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The influence of technology acceptance model (TAM) factors on

students' e-satisfaction and e-retention within the context of UAE
e-learning

Article  in  Education Business and Society Contemporary Middle Eastern Issues · November 2010
DOI: 10.1108/17537981011089596

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UAE e-learning
The influence of technology
acceptance model (TAM) factors
on students’ e-satisfaction and
299
e-retention within the context
of UAE e-learning
Mohammad Ahmad Al-hawari and Samar Mouakket
University of Sharjah, Sharjah, United Arab Emirates

Abstract
Purpose – The main purpose of this paper is to highlight the significance of TAM factors in the light
of some external factors on students’ e-retention and the mediating role of e-satisfaction within United
Arab Emirates (UAE) e-learning context.
Design/methodology/approach – The relative importance of TAM factors was examined, as well
as enjoyment and blackboard design on students’ e-satisfaction and e-retention. The survey was
designed and administrated using face-to-face method. Data were collected from a convenient sample
of students who use blackboard system. AMOS 6 was used to test for the hypothesized relationships.
Findings – Perceived usefulness has a direct and positive relationship with students’ e-satisfaction
and e-retention while perceived ease of use has only a direct relationship with students’ e-retention.
Design features and enjoyment have only a significant relationship with students’ e-satisfaction
without any direct relationship with students’ e-retention. Finally, students’ e-satisfaction has a direct
relationship with students’ e-retention.
Research limitations/implications – This research has only surveyed students from one
university in UAE. Further testing of the proposed conceptual model across different industries and
countries is needed to determine the generalisability and consistency of this study’s findings.
Practical implications – The proposed model of students’ e-retention prediction has the potential to
help UAE university managers to understand some of the factors influencing students’ behaviours and
attitudes toward e-learning systems. This will lead to improving the education quality within the
context of UAE.
Originality/value – This paper is a significant trial in how TAM factors and other external factors
might influence students’ e-satisfaction and e-retention within UAE e-learning context.
Keywords Students, Customer satisfaction, E-learning, United Arab Emirates
Paper type Research paper

Introduction
The development of the internet has profoundly influenced education. Recently,
universities in UAE are using online course management systems such as blackboard
system to improve educational outcomes in a globalized and dynamic educational
environment. Blackboard system can be defined as “an electronic learning environment
in the form of an intranet which enables teachers and students to design education Education, Business and Society:
together” (Vrielink, 2006). The research literature indicates that online course Contemporary Middle Eastern Issues
Vol. 3 No. 4, 2010
management systems offer an innovative, convenient, and functional resource that has pp. 299-314
q Emerald Group Publishing Limited
strong potential to meet today’s learners’ requirements (Vrielink, 2006), hence enhancing 1753-7983
retention and satisfaction rates. In this paper, we explore the degree to which technology DOI 10.1108/17537981011089596
EBS is indeed meeting students’ and teachers’ needs, using technology acceptance model
3,4 (TAM) factors, as well as some other external factors, rather than the frequently used
predictors of satisfaction and retention such as responsiveness, customization, security,
reliability, and accessibility.
Using the TAM model to predict satisfaction and retention rates within UAE
education system, rather than using the regular quality factors, will contribute toward
300 further understanding of how to build quality education. Research into satisfaction and
retention predictors related to UAE context is limited in the marketing literature. In the
United Arab Emirates (UAE), there has been a great emphasis on utilizing e-learning to
complement traditional methods of teaching in universities, but with very little
empirical research that examines students’ attitudes toward the use of blackboard.
Because students are considered the focal point for higher education institutions,
examining their attitudes toward e-learning is essential to the success and progress of
these institutions. Empirical research is thus required to examine the extent to which
TAM factors, as well as some other external factors, enhance or diminish students
relationship with blackboard system in UAE education context. This study attempts to
develop a comprehensive model linking the factors of the TAM model as well as two
other external factors to students’ satisfaction and retention within the use of blackboard
system context. Our model, in particular, tries to understand the nature of relationships
between the independent variables of TAM factors: perceived ease of use (PEOU), and
perceived usefulness (PU) as well as two external factors; design features (DF), and
enjoyment (ENJ) and the dependent variables of e-satisfaction and e-retention (Figure 1).

