thai respondents used their leisuretime to evaluate the Web sites and complete the survey. TheTaiwanese respondents completed the questionnaire in classunder supervision in a limited time. The Taiwanese sample wascollected in class to ensure an adequate sample size. There was norequirement that the respondents had to complete the experimentor the survey questions, and they were aware that they couldwithdraw from participating in the study at any point in timeduring the data gathering process.
The four Web sites evaluated were different and the productchoices, design, color, quantity of information, and level of specialfeatures were also different. Our objective was to validate the e-commerce success model and verify the model’s robustness indiverse environments. We did not pool the data. Rather, eachcountry was analyzed separately to validate the model in differingconditions.
The study is also limited because the students were not regularusers of e-commerce sites and their knowledge may therefore bebiased, leading to spurious results.
7. Conclusions
This study integrated two models of IS success. The model istested and was replicated in two countries. The model was
partially supported. The empirical evidence showed that informa-tion quality was the dimension that was common across countries.The moderating effect of cultural dimensions was studied. Wefound that the cultural dimensions moderated the IS success modeland attitude toward the site.
Appendix A
Measures of information quality.
Dimensions Items
Information qualityInformativeness The Web site is informative
The Web site is knowledgeable
The Web site is helpful
The Web site is resourceful
The Web site is useful
The Web site is intelligent
Organization (reversed) The Web site is messy
The Web site is cumbersome
The Web site is confusing
The Web site is irritating
Entertainment The Web site is fun
The Web site is exciting
The Web site is cool
The Web site is imaginative
The Web site is flashy
The Web site is entertaining
Measures of system quality.
Dimensions Items
System qualityUsability I find the Web site easy to learn to operate
My interaction with this florist Web site is
clear and understandable
I find the Web site easy to navigate
I find the Web site easy to use
System availability The Web site is always available for business
The Web site launches and runs right away
The Web site does not crash
Pages at the Web site do not freeze
after I enter my order information
Measures of service quality.
Dimensions Items
Service qualityTrust The Web site has a good reputation
It feels safe to complete transactions on this florist Web site
My personal information feels secure on the Web site
Empathy The Web site creates a sense of personalization
The Web site conveys a sense of community
The Web site makes it easy to communicate
with the organization
Measure of user satisfaction.
Items
User satisfactionI am very contented with the information system
I am very pleased with the information system
I feel delighted with the information system
Overall, I am very satisfied with the information system
Measure of attitude toward the site.
Items
Attitude toward the siteThis Web site makes it easy for me to build a relationship with this company
I would like to visit this Web site again in the future
I’m satisfied with the service provided by this Web site
I feel comfortable in surfing this Web site
I feel surfing this Web site is a good way for me to spend my time
Compared with other Web sites. I would rate this one as one
of the worst/best
J.V. Chen et al. / Information & Management 50 (2013) 344–355354
Measure of attitude toward online shopping.
Items
Attitude toward online shoppingOnline shopping would provide me comparison shopping
Online shopping would provide me ease of finding what I want
Online shopping would provide me freedom from hassles
Online shopping would provide me fun place to visit
Online shopping would provide me instant ability to get items
Online shopping would provide me latest product information
Online shopping would provide me minimal cost/time for returns
Online shopping would provide me overall speed of process
Online shopping would provide me payment security
Online shopping would provide me privacy
Online shopping would provide me product guarantees
Online shopping would provide me return policy
Online shopping would provide me seeing/experiencing new things
Online shopping would provide me time savings
Measure of uncertainty avoidance.
Items
Uncertainty avoidance(Imagine yourself as an employee) I would feel nervous or tense at work
One can be a good manager without having precise answers to most
questions that subordinates may raise about their work
Competition between employees usually does more harm than good
A company’s or organization’s rules should not be broken – not even when the
employee thinks it is in the company’s best interest
Measure of national identity.
Dimensions Items
National identityNational heritage Important people from the country’s past are
admired by people today
One of the Taiwan (Thailand) ‘s strength is that
it emphasizes events of historical importance
The Taiwanese (Thai) has a strong historical
heritage
Cultural homogeneity The Taiwanese (Thai) possesses certain cultural
attributes that other people do not possess
Taiwanese (Thais) in general feel that they
come from a common historical background
Taiwanese (Thais) are proud of their nationality
People frequently engage in activities that
identify them as Taiwanese (Thai)
Belief systems A specific religious philosophy is what makes a
person uniquely Taiwanese (Thai)
It is impossible for an individual to be truly
Taiwanese (Thai) without taking part in some
form of religious activity
Religious education is essential to preserve the
cohesiveness of the Taiwanese (Thai) society
A specific religious philosophy is not an
important part of being Taiwanese (Thai)
A true Taiwanese (Thai) would never reject
their religious belief
Consumer ethnocentrism We should purchase products manufactured in
Taiwan (Thailand) instead of letting other
countries get rich off us
It is always best to purchase Taiwanese (Thai)
products
Taiwanese should not buy foreign products
because it hurts Taiwanese (Thai) business and
causes unemployment
It may cause me in the long run but I prefer to
support Taiwanese (Thai) products
Only those products that are unavailable in
Taiwan (Thailand) should be imported
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J.V. Chen et al. / Information & Management 50 (2013) 344–355 355
Jengchung V. Chen holds a Ph.D. in CIS from theUniversity of Hawaii. He is currently Professor andDirector of the Institute of International Management,National Cheng Kung University, Taiwan. ProfessorChen’s research interests are Information Ethics,Electronic Commerce, Project Management, and ISService Quality. He has over 45 journal articlespublished in refereed journals such as Information &Management, European Journal of Information Sys-tems, Decision Support Systems, Journal of DatabaseManagement, Computers in Human Behavior,. . .etc.
Duangjai Rungruengsamrit graduated from the Insti-tute of International Management, National ChengKung University, with an International MBA degree.Her research interests are Electronic Commerce andwebsite design.
T.M. Rajkumar has a Ph.D. in Business from Texas TechUniversity and is an Associate Professor at FarmerSchool of Business, Miami University. His researchinterests include outsourcing, troubled project man-agement and biases in IS. His articles have appeared injournals such as Communications of the ACM, Journal ofComputer Information Systems, Information resourcemanagement journal, Communications of the AIS andProject Management Journal,. . . etc.
David C. Yen is currently a Raymond E. Glos Professor inBusiness and a Professor of MIS of the Department ofInformation Systems and Analytics at Miami Universi-ty. Professor Yen is active in research and has publishedbooks and articles which have appeared in Commu-nications of the ACM, Decision Support Systems,Information & Management, Information Sciences,Computer Standards and Interfaces, Government Infor-mation Quarterly, Information Society, Omega, Inter-national Journal of Organizational Computing andElectronic Commerce, and Communications of AISamong others. Professor Yen’s research interestsinclude data communications, electronic/mobile com-merce, database, and systems analysis and design.
