IS

Benbasat, Izak

Research Interests (143)

List of Topics (143)

Topic Weight Topic Terms
3.446 online consumers consumer product purchase shopping e-commerce products commerce website electronic results study behavior experience
2.702 effort users advice ras trade-off recommendation agents difficulty decision make acceptance product loss trade-offs context
1.971 trust trusting study online perceived beliefs e-commerce intention trustworthiness relationships benevolence initial importance trust-building examines
1.696 information issue special systems article introduction editorial including discusses published section articles reports various presented
1.632 multimedia voice presentation impression text biased bias image cue formats equivocality understanding present effective objects
1.597 information presentation graphics format systems graphical graphs design recall representation comprehension experimental presentations experiment presented
1.478 business units study unit executives functional managers technology linkage need areas information long-term operations plans
1.430 model research data results study using theoretical influence findings theory support implications test collected tested
1.411 information research literature systems framework review paper theoretical based potential future implications practice discussed current
1.233 decision accuracy aid aids prediction experiment effects accurate support making preferences interaction judgment hybrid perceptual
1.146 explanations explanation bias use kbs biases facilities cognitive making judgment decisions likely decision important prior
1.077 research study influence effects literature theoretical use understanding theory using impact behavior insights examine influences
1.020 decision making decisions decision-making makers use quality improve performance managers process better results time managerial
0.979 perceived transparency control design enjoyment experience study diagnosticity improve features develop consequences showing user experiential
0.960 edi electronic data interchange b2b exchange exchanges interorganizational partners adoption transaction trading supplier factors business
0.956 research studies issues researchers scientific methodological article conducting conduct advanced rigor researcher methodology practitioner issue
0.935 support decision dss systems guidance process making environments decisional users features capabilities provide decision-making user
0.923 research information systems science field discipline researchers principles practice core methods area reference relevance conclude
0.885 research researchers framework future information systems important present agenda identify areas provide understanding contributions using
0.881 strategies strategy based effort paper different findings approach suggest useful choice specific attributes explain effective
0.836 service services delivery quality providers technology information customer business provider asp e-service role variability science
0.826 results study research experiment experiments influence implications conducted laboratory field different indicate impact effectiveness future
0.816 competence experience versus individual disaster employees form npd concept context construct effectively focus functionalities front-end
0.758 executive information article systems presents eis executives overview computer-based scanning discusses investigation support empirical robert
0.733 emotions research fmri emotional neuroscience study brain neurois emotion functional neurophysiological distrust cognitive related imaging
0.728 interface user users interaction design visual interfaces human-computer navigation human need cues studies guidelines laboratory
0.695 analysis techniques structured categories protocol used evolution support methods protocols verbal improve object-oriented difficulties analyses
0.691 arguments retailers manufacturers retailer internet claim manufacturer consumer argumentation referral agency store third-party upstream argument
0.617 validity reliability measure constructs construct study research measures used scale development nomological scales instrument measurement
0.612 social networks influence presence interactions network media networking diffusion implications individuals people results exchange paper
0.584 using subjects results study experiment did conducted task time used experienced use preference experimental presented
0.574 personalization content personalized willingness web pay online likelihood information consumers cues customers consumer services elaboration
0.569 adoption diffusion technology adopters innovation adopt process information potential innovations influence new characteristics early adopting
0.552 systems information management development presented function article discussed model personnel general organization described presents finally
0.514 decision support systems making design models group makers integrated article delivery representation portfolio include selection
0.514 theory theories theoretical paper new understanding work practical explain empirical contribution phenomenon literature second implications
0.494 editorial article systems journal information issue introduction research presents editors quarterly author mis isr editor
0.491 perceived results study field individual support effects microcomputer pressure external usefulness test psychological obligations characteristics
0.479 factors success information critical management implementation study factor successful systems support quality variables related results
0.463 information processing needs based lead make exchange situation examined ownership analytical improved situations changes informational
0.455 task fit tasks performance cognitive theory using support type comprehension tools tool effects effect matching
0.453 memory support organizations information organizational requirements different complex require development provides resources organization paper transactive
0.421 performance results study impact research influence effects data higher efficiency effect significantly findings impacts empirical
0.417 skills professionals skill job analysts managers study results need survey differences jobs different significantly relative
0.404 security information compliance policy organizations breach disclosure policies deterrence breaches incidents results study abuse managed
0.401 high low level levels increase associated related characterized terms study focus weak hand choose general
0.400 organizational organizations effectiveness factors managers model associated context characteristics variables paper relationships level attention environmental
0.383 knowledge transfer management technology creation organizational process tacit research study organization processes work organizations implications
0.382 level levels higher patterns activity results structures lower evolution significant analysis degree data discussed implications
0.379 research study different context findings types prior results focused studies empirical examine work previous little
0.376 methods information systems approach using method requirements used use developed effective develop determining research determine
0.373 expert systems knowledge knowledge-based human intelligent experts paper problem acquisition base used expertise intelligence domain
0.372 institutional pressures logic theory normative embedded context incumbent contexts forces inertia institutionalized environment pressure identify
0.371 web site sites content usability page status pages metrics browsing design use web-based guidelines results
0.366 satisfaction information systems study characteristics data results using user related field survey empirical quality hypotheses
0.366 success model failure information impact variables failures delone suggested dimensions mclean reasons variable finally categories
0.362 perceived usefulness acceptance use technology ease model usage tam study beliefs intention user intentions users
0.360 outcomes theory nature interaction theoretical paradox versus interpersonal literature provides individual levels understanding dimensions addition
0.357 costs cost switching reduce transaction increase benefits time economic production transactions savings reduction impact services
0.356 model use theory technology intention information attitude acceptance behavioral behavior intentions research understanding systems continuance
0.355 instrument measurement factor analysis measuring measures dimensions validity based instruments construct measure conceptualization sample reliability
0.348 case study studies paper use research analysis interpretive identify qualitative approach understanding critical development managerial
0.338 learning mental conceptual new learn situated development working assumptions improve ess existing investigates capture advanced
0.330 product products quality used characteristics examines role provide goods customization provides offer core sell key
0.327 field work changes new years time change major period year end use past early century
0.303 identity norms identification symbolic community help sense european social important verification set identities form obtained
0.293 detection deception assessment credibility automated fraud fake cues detecting results screening study detect design indicators
0.293 technologies technology new findings efficiency deployed common implications engineers conversion change transformational opportunity deployment make
0.290 quality different servqual service high-quality difference used quantity importance use measure framework impact assurance better
0.283 managers managerial manager decisions study middle use important manager's appropriate importance context organizations indicate field
0.276 systems information research theory implications practice discussed findings field paper practitioners role general important key
0.266 commitment need practitioners studies potential role consider difficult models result importance influence researchers established conduct
0.262 increased increase number response emergency monitoring warning study reduce messages using reduced decreased reduction decrease
0.262 small business businesses firms external firm's growth size level expertise used high major environment lack
0.252 empirical model relationships causal framework theoretical construct results models terms paper relationship based argue proposed
0.249 complexity task environments e-business environment factors technology characteristics literature affect influence role important relationship model
0.244 virtual world worlds co-creation flow users cognitive life settings environment place environments augmented second intention
0.244 software development maintenance case productivity application tools systems function tool engineering projects effort code developed
0.241 implementation systems article describes management successful approach lessons design learned technical staff used effort developed
0.235 organizations new information technology develop environment challenges core competencies management environmental technologies development emerging opportunities
0.225 choice type functions nature paper literature particular implications function examine specific choices extent theoretical design
0.225 usage use self-efficacy social factors individual findings influence organizations beliefs individuals support anxiety technology workplace
0.222 mis problems article systems management edp managers organizations ;br> data survey application examines need experiences
0.217 reviews product online review products wom consumers consumer ratings sales word-of-mouth impact reviewers word using
0.212 cultural culture differences cross-cultural states united status national cultures japanese studies japan influence comparison versus
0.212 assimilation beliefs belief confirmation aggregation initial investigate observed robust particular comparative circumstances aggregated tendency factors
0.202 affective concepts role questions game gaming production games logic play shaping frames future network natural
0.202 design designs science principles research designers supporting forms provide designing improving address case little space
0.199 use support information effective behaviors work usage examine extent users expertise uses longitudinal focus routine
0.194 group gss support groups systems brainstorming research process electronic members results paper effects individual ebs
0.185 strategic benefits economic benefit potential systems technology long-term applications competitive company suggest additional companies industry
0.181 likelihood multiple test survival promotion reputation increase actions run term likely legitimacy important rates findings
0.180 structural modeling scale equation implications economies large future framework perspective propose broad scope resulting identified
0.179 effect impact affect results positive effects direct findings influence important positively model data suggest test
0.176 behavior behaviors behavioral study individuals affect model outcomes psychological individual responses negative influence explain hypotheses
0.176 role relationship positively light important understanding related moderating frequency intensity play stronger shed contribution past
0.171 design systems support development information proposed approach tools using engineering current described developing prototype flexible
0.170 evaluation effectiveness assessment evaluating paper objectives terms process assessing criteria evaluations methodology provides impact literature
0.164 model models process analysis paper management support used environment decision provides based develop use using
0.164 effects effect research data studies empirical information literature different interaction analysis implications findings results important
0.162 approach analysis application approaches new used paper methodology simulation traditional techniques systems process based using
0.160 online evidence offline presence empirical large assurance likely effect seal place synchronous population sites friends
0.159 business digital strategy value transformation economy technologies paper creation digitization strategies environment focus net-enabled services
0.159 power perspective process study rational political perspectives politics theoretical longitudinal case social rationality formation construction
0.157 diversity free impact trial market time consumer version strategy sales focal premium suggests freemium trials
0.155 management practices technology information organizations organizational steering role fashion effective survey companies firms set planning
0.154 competitive advantage strategic systems information sustainable sustainability dynamic opportunities capabilities environments environmental turbulence turbulent dynamics
0.154 attributes credibility wikis tools wiki potential consequences gis potentially expectancy shaping exploring related anonymous attribute
0.154 recommendations recommender systems preferences recommendation rating ratings preference improve users frame contextual using frames sensemaking
0.147 programming program programmers pair programs pairs software development problem time language application productivity best nominal