The technology acceptance model

The TAM model states that users’ positive perception of usefulness as well as ease of use
toward any technology will lead to a positive attitude toward using that particular

PU TAM
factors

PEOU

E-satisfaction E-retention

DF

External
ENJ factors

Independent Mediating Dependent

variables variables variable
Figure 1.
The conceptual model
Notes: PU – perceived usefulness; DF – design features; ENJ – enjoyment; PEOU – perceived ease of use
technology which will lead later to the actual system use. Legris et al. (2003) concluded UAE e-learning
after an intensive literature review that TAM can be considered as a very powerful tool,
but it has to be integrated into a broader one which has to involve variables related both
to human and social changes. Yi and Hwang (2003), for example, added ENJ, learning
goal orientation, and application of self-efficacy as external variables to the model.
In this paper, we add ENJ as well as blackboard DF (BDF) as external factors as they are
widely used in the literature. 301
Since the introduction of the TAM model by Davis (1989), it has been generally used
for predicting acceptance, adoption, and use of information systems (Halawi and
McCarthy, 2007). However, in this research, we are going to use TAM model for a
different purpose; rather than predicting the acceptance and use of information systems,
we will investigate how TAM factors mainly might contribute toward increasing the
rate of students’ satisfaction and retention. There is no comprehensive investigation in
the literature examining how the students’ perception of TAM factors, as well as the
external factors of DF and ENJ, will influence students’ e-satisfaction, which in turn will
lead to higher rate of e-retention. Students’ e-retention in this paper measures the extent
that students are not only continuously using blackboard but also psychologically
attached to it (Al-hawari, 2006). In the following sections, an intensive literature
investigation of the proposed model relationships will be introduced.

