Enterprise Portal Personalization: Direct and Indirect End-User Effects, and the Moderating Effects of Gender

Abstract

Enterprise portals offer rich functionality for end-user personalization, but few studies have been conducted on the end-user effects of this feature. This article presents a study of end-user effects of personalization, using the combined technology acceptance model (TAM) and the theory of planned behaviour (TPB) as a research framework. We propose that personalization indirectly affects end-users' intentions through effects on ease of use, usefulness, attitude and behaviour control. In addition, it may have a direct effect on end-users' intentions to use enterprise portals that is not mediated by the variables of the combined TAM/TPB-model. Because previous studies have found gender differences in the use of personalization, we also propose that the effects of personalization are moderated by gender. To test these propositions, a study of the effects of enterprise portal personalization in a large Norwegian government-owned enterprise is reported. Results from applying structural equation modelling show that personalization has a significant effect on perceived usefulness, perceived ease of use, attitude, and perceived behavioural control, but no direct effect on end-users' intentions to use the enterprise portal. Furthermore, the results show that the effects of personalization are moderated by gender. The results have implications for enterprise portal designers, for IS-managers and for further research on personalization of information systems in general.