J Int Entrepr (2006) 3: 303–315

DOI 10.1007/s10843-006-7858-8

Empowerment of SME websites—Development

of a web-empowerment scale and preliminary evidence

Rudolf R. Sinkovics · Elfriede Penz


C Springer Science + Business Media, Inc. 2006

Abstract The emergence of the Internet and the World Wide Web has been argued to funda-
mentally reshape economic conditions and business practices of firms. It is seen as a promoter
of rapid internationalisation of companies, particularly small and medium enterprises. In the
aftermath of the burst of the electronic-bubble business practitioners and academics look
with scrutiny on successful web-strategies, relevant dimensions of online-success and try
to identify viable website practices which enable long-term rewards. The literature offers
a rather patchy pattern for successful web-strategies and consumer perspectives on what is
expected from websites is hardly available. Within this paper, we introduce the dimension
“web-empowerment”. This is a multidimensional construct comprising of consumer views
on various dimensions of relevant and successful websites. The web-empowerment scale is
based on a large sample from Austria, and developed according to scale development proce-
dures. The relevance of this construct and practical issues in the context of a cross-country
sample of SME’s is empirically examined. The paper concludes by offering implications for
SME practitioners and for research.

Keywords Internet . Website . Assessment . International marketing . SME

Introduction and problem

The Internet and the World Wide Web have significantly contributed to a fundamental
change in views on how economic conditions and business realities work. The traditional
view of incremental, yet growing commitment to markets, as outlined in the Uppsala-
school (Buckley and Ghauri, 1999; Johanson and Wiedersheim-Paul, 1975; Welch and

R. R. Sinkovics ()
The University of Manchester, Manchester Business School (East), P.O. Box 88,
Manchester M60 1QD, United Kingdom
e-mail: Rudolf.Sinkovics@manchester.ac.uk

E. Penz
Wirtschaftsuniversität Wien, Austria, Augasse 2-6, A-1090 Wien, Vienna, Austria
e-mail: Elfriede.Penz@wu-wien.ac.at

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Luostarinen, 1988) has been challenged by emerging patterns of “born-globals” (Knight

and Cavusgil, 1996; Madsen and Servais, 1997), which are particularly prominent in the
international software sector. The Internet has been said to significantly reduce both psy-
chic as well as psychical barriers to commerce, giving small businesses access to untapped
markets around the world (Wen et al., 2001). An extensive academic debate on threats and
opportunities of the Internet on exchange-relationships has taken place. Some have predicted
complete disintermediation for organisations that communicated between producers and con-
sumers, while others suggested that a new generation of players, so called “cybermediaries”
might perform the mediating task in the world of electronic commerce (Sarkar et al., 1995).
Whichever perspective taken, many academics have seen a strategic ‘window of opportuni-
ties’ for SME’s to radically leapfrog in their development as commercial players. Despite
empirical investigations still being scarce, many studies confirm the gradual internationali-
sation perspective (Kim, 2003) and the Internet and E-Commerce are generally claimed to
offer advantages to SMEs that may facilitate their access to global markets and help them
overcome certain disadvantages vis-à-vis larger companies (Fariselli et al., 1999). Hence, it
is important to investigate the actual direction SMEs should take their Internet-presence and
which strategies to exploit to their full potential.
The literature on successful web-strategies, consumer perspectives and expectations re-
garding websites, however, is rather patchy. There is an increasing stream of research on the
measurement of website effectiveness (Briggs and Hollis, 1997; Ducoffe, 1996), dimensions
of commercial website effectiveness (Dholakia and Rego, 1998) and antecedents influencing
customers’ perspectives of the effectiveness of websites (Chakraborty et al., 2002; Jeong
et al., 2003). A number of recent managerially oriented studies focus on typologies of web-
sites, website objectives (McNaughton, 2001), quality (Adam and Deans, 1999; Barnes and
Vidgen, 2001a; Jeong et al., 2003) or investigate web-communication strategies by content
analysing various company websites (Okazaki and Rivas, 2002; Perry and Bodkin, 2000).
Findings of numerous studies in the context of traditional brick-and-mortar retailers suggest
that the characteristics of the retail format influence consumer shopping behaviour (Donovan
and Rossiter, 1982). With online and offline environments presenting fundamentally differ-
ent shopping forms it can be argued that consumers’ online shopping behaviour may be
significantly affected by the appearance and transactional capabilities of websites. However,
theorising about the nature and consequences of these differences, website quality (Barnes
and Vidgen, 2002; Loiacono et al., 2002) and its implications for small entrepreneurs has not
yet converged into a coherent whole.
This is why within this paper we explore mechanisms to empower SME’s online presence
in view of consumer expectations and perceptions. After critically reviewing the literature on
website effectiveness, a scale will be developed which helps to assess websites according to
users’ perceptions. The scale-development procedure will follow the guidelines of Churchill
(1979) and be empirically tested using a sample of 310 respondents from Austria.

