Keyword

Generation Y students, information quality, system quality, trust, university, website

Abstract

Considering the growing number of Generation Y students enrolled at South African higher education institutions (HEIs), and university websites primarily being the first point of reference in sourcing and evaluating information about the university and the courses offered, as well as Generation Y students’ scepticism about marketing tactics and their low trust propensity, it is imperative to understand the factors that influence this generation’s trust in university websites. As such, the purpose of this study was to determine the influence of perceived system and information quality on Generation Y students’ trust in university websites within the South African context. A single cross-sectional and descriptive research design was followed in this study. A self-administered questionnaire was designed to collect data from a convenience sample of 319 Generation Y students registered at two Gauteng-based South African HEI campuses. The methods used to analyse the data included descriptive statistics, Pearson’s product-moment correlation analysis, reliability measures, regression analysis and collinearity diagnostics. The findings of the study suggest that Generation Y students’ perceived information and system quality of university websites has a significant positive influence on their perceived trust in university websites. Insights gained from this study can assist universities in devising appropriate strategies that will foster trust in their website, thereby paving the way forward for an increased number of visitors and student enrolments.


Full Text : PDF
References
  1. Ahn, T., Ryu, S. & Han, I. (2007). The impact of web quality and playfulness on user acceptance of online retailing. Information & Management, 44, 263-275.
  2. Aladwani, A.M. & Palvia, P.C. (2002). Developing and validating an instrument for measuring user-perceived web quality. Information & Management, 39(6), 467-476.
  3. Ali, H. (2015). 12 Rules to Engaging the Millennials. https://blog.logodesignguru.com/rules-to-engage-millennials/. [Accessed 2018/06/07].
  4. Bairamzadeh, S. & Bolhari, A. (2010). Investigating factors affecting students' satisfaction of university websites. (In Computer Science and Information Technology (ICCSIT): 2010 3rd IEEE International Conference, Chengdu, China. New York: IEEE. p. 469-473). 
  5. Benamati, J.S. & Serva, M.A. (2007). Trust and distrust in online banking: their role in developing countries. Information Technology for Development, 13(2), 161-175.
  6. Bilgihan, A. (2016). Gen Y customer loyalty in online shopping: An integrated model of trust, user experience and branding. Computers in Human Behavior, 61, 103-113.
  7. Broadbridge, A.M., Maxwell, G.A. & Ogden, S.M. (2007). 13_2_30: experiences, perceptions and expectations of retail employment for Generation Y. Career Development International, 12(6), 523-544.
  8. Buang, R.R., Majid, M.K., Wahab, M.I.A., Tohid, M.Z.W.M., Abdullah, A., Adrutdin, K.F., Yacob, S. & Zahid, M.M. (2016). Factors Affecting Students’ Intention to Study at Higher Learning Institution of Technical and Vocational Education and Training. Australasian Journal of Business, Social Science & Information Technology, 2(1), 19-33.
  9. Bubser, L. (2016). Top 5 Ways to Reach Millennials.
  10. https://www.sightpathmedical.com/news__events/blog/2016/01/14/323/top_5_ways_to_reach_millennials. [Accessed 2018/06/07].
  11. Colucci, C. & Cho, E. (2014). Trust inducing factors of Generation Y blog-users. International Journal of Design, 8(3), 113-122.
  12. Department of Higher Education and Training see South Africa. Department of Higher Education and Training.
  13. Djamasbi, S., Siegel, M. & Tullis, T. (2010). Generation Y, web design, and eye tracking. International Journal of Human-Computer Studies, 68, 307-323.
  14. El-Halees, A. & Abu-Zaid, I.M. (2017). Automated Usability Evaluation on University Websites using Data Mining Methods. Palestinian Journal of Open Education, 6(11), 13-21. ‎
  15. Filieri, R., Alguezaui, S. & McLeay, F. (2015). Why do travelers trust TripAdvisor? Antecedents of trust towards consumer-generated media and its influence on recommendation adoption and word of mouth. Tourism Management, 51, 174-185.
  16. Flavián, C., Guinalίu, M. & Gurrea, R. (2006). The role played by perceived usability, satisfaction and consumer trust on website loyalty. Information & Management, 43(1), 1-14.
  17. Ganiyu, A.A., Mishra, A., Elijah, J. & Gana, U.M. (2017). The Importance of Usability of a Website. The IUP Journal of Information Technology, 13(3), 27-35.
  18. Gregg, D.G. & Walczak, S. (2010). The relationship between website quality, trust and price premiums at online auctions. Electronic Commerce Research, 10(1), 1-25.
  19. Hair, J.F., Black, W.C., Babin, B.J. & Anderson, R.E. (2010). Multivariate data analysis: a global perspective. New Jersey: Pearson Prentice Hall.
  20. Hosmer, L.T. (1995). Trust: The connecting link between organizational theory and philosophical ethics. The Academy of Management Review, 20(2), 379-403.
  21. Hsiao, K.L., Lin, J.C.C., Wang, X.Y., Lu, H.P. & Yu, H. (2010). Antecedents and consequences of trust in online product recommendations: An empirical study in social shopping. Online Information Review, 34(6), 935-953.
