However, the proliferation of VoIP applications has not accelerated the mass adoption of VoIP .... fixed telephone and mobile cellular phones in the year 2007, ...
International Journal of Social and Organizational Dynamics in IT, 2(1), 1-16, January-March 2012 1
Understanding Continuance of Using VoIP Applications to Improve Intercultural Communication: Information and System Quality Perspectives Charlie Chen, Appalachian State University, USA Alanah Mitchell, Appalachian State University, USA Scott Hunsinger, Appalachian State University, USA
ABSTRACT Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) is a cost-effective medium to help learners improve their intercultural communication competency. However, the proliferation of VoIP applications has not accelerated the mass adoption of VoIP technology by users for the purposes of intercultural communication training. This study investigates the possibility of using VoIP technology as a learning tool to educate and train individuals to improve their intercultural communication. The perspectives of information and system qualities are adopted to investigate how to enhance users’ satisfaction and intention to reuse a VoIP technology for intercultural communication competencies. Information quality, system quality, and perceived task technology fit are important predictors of satisfaction. Satisfied users are more likely to continue using a VoIP technology. To test the authors’ expectations, 93 American and 45 Taiwanese subjects participated in a four-week experiment to virtually converse with each other via a VoIP technology (i.e., Skype). After working together one-on-one to communicate, participants completed a survey, resulting in 116 valid data points for analysis. The authors’ findings provide grounds for theoretical and practical implications concerning the adoption of VoIP technology by users as an e-learning tool. Keywords:
Collaborative Learning, Information Quality, Intercultural Communication, Perceived TaskTechnology Fit, Satisfaction, System Quality, Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP)
DOI: 10.4018/ijsodit.2012010101 Copyright © 2012, IGI Global. Copying or distributing in print or electronic forms without written permission of IGI Global is prohibited.
2 International Journal of Social and Organizational Dynamics in IT, 2(1), 1-16, January-March 2012
INTRODUCTION Due to reduced system costs, the number of Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) applications is growing (e.g., Skype, Vonage, Lingo, and many others). This increase in VoIP applications presents an opportunity to find new and useful ways to take advantage of the technology. Because intercultural communication is best improved through practice with dialog, one particular area of interest for VoIP use is related to intercultural communication. However, in order to encourage the adoption of VoIP technologies in the area of intercultural communication we need to first understand what factors influence VoIP use. Previous research has asserted that improving users’ experiences with an information technology can enhance their satisfaction and intention to continue using the technology (i.e., intention to reuse) (Bhattacherjee, 2001). From the perspective of the expectation-confirmation model (ECM) theory, users’ prior experiences with a product or service can significantly influence their intentions to repurchase it (Anderson & Sullivan, 1993). The primary objectives of this study are to explore the factors influencing the satisfaction of online learners with a VoIP application and their intentions to continue using VoIP to enhance intercultural communication competencies. One important question to examine is whether or not information quality and system quality factors are important to the widespread adoption of VoIP for intercultural communication purposes. In order to create the positive causality for users of VoIP applications, we assess the relationships between information quality, system quality, perceived task-technology fit, user satisfaction and intention to reuse VoIP. Information quality and system quality of VoIP applications can potentially affect the satisfaction level of users. Perceived task-technology fit can also influence a user’s satisfaction using VoIP technology to enhance intercultural communication competence. A learner’s intention to reuse VoIP technology is impacted by his or her satisfactory experiences. Whether a learner would like to stay longer for each learning
session and continue using VoIP technology to enhance intercultural communication competence is a continuance usage issue. This paper is organized as follows. First, we provide a background about VoIP and how information and system quality along with perceived task-technology fit can lead to satisfaction and continued intention to use VoIP. We then present our research methodology, followed by our data analysis. The paper concludes with a discussion of our findings, implications, limitations, and conclusions.