Conceptual background

A transaction cost perspective on the Internet and World Wide Web

The transaction cost approach (TCA) can be traced back to Coase’s (1937) seminal work on
the nature of the firm. Within the TCA framework the coordination of resources and allocation
are seen as central organisational problems. Costs arise from handling transaction, search

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and identification of products, the purchase of goods and services etc. Williamson (1975,
1979) further develops the transaction cost framework into a comprehensive theory within
which ex-ante and ex-post transaction costs are defined. Ex-ante transaction costs include
the costs of drafting, negotiating, and safeguarding agreements. Ex-post transaction costs
comprise “(1) the maladaptation costs incurred when transactions drift out of alignment in
relation to the shifting contract curve, (2) the haggling costs incurred if bilateral efforts are
made to correct ex post misalignments, (3) the set up and running costs associated with the
governance structures to which the disputes are referred, and (4) bonding costs of effective
secure commitment” (Williamson, cited in Dietrich, 1994).
Williamson argues that transaction costs depend on the characteristics of prevailing trans-
actions and on the behaviour of the parties involved in a transaction. In this context bounded
rationality and opportunism play a role, because (a) while individuals have the desire to act
rationally, their limited cognitive skills will only allow them to do that up to a certain extent,
(b) opportunism is a self-interest seeking with guile, i.e. an attempt to benefit by disguis-
ing, hiding or distorting information. Hence, Williamson follows that transactions need to
be safeguarded. Next to the behaviour of the parties involved, transaction costs are affected
by asset specificity (the degree to which durable human or physical assets are locked into
a specific trading relationship), uncertainty (characterises a situation in which predictions
about the future states are only possible with great effort, if at all), and the frequency with
which transactions occur. Furthermore, transactions and transaction costs are also greatly
influenced by the existing technological infrastructure, i.e. the availability of information
and communication technologies.
To this end, it has been argued that the Internet and the World Wide Web are significantly
impacting on the transaction costs in inter-firm and consumer coordination and cooperation.
Researchers interested in implications of interorganisational exchange and organisational co-
ordination rely heavily on transaction cost economics in their analyses. Malone et al. (1987),
in their influential articles on transformations of the electronic marketplace used notions from
transaction cost economics to emphasize how electronic linkages between firms could have
quite different effects on firms’ make or buy decisions (Steinfield et al., 2000). In view of
spreading data networks that extend beyond the firm, companies might be inclined to bind
their electronic systems together and interact in ‘electronic hierarchies’ which permit efficient
outsourcing of activities, without losing control. That is, companies in the digital age might
choose market mechanisms to coordinate production and services rather than hierarchical
governance, as suggested in Williamsons’ (1979) transaction-cost theory. As a result of sig-
nificant advances in information technologies, a dramatic expansion of computing hardware
and software capabilities and a sharp fall in the unit cost of information technologies has
taken place (Kambil, 1995). Hence, transaction costs have been greatly reduced and market-
governance has empowered small firms (Bakos, 1991). Firms connected to the Internet pay a
limited individual hook-up fee, however, share the capitalisation of the costs of the backbone
infrastructure while at the same time exploiting worldwide consumer and stakeholder groups.
This particular ability of the Internet to lower networking costs, interconnect in a timely fash-
ion to the entire interactive network of buyers and sellers, minimise transaction costs and
achieve agglomeration effects (Garcia, 1995), has been seen as a strategic opportunity for
SME’s.