0.146 negotiation negotiations using potential power agreement paper bases partners ending negotiators offers visualization messaging instant
0.144 collaborative groups feedback group work collective individuals higher effects efficacy perceived tasks members environment writing
0.143 data used develop multiple approaches collection based research classes aspect single literature profiles means crowd
0.142 cognitive style research rules styles human individual personality indicates stopping users composition analysis linguistic contextual
0.141 information types different type sources analysis develop used behavior specific conditions consider improve using alternative
0.140 group support groups meeting gdss decision systems meetings technology study electronic ems task process communication
0.140 perceptions attitudes research study impacts importance perceived theory results perceptual perceive perception impact relationships basis
0.136 alignment strategic business strategy performance technology value organizational orientation relationship information misalignment matched goals perspective
0.135 e-government collective sociomaterial material institutions actors practice particular organizational routines practices relations mindfulness different analysis
0.134 motivation intrinsic theory social extrinsic expectancy motivations motivate usage enjoyment rewards consequences reciprocity organizational motivational
0.132 price prices dispersion spot buying good transaction forward retailers commodity pricing collected premium customers using
0.132 knowledge sharing contribution practice electronic expertise individuals repositories management technical repository knowledge-sharing shared contributors novelty
0.131 communication media computer-mediated e-mail richness electronic cmc mail medium message performance convergence used communications messages
0.131 customer customers crm relationship study loyalty marketing management profitability service offer retention it-enabled web-based interactions
0.129 knowledge application management domain processes kms systems study different use domains role comprehension effective types
0.128 development systems methodology methodologies information framework approach approaches paper analysis use presented applied assumptions based
0.127 users user new resistance likely benefits potential perspective status actual behavior recognition propose user's social
0.125 online users active paper using increasingly informational user data internet overall little various understanding empirical
0.124 work people workers environment monitoring performance organizations needs physical useful number personal balance perceptions create
0.122 process problem method technique experts using formation identification implicit analysis common proactive input improvements identify
0.121 new licensing license open comparison type affiliation perpetual prior address peer question greater compared explore
0.117 business large organizations using work changing rapidly make today's available designed need increasingly recent manage
0.117 time use size second appears form larger benefits combined studies reasons selected underlying appear various
0.116 students education student course teaching schools curriculum faculty future experience educational university undergraduate mba business
0.116 project projects development management isd results process team developed managers teams software stakeholders successful complex
0.112 local global link complex view links particularly need thought number supports efforts difficult previously linked
0.110 article information author discusses comments technology paper presents states explains editor's authors issue focuses topics
0.109 data predictive analytics sharing big using modeling set power inference behavior explanatory related prediction statistical
0.109 change organizational implementation case study changes management organizations technology organization analysis successful success equilibrium radical
0.107 content providers sharing incentive delivery provider net incentives internet service neutrality broadband allow capacity congestion
0.104 integration present offer processes integrating current discuss perspectives related quality literature integrated benefits measures potential
0.103 framework model used conceptual proposed given particular general concept frameworks literature developed develop providing paper
0.103 information management data processing systems corporate article communications organization control distributed department capacity departments major

Coauthor Network

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List of Coauthors (74)

Cenfetelli, Ronald T. 5 Wang, Weiquan 5 Dexter, Albert S. 4 Gefen, David 4
Lim, Kai H. 4 Pavlou, Paul A. 4 Reich, Blaize Horner 4 Todd, Peter 4
Jiang, Zhenhui 3 Xiao, Bo 3 Xu, Jingjun (David) 3 Bassellier, Genevive 2
Jiang, Zhenhui (Jack) 2 Kim, Dongmin 2 Kumar, Nanda 2 Lee, Matthew K.O. 2
Sia, Choon Ling 2 Tan, Chee-Wee 2 Ward, Lawrence M. 2 Zmud, Robert W. 2
Al-Natour, Sameh 1 Bassellier, Genevieve 1 Bulgurcu, Burcu 1 Banker, Rajiv D. 1
Brocke, Jan vom 1 Buxmann, Peter 1 Chwelos, Paul 1 Cavusoglu, Hasan 1
Dhaliwal, Jasbir S. 1 Dimoka, Angelika 1 Davis, Fred D. 1 Dennis, Alan R. 1
Goldstein, David K. 1 Gregor, Shirley 1 Gupta, Alok 1 Huang, Wayne Wei 1
Iacovou, Charalambos L. 1 Ischebeck, Anja 1 King, John Leslie 1 Kemerer, Chris F. 1
Komiak, Sherrie Y. X. 1 Kenning, Peter H. 1 Krasnova, Hanna 1 Lee, Young Eun 1
Lim, Kal H. 1 Lim, Kia H. 1 Leung, Kwok 1 Lim, Lai-Huat 1
Moore, Gary C. 1 Mantha, Robert W. 1 Montgomery, Ian 1 Mead, Melissa 1
MŸller-Putz, Gernot 1 Mao, Ji-Ye 1 Nah, Fiona Fui-Hoon 1 Nevo, Dorit 1
Reich, Blaize Homer 1 Riedl, RenŽ 1 Swanson, E. Burton 1 Son, Jai-Yeol 1
Tan, Joseph K. H. 1 Tan, Chuan-Hoo 1 Teo, Hock-Hai 1 Teo, Hock Hai 1
Vessey, Iris 1 Weber, Ron 1 Wei, Kwok-Kee 1 Weber, Bernd 1
Wand, Yair 1 Widjaja, Thomas 1 Wenninger, Helena 1 Yi, Cheng 1
Zhu, Lei 1 Zhang, Ping 1

Article Keywords (263)

Electronic Commerce 10 decision support systems 6 Trust 6 Cognitive Effort 5
e-commerce 4 Information Presentation 4 Multimedia 4 personalization 4
Decision Strategy 3 explanations 3 Human Information Processing 3 Interorganizational Systems 3
product recommendation agent 3 task complexity 3 virtual product experience 3 adoption 2
Advice quality 2 cognitive cost-benefit theory 2 Cognitive Learning 2 data collection 2
decision support 2 Expert Systems 2 Electronic Data Interchange 2 knowledge-based systems 2
online product presentation 2 recommendation agent 2 Restrictiveness 2 recommendation agents 2
social presence 2 social media 2 trust-assuring arguments 2 3-D graphics 1
Adoption of IT 1 alignment of IS plans with business plans 1 Alignment 1 Backing 1
Business competence 1 business knowledge 1 behavioral issues of information security 1 B2C e-commerce 1
B2B electronic marketplaces 1 bias 1 Co-Discovery Learning 1 Computer System Learning 1
Championing IT 1 consumer reviews 1 consumer behavior 1 collaborative online shopping 1
common ground 1 Case study research 1 communication 1 coercive pressures 1
Computer graphics 1 cognitive trust 1 consumer decision making 1 cross-cultural study 1
compliance 1 critical incident technique (CIT) 1 Data extraction 1 decision processes 1
DATA 1 decision context 1 data analysis 1 delegation 1
Decision aid 1 direct manipulation 1 decisional guidance 1 decision support technology 1
disconfirmed outcome expectancy 1 disconfirmed process expectancy 1 disconfirmed cost expectancy 1 Ethics. 1
Empirical Research 1 e-business 1 effort-accuracy framework 1 electronic mail 1
Explanation use 1 errors of exclusion 1 errors of inclusion 1 emotional trust 1
explanation 1 Electronic government service quality 1 electronic meeting systems 1 explanations in expert systems 1
explicit and tacit knowledge 1 e-tailing 1 Elaboration Likelihood Model (ELM) 1 expertise location 1
efficiency 1 envy 1 enticement engagement 1 E-commerce service failure 1
expectation disconfirmation theory 1 Feedforward and Feedback Information 1 Financial Incentives 1 First Impression Bias 1
functional control 1 Financial electronic data interchange 1 familiarity 1 flow 1
full interaction 1 functional failure 1 Graphical representation 1 Graphic presentation 1
group decision support systems 1 History 1 Human-Computer Interaction 1 History of ISR 1
information for competitive advantage 1 inter organizational systems (IOS) 1 information technology adoption 1 information technology implementation 1
Innovation diffusion 1 Instrument development 1 IS Research 1 Inference 1
IT Competence 1 IT Knowledge 1 IT Experience 1 interactivity 1
Information systems curriculum 1 information systems maturity 1 information systems stage hypothesis 1 information system design 1
information systems 1 IS strategic planning 1 intelligent agents 1 intelligent systems 1
institutional influences 1 IS discipline 1 IT artifact 1 IT nomological net 1
information characteristics 1 information processing 1 information retrieval 1 IT professionals 1
Internet Shopping 1 information security management 1 information security policy 1 IT-mediated service content functions 1
IT-mediated service delivery dimensions 1 information technology competence 1 information technology management 1 information comprehension 1
information recall 1 institutional theory 1 interorganizational information systems 1 input variability 1
Interface design 1 information failure 1 Knowledge-based System Explanations 1 learning and inference 1
Mental Models 1 Measuring IT Competence 1 media richness 1 Message systems 1
mimetic pressures 1 measurement 1 model of deception detection 1 meta-memory 1
manipulative practices 1 message framing 1 normative pressures 1 neuroimaging 1
NeuroIS 1 neurophysiological tools 1 neuroscience 1 negotiation support systems. 1
online customer service 1 online decision aid 1 office automation 1 Online Shopping 1
organizational adoption and use 1 online trust 1 online service technologies 1 online experiment 1
online video 1 online selling 1 Processing of graphical information 1 Paradigms 1
Process Tracing 1 Primacy Effect 1 Partial Least Squares 1 perceived usefulness 1
product knowledge 1 Protocol analysis 1 perceived equivocality 1 Product presentation 1
product understanding 1 Product-based information practices 1 psychophysiological tools 1 perceived enjoyment (PE) 1
perceived diagnosticity 1 price 1 perceived enjoyment 1 perceived product diagnosticity 1
perceived decision effort 1 perceived decision quality 1 purchase intention 1 qualitative methods 1
qua 1 Research methodology 1 Reference Disciplines 1 recommendations 1
resource matching 1 research methods. 1 research methods 1 reasons to trust 1
research agendas 1 recommendation agents (RAs) 1 restricted interaction 1 strategic information systems (SIS) 1
service quality 1 supporting services 1 supporting services functionality 1 shared navigation 1
system quality 1 system restrictiveness 1 Systems development 1 small business 1
shared knowledge 1 strategy complementarity 1 strategy normativeness 1 stimulus–organism–response framework 1
Service content quality 1 service delivery quality 1 Service Quality (SQ) 1 system quality (SysQ) 1
SPEV technologies 1 SPEUIV technologies 1 self-enhancement 1 social comparison theory 1
social networking sites 1 subjective well-being 1 signal detection theory 1 system failure 1
Task taxonomy 1 Toulmin model of argumentation 1 time and cost estimation 1 telecommunications 1
task analyzability 1 task-media fit 1 theory of planned behavior 1 typology 1
transaction cost theory 1 trust attribution 1 third-party certification 1 Toulmin argumentation model 1
trust in e-commerce 1 transactive memory 1 trade-off transparency 1 transparency trust 1
trusting beliefs 1 uncoupling 1 user-system interaction mode 1 user-machine systems. 1
Verbal Protocols 1 vividness 1 verbal protocol analysis 1 virtual control 1
virtual product experience (VPE) 1 web strategies 1 warning 1

Articles (69)

Empirical Assessment of Alternative Designs for Enhancing Different Types of Trusting Beliefs in Online Recommendation Agents (Journal of Management Information Systems, 2016)
Authors: Abstract:
    competence, integrity, and benevolence are the three key trusting beliefs that are widely acknowledged in the trust literature. Drawing on users' different dispositional attribution of these trusting beliefs, we investigate the different influence of two sets of experiential reasons on the competence belief versus the benevolence and integrity beliefs in online recommendation agents (RAs). The two sets of experiential reasons encompass interactive reason, including three performance factors (namely, perceived cognitive effort, advice quality, and perceived strategy restrictiveness), and knowledge-based reason (i.e., perceived transparency of an RA). Data were collected through a laboratory experiment to test our hypotheses. Results demonstrate that the three performance factors affect only the competence belief, whereas perceived RA transparency influences all three trusting beliefs. In addition, the effects of perceived transparency on competence are partially mediated by perceived cognitive effort and advice quality. The research contributes to the trust literature by revealing the different antecedents of the three trusting beliefs and provides guidelines for designers to choose specific design elements to improve a particular trusting belief of the user toward an RA. > >
An Exploratory Study of the Formation and Impact of Electronic Service Failures (MIS Quarterly, 2016)
Authors: Abstract:
    E-commerce service failures have been the bane of e-commerce, compelling customers to either abandon transactions entirely or switch to traditional brick-and-mortar establishments. Yet, there is a paucity of studies that investigates how such failures manifest on e-commerce websites and their impact on consumers. This paper, therefore, synthesizes extant literature on e-service and system success to arrive at a novel classification system that delineates e-commerce service failures into information, functional, and system categories, each with its own set of constituent dimensions. Extending expectation disconfirmation theory (EDT), we further distinguish among disconfirmed outcome, process, and cost expectancies as major consequences of e-commerce service failures. A theoretical model of e-commerce service failure classifications and their consequences was constructed together with testable propositions that relate the three failure categories to consumers' disconfirmed expectancies. Finally, we explore the validity of our theoretical model based on descriptive accounts of actual occurrences of e-commerce service failures and their corresponding consequences. Consistent with our theoretical model, information and functional failures were found to be associated with disconfirmed outcome and process expectancies respectively. System failures, on the other hand, do not affect consumers' disconfirmed expectancies, thereby contradicting our predictions. Post hoc analysis on constituent dimensions of information, functional, and system failures yielded additional insights on the preceding observations.
