Evaluating the impact of quality antecedents on university students’ e-learning continuance intentions: A post COVID-19 perspective

Abstract

The COVID−19 pandemic forced service providers to resort to online servicescapes across diverse industries globally. However, with the epidemic curve flattening in most parts of the world and the pandemic showing indications to phasing out, educational institutions are now operating on the continuum between blended e-learning and full-scale e-learning services. The purpose of this study was to examine the impact of e-learning quality antecedents on university students’ e-learning continuance intentions in Zimbabwe post the COVID−19 pandemic. The study adopted a causal research design within the positivism research paradigm. The study population were undergraduate students using e-learning at three universities in Zimbabwe. A random sampling procedure was employed to collect data. A quantitative approach validated 311 responses using covariance-based Structural Equation Modelling (SEM) in SPSS AMOS. The study revealed positive and statistically significant relationships between three quality factors (system quality, instructor quality and information quality) and students’ e-learning continuance intentions (p < 0.001). However, the impact of support service quality on e-learning continuance intentions was not statistically significant. The paper flags the key roles of instructor quality, information quality and system quality as key determinants of students’ willingness to continue using e-learning systems in a post COVID−19 era. Universities were urged to design e-learning systems that engulf state of the art communication technology attributes to ensure robustness, flexibility, speed, security, visual appeal, compatibility, availability and user-friendliness. The study also recommends periodical reviews to motivation, resourcing, training and development strategies for e-learning instructors to enhance their delivery during e-learning service encounters.

Keywords:

• E-learning
• continuance intentions
• system quality
• instructor quality
• support service quality
• information quality

JEL Classification:

• I23
• I25
• O03
• M31

PUBLIC INTEREST STATEMENT

Digital transformation in the higher education industry has advanced in recent decades in the most affluent economies globally. The COVID-19 pandemic forced universities, other service providers alike, to resort to online services. However, technology infrastructure among other constraints continues to cripple sustainable e-learning success in most pre-emerging economies. This research investigates the influence of e-learning quality factors on university students’ e-learning continuance intentions in Zimbabwe. The survey data was collected from undergraduate students at three local universities and data analysis was conducted using quantitative analyses. Our research reveals that e-learning continuance is positively influenced by system quality, information quality and instructor quality. This study informs the universities’ customer-care strategy in a world where customer voice has grown too pervasive to disregard. The research further enlightens the higher education industry that student evaluations of e-learning service are critical to university success given their correlation with future student behavioural intentions.

Acknowledgments

The authors would like to thank all the participants who provided responses for this research and the universities for their permission to granting access to their university students.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Data availability statement

The data and materials used in this research are available on request https://doi.org/10.17632/9wzgmr8r3t.1.

Additional information

Funding

The authors have no direct funding to report.

Notes on contributors

Phillip Dangaiso

Phillip Dangaiso is a Services Marketing enthusiast, researcher and lecturer at the Zimbabwe Ezekiel Guti University (ZEGU). He is a multi-award winner and this research is one of his co-authored works. Recent developments in digital transformation in the Higher Education industry amid the COVID-19 crisis motivated this research. His research interests are in Educational Technology, Customer Experience Management, Digital Servicescapes, Services Marketing, Health Marketing and Relationship Marketing.

Forbes Makudza

Forbes Makudza is a senior lecturer and PhD finalist candidate at the University of Zimbabwe (UZ). He is a seasoned researcher with high impact journals in Strategic Marketing, E-Commerce, Entrepreneurial Marketing and Services Marketing. Dr Divaries Cosmas Jaravaza is a senior lecturer at Bindura University of Science Education (BUSE). A PhD graduate of the University of Witwatersrand (South Africa), he has publications in Taylor and Francis, Wiley and Sons and Emerald journals advancing Health Marketing, Cross-Cultural Marketing, Green Marketing and Brand Management.