The relationship between the proposed independent factors and e-satisfaction

Service quality is linked to users’ satisfaction in the information systems and marketing
fields (Yen and Lu, 2008). Satisfaction in the field of marketing is defined generally as the
feelings or judgments of the customer toward products or services after they have been
used (Jamal and Naser, 2003). Customer or client satisfaction is considered a key to
success in today’s highly competitive environment. The importance of satisfaction as a
factor in strategy development for customer and market-oriented firms cannot be
underestimated (Kohli and Jaworski, 1990) and, not surprisingly, organizations have
been increasingly active in conducting satisfaction surveys (Danaher and Haddrell,
1996). Such research into satisfaction has been influenced dramatically by the variety of
measurement scales used in satisfaction instruments tests (Devlin et al., 1993).
E-satisfaction is a significant importance in online services-related literature, since
this satisfaction influences users decision to continue using the distribution channel or
not (Lin and Sun, 2009). Szymanski and Hise (2000) viewed e-satisfaction as the users’
judgment of their online overall experience over a period of time. E-satisfaction, in this
paper, measures the degree in which users are both satisfied/dissatisfied and
pleased/displeased with blackboard services. Bansal et al. (2004) reviewed many studies
that investigated the antecedents of e-satisfaction; they found that most of the variables
that contributed to higher level of e-satisfaction are either related to the web site or to the
perceived value of the web site. This classification of variables that generate
e-satisfaction is obviously related to service quality factors rather than TAM factors.
In the literature, there is an intensive investigation of the relationship between e-service
quality different factors such as reliability, responsiveness, personalisation, security,
trust, interactivity, accessibility, and e-satisfaction. Most of those studies found a positive
association between e-quality factors and e-satisfaction. However, to the authors’
knowledge, there is only one study that tried to link TAM factors to e-satisfaction and
e-loyalty conducted within online shopping context by Lin and Sun (2009). They found
EBS a positive and significant relationship between TAM factors and e-satisfaction as well as
3,4 e-loyalty. However, in their study, they did not specify the different TAM factors influence
on e-satisfaction and e-loyalty; instead they aggregate all factors into one construct called
“technology acceptance factor”. Accordingly, they did not provide an accurate picture on
which or how each TAM factor might influence e-satisfaction as well as e-loyalty. In this
study, we proposed the two factors of TAM (PEOU); and PU, as well as another two
302 external factors (BDF and ENJ) as independent variables influencing E-satisfaction and
e-retention. Despite the use of TAM factor in different studies as quality factors, the
literature lacks a focused discussion of the importance of TAM factors as powerful
predictors of students’ e-satisfaction and e-retention within e-learning context.
PEOU is defined as “the degree to which a person believes that using a particular
system would be a free effort” (Davis, 1989). Different studies have used the construct
PEOU as antecedent of e-satisfaction (Barnes and Vidgen, 2000; Jeong and Lambert,
2001; Madu and Madu, 2002; Zeithaml et al., 2001). In an e-learning context, students that
perceive the system to be easy to use, develop better attitudes toward e-learning (Saadé
and Kira, 2009). PU – is defined as “the degree to which a person believes that using a
particular system would enhance his or her job performance” (Davis, 1989, pp. 330-1).
Usefulness has also been used by different researchers as predictors of e-satisfaction
within online context such as Yang et al. (2003). The PEOU and usefulness of e-learning
among learners are important factors that affect the effectiveness of e-learning
(Lim et al., 2007).
Nusair and Kandampully (2008) defined ENJ (playfulness) as the devises that attract
the attention of the online system users with enjoyable inputs, it might include features
such as animation, music, video, and other multimedia effects. They further argued that
ENJ is essential in attracting, satisfying, and retaining users. A study by Yi and Hwang
(2003) investigated the actual use of blackboard by university students. Their findings
indicated the important role of ENJ as a positive influence on the decision of students to
use blackboard and subsequently on actual use. Goetz et al. (2006) showed that ENJ has
a clear linkage to learning behaviour, such as self-regulated learning and creative
problem solving. In the current study, BDF refers to the content layout and content
updating, as well as user-friendliness (Cristobal et al., 2007). Within the offline context of
face-to-face banking, Greenland and McGoldrick (2005) found a direct relationship
between the style and design of bank branch environment and favourable customer
reactions, including satisfaction. DF have also been studied widely in the e-commerce as
well as marketing literature (Aladwani and Palvia, 2002). There are several research
projects measuring the impact of DF on satisfaction and other intentional aspects of
behaviour (Siomkos et al., 2006; Tractinsky et al., 2006). Cyr et al. (2006) investigated
how DF could influence customers’ loyalty within mobile industry context. They found
that DF have a significant indirect relationship with loyalty through usefulness, ease of
use, as well as ENJ. Based on the above discussion, we proposed the following four
hypotheses:
H1. PU has a positive impact on students’ e-satisfaction.
H2. BDF has appositive impact on students’ e-satisfaction.
H3. Enjoyment has a positive impact on students’ e-satisfaction.
H4. PEOU has a positive impact on students’ e-satisfaction.
E-satisfaction – e-retention relationship UAE e-learning
Retention has often been seen as synonymous with loyalty (Al-Hawari, 2006; Al-Hawari
and Ward, 2004). Further, there seems to be a consensus among academics and
practitioners that retention and loyalty are very similar (Maloles, 1997). For this reason,
this study treats them as equivalent constructs, and the term “retention” is used in this
research.
Retention is difficult to define. In general, there are three distinctive approaches to 303
measuring retention; behavioural measures, attitudinal measurement, and composite
measurement (Bowen and Chen, 2001). In a service context, retention is frequently
defined as observed behaviour (Liljander and Strandvik, 1994). However, the
behavioural models that used repeat purchase as the only measurement of customer
retention have been criticised for their lack of conceptual basis; since this measurement
may not have indicated an attachment to a particular brand but may instead reflect mere
habit (Day, 1969) and may not yield a comprehensive insight into the underlying reason
for retention (Bloemer and Kasper, 1995). Consequently, retention has also been
approached as an attitudinal construct (Hallowell, 1996) to reflect the emotional and
psychological attachment inherent in retention (Bowen and Chen, 2001). This was
demonstrated, for example, by the willingness of the customer to recommend a service
provider to other consumers (Zeithaml et al., 1996). However, using the attitudinal
measure only has also been criticised in the literature (Dick and Basu, 1994).
The third approach has combined the behavioural, attitudinal, and cognitive aspect
of retention (Bloemer et al., 1998). The involvement of a psychological/attitudinal
construct with repeat purchases has been shown to be important in achieving absolute
retention (Oliver, 1999). In this regard, retention has frequently been operationalised as
the first thing that came to mind when making a purchase decision. Thus, e-retention can
be defined in this paper as the degree to which users exhibit repeat behaviour to the
blackboard system, and possess a positive attitudinal and cognitive disposition.
Satisfaction has traditionally been regarded as a determinant of retention. The more
satisfied the users were, the easier it was to get attached to blackboard system. The link
between satisfaction and retention has been acknowledged in the literature. Many
studies have investigated the relationship between satisfaction and retention rates in
different industries (Ranaweera and Prabhu, 2003). Generally, positive satisfaction has
been found to influence retention (Nguyen and LeBlanc, 1998). Some studies found that
repurchase intentions were positively influenced by satisfaction across product
categories, and that customers were more likely to be retained as satisfaction increased
(Anderson and Sullivan, 1993). Favourable attitudes usually lead to satisfaction which is
generally considered as a major driver to retention also in online settings (Ribbink et al.,
2004). E-retention is considered as an outcome of e-satisfaction within e-services context
as well (Sahadev and Purani, 2008). Accordingly, a fifth hypothesis was formed as
follows:
H5. Students’ e-satisfaction has a positive influence on students’ e-retention.