Designing Warning Messages for Detecting Biased Online Product Recommendations: An Empirical Investigation (Information Systems Research, 2015)
Authors: Abstract:
    The increasing adoption of product recommendation agents (PRAs) by e-commerce merchants makes it an important area of study for information systems researchers. PRAs are a type of Web personalization technology that provides individual consumers with product recommendations based on their product-related needs and preferences expressed explicitly or implicitly. Whereas extant research mainly assumes that such recommendation technologies are designed to benefit consumers and focuses on the positive impact of PRAs on consumers' decision quality and decision effort, this study represents an early effort to examine PRAs that are designed to produce their recommendations on the basis of benefiting e-commerce merchants (rather than benefiting consumers) and to investigate how the availability and the design of warning messages (a potential detection support mechanism) can enhance consumers' performance in detecting such biased PRAs. Drawing on signal detection theory, the literature on warning messages, and the literature on message framing, we identified two content design characteristics of warning messagesÑthe inclusion of risk-handling advice and the framing of risk-handling adviceÑand investigated how they influence consumers' detection performance. The results of an online experiment reveal that a simple warning message without accompanying advice on how to detect bias is a double-edged sword, because it increases correct detection of biased PRAs ( hits ) at the cost of increased incorrect detection ( false alarms ). By contrast, including in warning messages risk-handling advice about how to check for bias (particularly when the advice is framed to emphasize the loss from not following the advice) increases correct detection and, more importantly, also decreases incorrect detection. The patterns of findings are in line with the predictions of signal detection theory. With an enriched understanding of how the availability and the content design of warning messages can assist consumers in the context of PRA-assisted online shopping, the results of this study serve as a basis for future theoretical development and yield valuable insights that can guide practice and the design of effective warning messages.
Research Note‹Why Following Friends Can Hurt You: An Exploratory Investigation of the Effects of Envy on Social Networking Sites among College-Age Users (Information Systems Research, 2015)
Authors: Abstract:
    Research findings on how participation in social networking sites (SNSs) affects users' subjective well-being are equivocal. Some studies suggest a positive impact of SNSs on users' life satisfaction and mood, whereas others report undesirable consequences such as depressive symptoms and anxiety. However, whereas the factors behind the positive effects have received significant scholarly attention, little is known about the mechanisms that underlie the unfavorable consequences. To fill this gap, this study uses social comparison theory and the responses of 1,193 college-age Facebook users to investigate the role of envy in the SNS context as a potential contributor to those undesirable outcomes. Arising in response to social information consumption, envy is shown to be associated with reduced cognitive and affective well-being as well as increased reactive self-enhancement. These preliminary findings contribute to the growing body of information systems research investigating the dysfunctional consequences of information technology adoption in general and social media participation in particular.
Enticing and Engaging Consumers via Online Product Presentations: The Effects of Restricted Interaction Design (Journal of Management Information Systems, 2015)
Authors: Abstract:
    This work investigates the effects of three different online product presentation formats, namely, a noninteractive video presentation and two virtual product experience (VPE) presentations (full interaction and restricted interaction), on engaging users in online product experience as well as enticing users to try products offline. The experimental results show that restricted interaction, which deprives users of part of the interactive product experience, is more enticing than both the noninteractive and fully interactive design for users with more product-class knowledge. In addition, restricted interaction is generally as good as full interaction in engaging users. Both engagement and enticement positively affect users' purchase intentions. This study contributes to the information systems literature by extending the theory in curiosity formation to the interaction design context and advocating designs for enticement. It contributes to design practice by revealing that less interactive and less costly presentations can be more effective in attracting consumers toward the products. > >
Research Note--The Influences of Online Service Technologies and Task Complexity on Efficiency and Personalization (Information Systems Research, 2014)
Authors: Abstract:
    Online retailers are increasingly providing service technologies, such as technology-based and human-based services, to assist customers with their shopping. Despite the prevalence of these service technologies and the scholarly recognition of their importance, surprisingly little empirical research has examined the fundamental differences among them. Consequently, little is known about the factors that may favor the use of one type of service technology over another. In this paper, we propose the Model of Online Service Technologies (MOST) to theorize that the capacity of a service provider to accommodate the variability of customer inputs into the service process is the key difference among various types of service technologies. We posit two types of input variability: Service Provider-Elicited Variability (SPEV), where variability is determined in advance by the service provider; and User-Initiated Variability (UIV), where customers determine variability in the service process. We also theorize about the role of task complexity in changing the effectiveness of service technologies. We then empirically investigate the impact of service technologies that possess different capacities to accommodate input variability on efficiency and personalization, the two competing goals of service adoption. Our empirical approach attempts to capture both the perspective of the vendor who may deploy such technologies, as well as the perspective of customers who might choose among service technology alternatives. Our findings reveal that SPEV technologies (i.e., technologies that can accommodate SPEV) are more efficient, but less personalized, than SPEUIV technologies (i.e., technologies that can accommodate both SPEV and UIV). However, when task complexity is high (vs. low), the superior efficiency of SPEV technologies is less prominent, while both SPEV and SPEUIV technologies have higher personalization. We also find that when given a choice, a majority of customers tend to choose to use both types of technologies. The results of this study further our understanding of the differences in efficiency and personalization experienced by customers when using various types of online service technologies. The results also inform practitioners when and how to implement these technologies in the online shopping environment to improve efficiency and personalization for customers.
The Nature and Consequences of Trade-Off Transparency in the Context of Recommendation Agents (MIS Quarterly, 2014)
Authors: Abstract:
    That recommendation agents (RAs) can substantially improve consumers’ decision making is well understood. Far less understood is the influence of specific design attributes of the RA interface on decision making and other outcome measures. We investigate a novel design for an RA interface that enables it to interactively demonstrate trade-offs among product attribute values (i.e., trade-off transparency feature) to improve consumers’ perceived product diagnosticity and perceived enjoyment. We also examine the extent to which the trade-offs among product attribute values should be revealed to the user. Further, based on the stimulus– organism–response model, we develop a theoretical model that extends the effort–accuracy framework by proposing perceived enjoyment and perceived product diagnosticity as two antecedents for perceived decision quality and perceived decision effort, respectively. In an experimental study, we find that (1) the trade-off transparency feature significantly affects perceived enjoyment and perceived product diagnosticity, (2) perceived enjoyment and perceived product diagnosticity follow an inverted U-shaped curve as the level of trade-off transparency increases, (3) although users spend more time understanding attribute trade-offs with the trade-off transparency feature, they are more efficient in selecting a product, (4) perceived enjoyment simultaneously leads to better perceived decision quality and lower perceived decision effort, and (5) perceived product diagnosticity leads to better perceived decision quality without compromising perceptions of decision effort. Theoretically, this study increases our understanding of how the design of an RA interface can improve consumers’ product diagnosticity and enjoyment, and proposes two antecedents to improve perceived decision quality and reduce perceived decision effort. For design practitioners, our results indicate the importance of providing the trade-off transparency design feature to potential consumers.
A Contingency Approach to Investigating the Effects of User-System Interaction Modes of Online Decision Aids. (Information Systems Research, 2013)
Authors: Abstract:
    Interactive online decision aids often employ user-decision aid dialogues as forms of user-system interaction to help construct and elicit users' attribute preferences about a product type. This study extends prior research on online decision aids by investigating the effects of a decision aid's user-system interaction mode (USIM), which can be either user-guided or system-controlled, on users' effort-related (number of iterations of using the aid and perceived cognitive effort expended in using it) and quality-related (perceived quality of the aid and acceptance of the product advice it provides) assessments. A contingency approach with two moderating factors is employed. One factor is the decision strategy (additive-compensatory or elimination) employed by the aid, and the other is the users' product knowledge (high or low). A laboratory experiment was conducted to compare online decision aids with different USIMs. Although the results largely confirm that users assess the user-guided USIM more positively than the system-controlled USIM, the effects of USIM are stronger in two settings: for the elimination-based aid than for the additivecompensatory- based aid and for users with low product knowledge than for those with high product knowledge, especially in terms of effort assessments. This research advances the theoretical understanding of the effects of interaction between two critical components of online decision aids (USIMs and decision strategies) and the moderating role of user characteristics (product knowledge) in affecting users' evaluations. It also provides practitioners with design advice for developing these aids.
INTEGRATING SERVICE QUALITY WITH SYSTEM AND INFORMATION QUALITY: AN EMPIRICAL TEST IN THE E-SERVICE CONTEXT. (MIS Quarterly, 2013)
Authors: Abstract:
    Wixom and Todd (2005) integrated the user satisfaction and the technology acceptance literatures to theorize about and account for the influence of the information technology artifact on usage. Based on Wixom and Todd's integrated model of technology usage, we propose the 3Q model by investigating the role of service quality (SQ), in addition to system quality (SysQ) and information quality (IQ), in website adoption. Attention to SQ is critical, as consumer websites have increasingly become the target of SQ assessment made by consumers, not just traditional SysQ and IQ evaluations. As part of our study, we further theorize and empirically test the relationships among these three types of quality constructs and hypothesize that perceived SysQ influences perceived IQ and perceived SQ, and perceived IQ influences perceived SQ. Our study extends the Wixom and Todd model in the e-service context and is the first of its kind to empirically examine the combined impact of perceived SQ, perceived SysQ, and perceived IQ on usage intention. Our study advances the theoretical understanding of SQ and the relationships among perceptions of SysQ, IQ, and SQ in the eservice context. The results also inform practitioners that high IQ and SysQ can directly or indirectly improve SQ in the e-service context.
IT-MEDIATED CUSTOMER SERVICE CONTENT AND DELIVERY IN ELECTRONIC GOVERNMENTS: AN EMPIRICAL INVESTIGATION OF THE ANTECEDENTS OF SERVICE QUALITY. (MIS Quarterly, 2013)
Authors: Abstract:
    Despite extensive deliberations in contemporary literature, the design of citizen-centric e-government websites remains an unresolved theoretical and pragmatic conundrum. Operationalizing e-government service quality to investigate and improve the design of e-government websites has been a much sought-after objective. Yet, there is a lack of actionable guidance on how to develop e-government websites that exhibit high levels of service quality. Drawing from marketing literature, we undertake a goal approach to this problem by delineating e-government service quality into aspects of IT-mediated service content and service delivery. Whereas service content describes the functions available on an e-government website that assist citizens in completing their transactional goals, service delivery defines the manner by which these functions are made accessible via the web interface as a delivery channel. We construct and empirically test a research model that depicts a comprehensive collection of web-enabled service content functions and delivery dimensions desirable by citizens. Empirical findings from an online survey of 647 respondents attest to the value of distinguishing between service content functions and delivery dimensions in designing e-government websites. Both service content and delivery are found to be significant contributors to achieving e-government service quality. These IT-mediated service content functions and delivery dimensions represent core areas of e-government website design where the application of technology makes a difference, especially when considered in tandem with the type of transactional activity. A split sample analysis of the data further demonstrates our model's robustness when applied to e-government transactions of varying frequency.
Understanding Technology Support for Organizational Transactive Memory: Requirements, Application, and Customization. (Journal of Management Information Systems, 2012)
Authors: Abstract:
    Transactive memory is an effective mechanism for locating and coordinating expertise in small groups and has been shown to hold numerous benefits for groups and organizations. To extend transactive memory beyond the scope of small groups, researchers have proposed the use of information technology (IT). This paper provides an integrated discussion of our knowledge from three studies concerning IT support in transactive memory in organizations. Focusing on meta-memory, which is at the heart of transactive memory systems, we examine what meta-memory is maintained by members of transactive memory systems, whether providing this meta-memory in a technology-mediated environment can lead to transactive memory development, whether IT can realistically provide this meta-memory, and whether different requirements exist for different users and in different stages of transactive memory development. We discuss the implications of these studies to both research and practice.
