O nline shopping provides convenience to Web shoppers, yet its electronic format changes information-gathering methods traditionally used by customers. This change raises questions concerning customer satisfaction with the online purchasing process. Web shopping involves a number of phases, including the information phase, in which customers search for information regarding their intended purchases. The purpose of this paper is to develop theoretically justifiable constructs for measuring Web-customer satisfaction during the information phase.By synthesizing the expectation-disconfirmation paradigm with empirical theories in user satisfaction, we separate Web site quality into information quality (IQ) and system quality (SQ), and propose nine key constructs for Web-customer satisfaction. The measurements for these constructs are developed and tested in a two-phase study. In the first phase, the IQ and SQ dimensions are identified, and instruments for measuring them are developed and tested. In the second phase, using the salient dimensions of Web-IQ and Web-SQ as the basis for formulating first-order factors, we develop and empirically test instruments for measuring IQand SQ-satisfaction. Moreover, this phase involves the design and test of second-order factors for measuring Web-customer expectations, disconfirmation, and perceived performance regarding IQ and SQ. The analysis of the measurement model indicates that the proposed metrics have a relatively high degree of validity and reliability. The results of the study provide reliable instruments for operationalizing the key constructs in the analysis of Web-customer satisfaction within the expectation-disconfirmation paradigm.

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This paper briefly reviews the analytic hierarchy process (AHP) and its applications in diverse decision problems. It addresses some of the major extensions and criticisms of the method, as well.

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Effective website design plays a critical role in attracting and maintaining customers' interest. Despite the importance of websites as the major and, at times, sole channel of communication in e-business, little theoretical knowledge is available about how websites may influence online shoppers' attitudes and behavior. In this paper, we develop a conceptual framework for measuring the impact of Web-design elements on the beliefs and behavior of Web customers. In developing the theoretical model (called the belief reinforcement model, or BRM), we synthesize the theory of planned behavior with theories in social psychology, consumer behavior, and management to categorize Web-design elements and conceptualize the salient aspects of Web shoppers' behavior. The empirical examination of BRM indicates that various categories of Web-design elements reinforce Web customers' beliefs, which in turn positively impact attitudinal constructs that lead to changes in their purchase intentions. BRM and its results provide an initial guideline for a rigorous approach to designing websites for e-business and testing their effectiveness before their full deployment.Web-design elements, Web-customer beliefs, theory of planned behavior, external referents, external subjective norm, actor-network theory, isomorphism