Assessment of in-depth content coverage by Indian universities' websites: end users' expectations versus perceptions. (2016)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Singla, Bhim Sain; Aggarwal, Himanshu
• Is Part Of: International journal of Indian culture and business management. Volume 13:Number 4(2016)
• Page Start: 489
• Page End: 540
• Publication Date: 2016
• Subjects: content categories -- content items -- effective websites -- focus groups -- India -- importance performance analysis -- IPA -- university websites -- higher education -- content coverage -- end users -- user expectations -- user perceptions -- website content -- web design; Management -- India -- Periodicals; Management; India; Periodicals; 658.0095405
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 1753-0806

Abstract

The websites created by the Indian universities mainly serve the purpose of advancing their mission and brand name by providing trouble-free online services and valuable academic information to their target users. However, it always remains a challenge to cater to the needs of its varied target users, i.e., faculty, students, parents, alumni, donors, trustees, etc. The current study aims to explore which of the contents influence users' perceptions most in the context of Indian universities' websites by way of importance-performance analysis (IPA) as the theoretical foundation. The field survey points out that every content item has its own importance in the viewpoint of end users. The main findings of this study underline the gaps between the experiences and expectations of end users towards the scope of information covered by Indian universities' websites, and suggest appropriate measures to plug these gaps. Therefore, the results of this study serve as guidelines for evaluating content coverage in a typical university website and understanding the extent to which the website could meet the expectations of its intended users. Besides, it will provide the web designers much needed information that can be used to construct or improve the websites of other universities.