ON THE USE OF NEUROPHYSIOLOGICAL TOOLS IN IS RESEARCH: DEVELOPING A RESEARCH AGENDA FOR NEUROIS. (MIS Quarterly, 2012)
Authors: Abstract:
    This article discusses the role of commonly used neurophysiological tools such as psychophysiological tools (e.g., EKG, eye tracking) and neuroimaging tools (e.g., fMRI, EEG) in Information Systems research. There is heated interest now in the social sciences in capturing presumably objective data directly from the human body, and this interest in neurophysiological tools has also been gaining momentum in IS research (termed NeuroIS). This article first reviews commonly used neurophysiological tools with regard to their major strengths and weaknesses. It then discusses several promising application areas and research questions where IS researchers can benefit from the use of neurophysiological data. The proposed research topics are presented within three thematic areas: (1) development and use of systems, (2) IS strategy and business outcomes, and (3) group work and decision support. The article concludes with recommendations on how to use neurophysiological tools in IS research along with a set of practical suggestions for developing a research agenda for NeuroIS and establishing NeuroIS as a viable subfield in the IS literature.
The Influence of Trade-off Difficulty Caused by Preference Elicitation Methods on User Acceptance of Recommendation Agents Across Loss and Gain Conditions. (Information Systems Research, 2011)
Authors: Abstract:
    Prior studies on product recommendation agents (RAs) have been based on the effort-accuracy perspective in which the amount of effort required to make a decision and the accuracy of such decisions are two dominant antecedents of user acceptance of RAs. The current study extends the effort-accuracy perspective by considering trade-off difficulty, a type of negative emotion that arises when attainment of one's goals is blocked by the attainment of other goals; consequently, one must make trade-offs among the conflicting goals. Many product purchase choices for which RAs are used require users to make trade-offs among conflicting product attributes. A key feature of RAs, the preference elicitation method (PEM), often compels users to make explicit trade-offs. We examine whether an RA's PEM generates trade-off difficulty, which, in turn, affects users' evaluations (i.e., perceived amount of effort and perceived accuracy of recommendations) and the resultant acceptance of the RA. Trade-off difficulty influences users' evaluations of an RA via perceived control over execution of the RA PEM. In addition, the decision context in which users employ a PEM moderates the degree to which that PEM generates trade-off difficulty. Specifically, a PEM generates a greater degree of trade-off difficulty in a choice context that leads to a loss than in a choice context that leads to a gain. Consequently, users exert more effort to cope with trade-off difficulty in a loss condition. Because users voluntarily spend more effort, the negative influence of perceived effort on users' acceptance of an RA-which is supported in prior studies-decreases in a loss condition. A laboratory experiment was conducted using two between-subject factors: two RAs, one that employed a trade-off-compelling PEM and the other a trade-off-hiding PEM, and two decision contexts, one of which was a loss condition and the other a gain condition. The results supported all of the hypotheses.
PRODUCT-RELATED DECEPTION IN E-COMMERCE: A THEORETICAL PERSPECTIVE. (MIS Quarterly, 2011)
Authors: Abstract:
    With the advent of e-commerce, the potential of new Internet technologies to mislead or deceive consumers has increased considerably. This paper extends prior classifications of deception and presents a typology of product-related deceptive information practices that illustrates the various ways in which online merchants can deceive consumers via e-commerce product websites. The typology can be readily used as educational material to promote consumer awareness of deception in e-commerce and as input to establish benchmarks for good business practices for online companies. In addition, the paper develops an integrative model and a set of theory-based propositions addressing why consumers are deceived by the various types of deceptive information practices and what factors contribute to consumer success (or failure) in detecting such deceptions. The model not only enhances our conceptual understanding of the phenomenon of product-based deception and its outcomes in e-commerce but also serves as a foundation for further theoretical and empirical investigations. Moreover, a better understanding of the factors contributing to or inhibiting deception detection can also help government agencies and consumer organizations design more effective solutions to fight online deception.
Let's Shop Online Together: An Empirical Investigation of Collaborative Online Shopping Support. (Information Systems Research, 2010)
Authors: Abstract:
    Prior studies investigating business-to-consumer e-commerce have focused predominantly on online shopping by individuals on their own, although consumers often desire to conduct their shopping activities with others. This study explores the important, but seldom studied, topic of collaborative online shopping. It investigates two design components that are pertinent to collaborative online shopping support tools, namely, navigation support and communication support. Results from a laboratory experiment indicate that compared to separate navigation, shared navigation effectively reduces uncoupling (i.e., the loss of coordination with one's shopping partner) incidents per product discussed and leads to fewer communication exchanges dedicated to resolving each uncoupling incident, thereby enhancing coordination performance. Compared to text chat, voice chat does not help reduce the occurrence of uncoupling, but likely increases the efficiency in resolving uncoupling. The results further show that shared navigation and voice chat can significantly enhance the collaborative shoppers' perceptions of social presence derived from their online shopping experiences. The interaction effect on social presence implies that the benefit of shared navigation is higher in the presence of text chat than in the presence of voice chat.
Assessing Screening and Evaluation Decision Support Systems: A Resource-Matching Approach. (Information Systems Research, 2010)
Authors: Abstract:
    This research explores how consumers use online decision aids with screening and evaluation support functionalities under varying product attribute-load conditions. Drawing on resource-matching theory, we conducted a 3 × 2 factorial experiment to test the interaction between decision aid features (i.e., low versus high-screening support, and aids with weight assignment and computation decision tools) and attribute load (i.e., large versus small number of product attributes) on decision performance. The findings reveal that: (1) where the decision aids render cognitive resources that match those demanded for the task environment, consumers will process more information and decision performance will be enhanced; (2) where the decision aids render cognitive resources that exceed those demanded for the task environment, consumers will engage in less task-related elaboration of decision-making issues to the detriment of decision performance; and (3) where the decision aids render cognitive resources that fall short of those demanded for the task environment, consumers will use simplistic heuristic decision strategies to the detriment of decision performance or invest additional effort in information processing to attain a better decision performance if they perceive the additional investments in effort to be manageable.
The Early Years of ISR: Recollections of the Editors. (Information Systems Research, 2010)
Authors: Abstract:
    The article offers information on the development and the changes of the editorship of the journal "Information Systems Research (IRS) in the U.S. It states that E. Burton Swanson is the first appointed editor-in-chief of the journal in 1987, where editorial policy and accomplishments are being highlights. Moreover, the second editorship is passed to John Leslie King in 1992 and resolve two major issues such as work submission of top researchers in the field and quality of work being published. Furthermore, the third editorship is passed down to Izak Benbasat in 1999, where he established a Senior Editor Board.
INFORMATION SECURITY POLICY COMPLIANCE: AN EMPIRICAL STUDY OF RATIONALITY-BASED BELIEFS AND INFORMATION SECURITY AWARENESS. (MIS Quarterly, 2010)
Authors: Abstract:
    This research identifies the antecedents of employee compliance with the information security policy (ISP) of an organization. Specifically, we investigate the rationality-based factors that drive an employee to comply with requirements of the ISP with regard to protecting the organization's information and technology resources. Drawing on the theory of planned behavior, we posit that, along with normative belief and self-efficacy, an employee's attitude toward compliance determines intention to comply with the ISP. As a key contribution, we posit that an employee's attitude is influenced by benefit of compliance, cost of compliance, and cost of noncompliance, which are beliefs about the overall assessment of consequences of compliance or noncompliance. We then postulate that these beliefs are shaped by the employee's outcome beliefs concerning the events that follow compliance or noncompliance: benefit of compliance is shaped by intrinsic benefit, safety of resources, and rewards, while cost of compliance is shaped by work impediment; and cost of noncompliance is shaped by intrinsic cost, vulnerability of resources, and sanctions. We also investigate the impact of information security awareness (ISA) on outcome beliefs and an employee's attitude toward compliance with the ISP. Our results show that an employee's intention to comply with the ISP is significantly influenced by attitude, normative beliefs, and self-efficacy to comply. Outcome beliefs significantly affect beliefs about overall assessment of consequences, and they, in turn, significantly affect an employee's attitude. Furthermore, ISA positively affects both attitude and outcome beliefs. As the importance of employees' following their organizations' information security rules and regulations increases, our study sheds light on the role of ISA and compliance-related beliefs in an organization's efforts to encourage compliance.
INTRODUCTION TO THE SPECIAL ISSUE ON NOVEL PERSPECTIVES ON TRUST IN INFORMATION SYSTEMS. (MIS Quarterly, 2010)
Authors: Abstract:
    An introduction to the issue is presented in which the editors discuss the topic of novel aspects of trust in under-researched information system contexts, the article "What Does the Brain Tell Us about Trust and Distrust: Evidence from a Functional Neuroimaging Study" by Dimoka, and the article "Are There Neural Gender Differences in Online Trust?," by Riecil, Hubert, and Kenning.
Trust-Assuring Arguments in B2C E-commerce: Impact of Content, Source, and Price on Trust. (Journal of Management Information Systems, 2009)
Authors: Abstract:
    The research question examined in this paper is whether or not product price can be used as a proxy to predict how customers' trust will be influenced by different trust-assuring arguments displayed on a business-to-consumer e-commerce Web site. Drawing from the elaboration likelihood model (ELM) and Toulmin's model of argumentation, we examine the effects on consumer trust of two levels of source and two levels of content factors, under two levels of product price, in a laboratory experiment with 128 subjects. Product price was predicted as a moderating factor that would influence the customer's motivation to scrutinize more closely the content of the trust-assuring arguments. The results suggest that customers are more influenced by the content of trust-assuring arguments when the price of a product is relatively high than when it is relatively low. Presumably, Internet stores employ a third party's trust-assuring arguments because customers are less likely to trust an unknown Internet store's own trust-assuring arguments. However, the results paradoxically may imply that when customers have more at stake (e.g., buying a high-price product), they do not necessarily have to rely only on an independent third-party source to form high trust beliefs about the store. When customers purchase a high-price product, they seem to form trusting beliefs by scrutinizing argument content rather than by depending on heuristic cues (e.g., an independent party's opinion) as the ELM would predict.
WEB STRATEGIES TO PROMOTE INTERNET SHOPPING: IS CULTURAL-CUSTOMIZATION NEEDED? (MIS Quarterly, 2009)
Authors: Abstract:
    Building consumer trust is important for new or unknown Internet businesses seeking to extend their customer reach globally. This study explores the question: Should website designers take into account the cultural characteristics of prospective customers to increase trust, given that different trust-building web strategies have different cost implications? In this study, we focused on two theoretically grounded practical web strategies of customer endorsement, which evokes unit grouping, and portal affiliation, which evokes reputation categorization, and compared them across two research sites: Australia (individualistic culture) and Hong Kong (collectivistic culture). The results of the laboratory experiment we conducted, on the website of an online bookstore, revealed that the impact of peer customer endorsements on trust perceptions was stronger for subjects in Hong Kong than Australia and that portal (Yahoo) affiliation was effective only in the Australian site. A follow-up study was conducted as a conceptual replication, and provided additional insights on the effects of customer endorsement versus firm affiliation on trust-building. Together, these findings highlight the need to consider cultural differences when identifying the mix of web strategies to employ in Internet store websites.
INTERACTIVE DECISION AIDS FOR CONSUMER DECISION MAKING IN E-COMMERCE: THE INFLUENCE OF PERCEIVED STRATEGY RESTRICTIVENESS. (MIS Quarterly, 2009)
Authors: Abstract:
    This paper extends the effort--accuracy framework of cognition by taking into account the perceived strategy restrictiveness of decision aids, and tests the extended framework in a context in which online decision aids are used to elicit consumers' preferences, automate the processing of the preferences, and provide product advice for consumers. Three types of decision aids with different decision strategy support capabilities (an additive-compensatory based aid, an elimination- based aid, and a hybrid aid supporting both strategies) are compared in terms of users' perceptions of strategy restrictiveness, advice quality, and cognitive effort. These comparisons are grounded on the properties of normativeness and complementarity of decision strategies employed by the aids. A normative strategy takes into account both the users' attribute preferences and the relative importance of such preferences, and allows for trade-offs among preferences (e.g., additive--compensatory). Strategy complementarity indicates support for decision rules based on multiple strategies (e.g., both additive--compensatory and elimination strategies). The experimental results support the validity of the extended effort--accuracy--restrictiveness framework and the effects of strategy normativeness, but not the effects of strategy complementarity. In addition to the perceptions of cognitive effort and advice quality, perceived strategy restrictiveness exerts a significant influence on consumers' intentions to use online decision aids. The additive--compensatory aid is perceived to be less restrictive, of higher quality, and less effortful than the elimination aid, whereas the hybrid aid is not perceived to be any different from the additive--compensatory aid.