  22. InternetLiveStats. (2018). Total number of Websites. http://www.internetlivestats.com/total-number-of-websites/#sources. [Accessed 2018/06/11].
  23. Kim, G., Shin, B. & Lee, H.G. (2009). Understanding dynamics between initial trust and usage intentions of mobile banking. Information Systems Journal, 19(3), 283-311.
  24. Kim, H.W., Xu, Y. & Koh, J. (2004). A comparison of online trust building factors between potential customers and repeat customers. Journal of the Association for Information Systems, 5(10), 392-420.
  25. Kuan, H.H., Bock, G.W. & Vathanophas, V. (2008). Comparing the effects of website quality on customer initial purchase and continued purchase at e-commerce websites. Behaviour & Information Technology, 27(1), 3-16.
  26. Lewicki, R.J., McAllister, D.J. & Bies, R.J. (1998). Trust and distrust: New relationships and realities. The Academy of Management Review, 23(3), 438-458.
  27. Liang, C.J. & Chen, H.J. (2009). A study of the impacts of website quality on customer relationship performance. Total Quality Management, 20(9), 971-988.
  28. Lien, C.H., Wen, M.J., Huang, L.C. & Wu, K.L. (2015). Online hotel booking: The effects of brand image, price, trust and value on purchase intentions. Asia Pacific Management Review, 20, 210-218.
  29. Lin, H.F. (2007). The impact of website quality dimensions on customer satisfaction in the B2C e-commerce context. Total Quality Management & Business Excellence, 18(4), 363-378.
  30. Lin, H.F. (2010). An application of fuzzy AHP for evaluating course website quality. Computers & Education, 54(4), 877-888.
  31. Malhotra, N.K. (2010). Marketing research: an applied orientation. New Jersey: Pearson Prentice Hall.
  32. Markert, J. (2004). Demographics of age: generational and cohort confusion. Journal of Current Issues & Research in Advertising, 26(2), 11-25.
  33. McDonald, N. (2018). Digital in 2018: World’s internet users pass the 4 billion mark. 
  34. https://wearesocial.com/us/blog/2018/01/global-digital-report-2018. [Accessed 2018/06/03].
  35. Mentes, S.A. & Turan, A.H. (2012). Assessing the usability of university websites: an empirical study on Namik Kemal University. The Turkish Online Journal of Educational Technology, 11(3), 61-69.
  36. Muda, M., Mohd, R. & Hassan, S. (2016). Online purchase behavior of Generation Y in Malaysia. Procedia Economics & Finance, 37, 292-298.
  37. MyBroadband. (2018). What we know about Internet users in South Africa. 
  38. https://mybroadband.co.za/news/internet/251063-what-we-know-about-internet-users-in-south-africa.html. [Accessed 2018/06/03].
  39. Nilashi, M., Jannach, D., bin Ibrahim, O., Esfahani, M.D. & Ahmadi, H. (2016). Recommendation quality, transparency, and website quality for trust-building in recommendation agents. Electronic Commerce Research & Applications, 19, 70-84.
  40. Rahimnia, F. & Hassanzadeh, J.F. (2013). The impact of website content dimension and e-trust on e-marketing effectiveness: The case of Iranian commercial saffron corporations. Information & Management, 50(5), 240-247.
  41. Schlitzkus, L.L., Schenarts, K.D. & Schenarts, P.J. (2010). Is your residency program ready for Generation Y? Journal of Surgical Education, 67(2), 108-111.
  42. Severt, K., Fjelstul, J. & Breiter, D. (2013). Information communication technologies: Usages and preferences of Generation Y students and meeting professionals. Journal of Convention & Event Tourism, 14(2), 124-143. 
  43. Sindhuja, P.N. & Dastidar, S.G. (2009). Impact of the factors influencing website usability on user satisfaction. The IUP Journal of Management Research, 3(12), 54-66.
  44. South Africa. Department of Higher Education and Training. (2018). Statistics on post-school education and training in South Africa: 2016.  http://www.dhet.gov.za/DHET%20Statistics%20Publication/Statistics%20on%20Post-School%20Education%20and%20Training%20in%20South%20Africa%202016.pdf. [Accessed 2018/09/19].
  45. St Louis, M. (2017). Here's Why Millennials Are Ignoring Your Brand (And What to Do About It). https://www.inc.com/molly-reynolds/heres-why-millennials-are-ignoring-your-brand-and-what-to-do-about-it.html. [Accessed 2018/05/29].
  46. Statistics South Africa. (2018). Mid-year population estimates: 2018, Statistical release P0302. 
  47. http://www.statssa.gov.za/publications/P0302/P03022018.pdf. [Accessed 2018/09/23].
  48. Valentine, D.B. & Powers, T.L. (2013). Online product search and purchase behavior of Generation Y. Atlantic Marketing Journal, 2(1), 76-91.
  49. Van Deventer, M., De Klerk, N. & Bevan-Dye, A. (2017). Influence of perceived integrity and perceived system quality on Generation Y students’ perceived trust in mobile banking in South Africa. Banks & Bank Systems, 12(1), 128-134.
  50. Yang, Z., Cai, S., Zhou, Z. & Zhou, N. (2005). Development and validation of an instrument to measure user perceived service quality of information presenting web portals. Information & Management, 42(4), 575-589.
  51. Zhou, T. & Zhang, S. (2009). Examining the effect of e-commerce website quality on user satisfaction. (In Electronic Commerce and Security (ISECS): 2009 2nd International Symposium, Nanchang, China. New York: IEEE. p. 418-421).