Perceived quality and motivations on intention-to-use of a general web portal

Abstract

The purpose of this research was to study the quality and motivation attributes of information products from the end-users' perspective, and to measure the impact of these attributes on intention-to-use. An information product is defined as a highly interdependent package of information that can be transmitted or distributed in digital form (e.g., a web portal, an application software). In the context of Web portal use, the information product generally includes three types of services: personal services (e.g., email), information services (e.g., online news) and search services. The literature suggests that the quality of an information product can be assessed from a number of attributes, such as accuracy and applicability of the information content, the timeliness and speed of the physical medium, and the reliability and responsiveness of the product provider. The literature also underscores the importance of motivational factors such as social escapism and privacy concerns on the intention to use. Drawing from this theoretical background, an initial set of 21 quality and motivation attributes has been identified, and an experimental study using 142 subjects as Web portal users has been conducted. Statistical analyses helped us consolidate quality factors into four groups of quality attributes factors as they were perceived by the Subjects: Content relevancy, Communication interactiveness, Information currency, and Instant gratification. As far as impact analyses are concerned, social escapism motivation, information motivation, interactive control motivation, and socialization were found to highly correlate to all of the three types of services and the combined use. When quality factors and motivations were considered at the same time to explain intention-to-use of the Web portal, social escapism, as a motivation factor, was identified as the main determinant. The findings of this research shed new lights on the understanding of Web portal use and suggests that there are some quality attributes that are particularly perceived to be relevant to Web portal intention to use. Lessons learned from this study should also help IT professionals to design, develop and deploy more effective general web portals.