The relationship between the proposed independent factors and e-retention

The literature has sustained different views on the way that the four proposed
independent factors in this paper could influence retention. Some authors have indicated
indirect influence only through satisfaction (Caruana, 2002), while others argued for
a direct effect (Ranaweera and Neely, 2003). As discussed previously, the general concept
EBS of retention has measured using three different approaches; behavioural, attitudinal,
3,4 and composite. The use of either behavioural approach or altitudinal approach has been
criticised in the marketing literature as introduced previously. It can be clearly
concluded from most authors who used TAM model in their studies that they linked
different TAM factors either directly or indirectly with, first, attitude toward using
technology and, second, with actual system usage (Davis, 1993; Shih, 2004). Accordingly,
304 we will be using the concept of retention measured using composite approach in order to
reflect not only the actual usage of users but also how psychologically they are attached
to the used system.
There are very few studies that linked TAM factors to the general concept of retention.
Among those that exist, Cyr et al. (2006) linked usefulness and ENJ directly to e-loyalty
within mobile industry. They found that ENJ and usefulness has a positive and
significant influence on e-loyalty. Another study conducted by Lin and Sun (2009) has
also investigated the relationship between the composite factor of TAM (they did not
separate it into different dimensions) and e-loyalty within online shopping context. They
concluded an overall significant and positive relationship between the composite factor of
technology acceptance and e-loyalty. They further indicated a direct and positive
relationship between DF and e-loyalty. Accordingly, we formed the following hypotheses:
H6. PU has a positive impact on students’ e- retention.
H7. BDF has appositive impact on students’ e-retention.
H8. Enjoyment has a positive impact on students’ e-retention.
H9. PEOU has a positive impact on students’ e-retention.

Methodology
A quantitative study, involving the administration of a survey, was conducted in order
to empirically measure and then test the relationship between variables. The survey
instrument consisted of 31 items (as shown in Table I) which were identified through a
comprehensive literature review of TAM model factors as well as two external factors,
students’ e-satisfaction as well as students’ e-retention.