Theoretical Foundations VoIP Applications Adoption Background Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) is defined as the transmission of voice over broadband Internet-based networks, according to the Federal Communications Commission (FCC, 2010). VoIP or Internet telephony technology enables one-to-one, one-to-many, or many-tomany interactions between people of different countries at the same time and in different places. It has emerged as one of the most prominent technologies to support burgeoning innovative Internet and mobile applications and services. Call center, telecommuting, web seminars, and online education often use VoIP applications. The offshoring and global economic downturns have increased the need to drive down operational costs via VoIP convergence. Academic and industry communities have begun using VoIP in order to radically change the manner of conducting business. As VoIP technology creates a new competitive market and potentially transforms the manner in which business is conducted, a deeper empirical understanding of the phenomenon would be crucial to help organizations respond to and manage the technological impacts and strategic competition. Despite the current uses and benefits of VoIP, the industry has been struggling with achieving a critical mass of adoption after almost 20 years of development. Although a recent report forecasts that business and consumer IP
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International Journal of Social and Organizational Dynamics in IT, 2(1), 1-16, January-March 2012 3
phone will exceed 40 million by 2015 (“Research and markets: The worldwide IP,” 2011), its growth and penetration rates are far lower than that of fixed and mobile phones. More than 1.3 billion and 3.3 billion users had subscribed fixed telephone and mobile cellular phones in the year 2007, according to International Telecommunication Union (2011). In fact, the penetration rate of mobile cellular phones has exceeded 100% for many countries. However, despite these growth statistics, a 2011 Federal Communications Commission (FCC) annual report shows that broadband adoption in the USA is stagnant (Gaitonde, 2011). In order for VoIP to reach the same penetration rate as the public switched telephone network (PTSN), it is imperative to understand technical, managerial and business obstacles to the mass adoption of VoIP technology.
VoIP Applications to Improve Intercultural Communication Competence Acquisition of intercultural communication competence has many challenges ahead for learners because of cultural differences. Diverse values, beliefs, nonverbal behavior, verbal styles, social norms, and world views vary with cultures. Verbal styles of people can be categorized into four groups: (1) direct/indirect, (2) succinct/elaborate, (3) contextual/personal, and (4) instrumental/affective (Gudykunst & Ting-Toomey, 1988). Engaging people with an opposing verbal style can produce anxiety and conflicts (Shachaf, 2008). Miscommunication and conflict can occur as a result of incompatibility of different cultures. Second language acquisition is not separable from the acquisition of intercultural communication competence. Using a second language without understanding its cultural implications can lead to ineffective intercultural communication (Chitakornkijsil, 2009). Limited understanding of other cultures can result in a very unsatisfying experience of learning another culture and language. Although advances in IT can remove some barriers to intercultural communication
competency, the face-to-face conversation still needs to be addressed. The VoIP technology offers the possibility of mirroring face-to-face conversational learning via its high social presence and information richness features. These unique features can potentially increase learners’ satisfaction and trust. VoIP technology can thus potentially encourage users to continuously learn a second language (Gefen & Straub, 2004). An effective language acquisition process involves cognitive, affective, and linguistic principles (Douglas, 1994). Cognitive principles are to increase the ability of a learner to automatically process a relatively unlimited number of language forms. Rote learning can help shortterm retention, whereas meaningful learning can enhance long-term retention (Krishna, 2006). For instance, the learning method of etymological elaboration, learning about the meaning of idioms, is more effective than the rote learning at helping a foreign language learner acquire idioms and retain them in the long-term memory (Guo, 2008). In summary, a learner can process information residing in the long-term faster than information residing in short-term memory. Rote learning via asynchronous media (e.g., Podcast, Satellite TV, Internet radio, mobile learning) is effective at short-term retention. The use of asynchronous media to engage users into meaningful learning may be questionable because the social presence element is missing (Williams & Humphrey, 2007). Online asynchronous learning also lacks student interactions if a community of practice is not established to encourage learners for co-constructing knowledge from both sociocultural (Vygotsky, 1978) and constructivist perspectives (Jonassen, Peck, & Wilson, 1999). In order to help a learner achieve long-term retention and cognitive gains, a synchronous mode of learning could be more effective because these two key social elements, social presence and instructor-learner interactions, are present. Affective principles are to ensure that a learner gradually develops a new mode of thinking, feeling and acting in order to master
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4 International Journal of Social and Organizational Dynamics in IT, 2(1), 1-16, January-March 2012
both the language and cultural aspects of the second language (Douglas, 1994). Problembased learning (PBL) is an example of applying affective principles to improving learning effectiveness. PBL helps students examine a real problem from multiple perspectives, interact with each other, and most importantly, develop their own solutions to the problem (Brownell & Jameson, 2004). Social networking technologies allow users to share experiences of users interacting with their social environment. Language learning via the virtual environment can help users improve cultural understandings. Student participants in the Global Classroom Project that electronically connects students and professors from USA and Russia have shown improvement in their ability to synthesize diverse viewpoints, ideologies and frames of reference (Herrington, 2010). Linguistic principles are to help improve a learner’s communicative competence by narrowing the inter-language gap (Douglas, 1994). The native language can constantly create facilitating and interfering effects on the production and comprehension of the target-language. Because of the gap, the use of native speakers to provide feedback can more efficiently help a learner identify the gap and learn how to cope with it. A study shows that videos from the target country are a rich linguistic source for foreign language learners to stimulate language use (Stempleski, 2002) and immerse in the world of native speakers (Tschirner, 2001). VoIP technology can remove geographical barriers and connect learners with native speakers to narrow the inter-language gap and enhance communicative competence. It is important to take cognitive, affective and linguistic principles into consideration when applying VoIP technology to help learners enhance their intercultural communication competency.