Addressing the What and How of Online Services: Positioning Supporting-Services Functionality and Service Quality for Business-to-Consumer Success. (Information Systems Research, 2008)
Authors: Abstract:
    With the continued growth of business-to-consumer (B2C) e-business, online vendors are providing an increasing array of services that support and enhance their core products or services. For example, Amazon.com does not just sell books; it also enhances that core product with automated product recommendations, "wish list" tracking, order status updates, customer reviews, and many other valuable supporting services. These supporting services are made possible exclusively through the design and deployment of information technology (IT) to provide website supporting services functionality (SSF). In this paper, we define and develop the concept of B2C SSF and investigate how IT can support core products or services. We theorize the role that SSF plays in an environment where individuals who visit B2C websites are not only customers but also technology users. Given the unique online environment that amalgamates vendor services with information systems (IS), our model integrates theories from both services marketing and technology acceptance to help explain the behavior of these customers/users. In doing so, we investigate the role of the extensively researched concept of service quality in relation to SSF. Although service quality provides guidance for how supporting services should be provided (e.g., responsively and reliably), it does not address what those services are (e.g., product recommendations). SSF addresses this deficiency, thus providing both theoretical and practical benefits through a focus on IT design and deployment. The results of a field study support that SSF is an important predictor of customer beliefs and behavior, beyond that predicted by service quality alone. SSF is an important concept to consider—theoretically and practically—in IT-mediated B2C service.
A Research Agenda for Trust in Online Environments. (Journal of Management Information Systems, 2008)
Authors: Abstract:
    We present an agenda for the future research that has the potential to extend the conceptual foundations of trust in online environments and to improve the practice in the domain. The agenda draws on the previous work on trust, the papers included in this Special Issue, and our perspective on the state of the literature. This agenda is structured into four components--nature and role of trust, moderators of trust, antecedents of trust, and empirical methods for examining trust.
Attributions of Trust in Decision Support Technologies: A Study of Recommendation Agents for E-Commerce. (Journal of Management Information Systems, 2008)
Authors: Abstract:
    As organizations increasingly utilize Web-based technologies to support customers better, trust in decision support technologies has emerged as an important issue in online environments. In this study, we identify six reasons users trust (or do not trust) a technology in the early stages of its use by extending the theories of trust formation in interpersonal and organizational contexts to that of decision support technologies. We study the particular context of decision support technologies for e-commerce: online recommendation agents (RAs), which facilitate users' decision making by providing advice on what to buy based on user-specified needs and preferences. A laboratory experiment is conducted using a multimethod approach to collect data. Both quantitative data about participants' trust in RAs and written protocols that explain the reasons for their levels of trust are collected. A content analysis of the written protocols identifies both positive and negative trust attributions that are then mapped to six trust reasons. A structural equation modeling analysis is employed to test the causal strengths of the trust reasons in explaining participants' trust in RAs. The results reveal that in the early stages of trust formation, four positive reasons (i.e., knowledge-based, interactive, calculative, and dispositional) are associated with higher trust in RAs and two negative reasons (i.e., calculative and interactive) are associated with lower trust in RAs. The results also demonstrate some distinctive features of trust formation with respect to decision support technologies. We discuss the research and practical implications of the findings and describe opportunities for future research.
Special Issue: Trust in Online Environments. (Journal of Management Information Systems, 2008)
Authors: Abstract:
    This article discusses various published reports within the issue, including one by Dan J. Kim on culture and trust and another by Dianne Cyr on culture and web site design.
Investigating the Influence of the Functional Mechanisms of Online Product Presentations. (Information Systems Research, 2007)
Authors: Abstract:
    Internet-based interactive multimedia technologies enable online firms to employ a variety of formats to present and promote their products: They can use pictures, videos, and sounds to depict products, as well as give consumers the opportunity to try out products virtually. Despite the several previous endeavors that studied the effects of different product presentation formats, the functional mechanisms underlying these presentation methods have not been investigated in a comprehensive way. This paper investigates a model showing how these functional mechanisms (namely, vividness and interactivity) influence consumers' intentions to return to a website and their intentions to purchase products. A study conducted to test this model has largely confirmed our expectations: (1) both vividness and interactivity of product presentations are the primary design features that influence the efficacy of the presentations; (2) consumers' perceptions of the diagnosticity of websites, their perceptions of the compatibility between online shopping and physical shopping, and their shopping enjoyment derived from a particular online shopping experience jointly influence consumers' attitudes toward shopping at a website; and (3) both consumers' attitudes toward products and their attitudes toward shopping at a website contribute to their intentions to purchase the products displayed on the website.
Organizational Buyers' Adoption and Use of B2B Electronic Marketplaces: Efficiency- and Legitimacy-Oriented Perspectives. (Journal of Management Information Systems, 2007)
Authors: Abstract:
    Despite the significant opportunities to transform the way that organizations conduct trading activities, few studies have investigated the impetus for organizational strategic moves toward business-to-business (B2B) electronic marketplaces. Drawing on transaction cost theory and institutional theory, this paper identifies two groups of factors--efficiency- and legitimacy-oriented factors, respectively--that can influence organizational buyers' initial adoption of, and the level of participation in, B2B e-marketplaces. The effects of these factors on initial adoption of and participation level in B2B e-marketplaces are empirically tested with data collected, respectively, from 98 potential adopter and 85 current adopter organizations. The results of a partial least squares analysis of the data indicate that the two groups of factors exhibit different patterns in explaining initial adoption in the preadoption period and participation level in the postadoption period. Specifically, all three of the efficiency-oriented factors investigated in this study--product characteristics, demand uncertainty, and market volatility--and their subconstructs exhibit a significant influence on adoption intent or participation level, or both. The results demonstrate that two legitimacy-oriented factors--mimetic pressures and normative pressures--and their subconstructs have a significant impact on adoption intent, but not on participation level. Our findings also indicate that clearly different patterns exist between the two groups of factors in explaining adoption intent and participation level.
Recommendation Agents for Electronic Commerce: Effects of Explanation Facilities on Trusting Beliefs. (Journal of Management Information Systems, 2007)
Authors: Abstract:
    We empirically test the effects of explanation facilities on consumers' initial trusting beliefs concerning online recommendation agents (RAs). RAs provide online shopping advice based on user-specified needs and preferences. The characteristics of RAs that may hamper consumers' trust building in the RAs are identified, and the provision of explanation facilities is proposed as a knowledge-based approach to enhance consumers' trusting beliefs by dealing with these obstacles. This study examines the effects of three types of explanations about an RA and its use--how, why, and trade-off explanations--on consumers' trusting beliefs in an RA's competence, benevolence, and integrity. An RA was built as the experimental platform and a laboratory experiment was conducted. The results confirm the important role of explanation facilities in enhancing consumers' initial trusting beliefs and indicate that consumers' use of different types of explanations enhances different trusting beliefs: the use of how explanations increases their competence and benevolence beliefs, the use of why explanations increases their benevolence beliefs, and the use of trade-off explanations increases their integrity beliefs.
THE EFFECTS OF PRESENTATION FORMATS AND TASK COMPLEXITY ON ONLINE CONSUMERS' PRODUCT UNDERSTANDING. (MIS Quarterly, 2007)
Authors: Abstract:
    This study assesses and compares four product presentation formats currently used online: static pictures, videos without narration, videos with narration, and virtual product experience (VPE), where consumers are able to virtually feel, touch, and try products. The effects of the four presentation formats on consumers' product understanding as well as the moderating role of the complexity of product understanding tasks were examined in a laboratory experiment. Two constructs used to measure product understanding performance are actual product knowledge and perceived website diagnosticity (i.e., the extent to which consumers believe a website is helpful for them to understand products). The experimental results show that (1) both videos and VPE lead to higher perceived website diagnosticity than static pictures; (2) under a moderate task complexity condition, VPE and videos lead to the same level of actual product knowledge, but all are more effective than static pictures; (3) under a high task complexity condition, all four presentation formats are equally effective in terms of actual product knowledge. Moreover, the results also indicate that it is perceived website diagnosticity, not actual product knowledge, that affects the perceived usefulness of websites, which further influences consumers' intentions to revisit the websites.
E-COMMERCE PRODUCT RECOMMENDATION AGENTS: USE, CHARACTERISTICS, AND IMPACT. (MIS Quarterly, 2007)
Authors: Abstract:
    Recommendation agents (RAs) are software agents that elicit the interests or preferences of individual consumers for products, either explicitly or implicitly, and make recommendations accordingly. RAs have the potential to support and improve the quality of the decisions consumers make when searching for and selecting products online. They can reduce the information overload facing consumers, as well as the complexity of online searches. Prior research on RAs has focused mostly on developing and evaluating different underlying algorithms that generate recommendations. This paper instead identifies other important aspects of RAs, namely RA use, RA characteristics, provider credibility, and factors related to product, user, and user--RA interaction, which influence users' decision-making processes and outcomes, as well as their evaluation of RAs. It goes beyond generalized models, such as TAM, and identifies the RA-specific features, such as RA input, process, and output design characteristics, that affect users' evaluations, including their assessments of the usefulness and ease-of-use of RA applications. Based on a review of existing literature on e-commerce RAs, this paper develops a conceptual model with 28 propositions derived from five theoretical perspectives. The propositions help answer the two research questions: (1) How do RA use, RA characteristics, and other factors influence consumer decision making processes and outcomes? (2) How do RA use, RA characteristics, and other factors influence users' evaluations of RAs? By identifying the critical gaps between what we know and what we need to know, this paper identifies potential areas of future research for scholars. It also provides advice to information systems practitioners concerning the effective design and development of RAs.
The Influence of Recommendations and Consumer Reviews on Evaluations of Websites. (Information Systems Research, 2006)
Authors: Abstract:
    Recommendations and consumer reviews are universally acknowledged as significant features of a business-to-consumer website. However, because of the well-documented obstacles to measuring the causal impact of these artifacts, there is still a lack of empirical evidence demonstrating their influence on two important outcome variables in the shopping context: perceived usefulness and social presence. To test the existence of a causal link between information technology (IT)-enabled support for the provision of recommendations and consumer reviews on the usefulness and social presence of the website, this study employs a novel approach to generate the experimental conditions by filtering the content of Amazon.com in real time. The results show that the provision of recommendations and consumer reviews increases both the usefulness and social presence of the website.
The Effects of Trust-Assuring Arguments on Consumer Trust in Internet Stores: Application of Toulmin's Model of Argumentation. (Information Systems Research, 2006)
Authors: Abstract:
    A trust-assuring argument refers to "a claim and its supporting statements used in an Internet store to address trust-related issues." Although trust-assuring arguments often appear in Internet stores, little research has been conducted to understand their effects on consumer trust in an Internet store. The goals of this study are (1) to investigate whether or not the provision of trust-assuring arguments on the Web site of an Internet store increase consumer trust in that Internet store and (2) to identify the most effective form of trust-assuring arguments to provide guidelines for their implementation. Toulmin's (1958) model of argumentation is proposed as a basis to identify the elements of an argument and to strengthen the effects of trust-assuring arguments on consumer trust in an Internet store. Based on Toulmin's (1958) model of argumentation, three elements of arguments that commonly appear in daily communication; namely, claim, data, and backing, are identified. Data refers to the grounds for a claim, while backing is used for providing reasons for why the data should be accepted. By combining these three elements, three forms of trust assuring arguments (claim only, claim plus data, and claim plus data and backing) are developed. The effects of these three forms of trust-assuring arguments on consumer trust in an Internet store are tested by comparing them to a no trust-assuring argument condition in a laboratory experiment with 112 participants. The results indicate (1) providing trust-assuring arguments that consist of claim plus data or claim plus data and backing increases consumers' trusting belief but displaying arguments that contain claim only does not and (2) trust-assuring arguments that include claim plus data and backing lead to the highest level of trusting belief among the three forms of arguments examined in this study. Based on the results, we argue that Toulmin's (1958) model of argumentation is an effective basis for Web site designers to develop convincing trust-assuring arguments and to improve existing trust-assuring arguments in Internet stores.
