Quality Evaluation Models - High Level Models and Methodologies for Information Systems - page 107

product. The EDM is a valuable resource to employ when this comparison has a
central impact on decision making (Hsieh et al. 2010 ).
However, the

flexibility and complexity of IS may prevent users from having an
expectation of performance for given IS prior to using them. In the situations where
the users have no expectations in terms of system performance or cannot
acknowledge the type of information IS can potentially provide, the EDM falls
short of an explanation for user satisfaction (Au et al. 2008 ).

6.10 Expectation Con rmation Model of IS Continuance

-

Bhattacherjee ( 2001 ) outlined a new framework for the EDT, on the premise that
previous research wrongfully considered continuance of use as merely an extension
of acceptance. Previous models were, therefore, excessively focused on the initial
process of technology acceptance and implementation and failed to offer a plausible
explanation as to why users can discontinue IS use even though they initially
accepted it. Furthermore, there was no consideration for user s motivations after the

implementation stage. It was therefore necessary to outline a model that, while
drawing from previous research, could focus more on continuance of use (Bhatt-
acherjee 2001 ).
According to the new ECM, user ' s motivation to continue to use a certain
technology derives from the user

'

' s degree of satisfaction with that technology, the

level of the user rmation of his/her primary expectations, and the opinion the

user has in the post-usage period, which appears in the shape of perceived use-
fulness (Lee 2010 ).
From this starting point, it is possible to pinpoint a set of premises that were
expanded upon through empirical research using this new model.
The

' s con

first premise is that user satisfaction in the initial employment of a system
will have a favorable impact on their decision to continue to use that same system.
It is assumed that users become satis

ed with IS usage when they con rm their

initial expectations about the system. By con rming their primary perception of the

system s usefulness, users raise their level of satisfaction (Bhattacherjee 2001 ).

The second premise is that con

'

rmation plays an important part in the formation
of perceived usefulness. Even in situations where the user believed the system to
have a limited usefulness, after the experience of using that system, that notion
might change into a stronger belief of the system

' s usefulness. Consequently, the

con rmation process has a positive effect on IS perceived usefulness (Bhattacherjee

2001 ).
The third premise determines that perceived usefulness will have a positive
impact on user satisfaction with the system. This had been posited in previous
research but usually in relation to the acceptance stage. Bhattacherjee argues that it
is also a relevant process during post-acceptance, in continuance contexts. Users
will continually rely on a system that they perceive is contributing to high per-
formance (Bhattacherjee 2001 ).