Measuring independent factors

Four factors were used, the two TAM factors; PEOU, and PU, as well as two external
factors; DF, and ENJ (Davis, 1989, 1993; Shih, 2004; Cyr et al., 2006). Items were identified
in relation to:
(1) PEOU was extracted from various studies such as, Pikkarainen et al. (2004) and
McKechnie et al. (2006). Six dominant items were selected from these studies.
(2) PU items were drawn from many studies that used TAM model (Aboelmaged,
2010). This factor was represented by six items.
(3) Enjoyment was generated predominately from a study conducted by Lee (2009)
which focused on understanding the behavioural intention within online gaming
context. Four distinct items were identified and adapted from this study.
(4) System DF – five different items were mainly adopted from Lin and Sun (2009)
study of the factors influencing satisfaction and loyalty within online shopping
context.
 UAE e-learning
Critical dimensions Related items

PEOU Learning blackboard is easy

Doing things is easy
Functions are understandable
Flexible to interact with
Easy to become skilful 305
Black board overall is easy
PU Blackboard improves my gradesa
Useful in my course
Saves my time
Useful in my life
Information provided is valuable
Blackboard is informative
BDF Simple layout
Clear design
User friendly
Easy to navigate
Provide few clicksa
ENJ Times passes quicklya
Very pleasant
Gives me pleasure
Gives me enjoyment
E-satisfaction I am satisfied with services offered by blackboard
DF
Usefulnessa
Enjoyment
Ease of using blackboard
E-retention I intend to continue using blackboard
I recommend blackboard
I encourage others using blackboard
I say positive things about blackboard
I will continue using blackboard even if I face problems
Table I.
Note: aItems deleted in the confirmatory factor analysis stage The measurement items

Measuring users’ e-retention

The main approaches to conceptualising retention were introduced. Recognition of a
positive attitudinal and cognitive disposition underpinned the operationalisation of the
concept. Consequently, five different items were extracted from Zeithaml et al. (1996),
Ribbink et al. (2004) and Cyr et al. (2006).

Measuring users e-satisfaction

In the literature, there were two broad types of scales to measure customer satisfaction;
single- and multi-items scales (Sureshchandar et al., 2002). A single-item scale cannot
provide enough information on the construct, as it does not capture the complexity of
satisfaction entirely (Danaher and Haddrell, 1996). However, recent studies emphasized
the multi-faceted nature of customer satisfaction. Accordingly, five items have been
identified to represent the different aspects of users’ e-satisfaction. These items have
been adopted from Ribbink et al. (2004) and Sahadev and Purani (2008).
EBS Research design
3,4 The study sample consisted of undergraduate university students at a medium size
university in the UAE, which has adopted blackboard system as a teaching platform in
all its courses in 2005. Students from different academic years, who have already used
blackboard, were chosen as our research subjects, with the condition that they must
have spent at least a semester at the University to ensure that they have a fair
306 knowledge of the blackboard system.
A paper-based questionnaire was administered to undergraduate students in
different colleges by faculty members who agreed to participate in distributing it among
their students in the class. The questionnaire consists of 31 items and was divided into
seven parts. All parts of the questionnaire, except the first part (four items), which
contained demographic data about the student (gender, academic year, college, and
frequency of blackboard usage), were measured using a five-point Likert scale, ranging
from 1 – strongly agree to 5 – strongly disagree, with the mid-point (3) representing the
state of unsure or neutral.
The subjects of this study consisted of a sample of 720 undergraduate university
students from different colleges in the university. Out of the 720 distributed by the
faculty members 550 questionnaires were returned to them and subsequently passed to
the researchers. After cases with missing data were eliminated, the final sample
consisted of 340 complete and usable questionnaires, yielding a response rate of
61.82 per cent.