Do I Trust You Online, and If So, Will I Buy? An Empirical Study of Two Trust-Building Strategies. (Journal of Management Information Systems, 2006)
Authors: Abstract:
    This research investigates the effectiveness of various trust-building strategies to influence actual buying behavior in online shopping environments, particularly for first-time visitors to an Internet store that does not have an established reputation. Drawing from the literature on trust, we developed a model of how trustbuilding strategies could affect trust and the consequences of trust. We investigated two trust-building strategies: portal association (based on reputation categorization and trust transference) and satisfied customer endorsements (based on unit grouping, reputation categorization, and trust transference).A series of two studies was conducted at a large public university in Hong Kong. The first study employed a laboratory experiment to test the model in an online bookstore environment, using a real task that involves actual book purchases. Of the two strategies investigated, satisfied customer endorsement by similar peers, but not portal association, was found to increase consumers' trusting beliefs about the store. This, in turn, positively influenced consumers' attitudes toward the store and their willingness to buy from the store, which ultimately led to actual buying behaviors. To gather further insights on the two Web strategies investigated, a second study was conducted using a questionnaire survey approach. Overall, the findings corroborated those in the first study. Specifically, it shows that endorsements by similar (local, nonforeign) peers, but not by dissimilar (foreign) peers, were effective means of developing trust among first-time visitors to online stores.
THE EFFECTS OF PERSONALIZATION AND FAMILIARITY ON TRUST AND ADOPTION OF RECOMMENDATION AGENTS. (MIS Quarterly, 2006)
Authors: Abstract:
    In the context of personalization technologies, such as Web-based product-brokering recommendation agents (RAs) in electronic commerce, existing technology acceptance theories need to be expanded to take into account not only the cognitive beliefs leading to adoption behavior, but also the affect elicited by the personalized nature of the technology. This study takes a trust-centered, cognitive and emotional balanced perspective to study RA adoption. Grounded on the theory of reasoned action, the IT adoption literature, and the trust literature, this study theoretically articulates and empirically examines the effects of perceived personalization and familiarity on cognitive trust and emotional trust in an RA, and the impact of cognitive trust and emotional trust on the intention to adopt the RA either as a decision aid or as a delegated agent. An experiment was conducted using two commercial RAs. PLS analysis results provide empirical support for the proposed theoretical perspective. Perceived personalization significantly increases customers' intention to adopt by increasing cognitive trust and emotional trust. Emotional trust plays an important role beyond cognitive trust in determining customers' intention to adopt. Emotional trust fully mediates the impact of cognitive trust on the intention to adopt the RA as a delegated agent, while it only partially mediates the impact of cognitive trust on the intention to adopt the RA as a decision aid. Familiarity increases the intention to adopt through cognitive trust and emotional trust.
Special Section: Human_Computer Interaction Research in Management Information Systems. (Journal of Management Information Systems, 2005)
Authors: Abstract:
    The article introduces a series of articles related to information management.
Virtual Product Experience: Effects of Visual and Functional Control of Products on Perceived Diagnosticity and Flow in Electronic Shopping. (Journal of Management Information Systems, 2004)
Authors: Abstract:
    The development of electronic commerce has been constrained by the inability of online consumers to feel, touch, and sample products through Web interfaces, as they are able to do in conventional in-store shopping. Previous academic studies have argued that this limitation could be partly alleviated by providing consumers with virtual product experience (VPE) to enable potential customers to experience products virtually. This paper discusses virtual control, a specific type of VPE implementation, and identifies its two dimensions: visual control and functional control. Visual control enables consumers to manipulate Web product images, to view products from various angles and distances; functional control enables consumers to explore and experience different features and functions of products. The individual and joint effects of visual and functional control were investigated in a laboratory experiment, the results of which indicated that visual and functional control increased the perceived diagnostic (i.e., the extent to which a consumer believes the shopping experience is helpful to evaluate a product) of their corresponding attribute factors, and that both visual and functional control increased consumer overall perceived diagnosticity and flow.
BUSINESS COMPETENCE OF INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY PROFESSIONALS: CONCEPTUAL DEVELOPMENT AND INFLUENCE ON IT-BUSINESS PARTNERSHIPS. (MIS Quarterly, 2004)
Authors: Abstract:
    This research aims at improving our understanding of the concept of business competence of information technology professionals and at exploring the contribution of this competence to the development of partnerships between IT professionals and their business clients. Business competence focuses on the areas of knowledge that are not specifically IT-related. At a broad level, it comprises the organization-specific knowledge and the interpersonal and management knowledge possessed by IT professionals. Each of these categories is in turn inclusive of more specific areas of knowledge. Organizational overview, organizational unit, organizational responsibility, and IT-business integration form the organization-specific knowledge, while interpersonal communication, leadership, and knowledge networking form the interpersonal and management knowledge. Such competence is hypothesized to be instrumental in increasing the intentions of IT professionals to develop and strengthen the relationship with their clients. The first step in the study was to develop a scale to measure business competence of IT professionals. The scale was validated, and then used to test the model that relates competence to intentions to form IT-business partnerships. The results support the suggested structure for business competence and indicate that business competence significantly influences the intentions of IT professionals to develop partnerships with their business clients.
THE EFFECT OF RELATIONSHIP ENCODING, TASK TYPE, AND COMPLEXITY ON INFORMATION REPRESENTATION: AN EMPIRICAL EVALUATION OF 2D AND 3D LINE GRAPHS. (MIS Quarterly, 2004)
Authors: Abstract:
    Most of the recent research in data visualization has focused on technical and aesthetic issues involved in the manipulation of graphs, specifically on features that facilitate data exploration to make graphs interactive and dynamic. The present research identifies a gap in the existing knowledge of graph construction, namely potential problems in both 3D and 2D graphs that will impede comprehension of information when three or more variables are used in a graphical representation. Based on theories regarding perceptual issues of graph construction (Bertin 1981; Pinker 1991), we evaluate specific cases where 3D graphs may outperform 2D graphs, and vice-versa. Two experiments have been conducted to test these hypotheses, and 3D graphs have been found to consistently outperform 2D graphs in all of our experimental scenarios. A third experiment has been conducted to identify situations where 2D graphs might perform at least as well as 3D graphs, but its results suggest that 3D graphs outperform 2D graphs even for simple tasks, thus leading to the conclusion that 3D graphs perform better than 2D graphs under all task conditions with more than two variables.
The Influence of Business Managers' IT Competence on Championing IT. (Information Systems Research, 2003)
Authors: Abstract:
    With the increased importance of IT in organizations, business managers are now expected to show stronger leadership in regard to its deployment of IT in organizations. This requires greater focus on their capability to understand and use IT resources effectively. This paper explores the concept of IT competence of business managers as a contributor to their intention to champion IT within their organizations. Based on the knowledge literature, IT competence is defined as "the set of IT-related knowledge and experience that a business manager possesses." The relationship between IT knowledge, IT experience, and championing IT is tested empirically using Structural Equation Modeling with LISREL. Four hundred and four business managers from two large insurance organizations were surveyed. Specific areas of IT knowledge and IT experience were first identified and the first half of the data set was utilized to assess the measurement properties of the instrument in a confirmatory analysis. The contribution of IT knowledge and IT experience to their intention to champion IT was assessed using the second half of the data set. The results show that IT knowledge and IT experience together explain 34% of the variance in managers' intentions to champion IT. Recommendations are given as to how organizations can enhance their business managers' IT knowledge and experience to achieve stronger IT leadership from line people.
THE IDENTITY CRISIS WITHIN THE IS DISCIPLINE: DEFINING AND COMMUNICATING THE DISCIPLINE'S CORE PROPERTIES. (MIS Quarterly, 2003)
Authors: Abstract:
    We are concerned that the IS research community is making the discipline's central identity ambiguous by, all too frequently, under-investigating phenomena intimately associated with IT-based systems and over-investigating phenomena distantly associated with IT-based systems. In this commentary, we begin by discussing why establishing an identity for the IS field is important. We then describe what such an identity may look like by proposing a core set of properties, i.e., concepts and phenomena, that define the IS field. Next, we discuss research by IS scholars that either fails to address this core set of properties (labeled as error of exclusion) or that addresses concepts/phenomena falling outside this core set (labeled as error of inclusion). We conclude by offering suggestions for redirecting IS scholarship toward the concepts and phenomena that we argue define the core of the IS discipline.
PREDICTING INTENTION TO ADOPT INTERORGANIZATIONAL LINKAGES: AN INSTITUTIONAL PERSPECTIVE. (MIS Quarterly, 2003)
Authors: Abstract:
    This study used institutional theory as a lens to understand the factors that enable the adoption of interorganizational systems. It posits that mimetic, coercive, and normative pressures existing in an institutionalized environment could influence organizational predisposition toward an information technology-based interorganizational linkage. Survey-based research was carried out to test this theory. Following questionnaire development, validation, and pretest with a pilot study, data were collected from the CEO, the CFO, and the CIO to measure the institutional pressures they faced and their intentions to adopt financial electronic data interchange (FEDI). A firm-level structural model was developed based on the CEO's, the CFO's, and the CIO's data. LISREL and PLS were used for testing the measurement and structural models respectively. Results showed that all three institutional pressures--mimetic pressures, coercive pressures, and normative pressures--had a significant influence on organizational intention to adopt FEDI. Except for perceived extent of adoption among suppliers, all other subconstructs were significant in the model. These results provide strong support for institutional-based variables as predictors of adoption intention for interorganizational linkages. These findings indicate that organizations are embedded in institutional networks and call for greater attention to be directed at understanding institutional pressures when investigating information technology innovations adoption.
The Influence of Multimedia on Improving the Comprehension of Organizational Information. (Journal of Management Information Systems, 2002)
Authors: Abstract:
    Text is the predominant form of organizational information. Comprehending text-based information requires intensive cognitive processing effort on the part of readers. Drawing on multimedia literature, this study identified a characteristic of multimedia presentations, namely complementary cues, which have the potential to improve the comprehensibility of organizational information. A set of hypotheses about the benefits of multimedia over text-based presentations was generated based on the theoretical perspective that we developed. These predictions were tested through a laboratory experiment using a simulated multimedia intranet. Results show that multimedia facilitates the retention and subsequent recall of explanative information but not of descriptive information. Explanative information is organized facts connected by their underlying functional relationships. Descriptive information consists of isolated facts without an explanation of the relationships between these facts. The ability to retain and recall explanative information, in turn, leads to a greater ability to make correct inferences about new organizational situations.
Research Report: Empirical Test of an EDI AdoptionModel. (Information Systems Research, 2001)
Authors: Abstract:
    This paper is the first test of a parsimonious model that posits three factors as determinants of the adoption of electronic data interchange (EDI): readiness ,perceived benefits, and external pressure. To construct the model, we identified and organized the factors that were found to be influential in prior EDI research. By testing all these factors together in one model, we are able to investigate their relative contributions to EDI adoption decisions. Senior purchasing managers, chosen for their experience with EDI and proximity to the EDI adoption decision, were surveyed and their responses analyzed using structural equation modeling. All three determinants were found t be significant predictors of intent to adopt EDI, with external pressure and readiness being considerably more important than perceived benefits. We show that the constructs inthis model canbe categorized into three levels: technological, organizational, and interorganizational. We hypothesize that these categories of influence will also be determinants of the adoption of other emerging forms of interorganizational systems (IOS).
Information Technology Competence of Business Managers: A Definition and Research Model. (Journal of Management Information Systems, 2001)
Authors: Abstract:
    This research explores the concept of the information technology (IT) competence of business managers, defined as the set of IT-related explicit and tacit knowledge that a business manager possesses that enables him or her to exhibit IT leadership in his or her area of business. A manager's knowledge of technologies, applications, systems development, and management of IT form his or her explicit IT knowledge. This domain further extends to include knowing who knows what, which enables the manager to leverage the knowledge of others. Tacit IT knowledge is conceptualized as a combination of experience and cognition. Experience relates to personal computing, IT projects, and overall management of IT. Cognition refers to two mental models: the manager's process view and his or her vision for the role of IT. The outcomes expected from IT-competent business managers are chiefly two behaviors: an increased willingness to form partnerships with IT people and an increased propensity to lead and participate in IT projects.
