Is user satisfaction a valid measure of system effectiveness?

Abstract

User satisfaction (US) is often used as a surrogate measure of information system effectiveness. If an effective system is defined as one that adds value to the firm, then an effective system must have some positive influence on user behavior (i.e., improve productivity, decision making, etc.). Advocates of US argue that there is theoretical support for linking attitudes (i.e., satisfaction) and behavior in the psychology literature. At the same time, there is evidence of increasing employment of US questionnaires in firms as a measure of system effectiveness. Yet there is surprisingly little information systems research linking user satisfaction with user behavior. In this study, measures of user satisfaction and system affected behavior are taken for an indirect and a direct user group of the same information system in 39 organizations. Results indicate that a relationship does exist between satisfaction and behavior for both user groups.