Decision Support Systems
Motivational framework
User perception of a DSS
User perception of a DSS (i.e., effectiveness, efficiency, and effort) is one of the two significant constructs that affects motivation to use a DSS. The relationship between user perception of a DSS and motivation to use the DSS is expected to be positive. That is, motivation to use a DSS is expected to increase when the DSS is perceived to be more effective or efficient, or less effortful to use.
Effectiveness
Prior research has measured effectiveness in the context of DSS use. However, limited research has examined how the characteristics of a DSS influence DSS use. Factors, including the importance of a decision, may cause individuals to place more emphasis on effectiveness. Users may also place more weight on effectiveness and exert more effort to attain their goals when they realize the benefits of improved decisions; consequently, user considerations of decision performance lead to increased DSS use. As individuals increase their focus on decision performance, DSS effectiveness becomes a positive factor affecting DSS use.
Efficiency
A DSS is efficient if it assists users in their decision-making in a timely manner. Rapid advances in computing technology, especially processing speed, result in less user tolerance for any delay in Internet applications. Slow speed and time delays debilitate ease of use and have a negative impact on system use. Previous research has shown that system response time has an impact on the extent of system use. For example, download speed has been identified as one of the technology attributes that significantly influences intention to shop and actual purchase behavior in online consumer behavior research. Download speed is also one of the key factors underlying user perception about the quality of a system. Users may become anxious and less satisfied with a website or DSS when they experience delay in their processing requests. A delay that exceeds 10 seconds can cause users to lose concentration on the contents of a website. Novak et al. develop a speed of interaction scale and find that higher interaction speed has a positive impact on users' experience in system use.
Effort
Individuals experience a certain degree of effort in doing a task and they tend to minimize effort when they engage in the task. The extent of effort-sensitive cognitive processes required by a specific activity must be taken into consideration when establishing a relationship between increases in effort and changes in performance. The decision strategies that individuals employ to process information vary in terms of the amount of effort involved in using these strategies. For example, the additive compensatory strategy is considered to be an effortful decision strategy because individuals are required to examine all the attributes for two alternatives at a given time. In contrast, the elimination-by-aspects strategy is viewed to be a less effortful decision strategy because the size of the alternative set is reduced each time an attribute is selected. The reduced alternative set decreases the amount of information processing.
Previous research demonstrates that DSS use increases when a DSS decreases the effort required for implementing an effortful strategy, and when use of the DSS leads to increased decision quality or accuracy. Todd and Benbasat extend and complement previous studies on the role of effort and accuracy in choice tasks by examining the role of DSS in reducing cognitive effort and, therefore, influencing strategy selection. They stress the importance of understanding the role of cognitive effort because it provides valuable insight into how a DSS influences the selection of problem-solving strategies by changing the effort relationships among the component processes that make up these strategies. Specific features can be incorporated into a DSS to change the relative effort required to implement different choice strategies; this can in turn affect strategy selection by a decision maker. Therefore, choice processes can be engineered to influence users to adopt strategies that maximize their value or utility.