Measurement model
Structured equation modelling was used to analyse the data and test the hypotheses. To
assess the measurement model, four analyses were conducted (Al-Hawari, 2006;
Al-Hawari and Ward, 2006). Unidimensionality was assessed first, prior to examining
reliability and validity (Hair et al., 1995). In order to test for unidimensionality,
confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) was conducted on measurement models for each of
the constructs. In this study, the Comparative Fit Index (CFI) indices for all of the six
constructs were above the 0.9 level which indicated evidence of unidimensionality.
Second, squared multiple correlations (R 2) for each measurement item, composite
reliability, and variance extracted for each factor were used in this study to test the
construct reliability (Hair et al., 1995). The first run of the measurement model indicated
that the R 2 for the majority of measurement items was greater than 0.5, which indicated a
good reliability level (Holmes-Smith, 2001). Four items, however, were deleted as the R 2
values ranged from 0.1 to 0.3 which was less than 0.5 (shown with one asterisk at Table I).
In the second run of testing, the measurement model R 2 values for all measurement items
were greater than 0.5 or close (Table II). The values of composite reliability, variance
extracted (Fornell and Larker, 1981) greatly exceeded the minimum acceptable values of
0.7 and 0.5, respectively, (Holmes-Smith, 2001), thereby indicating the reliability of
measures and subsequently yielding very consistent results (Table II) (Zikmund, 2003).
Evidence of convergent validity was gained as the measurement items represented
their factors significantly; the critical ratio of every item exceeded the 1.96 value
(Anderson and Gerbing, 1988) (Table II). To test for discriminant validity, the procedure
described by Fornell and Larker (1981) was used. The analysis showed that the average
variance extracted for each pair of variables was greater than the squared correlation
for the same pair, indicating that each construct was distinct (Table III).
Variable name li R2 Variance estimates Critical ratios Composite reliability Variance extracted

PEOU 0.92 0.66

Learning blackboard is easy 0.808 0.653 0.300 17.548
Doing things is easy 0.782 0.612 0.399 15.791
Understandable 0.805 0.648 0.358 16.401
Flexible to interact with 0.832 0.692 0.286 17.130
Easy to become skilful 0.771 0.594 0.311 15.522
Blackboard overall is easy 0.808 0.653 0.314 13.041
PU 0.86 0.57
Useful in my course 0.673 0.453 0.388 11.542
Saves my time 0.685 0.469 0.420 11.614
Useful in my life 0.713 0.508 0.570 11.131
Valuable 0.683 0.466 0.250 13.365
Blackboard is informative 0.839 0.704 0.320 12.670
BDF 0.82 0.54
Simple layout 0.643 0.413 0.472 10.684
Clear design 0.723 0.523 0.350 10.691
User friendly 0.792 0.627 0.363 11.362
Easy to navigate 0.697 0.486 0.549 10.364
ENJ 0.85 0.65
Very pleasant 0.832 0.692 0.437 17.584
Gives me pleasure 0.949 0.901 0.135 18.797
Gives me enjoyment 0.740 0.548 0.558 15.142
E-satisfaction 0.78 0.50
Enjoyment 0.669 0.448 0.394 9.956
Ease of using blackboard 0.700 0.490 0.477 10.549
I am satisfied with services offered by blackboard 0.623 0.400 0.446 9.597
DF 0.649 0.421 0.426 9.940
E-retention 0.87 0.56
Continue using blackboard 0.705 0.497 0.364 12.582
I recommend blackboard 0.783 0.613 0.308 13.024
I encourage others 0.820 0.672 0.283 13.506
I say positive things 0.728 0.530 0.485 12.125
I will continue using even if I face problems 0.685 0.469 0.526 11.458
UAE e-learning

Reliability test outcomes

for each factor
307

Table II.
EBS Finally, CFA was conducted to empirically investigate whether the proposed model
3,4 reasonably fitted the data. The model x 2 is 705 (df ¼ 309, p ¼ 0.000). It should be noted
that if the model chi-square significance is , 0.05; this indicates a problem with the
model fitness by this criterion. However, the model chi-square criterion could be
misleading as it is so conservative and very sensitive to sample size (Kline, 1998).
Accordingly, researchers who use SEM believe that if they achieve a reasonable sample
308 size . 200 and appropriate fit indicated by other fit tests such as CFI and root mean
square error of approximation (RMESA), the significance of chi-square test can be
disregarded and is not a reason by itself to modify the model (Byrne, 2001). In this
research, the overall fit of the model was acceptable, with a chi-square x 2/df ratio of 2.28,
RMSEA of 0.061, and the CFI of 0.918 (Byrne, 2001).

