System Use as a Success Measure
Seddon [40] further argues for the removal of “system use” as a success variable in
the causal success model, claiming that use is a behavior, appropriate for inclusion in
a process model but not in a causal model. He argues that use must precede impacts
and benefits, but it does not cause them. We disagree. We believe that system usage is
an appropriate measure of success in most cases.
The problem to date has been a too simplistic definition of this complex variable.
Simply saying that more use will yield more benefits, without considering the nature
of this use, is clearly insufficient. Researchers must also consider the nature, extent,
quality, and appropriateness of the system use. The nature of system use could be
addressed by determining whether the full functionality of a system is being used for
the intended purposes. Young and Benamati [59], for example, suggest that full functional
use of an e-commerce system should include informational use, transactional
use, and customer service use. With regard to the extent of use, Lassila and Brancheau
[27] identify various states of systems utilization based on the use or nonuse of basic
and advanced system capabilities. Simply measuring the amount of time a system is
used does not properly capture the relationship between usage and the realization of
expected results. On the other hand, it can be argued that declining usage may be an
important indication that the anticipated benefits are not being realized.
The rejection of system use as a success variable when system usage is mandatory
is also flawed for the reasons cited above. Even when use is required, variability in
the quality and intensity of this use is likely to have a significant impact on the realization
of the system benefits