The Role of Multimedia in Changing First Impression Bias. (Information Systems Research, 2000)
Authors: Abstract:
    First impression bias refers to a limitation of human information processing in which people are strongly influenced by the first piece of information that they are exposed to, and that they are biased in evaluating subsequent information in the direction of the initial influence. The psychology literature has portrayed first impression bias as a virtually "inherent" human bias. Drawing from multimedia literature, this study identifies several characteristics of multimedia presentations that have the potential to alleviate first impression bias. Based on this literature, a set of predictions was generated and tested through a laboratory experiment using a simulated multimedia intranet. Half of the 80 subjects were provided with a biased cue. Subjects were randomly assigned to four groups: (1) text with first impression bias cue, (2) multimedia with first impression bias cue, (3) text without biased cue, and (4) multimedia without biased cue. The experimental task involved conducting a five-year performance appraisal of a department head. The first impression bias cue was designed to provide incomplete and unfavorable information about the department head, but the information provided subsequently was intended to be favorable of his performance. Results show that the appraisal score of the text with biased cue group was significantly lower than the text only (without biased cue) group. On the other hand, the appraisal score of the multimedia with biased cue group was not significantly different from the multimedia only (without biased cue) group. As a whole, the results suggest that multimedia presentations, but not text-based presentations, reduce the influence of first impression bias.
The Use of Explanations in Knowledge-Based Systems: Cognitive Perspective and a Process-Tracing Analysis. (Journal of Management Information Systems, 2000)
Authors: Abstract:
    This exploratory research investigates the nature of explanation use and factors that influence it during users' interaction with a knowledge-based system (KBS) for decision-making. It draws upon several cognitive perspectives to help understand when, why, and how explanations are used. A verbal protocol analysis was conducted based on a laboratory experiment involving a KBS for financial analysis. Major categories of explanation use were identified, and accounted for with relevant cognitive perspectives. Results show that explanations were requested to deal with comprehension difficulties caused by various types of perceived anomalies in KBS output. There were qualitative and quantitative differences in the nature and extent of explanation use between novices and experienced professionals. These results offer new insights to why explanations are useful and important, what factors influence explanation use, and what information should be included in explanations.
THE EFFECT OF MULTIMEDIA ON PERCEIVED EQUIVOCALITY AND PERCEIVED USEFULNESS OF INFORMATION SYSTEMS. (MIS Quarterly, 2000)
Authors: Abstract:
    With the advent of multimedia and intranet technologies, managers and information systems designers face a new challenge: how to capture and present information using a variety of representation formats (text, graphics, audio, video, and animations) so that members of an organization can make better sense out of the information available. In this study, we develop a task-representation fit model to generate several predictions about the potential of multimedia to alleviate the limitations of text-based information in the context of individual decision makers utilizing organizational data and test them in a laboratory experiment. Results support the task-representation fit relationships predicted. For analyzable tasks, text-based representation and multimedia representation are equally effective in reducing perceived equivocality levels. For less-analyzable tasks, only multimedia representation was instrumental in reducing perceived equivocality levels.
FACTORS THAT INFLUENCE THE SOCIAL DIMENSION OF ALIGNMENT BETWEEN BUSINESS AND INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY OBJECTIVES. (MIS Quarterly, 2000)
Authors: Abstract:
    The establishment of strong alignment between information technology (IT) and organizational objectives has consistently been reported as one of the key concerns of information systems managers. This paper presents findings from a study which investigated the influence of several factors on the social dimension of alignment within 10 business units in the Canadian life insurance industry. The social dimension of alignment refers to the state in which business and IT executives understand and are committed to the business and IT mission, objectives, and plans. The research model included four factors that would potentially influence alignment: (1) shared domain knowledge between business and IT executives, (2) IT implementation success, (3) communication between business and IT executives, and (4) connections between business and IT planning processes. The outcome, alignment, was operationalized in two ways: the degree of mutual understanding of current objectives (shortterm alignment) and the congruence of IT vision (long-term alignment) between business and IT executives. A total of 57 semi-structured interviews were held with 45 informants. Written business and IT strategic plans, minutes from IT steering committee meetings, and other strategy documents were collected and analyzed from each of the 10 business units. All four factors in the model (shared domain knowledge, IT implementation success, communication between business and IT executives, and connections between business and IT planning) were found to influence short-term alignment. Only shared domain knowledge was found to influence long-term alignment. A new factor, strategic business plans, was found to influence both short and long-term alignment. The findings suggest that both practitioners and researchers should direct significant effort toward understanding shared domain knowledge, the factor which had the strongest influence on the alignment between IT and business executives. There is also...
Evaluating the Impact of DSS, Cognitive Effort, and Incentives on Strategy Selection. (Information Systems Research, 1999)
Authors: Abstract:
    Decision support system (DSS) researchers have long debated whether or not the provision of a DSS would lead to greater decision-making effectiveness, efficiency, or both. The work described in this paper examines how DSS designers can guide users towards employing more normative decision strategies. Working from notions of restrictiveness and decisional guidance (Silver 1990) supplemented by the cost-benefit framework of cognition, we explain how DSS capabilities influence decision behavior and performance through the manipulation of effort. The results of this work should assist DSS developers to devise directed or nondirected approaches to effect desired behaviors.
EXPLANATIONS FROM INTELLIGENT SYSTEMS: THEORETICAL FOUNDATIONS AND IMPLICATIONS FOR PRACTICE. (MIS Quarterly, 1999)
Authors: Abstract:
    Information systems with an "intelligent" or "knowledge" component are now prevalent and include knowledge-based systems, decision support systems, intelligent agents, and knowledge management systems. These systems are in principle capable of explaining their reasoning or justifying their behavior. There appears to be a lack of under, standing, however, of the benefits that can flow from explanation use, and how an explanation function should be constructed. Work with newer types of intelligent systems and help functions for everyday systems, such as word-processors, appears in many cases to neglect lessons learned in the past. This paper attempts to rectify this situation by drawing together the considerable body of work on the nature and use of explanations. Empirical studies, mainly with knowledge-based systems, are reviewed and linked to a sound theoretical base. The theoretical base combines a cognitive effort perspective, cognitive learning theory, and Toulmin's model of argumentation. Conclusions drawn from the review have both practical and theoretical significance. Explanations are important to users in a number of circumstances--when the user perceives an anomaly, when they want to learn, or when they need a specific piece of knowledge to participate properly in problem solving. Explanations, when suitably designed, have been shown to improve performance and learning and result in more positive user perceptions of a system. The design is important, however, because it appears that explanations will not be used if the user has to exert "too much" effort to get them. Explanations should be provided automatically if this can be done relatively unobtrusively, or by hypertext links, and should be context-specific rather than generic. Explanations that conform to Toulmin's model of argumentation, in that they provide adequate justification for the knowledge offered, should be more persuasive and lead to greater trust, agreement, satisfaction, and acceptance--of the explanation and possibly also of the system as a whole.
EMPIRICAL RESEARCH IN INFORMATION SYSTEMS: THE PRACTICE OF RELEVANCE. (MIS Quarterly, 1999)
Authors: Abstract:
    This article presents an executive overview of the article "Empirical Research in Information Systems: The Practice of Relevance," by Izak Benbasat and Robert W. Zmud.
An Empirical Study of Computer System Learning: Comparison of Co-Discovery and Self-Discovery Methods. (Information Systems Research, 1997)
Authors: Abstract:
    This paper reports a study that examined two types of exploratory computer learning methods: self-discovery vs. co-discovery, the latter of which involves two users working together to learn a system. An experiment was conducted to compare these two methods and the results were interpreted within a mental model framework. Co-discovery subjects were better than self-discovery subjects at making inferences about the capability and extended functions of the system. Furthermore, while working by themselves after an initial period of learning, they performed better in a similar, though more complex task than the one they encountered at the learning phase. Process tracing analysis showed that self-discovery subjects focused more on surface structures, such as detailed physical actions, for implementing the task. On the other hand, co-discovery groups focused more on relating lower level actions to higher level goals. Therefore, co-discovery subjects had a better understanding of the relationships between the physical actions and goals, and hence formed mental models with higher inference potential than self-discovery subjects.
Research Commentary: Rethinking "Diversity" in Information Systems Research. (Information Systems Research, 1996)
Authors: Abstract:
    Three types of diversity have been prominent in the Information Systems discipline for over a decade: (a) diversity in the problems addressed; (b) diversity in the theoretical foundations and reference disciplines used to account for IS phenomena; and (c) diversity in the methods used to coiled, analyze, and interpret data. History has played a major part in encouraging IS researchers to use diversity as a means of countering criticisms of their discipline and increasing their research rigor and productivity. In particular, frequent recourse to reference disciplines has underpinned much of the research that has been undertaken since the early 1980s. There are now signs, however, that the level of diversity that currently exists in IS research may be problematic. In this paper, we consider some of the benefits and costs of allowing, diversity to reign in the IS discipline. We also propose a structure that we hope will facilitate discourse on the benefits and costs of diversity and on the role that diversity should now play in the IS discipline.
The Use and Effects of Knowledge-based System Explanations: Theoretical Foundations and a Framework for Empirical Evaluation. (Information Systems Research, 1996)
Authors: Abstract:
    Ever since MYCIN introduced the idea of computer-based explanations to the artificial intelligence community. it has come to be taken for granted that all knowledge-based systems (KBS) need to provide explanations. While this widely-held belief has led to much research on the generation and implementation of various kinds of explanations, there has been no theoretical basis to justify the use of explanations by KBS users. This paper discusses the role of KBS explanations to provide an understanding of both the specific factors that influence explanation use and the consequences of such use. The first part of the paper proposes a model based on cognitive learning theories to identify the reasons for the provision of KUS explanations from the perspective of facilitating user learning. Using the feed forward and feedback operators of cognitive learning the paper develops strategies for providing KBS explanations and classifies the various types of explanations found in current KBS applications. This second part of the paper presents a twopart framework to investigate empirically the use of K13S explanations. The first part of the framework focuses on the potential factors that influence the explanation seeking behavior of KBS users, including user expertise, the types of explanations provided and the level of user agreement with the KBS. The second part of the framework explores the potential effects of the use of 1(85 explanations and specifically considers four distinct categories of potential effects: explanation use behavior, learning, perceptions, and judgmental decision making.
Measuring the Linkage Between Business and Information Technology Objectives. (MIS Quarterly, 1996)
Authors: Abstract:
    The establishment of linkage between business and information technology objectives has consistently been reported as one of the key concerns of information systems (IS) managers. The two objectives of this paper are: (1) to clarify the nature of the linkage construct, and (2) to report on a project that developed and tested measures of the social dimension of linkage. According to our research, the linkage construct has two dimensions: 1. Intellectual: the content of information technology and business plans are internally consistent and externally valid. 2. Social: the IS and business executives understand each others' objectives and plans. We conducted a study of measurement issues associated with the social dimension of linkage. The following candidate measures of linkage were examined: 1. Cross references between written business and in formation technology plans; 2 IS and business executives' mutual under- standing of each other's current objectives; 3. Congruence between IS and business executives' long-term visions for information technology deployment; 4. Executives' self-reported rating of linkage. Data were collected from 10 business units in three large Canadian life insurance companies. In addition to examining written documents such as strategic plans and minutes of steering committee meetings, extensive interviews were conducted with in formation systems and business unit executives. Based on this data, understanding of current objectives and shared vision for the utilization of information technology are proposed as the most promising potential measures for short- and long-term aspects of the social dimension of linkage, respectively. With some precautions, self-reports may also be used as a surrogate measure for short-term linkage.