Structural model
The steps described in the last section reduced the data and resulted in a manageable
number of valid and more reliable measurement items which were then used to evaluate
the structural model in this section. The overall fit indices for the proposed structural
model were x 2 ¼ 705 (df ¼ 309, p ¼ 0.000), x 2/df ratio of 2.28, a CFI of 0.918 and the
RMSEA of 0.061 (Hair et al., 1995; Byrne, 2001). These values indicated that the model
fits the data well.
Having established the final structural equation model, it was possible to test the
hypotheses developed for this study. These hypotheses can be tested by evaluating
the path coefficients and the significance levels among the constructs in the model
(Table IV). Analysing the results showed that PEOU was the only TAM factor that did
not have a significant relationship with students’ e-satisfaction, rejecting H4, and
accepting hypotheses H1, H2, and H3. PEOU as well as PU had a significant, direct, and
positive relationship with students’ e-retention. Thus, H6 and H9 were accepted. On the
other hand, BDF and users ENJ had no significant and direct relationship with students’
e-retention, which disproved H7 and H8. Finally, the analysis showed a significant and
positive relationship between students’ e-satisfaction and students’ e-retention. Thus,
H5 was supported. All of the students’ e-retention predictors explained 69 per cent of the
construct indicating the importance of these factors in predicting the dependent variable.
Students’ e-satisfaction variable has explained by 71 per cent by the independent factors.

Research findings and implications

The aim of the study was to highlight the influence of TAM factors as well as ENJ and
DF on students’ e-satisfaction and e-retention in the context of e-learning system in UAE.

PEOU PU BD ENJ E-SAT E-RET

PEOU 0.615 0.600 0.645 0.580 0.61

PU 0.359 0.555 0.610 0.535 0.565
BD 0.554 0.259 0.595 0.520 0.550
ENJ 0.058 0.033 0.097 0.575 0.605
E-SAT 0.378 0.375 0.518 0.295 0.530
E-RET 0.387 0.551 0.279 0.092 0.453
Table III.
Discriminant validity test Note: The upper level in italics represents the average extracted variance while the lower level
outcomes represents the squared correlations for every pair
 UAE e-learning
The relationships between variables Standardised regression weights

PEOU ! e-sat Not significant

PU ! e-sat 0.316 * *
BDF ! e-sat 0.440 * *
ENJ ! e-sat 0.340 * *
PEOU ! e-ret 0.192 * 309
PU ! e-ret 0.548 * *
BDF ! e-ret Not significant
ENJ ! e-ret Not significant Table IV.
e-sat – e-ret 0.269 * Results of standardised
regression weights (R) for
Note: Significance at *p , 0.05 and * *p , 0.01 the model

This paper proposed a conceptual model which was empirically validated by perceptual
data collected from university students who are using the e-learning system blackboard.
The results of the survey provided strong empirical support for six hypotheses of the
nine hypothesized relationships between the constructs. Figure 2 shows the final model
and highlights the significant relationships in bold.
The findings of this paper confirm those found in the existing literature (Nusair and
Kandampully, 2008; Aladwani and Palvia, 2002) and show that most of the independent
factors have positively influenced students’ e-satisfaction except the PEOU factor. It is
clear that e-learning contexts provides students the advantage of reduced time and effort
while using different aspects of blackboard system, resulting in improved rates of
satisfaction. In particular, DF of the blackboard system, positive perception of
usefulness, and students’ positive and enjoyable experience of using blackboard all