Information and System Quality: Technical Features of VoIP Information quality and system quality of VoIP applications may greatly affect users’ as they perform intercultural communication tasks.
In order to understand the potential impact of information quality and system quality of VoIP applications on a learner’s satisfaction, it is important to assess the technical features of VoIP and their ability to meet learners’ needs of acquiring intercultural communication competence. VoIP adopts the H.323 telecommunication architecture that allows users to place, setup, end, and forward calls. A VoIP system usually consists of several essential hardware components, including terminals, multipoint control units (MCUs), and gateways. One major issue associated with H.323 is the use of User Datagram Protocol (UDP) to facilitate the multimedia-based communication. This protocol organizes network traffic in the form of datagram which does not have a mandatory checksum control to help recover corrupted and tampered data. This inherent lack of checksum control has previously resulted in poor call quality, including jitter, packet loss, echo, unstable voice signal level, delay and noise (Clark, 2003). Many enterprise VoIP applications incorporate Quality of Service (QoS) control in order to improve the quality of voice or video feeds. From a user’s perspective, he/she can place VoIP calls across the Internet, often for a low cost or flat monthly fee structure. Each call can carry data, voice, and video traffic. Three general methods are available to assist a user in connecting to a VoIP network: (1) adopt a VoIP telephone, (2) buy a normal phone with a VoIP adapter, and (3) use a computer with speakers and a microphone. A user can place “PC-to-PC” calls from a VoIP device (e.g., computer, cell phone with Internet connection, VoIP phone, or regular phone with a VoIP adapter) to another VoIP device. Calls can be also placed in the manner of “PC-to-phone” from a VoIP device to a regular phone. Intercultural communication learning involves highly personalized behavioral and affective learning, self-reflection, direct experience with cultural differences (Varis, 2010), and reality validation (Paige, 1993). In the traditional face-to-face environment, a communications or language instructor can create opportunities to
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International Journal of Social and Organizational Dynamics in IT, 2(1), 1-16, January-March 2012 5
reward learners and deliver class to reflect cultural differences. VoIP can retain these abilities while reserving the benefits of delivering a class without geographical and temporal constraints. In addition, the user-centered instruction is an effective language learning approach. VoIP allows the delivery of one-to-one instruction or chatting to meet personalized needs of users. Some add-on screen sharing features even allow users to discuss a shared document. Even though these user-friendly features are readily available, this does not guarantee that users will have a satisfactory experience using VoIP to enhance intercultural communication competence. The success of adopting information and communication technologies can be attributed to the control of four essential elements: entropy, redundancy, noise and channel capacity (Shannon & Weaver, 1949). The number of people or messages involved in the video conferencing can increase the degree of entropy or uncertainty in each intercultural experience. The inability of a VoIP system to handle the volume can lead to poor system quality and conferring with unsatisfactory experience. Since the checksum control is optional to VoIP systems, the repetition of the same information sometimes occurs during the transmission. This redundancy issue happens more often when a user tries to use other nonVoIP applications while using VoIP at the same time. Users may become annoyed if they have to repeat themselves during the intercultural communication process. Background noise is another prevalent phenomenon to VoIP users if they do not use headphones or if they try to use this technology in an uncontrolled environment (e.g., airport and other public locations). Limited bandwidth has been the primary channel capacity issue to VoIP users. Lack of control of a broadband connection can contribute to poor satisfaction experience for both sides of a communication. Information quality is particularly important in the intercultural communication context because information meanings and information system effectiveness varies between cultures. People interpret the information quality dif-
ferently because they have different values, assumptions and expectations (Agourram, 2007). Intercultural communications through VoIP technology involves soft elements (e.g., intercultural understanding, interpersonal skills, empathy, linguistic ability, and information quality). Users who lack knowledge about another culture would have trouble of interacting with each other even in a face-to-face environment. Culture shock and intercultural misunderstanding are two typical problems that have arisen from insensitivity to cultural differences (Durocher, 2009). Intercultural communication skills can help a learner move through three ethnocentric stages: denial, defense/reversal, and minimization (Bennett, 1993) before embracing cultural differences. However, intercultural communication skills can only be cultivated and encouraged via proper training, such as controlled readings, directed observation, and informed mentoring (Durocher, 2009). When VoIP technology is adopted to increase intercultural communication skills and mediate the intercultural communication process, information quality becomes even more important because system quality can interfere with the intercultural communication process. Telecommunication problems, including entropy, redundancy, noise, and channel capacity, could degrade the information quality. Poor audio fidelity can decrease the usefulness of VoIP. Along with the improvement of information quality, users may have a higher satisfactory experience of using a VoIP technology to improve intercultural communication competency. Information quality has been an effective precursor for user satisfaction with the use of information systems in general (Gable, Sedera, & Chan, 2008) and could also be applied to the usage of VoIP technology. Based upon this information, our first two hypotheses are as follows: Hypothesis 1: Improved information quality can increase a learner’s satisfaction with using a VoIP application to perform intercultural communication tasks.
