Explaining perceived performance of the World Wide Web: uncertainty and the task-technology fit model

The performance of the World Wide Web is evaluated as an information resource in a specific information domain. The theoretical framework underpinning this approach recognises the contribution of information-seeking behaviour from the discipline of information science and models of information systems success from the discipline of information systems in explaining World Wide Web usage as an information resource. A model integrating the construct of uncertainty and the task-technology fit model is presented. A questionnaire-based empirical study is used to test this integrated approach. Our results confirm that richer models representing the broad context of World Wide Web usage are required to evaluate usage of the World Wide Web as an information resource. Usage for travel tasks, uncertainty reduction, the Web as an information resource, and mediation all have a significant impact on users’ perception of performance, explaining 46 per cent of the variance.