Independent factors

PU 0.548
0.316

DF
0.440
E-satisfaction E-retention
0.340
ENJ 0.26

PEOU 0.192

Independent Mediating Dependent

variables variables variable

Figure 2.
Notes: PU – perceived usefulness; DF – design features; ENJ – enjoyment; PEOU – perceived ease of use Final model
Source: Developed for this research
EBS contributed to raising the level of students’ e-satisfaction. To build on these findings,
3,4 instructors might provide their students useful information and material about the
importance of blackboard, in order to generate a high level of students’ perception of the
usefulness of the blackboard in their academic performance. They might also motivate
their students to talk about the benefits of using blackboard system with others.
Instructors could consider making the navigating experience using the blackboard
310 system more enjoyable. Instructors might design interactive task enabling students to
communicate directly with each other and with their instructors in order to develop a
best solution scenario to any issue or problem. Use of humour, appealing graphics, video
and audio, or 3-D virtual model could also assist in improving students’ enjoyable
experience using blackboard system. Finally, students have to understand the simple
and clear design of the blackboard layout, navigate easily, and perceive the friendly
aspect of blackboard interface in order to gain a higher level of satisfaction.
One interesting finding in this research is that the TAM factor PEOU did not
contribute toward students’ e-satisfaction, but did contribute significantly to students’
e-retention. It seems that students’ feelings of exercising minimum or no effort in
learning the use of blackboard system does not contribute toward their level of
satisfaction, but it is essential for them to get attached to and continue using the system.
One possible explanation of these results is that most of the university students already
possess good skills in technology, enabling them to learn any new system quite easily.
This might lead to the fact that students do not feel particularly appreciative when
learning the features and the functions of a new system. However, ease of use is still valid
in continuing using the system and getting psychologically attached to it.
The other TAM factor, “PU”, has a very strong and direct relationship with students’
e-retention as well as a significant relationship with students’ e-satisfaction. This is
reassuring as; ultimately, usefulness is surely one of the most important indicators of
benefit for students and universities alike when considering the value of online course
management systems like blackboard. Accordingly, Universities in general have to insure
that students perceived blackboard as a system with great value and it is most useful for
them in their education journey. The university has to ensure that all of the educational
and internal marketing activities including positioning strategy are directed toward the
idea that all students who use blackboard perceive it as a consistent source of good value.
The two external factors BDF and ENJ factors did not have a direct relationship with
students’ e-retention, though they had with e-satisfaction. One possible explanation of
this result is that students might not appreciate the ENJ and the other BDF within the
academic context since they are more focused on more important issues, such as the kind
of information that the instructor delivers and the overall usefulness of the online
learning management system in enhancing their academic performance. However,
we should not degrade the importance of those two factors on e-retention as they still
valid two factors in influencing e-retention via students’ e-satisfaction. E-satisfaction
was also an important factor in influencing the level of students’ e-retention. This result
was consistent with previous research (Ribbink et al., 2004). The findings in this research
showed that students’ e-satisfaction mediates the effects of most independent factors
except the ease of use on e-retention. E-retention can be considered as the key construct
in students’ academic performance. Therefore, it follows that universities should
emphasize and value factors such as DF and ENJ in order to increase e-satisfaction,
which in turn will result in higher level of e-retention.
Research limitation and further studies UAE e-learning
The main limitation of this study is the choice of the sample as it was drawn only from
undergraduate students in the different colleges of a single university in the UAE. Even
though the results of this research offer useful information and understanding of how
TAM factors as well as ENJ and DF lead to e-satisfaction and e-retention within an
e-learning context, these results are not intended to be globally generalise to all e-learning
context, but are intended to be used as a starting point to test those relationships in 311
other contexts.
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About the authors

Mohammad Ahmad Al-hawari has awarded his PhD from Central Queensland University,
Australia. Mohammad Ahmad Al-hawari is currently working as Assistant Professor at the
University of Sharjah. Mohammad Ahmad Al-hawari particularly interest in doing research in the
topics of customer relationship marketing, e-marketing, service marketing, and bank marketing.
Mohammad Ahmad Al-hawari has published over nine papers in the field of marketing in
Asia, Europe, the USA, Australia, and New Zealand. Mohammad Ahmad Al-hawari is the
corresponding author and can be contacted at: malhawari@sharjah.ac.ae
Samar Mouakket is currently an Assistant Professor at the MIS Department in the University
of Sharjah, UAE. She received her PhD in 1996 in Management Information Systems from
Sheffield University, the UK. Her research interests include systems analysis and user
requirements determination during systems development, and the deployment of web-based
business applications.

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