Validity of Delone and Mclean’s E-Commerce Model in B2C Student Loan Industry

INTRODUCTION Internet has brought about enormous growth in the web-based business-to-consumer (B2C) e-commerce (Van Slyke et al.,2004), which is defined as the activity in which consumers get information and purchase product or service using Internet technology (Olson & Olson, 2000; Pavlou & Fygenson, 2006). E-commerce has changed the way of marketing and sales process, from sales force-driven mass marketing to more customized and buyer oriented marketing. While there has been steady growth in the amount of online transactions, companies struggle to find ways to better reach customers ubiquitously and enhance customer retention. The potential benefits of B2C e-commerce will not accrue to businesses until they have identified the factors that impact the consumers' willingness to engage in online exchange relationships (Pavlou & Fygenson, 2006). The success of e-commerce transactions between businesses and consumers is determined by several factors, including consumer trust in sellers, products, services, and electronic systems (Lee & Turban, 2001), perceptions of security when providing personal information through websites (Suh & Han, 2003; Boyle & Ruppel, 2006; Chen & Nath, 2008); perceptions of service quality (Jayawardhena, 2004); and perceptions of ease of use and usefulness (Lu, Liu, Yu & Yao, 2005; Pavlou & Fygenson, 2006). Past studies point that a customer-oriented e-business may enhance customer satisfaction and loyalty by providing numerous advantages such as convenience, a well designed user interface, customized information, a variety of product information, and competitive pricing (Verhoef & Langerak, 2001; Park & Kim, 2003). Further, researchers suggested that improving the overall quality of online retailers is essential to customer satisfaction in the rapidly growing world of B2C e-commerce (Liu & Arnett, 2000; Park & Kim, 2003). When making investments in web-based systems, companies need to be able to pinpoint the salient characteristics that will impact system usage, user satisfaction, and overall benefits derived from investing in such systems. Therefore, assessing the e-commerce business model performance and success is a strategic issue for the managers. The importance of online system performance for its users as a determinant to e-commerce success has been an active topic in the area of information systems. It has led to the development of several instruments and theoretical models grounded in some well-established theories such as end-user customer satisfaction (EUCS) model developed by Doll & Torkzadeh (1988) and Information Systems Success Model (ISSM) developed by DeLone & McLean (1992). These models are very popular and have been frequently used in empirical studies to test the performance of information-based systems and applications (Somers et al. 2003). Despite the popularity of B2C e-commerce, it is surprising to note there have been very few attempts on empirically validating and testing models of B2C e-commerce success (Brown and Jayakody, 2008; April and Pather, 2008). As DeLone and McLean (1992) pointed out, if IS research is to make a contribution to the world of practice, a well-defined outcome measure (or measures) is essential. The DeLone & McLean Information Systems Success Model (1992) is generally accepted as one of the most comprehensive IS assessment models available in the IS literature (Myers et al, , 1997; Bown & Jayakody, 2008). The model has informed a number of subsequent studies and has helped to integrate IS success models (Molla & Licker, 2001; DeLone & McLean, 2003). We extend IS success measurement challenges to the updated DeLone & McLean's e-commerce model (DeLone & McLean, 2004), in which DeLone & McLean applied new metrics in consideration of the differences between information technology and e-commerce. A thorough literature review has revealed very few studies that have measured e-commerce success using this updated framework. …