If you would like to write for this, or any other Emerald publication, then please use our Emerald for Authors service information about how to choose which publication to write for and submission guidelines are available for all. Please visit www.emeraldinsight.com/authors for more information. About Emerald www.emeraldinsight.comEmerald is a global publisher linking research and practice to the benefit of society. The company manages a portfolio of more than 290 journals and over 2,350 books and book series volumes, as well as providing an extensive range of online products and additional customer resources and services.Emerald is both COUNTER 4 and TRANSFER compliant. The organization is a partner of the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE) and also works with Portico and the LOCKSS initiative for digital archive preservation. AbstractPurpose -The purpose of this paper is to examine how satisfaction is generated towards e-learning platforms. Design/methodology/approach -This work aims to analyse the differences in the functioning of the model that explains how satisfaction is generated among users of e-learning platforms if expectations are measured before entering into contact with the service or afterwards. The statistical analysis was completed by developing a structural equation model using the SmartPLS 2.0.M3. Findings -The results show that, if the expectations are measured before entering into contact with the good or service, disconfirmation plays a major role in the model. If the expectations are measured after entering into contact with the good or service, the main role is played by expectations in the model. Of the variables included, perceived usefulness and effort expectancy affect satisfaction, not thus enabling conditions and social influence. Originality/value -The authors study the difference between the results obtained when using the cross-sectional design, where all the variables are mediated once the consumer has entered into contact with the good or service, and the half-longitudinal design, where expectations are measured beforehand.

The loss of trust suffered by public institutions means that they are trying to identify the existing formulae so that this can be restored, and this includes transparency. In universities, certain changes in their situation (lower funding, higher competition and pressure on stakeholders) mean that the demand for transparency policies is even greater. Although the literature initially states that the transparency generated by the spread of online information is a suitable formula for increasing citizens' trust in the public institutions, recent papers question the validity of this relationship. This paper analyses the effectiveness of the transparency strategy carried out by the Spanish Open University UNED (Universidad Nacional de Educación a Distancia) in terms of the impact on students' trust and, what is most important, on their intention of continuing to use its services.

Technology Acceptance Model (TAM) and Diffusion of Innovations (DOI) models, which include trust as a central factor, are currently standard tools for studying the process of new technology acceptance, but some further research is needed to gauge how different variables could influence this process. This is the case of gender factor, given that there is no general accord in the literature as to the role of this variable. Thus, the present research focuses on hypothetical gender-based differences that could affect the explanatory model for e-Government adoption by citizens. The results of the study show that the effects of gender on e-Government involvement are nearly none—probably because these technology-based activities are quite broadly implemented in Spain by now. This in turn implies both, that in Spain e-Government usage level is similar between genders and that the behavior explaining model is virtually the same, with no gender traits acting on it -apart from a slightly particular role played by compatibility in the female case.

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