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6 International Journal of Social and Organizational Dynamics in IT, 2(1), 1-16, January-March 2012
Hypothesis 2: Improved system quality can increase a learner’s satisfaction with using a VoIP application to perform intercultural communication tasks.
Perceived Task-Technology Fit: Intercultural Communication and VoIP Task-technology fit (TTF) posits that information technology is more likely to have a positive impact on individual performance and be used if the capabilities of the information technology match the tasks that the user must perform (Goodhue & Thompson, 1995; Zigurs & Buckland, 1998). In relation to this theory, Goodhue and Thompson (1995) present an argument that user perceptions of task-technology fit are impacted by task and technology characteristics. Additionally, their theory suggests that task-technology fit impacts performance, which is mediated by utilization. Similarly, Zigurs, and Buckland (1998) suggest that group performance is impacted by the fit profile between the task and a group support system (GSS) technology, which is technology that can be used to support groups working synchronously. In their theory of tasktechnology fit, Zigurs and Buckland (1998) characterize tasks as simple, problem, decision, judgment, or fuzzy tasks, while technologies are characterized according to the degree of support for communication, process structuring, and information processing. Each type of task is then associated with a best fit technology. For example, simple tasks are associated with a single outcome and are best fit with a technology that offers high communication support, low process structuring, and low information processing so that team members can easily communicate their ideas. For problem and decision tasks, technology should allow for low communication support, low process structuring, and high information processing. Finally, for fuzzy tasks, high communication support, medium process structuring, and high information processing is necessary from the team technology.
In this research, we are looking at a VoIP system that offers high communication support, low process structuring, and low information processing, which would mean the technology is best suited for a simple task. As mentioned above, the use of VoIP allows for the education and training of students. As a part of this collaboration students are faced with intercultural communication challenges (Avison & Banks, 2008; Cramton, 2002). Therefore, a simple task which addresses improving students’ intercultural communication competency is an area which needs attention and which fits with VoIP technology. In fact, VoIP has become the choice technology for people who are interested in improving their intercultural communication competence (Scott, 2008). VoIP technology adds realism and life to intercultural interactions without geographical limitations. This excites and motivates students during the learning process (Scott, 2008). With VoIP, real-time conversation exchange can directly and indirectly develop second-language speaking abilities by allowing native speakers to provide immediate phonetic feedback and authentic interactions to the learners (Payne & Whitney, 2002). Based upon this background, our third hypothesis is: Hypothesis 3: Perceived task technology fit can increase a learner’s satisfaction with using a VoIP application to perform intercultural communication tasks.
Satisfaction and Intention to Reuse VoIP User satisfaction is an indicator for successful interaction by users with information systems. This construct is particularly important to measure system success of a particular information system (Hamilton & Chervany, 1981). User satisfaction can also help explore the potential success of new information systems (Jarvenpaa, Dickson, & DeSanctis, 1985). VoIP is an emerging technology and needs a measure to assess its future success of helping users improve intercultural communication competency. User satisfaction is therefore adopted in this study.