Electronic Data Interchange and Small Organizations: Adoption and Impact of Technology. (MIS Quarterly, 1995)
Authors: Abstract:
    Many EDI researchers and practitioners have recognized the importance of high penetration levels for the success of EDI. Unfortunately, such penetration is partly impeded by the resistance of small companies to become EDI capable. To investigate this issue, three major factors are identified that influence the EDI adoption practices of small firms. These factors are: organizational readiness (because of the low levels of IT sophistication and resource availability of small firms), external pressures to adopt (because of the weak market positions of small firms and the network nature of the technology), and perceived benefits (because of the limited impact that IT has on small firms due to under-utilization and lack of integration). By combining the anticipated effects of these factors, we developed a framework of EDI adoption by small businesses. The applicability of this framework is empirically demonstrated using the results of seven case studies. Finally, recommendations are made for the development of successful EDI partner expansion plans. These include the development of a long-term EDI partner expansion plan from the very beginning, the individual assessment of each partner's EDI preparedness level, and the selection of appropriate influence tactics to expedite adoption by small partners. Specifically, it is suggested that EDI initiators pursue promotional efforts to improve partners' perceptions of EDI benefits, provide financial and technological assistance to partners with low organizational readiness, and carefully select and enact influence strategies to reduce resistance.
A Theoretical Perspective of Negotiation Support Systems. (Journal of Management Information Systems, 1992)
Authors: Abstract:
    This paper provides an overview of the existing negotiation literature under the headings of game theory, economic models, political models, and social-psychological models. Inferring from the review the need for computer support for negotiation, the paper then proposes a theory for understanding the effects due to a support system in a two-party, monolithic, and multiple-issue setting. The theory conceptualizes a negotiation support system as consisting of individual decision support systems interconnected with an electronic communication channel; accordingly, it postulates two sets of effects, one owing to the decision aid, and the other to the communication support.
The Use of Information in Decision Making: An Experimental Investigation of the Impact of Computer-Based Decision Aids. (MIS Quarterly, 1992)
Authors: Abstract:
    The traditional assumption in the decision support systems (DSS) literature is that if decision makers are provided with expanded processing capabilities they will use them to analyze problems in more depth and, as a result, make better decisions. Empirical studies investigating the relationship between DSS and decision quality have not borne this out. The explanation for such outcomes could be found in behavioral decision-making theories. The literature on behavioral decision making indicates that the conservation of effort may be more important than increased decision quality in some cases. If this is so, then the use of a decision aid may result in effort savings but not improved decision performance. The two experiments reported here use verbal protocol analysis to compare the extent of information use by unaided decision makers and users of a decision aid designed to support preferential choice problems. The results of the two studies indicate that subjects with a decision aid did not use more information than those without one. Overall, subjects behaved as if effort minimization was an important consideration. For DSS researchers these studies indicate that to understand the DSS-decision quality relationship, it is necessary to consider the decision maker's tradeoff between improving decision quality and conserving effort. For DSS designers these results imply a need to focus on the moderating role that effort will play in determining DSS effectiveness.
Development of an Instrument to Measure the Perceptions of Adopting an Information Technology Innovation. (Information Systems Research, 1991)
Authors: Abstract:
    This paper reports on the development of an instrument designed to measure the various perceptions that an individual may have of adopting an information technology (IT) innovation. This instrument is intended to be a tool for the study of the initial adoption and eventual diffusion of IT innovations within organizations. While the adoption of information technologies by individuals and organizations has been an area of substantial research interest since the early days of computerization, research efforts to date have led to mixed and inconclusive outcomes. The lack of a theoretical foundation for such research and inadequate definition and measurement of constructs have been identified as major causes for such outcomes. In a recent study examining the diffusion of new end-user IT, we decided to focus on measuring the potential adopters' perceptions of the technology. Measuring such perceptions has been termed a "classic issue" in the innovation diffusion literature, and a key to integrating the various findings of diffusion research. The perceptions of adopting were initially based on the five characteristics of innovations derived by Rogers (1983) from the diffusion of innovations literature, plus two developed specifically within this study. Of the existing scales for measuring these characteristics, very few had the requisite levels of validity and reliability. For this study, both newly created and existing items were placed in a common pool and subjected to four rounds of sorting by judges to establish which items should be in the various scales. The objective was to verify the convergent and discriminant validity of the scales by examining how the items were sorted into various construct categories. Analysis of interjudge agreement about item placement identified both bad items as well as weaknesses in some of the constructs' original definitions. These were subsequently redefined. Scales for the resulting constructs were subjected to three separate field tests. Following the final test, the scales all demonstrated acceptable levels of reliability. Their validity was further checked using factor analysis, as well as conducting discriminant analysis comparing responses between adopters and nonadopters of the innovation. The result is a parsimonious, 38-item instrument comprising eight scales which provides a useful tool for the study of the initial adoption and diffusion of innovations. A short, 25-item, version of the instrument is also suggested.
An Experimental Investigation of the Impact of Computer Based Decision Aids on Decision Making Strategies. (Information Systems Research, 1991)
Authors: Abstract:
    Although Decision Support Systems (DSSs) have been in Use since the early seventies, there is as yet no strong theoretical base for predicting how a DSS will influence decision making. Furthermore, the findings of various empirical studies on the outcomes of DSS use are often contradictory. Consequently, there is a need in the Decision Support Systems field for theories or explanatory models to formulate hypotheses, to conduct research in a directed, parsimonious manner and to interpret findings in a coherent way. This will assist both academics and practitioners interested in the use of information systems to support managerial workers. This paper proposes the use of a cognitive effort model of decision making to explain decision maker behavior when assisted by a DSS. The central proposition is that specific features can be incorporated within a DSS that will alter the effort required to implement a particular strategy, and thus influence strategy selection by the decision maker. This was investigated in a series of three experimental studies which examined the influence of computer based decision aids on decision making strategies. In the three experiments, subjects were given different degrees of support to deal with various components of cognitive effort (processing effort, memory effort and information tracking effort) associated with the strategies applicable to preferential choice problems. The results show that decision makers tend to adapt their strategy selection to the type of decision aids available in such a way as to reduce effort. These results suggest that the assumption that decision makers use a DSS exclusively to maximize decision quality is open to question. DSS studies which consider the joint effects of effort and quality, or control one while manipulating the other, are more likely to provide consistent and interpretable results.
An Empirical Investigation of Factors Influencing the Success of Customer-Oriented Strategic Systems. (Information Systems Research, 1990)
Authors: Abstract:
    A case research strategy was utilized to study first-mover strategic systems which companies had built and offered to their customers in support of a primary product or service. The study investigated eleven systems to discover the factors which enabled or inhibited the following outcomes: developing a first-mover customer-oriented strategic system (COSS); achieving a high level of adoption of the COSS by customers; obtaining competitive advantage from the COSS. In general, the findings supported previous research in the IS implementation and strategic systems literature. Factors that are related to the successful implementation of information systems and the competitive environment of the firm were associated with systems that were developed and introduced to the market first. Factors that are related to the adoption of innovations and information systems and to successful product marketing were associated with high adoption. There were several findings which had not been previously reported in the literature. Early adoption of the system was inhibited by poor support for the sales force and poor quality pilot tests. Long-term penetration was inhibited in cases where the champion lost direct control over the COSS. Competitive advantage was not achieved by any system which had spent less than three years in the market or by those which did not achieve high long-term adoption.
Processing of Graphical Information: A Decomposition Taxonomy to Match Data Extraction Tasks and Graphical Representations. (Information Systems Research, 1990)
Authors: Abstract:
    The design of the user-computer interface is an important component of information system design, especially for interactive systems developed for managerial users. Graphical information presentation methods, which are among the options to be considered in interface design, have gained popularity in recent years as they have become more affordable due to cost reductions in hardware and the availability of software packages. Consequently, systems designers now face a large array of graphical representation options to choose from. Yet, graphics research over the last several years has either produced results that are contradictory or are difficult to interpret and evaluate because of the lack of a sound taxonomy for classifying tasks associated with the processing of graphical information. A key issue facing researchers is, therefore, to develop a taxonomy of tasks for guiding research in the graphics domain. This paper is an attempt to address part of this need by integrating current perspectives on how humans process information presented in graphical form into frameworks and taxonomies useful for understanding, measuring, and evaluating the relative merits of different forms of graphical representation. The paper begins with a review of the relevant literature from which two taxonomies are developed for a selected set of tasks and graphical representations. These taxonomies are then matched using the notion of anchoring characteristics. Anchoring, in the context of this paper, refers to the phenomenon that specific and diverse parts of an image are segmented by graph readers to act as salient and relevant cues, or anchors, when different classes of information are to be extracted from it. In addition, the paper examines the underlying theoretical and empirical support for the anchoring notion, and suggests ways in which the theoretical framework presented may be extended to other tasks and graphical representations.
The Case Research Strategy in Studies of Information Systems. (MIS Quarterly, 1987)
Authors: Abstract:
    This article defines and discusses one of these qualitative methods--the case research strategy. Suggestions are provided for researchers who wish to undertake research employing this approach. Criteria for the evaluation of case research are established and several characteristics useful for categorizing the studies are identified. A sample of papers drawn from information systems journals is reviewed. The paper concludes with examples of research areas that are particularly well-suited to investigation using the case research approach. This article discusses the use of one qualitative technique, the case research strategy, in studies of information systems. It provides some suggestions about how to conduct and evaluate case study research. A sample of case-based research from selected IS journals is categorized according to a set of characteristics developed in this paper. The articles in the sample are then evaluated.
Process Tracing Methods in Decision Support Systems Research: Exploring the Black Box. (MIS Quarterly, 1987)
Authors: Abstract:
    An overview is provided of the applicability to DSS research of process tracing methodologies in general, and verbal protocol analysis in particular. Rationale is developed for why process tracing methods are an important addition to the inventory of methodologies available to researchers, stressing the need to explore the "black box" of decision processes. A variety of process tracing methods are presented, along with their relative strengths and weaknesses. Verbal protocol analysis is discussed as a particularly promising method for use in DSS research. The nature of verbal protocols is outlined and methods for analysis are reviewed. The criticisms of this method and the controversy surrounding its use are discussed, and an assessment of the validity of these criticisms is provided. Finally, areas of DSS research in which protocols may prove valuable are identified and relevant studies are examined.
An Investigation of the Effectiveness of Color and Graphical Information Presentation Under Varying Time Constraints. (MIS Quarterly, 1986)
Authors: Abstract:
    A laboratory experiment was conducted to assess the influence of color and information presentation differences on user perceptions and decision making under varying time constraints. Three different information presentations were evaluated: tabular, graphical, and combined tabular-graphical. Tabular reports led to better decision making and graphical reports led to faster decision making when time constraints were low. The combined report, which integrated the advantages associated with both tabular and graphical presentation, was the superior report format in terms of performance and was rated very highly by decision makers. Color led to improvements in decision making; this was especially pronounced when high time constraints were present.
Cost/Benefit Analysis of Computer Based Message Systems. (MIS Quarterly, 1983)
Authors: Abstract:
    This article provides a review and synthesis of the recent literature in computer based message systems (CBMS). It describes the problems associated with the current methods of communication and discusses how CBMS attempts to solve these problems. The article then presents some estimates of the costs of CBMS and potential problems that could slow down the implementation of these systems. The article concludes by outlining a methodology for developing CBMS.
PROGRAMMER AND ANALYST TIME/COST ESTIMATION. (MIS Quarterly, 1980)
Authors: Abstract:
    The ability to estimate the personnel time and costs required for the completion of programming and systems projects is an important managerial tool for the information systems department. This article presents a survey of the estimation techniques found in the literature by describing each technique and discussing its strengths and weaknesses. Some empirical evidence on how the various program and programmer/analyst characteristics affect project time and cost are also reported.
IMPACT OF ORGANIZATIONAL MATURITY ON INFORMATION SYSTEM SKILL NEEDS. (MIS Quarterly, 1980)
Authors: Abstract:
    This article presents the results of a study which analyzes skills perceived as useful by information systems (IS) managers and systems analysts in IS organizations of different levels of maturity. These IS skills were examined under two major subgroups of generalist/managerial and specialist/technical skills as well as under more detailed categories of organizations, people, society, systems, computers, and models skills. Generalist, i.e., organizational and people skills, were rated highest. Based on these rankings, which deviated little between managers and analysts and across the maturity spectrum, recommendations concerning graduate IS curriculum are suggested.