A communication theory perspective on the Internet

The Internet and the World Wide Web help to develop closer links with the customers. From
a communication theory perspective the Internet completely reforms traditional methods of
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information transmission and reception. While basic models of communication theory (see
e.g. Shannon and Weaver, 1949) usually comprise of sender, receiver, message, language,
communication channel and feedback, in the context of electronic markets these basic el-
ements are interacting differently (Schmid, 1992). The Internet and the World Wide Web
fulfil the functions of marketing communications by informing, reminding and persuasion
(Hoffman et al., 1995), however, the traditional “one-to-many approach” for mass media can
be extended even further to encompass the “model of interpersonal and computer-mediated
communication” (Hoffman and Novak, 1996). Herein the Internet and World Wide Web
medium provides content to other individuals and increased interactivity stems from the
mediating effect of the computer-medium, facilitating the exchange of information. Conse-
quently, the traditional view of communication models has been severely altered and a shift
from broadcast to dialogue has taken place (Hanson, 2000). There is now the potential for
direct targeting (one direction, different messages), “many-to-many communications” (Hoff-
man et al., 1995) as well as “one-to-one interactive communication,” where unique messages
are sent to individuals (Hanson, 2000).
These multiple communication models (Hanson, 2000) can be seen as powerful aspects
of the Internet. Firms and particularly SMEs are provided with the opportunity to effectively
use the Internet as a global broadcasting station or a direct vehicle sending targeted specialty
messages to niche audiences. In the context of international marketing and the internation-
alisation of SME’s, opportunities exist to close the perceived gap between countries and
consumers (Hallén and Wiedersheim-Paul, 1979; O’ Grady and Lane, 1996) and participate
in a successful and fast route to internationalisation (Kim, 2003). However, overall excellence
or effectiveness of websites is required in delivering intended messages to its audience and
viewers. As more and more consumers are turning their attention to the Internet environment,
the exploitation of the potentials of the Internet and the World Wide Web, particularly in areas
such as product promotion, customer relationship building and product customisation (Wen
et al., 2001), develops to be critical for SMEs. Empowerment of their online efforts is seen
critical for SMEs to compete side to side with larger organisational entities, both on national
and international markets.

Website classification and functionality

Firms employing business strategies have been classified to fall into various categories of
commercial website implementation (Hoffman et al., 1995). Within this practical approach
distinct types have been identified, including (1) online storefront, (2) Internet presence, (3)
content, (4) mall, (5) incentive sites, and (6) search agents. Following this pioneering, yet
rather descriptive work, an emerging stream of literature investigates the measurement of
website effectiveness (Ducoffe, 1996; Leckenby and Hong, 1998). However, this literature
largely focuses on the measures of website effectiveness themselves, often presupposing
knowledge of the objectives against which effectiveness will be judged (McNaughton, 2001).
This is why several recent studies have examined the objectives of websites by categorising
these for a number of consumer and high technology business markets (Ainscough, 1996;
McNaughton, 2001).
On a higher-level conceptual basis, websites can be categorised into information-
transaction vs. transaction-information model websites (Quelch and Klein, 1996). Quelch
and Klein (1996) identified that established multinational companies (MNCs) differed from
Internet start-ups by employing different web-strategies. Established companies tended to
employ the information-to-transaction model, starting with the offer of information online
and finally building more and more transaction based functionality into their websites. In
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contrast, Internet start-ups tended to adopt the transaction-to-information model. In this

case, firms started off with deploying online transactions, while adding customer sup-
port/service at later stages, then devoting themselves to image/product information and
finally collecting information online and employing market research. Several empirical
studies confirmed these categorisation schemes and supported the view of firms pursuing
either an informational/communicational strategy in their online web-presence or an on-
line/transactional strategy (Griffith and Krampf, 1998; Wen et al., 2001). Of critical concern
for Marketing and International Business researchers is the issue of building successful and
effective websites. Linked to this issue is the problem of measuring website effectiveness.
This issue will be explored in the following section.

Dimensions of website effectiveness

Following the idea of building successful informational or transactional websites, numerous