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International Journal of Social and Organizational Dynamics in IT, 2(1), 1-16, January-March 2012 7
Figure 1. Theoretical framework
User satisfaction with initial system usage can carry its effect over to intentions of future use (Agarwal & Prasad, 1999). Measuring the intention of reuse is a closer measure of system success than initial or current usage of system (Anderson & Srinivasan, 2003). It is probable to increase a user’s intention to reuse VoIP technology by increasing user satisfaction. Thus, our final hypothesis suggests: Hypothesis 4: A learner’s satisfactory experience of using VoIP applications to perform intercultural communication tasks can increase a user’s intention to continue using VoIP applications. Figure 1 depicts our proposed theoretical framework which combines the four hypotheses presented above. The proposed framework assesses the relationships between the four constructs presented: information quality, system quality, perceived task technology fit, and user satisfaction and their ultimate impact on one’s intention to reuse a VoIP technology.
Methodology Research Design The primary goal of this study is to investigate the effect of information quality, system quality
and perceived task technology fit on learner satisfaction with the use of VoIP to improve intercultural communication competencies. A total of 138 participants, consisting of 45 Taiwanese students from a university in Taiwan and 93 American students from Southern U.S. University, participated in the experimental study. The students from Taiwan were interested in learning English, while the students from the U.S. were undergraduates taking an introductory MIS course. After excluding 22 invalid survey responses (due to incompleteness), a total of 116 data points were used in our analysis. English is the agreed-upon language for participants to use during a one-hour experimental session. Table 1 shows subjects’ demographics in the USA and Taiwan. These two groups of subjects have similar profiles in age and Skype experiences. Approximately half of the subjects in either experimental setting had used Skype prior to this experience. Over half of subjects are female (Table 1). Four sessions were conducted in four sequential weeks. Because of a 13-hour difference between the two experimental settings, American students participated in the experiment from 8 to 10 am whereas Taiwanese students did so from 9 to 11 pm. All subjects were asked to complete a survey immediately following the experimental session. Each session lasted for 50 minutes, with ten minutes at the end of
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8 International Journal of Social and Organizational Dynamics in IT, 2(1), 1-16, January-March 2012
Table 1. Profile of study participants Demographic Variable
N
Frequency: U.S.
N
Frequency: Taiwan
Age
81
18-20 (14.3%) 20-22 (71.4%) 22-25 (10.7%) 25-30 (2.4%) 30-40 (1.2%)
35
18-20 (92.0%) 20-22 (8.0%)
First time using Skype
81
Yes (54%) No (46%)
35
Yes (52.0%) No (48.0%)
Of those experienced, length of experience
39
Less than 1 year (72%) 1-2 years (12.9%) 2+ years (15.1%)
12
Less than 1 year (84.5%) 1-2 years (6.7%) 2+ years (8.8%)
Gender
81
Male: 42.2% Female: 56.8%
35
Male: 35.6% Female: 64.4%
the hour to complete a post-survey. The data collection effort enabled us to gain learners’ perspectives about what factors can contribute to their satisfaction, thereby increasing their intention of reusing VoIP as an e-learning system to improve intercultural communication competencies.
Technology Skype is the VoIP technology adopted in this study. Skype is a synchronous medium enabling students to chat, IM, and see each other on the Internet. A lab administrator distributed a headphone and a webcam to each individual student before he/she entered the lab. Students were arranged not to sit next to each other, with at least one empty seat between two students. The deliberate seat arrangement was to avoid the noise interference caused by neighboring students. Students in the U.S. and Taiwan were paired in advance to ensure that the process of authenticating each other was unnecessary. A student could simply click on their pre-assigned counterpart student account and begin their conversation. Figure 2 shows some of the actual conversations taking place.
Task The task for this research was simple: students were to teach and learn the English language.
Prior to the student sessions, a list of cultural topics was created for all of the students. The goal of this list was to give the students something to think about discussing in advance. American students in different classes used Google Docs to brainstorm and produce content and questions for discussion. Overall, 41 topics were identified in the areas of personal experiences (e.g., places, people, culture, food, and hobbies), personal preferences (e.g., cars, vacations, cash or gifts, and indoors or outdoors), personal opinions (e.g., chores, beauty, decisions, and zoos), and personal comparisons (e.g., summer jobs, travel, language, news, and food). The final list was posted online for all subjects, including students from U.S. and Taiwan, to reference during all sessions. Table 2 shows a sample question and an answer that came from the original brainstormed list.
Data Analysis Descriptive Analysis We performed a test on the Z values for skewness and kurtosis to find out if the collected data has a normal distribution (Table 3). The Z values of these two tests are smaller than 2.58 and 3.17 respectively, indicating that the observed distribution is perfectly normally distributed (Hair, Black, Babin, Anderson, & Tatham, 2006). This finding gives us confidence of further conduct-
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International Journal of Social and Organizational Dynamics in IT, 2(1), 1-16, January-March 2012 9
Figure 2. Picture of a Taiwanese student working with a student from the USA
ing the structural equation model (SEM) test on our hypothesized relationships.
