The article under analysis is ‘Assessing E-Commerce Systems Success: A Respecification and Validation of the Delone and McLean Model of IS Success’, by Yi-Shun Wang, a Professor of the Department of Information Management in National Changhua University of Education in Taiwan (Wang 2008, p 529). The main focus of the analyzed article can be successfully derived from its title that emphasizes the necessity of assessing the success of e-commerce systems and validity of the use of the model of IS success created by Delone and McLean. Thus, Wang offers the presentation and validation of a multidimensional model of e-commerce system success that is modified and empirically tested.
Considering the topicality of the study conducted by the researcher, there is the necessity to resort to the existing and current studies in the field of e-commerce success. First, e-commerce is defined as the use of “technology to conduct business transactions, such as buying and selling goods and services” and, alone with the definition, the authors stress on the importance of e-commerce in contemporary high-tech society (Bocij et al. 2008, p 47). Second, Curtis and Cobham (2008) state that an explosive growth and development in the sphere of e-commerce has become evident in the course of the last decade (p 198). Subramani and Walden (2001) mention great potential of electronic commerce, offering the following statistical data: the base of potential customers “for e-commerce activities that are currently estimated at $25 billion in 1999 and expected to grow to over $233 billion by 2004” (p 135). Grandon and Pearson (2004) mention numerous benefits provided by electronic commerce to both sellers and buyers (p 197).
Information systems success has become a sphere of IS research that enjoys great popularity among scientists. Wixom and Watson (2001) studied the factors influencing data warehousing success and they stress the necessity of the creation of the model for information systems success assessment referring to the models of DeLone and McLean and the model offered by Seddon, while both of them are used in the analyzed research (p 19). Vitale (1986) studies the risks connected with information systems success that are conditioned by the absence of appropriate regard for its potential impacts (p 327). System usage as one of the key factors for assessment of the system’s success is studied by Straub, Limayem, and Karahanna-Evaristo (1995).
Success of electronic commerce is being investigated in several aspects nowadays. Liu and Arnett (2000) analyze such factors that are associated with Web site success in the sphere of electronic commerce as information and service quality, playfulness, the quality of system design, and system use (p 23). Due to great demand for and rapid growth of e-commerce systems, there is the necessity of assessment of the systems’ success especially if to take into account that there is general scarcity of models and frameworks that are aimed at the evaluation of e-commerce success (Molla 2001, 131). Thus, the analyzed article reflects research that can be characterized by topicality. Molla (2001) focuses her attention on Customer E-commerce Satisfaction as the core of her analysis of e-commerce systems in their relation to their success (p 139). The proof of the reasonableness of the use of DeLone and McLean’s model of IS success assessment can be found in Heijden (2004), who studied the models for the assessment of success of productivity-oriented (to which e-commerce, evidently, belongs) and pleasure-oriented information systems (695). The same model is widely used in other spheres relating to IS success, for instance, mobile learning and the researchers also stress the necessity of respecification of the original model (Yi et al. 2010).
Among the main findings and key benefits of the research conducted by Wong, it is necessary to mention his modification of Delone and McLean’s model. In fact, the authors of the model themselves admit that in the light of the latest changes in the IS sphere, the model needs revision and enhancement (DeLone & McLean 2003, p 9). Thus, the researcher has offered a multidimensional model for success assessment and he should be given credit for the use of the existing models and solid proof obtained from the marketing studies that prove that the model is not unsubstantiated. The author has respecified “the scope of the Net Benefits construct in the updated D & M model” and he offered “a new construct, Other Net Benefits … to represent IS impact or benefit measures … other than User Satisfaction, Perceived Value and Intention to Reuse” (Wong 2008, p 545). Wong adds four levels that can help to measure e-commerce system success, they are as follows: individual, group, organizational, and industry and this suggestion is based on DeLone and McLean’s idea (2004). Wong (2008) suggests using the model that consists of the variables grouped into three classes: beliefs, attitudes, and behaviors (p 546). The results obtained by the researcher support “the belief-attitude-behavior chain, as suggested by the TAM” or “the Theory of Reasoned Action” (Wong 2008, p 546). Besides, the model of online shopping offered by Gefen, Karahanna, and Straub (2003) also put emphasis on TAM, considering it essential for successful online shopping. Wong has successfully proved that “the substitution of Perceived Value for Perceived Usefulness, the collapsing of Use and Intention to Use into Intention to Reuse” and also respecification of Net Benefits measures are the main factors that let a researcher achieve a harmonious model of e-commerce system success (Wong 2008, p 548). As for the implications for practice, the analyzed article contains special subsection devoted to this issue, and the main implications can be defined as follows: improvement in customer retention is necessary, which means that certain “changes in the Intention to Reuse/customer Loyalty” are required (Wong 2008, p 549). Also, Perceived Value should be considered a strategic objective in the analyzed sphere of management (Wong 2008, p 549).
As for the limitations of Wong’s study, there is also a separate subsection devoted to them and the author successfully formulates these limitations and positions them as the possible directions for further research in the sphere. First, he stresses the empirical poverty of the study based on the only examination of e-commerce categories in a specific Taiwanese environment. Thus, the findings can hardly be applicable to other groups of people and similar studies are needed in other countries. Also, the author did not validate the effects of the elements of the model on Other Net Benefits measures and it is a promising direction for further studies (Wong 2008). Besides, he has not included Perceived Sacrifice and Perceived Price into the model and these variables should be included into the future research.
Drawing a conclusion, it is possible to state that the analysis of scientific literature has shown that e-commerce is at the height of its fame now and it needs scientific research that will facilitate its success and increase its demand. The article by Wong offers a revised and improved model for assessment of e-commerce systems success that incorporates traditional knowledge and offers new directions for the future research, such as the use of other stakeholders and application of other levels of analysis. In general, it is necessary to evaluate the validity of the investigated model (Wong 2008, p 552). As for other recommendations for Wong and other researchers who are interested in the assessment of e-commerce systems success, future research should focus on the multidimensional measurement of System Quality, which is reduced to Ease of Use in the present study while it should pay attention to availability, reliability, interactivity, adaptability, etc. (Wong 2008, p 551). Besides, it may be useful to apply the complex of objective and subjective measures of investigation in the future research since the author mentions “the possibility of a common method bias for some of the results” of the analyzed investigation (Wong 2008, p 551). Finally, the acquisition of longitudinal evidence may be useful for analysis of interrelation between the variables of the system’s success (Wong 2008, p 552).
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