Operationalization and Measurement of Variables Questionnaire items used to measure information quality and system quality are modified from DeLone and McLean’s (2004) study. Items used to measure satisfaction are modified from Bhattacherjee’s (2001) study. Items used to measure perceived task technology fit and intention to reuse the VoIP application for individual users are modified from Sun, Bhattacherjee and Ma’s (2009) study that viewed the fit of IT for
tasks performed in an organization. Content validity is an effective approach to address the discriminant validity (Anastasi & Urbina, 1997 p. 114). Three information systems experts were invited to examine the content validity of the items used to measure each construct and make recommended changes to the original survey. After modifying all original questions for VoIP context, we performed Cronbach α tests to assess the internal consistency of all items for each variable. All Cronbach α values exceed the threshold value 0.7 (Table 4) (Cronbach, 1951). The test results indicate no potential reliability issues in our measurement. Table 5 presents the final correlation matrix.
Table 2. Sample questions and answers from the one-on-one sessions Question: What do you think is the rudest behavior according to your culture? Why? Include details and examples to support your explanation. Warm-up Questions • What kinds of behavior are considered rude in your culture? • Which one is the most offensive? • Who behaves in such a manner? • What happens when someone is rude in this way? • Were you ever treated this way? • How does the rudeness make people feel? Answer: The rudest thing a person can do in our culture is to ignore someone. It cuts off all communication. Ignoring someone shows selfishness and a lack of respect to others. If I am trying to catch someone’s attention in a meeting to discuss something or in a store for assistance, it can be very embarrassing to be ignored. It can hurt people’s feelings and make people lose self-confidence. Furthermore, it makes anyone witnessing this rude behavior uncomfortable. Overall, the rudest thing you can do is to ignore someone as it hurts everyone involved.
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10 International Journal of Social and Organizational Dynamics in IT, 2(1), 1-16, January-March 2012
Table 3. Normal distribution tests N
Mean
Std. Deviation
Skewness
Statistic
Statistic
Statistic
Statistic
Std. Error
Statistic
Std. Error
Satisfaction (SAT)
116
3.99
.689
-.280
.225
-.199
.446
Information Quality (IQ)
116
3.91
.703
-.443
.225
.798
.446
System Quality (SQ)
116
4.07
.685
-.150
.225
-.922
.446
Intention to Reuse VoIP (ITR)
116
3.91
.703
-.443
.225
.798
.446
Perceived TaskTechnology Fit (TTF)
116
3.34
.935
.049
.225
-..419
.446
FINDINGS AND DISCUSSION The following sections describe data analysis and results. We used AMOS (structural equation modeling software) for analysis. It has been suggested that values less than two or three times Chi-square / degrees of freedom are considered acceptable (Carmines & Mclver, 1981). The chi-square / degrees of freedom for our model is 1.661 (chi-square = 159.448, df = 96, p = 0.000). Indices selected to evaluate the overall model fit (Browne & Cudeck, 1993) include the adjusted goodness of fit (AGFI), normed fit index (NFI), comparative fit index (CFI), and root mean square error of approximation (RMSEA). Following the heuristics for work in the IS field (Gefen, Straub, & Boudreau, 2000), we sought values greater than 0.8 for AGFI and greater than 0.9 for NFI. We also sought values greater than 0.9 for CFI as recommended (Hu & Bentler, 1995) and values less than .10 for RMSEA (Browne & Cudeck, 1993). As shown in Table 6, each item loaded significantly on its latent variable. The goodness of fit indices exceeded the 0.8 threshold for AGFI (AGFI = .809) and 0.9 threshold for the other fit
Kurtosis
indices (NFI = 0.919, CFI = 0.965). In addition, RMSEA was less than 0.10 (RMSEA = 0.076). The results of the goodness of fit tests (Table 7) suggest that the model is acceptable (Browne & Cudeck, 1993). Therefore, we state the following regarding the hypotheses: •
•
•
•
Hypothesis 1, “Improved information quality can increase a learner’s satisfaction with using a VoIP application to perform intercultural communication tasks,” is supported. (β = .340, p < .05) Hypothesis 2, “Improved system quality can increase a learner’s satisfaction with using a VoIP application to perform intercultural communication tasks,” is supported. (β = .474; p