frameworks have been devised to develop websites (Cunliffe 2000; Day, 1997; Morgan,
1996; Zimmerman et al., 1997). However, most of these early frameworks and approaches
are overly generic and demonstrate descriptive thoughts and norms rather than empirically
tested underpinnings.
Recently, a number of studies have tried to identify the factors that influence cus-
tomers’ perception of the effectiveness of websites, either in business-to-business contexts
(Chakraborty et al., 2002), in the context of integration of print and online communication
(Sheehan and Doherty, 2001) or the development of online-brand loyalty (Holland and Baker,
2001). Results generally suggest multidimensionality of the phenomenon, i.e. effective web-
sites are considered to be informative, well organised, possess transaction-related interactivity
and some sort of personalisation. Jeong et al. (2003) conceptualised website quality and its
consequences in the lodging industry, utilising variables such as information accuracy, in-
formation clarity and completeness, perceived ease of use and navigational quality. Adam
and Deans (1999) systematically analysed commercial domains to check dimensions such as
ease of use, graphical content, feedback mechanisms and content. Further attempts have been
made to investigate the effect of website-redesign on revisits from customers (Barnes and
Vidgen, 2001b) and conceptualising website quality along the dimensions usability, informa-
tion and service interaction (Barnes and Vidgen, 2002) using quality function deployment.
In another attempt to measure website quality, Loiacono et al. (2002) developed a consumer-
based evaluation instrument. This paper adds to this stream of research by investigating the
issues and dimensions which consumers (non-business customers) perceive as relevant in
their evaluation of corporate SME websites.
Churchill’s paradigm for developing marketing constructs (Churchill, 1979) was used to
construct an operational measure of “Web-Empowerment”. The construct was suggested to
capture respondents’ perceptions of and expectations regarding good quality websites.

Methodology

Preliminary study: Domain specification and item generation

“Web-empowerment” is defined as methodologies, procedures and practices which contribute

to effective online-communication with consumers. In order to generate a sample of items
which falls into the domain of this research, an extensive literature review was combined
with the categorisation of statements stemming from in-depth discussion of practitioners and
academics. Experts were recruited from the business community in Otago, NZ, marketing
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academics from the University of Otago, New Zealand and Wirtschaftsuniversität Wien,
Austria. After a series of feedback-loops with academics and practitioners five dimensions
of web-empowerment were suggested: General Aspects (accessibility, design, composition,
usability), Information (related to products, services), Transaction (online shopping, security
issues), Relationship (level of interactivity, personalisation), and Target Audience (special
interest websites for SIGs such as academics, business research etc.).
Following this initial composition of the web-empowerment domain, according to expert
opinions, multiple items were generated to scale all five dimensions. Again, academics and
practitioners were asked to express their opinions in response to the request to “describe your
views of which aspects contribute to a successful website”. Together with suggestions from
the literature, this preliminary stage was the primary source of items. Editing of redundant
items reduced the initial item pool from 257 to 180 items. All of which shared the property of
being worded in common consumer’s vocabulary rather than in formal academic language.

Scale purification

Individual members of a four-person judgmental panel (three holding Ph.D.s, one advanced
Ph.D. candidate in psychology and a masters student) assigned each of the 267 items to one
of the five conceptual dimensions. An a-priori decision rule, as suggested by Shimp and
Sharma (1987) was used to retain an item only, if at least three of the five judges chose the
same category. One-hundred seventy seven items satisfied the rule. Then a mail questionnaire
consisting of the 177 seven point-Likert-type statements was administered to a quota sample
in Austria (based on gender, age and education). In total, 593 questionnaires were distributed,
306 of those were returned (51.6%) two weeks later, representing the Austrian population
very well.
The total sample was randomly divided into two parts, an analysis sample (N = 168) used
in estimating the factor structure and the holdout sample (N = 142) used to validate the estab-
lished results. Using the analysis sample, items were subjected to exploratory factor analysis
designed to verify the dimensions of web-empowerment, as established in the preliminary
qualitative item generation stage, and to reduce the items to a more tractable number. The set
of items was further split into two parts, and analysed according to two sets of stimuli, which
were different for the underlying platforms. Stimuli presented at web-platforms which were
primarily geared towards online transactions were considered different from stimuli for web-
sites which focused on information. Following a conceptualisation of Foscht (1998, 1999)
transaction-based websites are characterised by a higher potential to activate people. Con-
sequently, we ran two sets of factor analyses. One was conducted for “general aspects and
access processes” of websites and another analysis was undertaken for “online transaction”
respectively. While the dimension “general aspects and access processes” was expected to
reflect website characteristics which exist independently of consumers’ activities, character-
istics of “online transaction” is seen as a dimension, which assumes an active relationship
with people who react to stimuli presented at the website. Items pertaining to the dimension
“target groups,” as suggested in the preliminary study, were excluded from the subsequent
analysis due to weak reliability scores in the process of scale purification.

General aspects and access processes

To begin with, the initial set of data for “general aspects and access processes” con-
sisted of 117 items. A five-factor solution was obtained after eliminating items with strong
cross-loadings on other dimensions or loadings below the 0.4 threshold. A total of 62%
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Table 1 Exploratory factor analysis for “general aspects and access processes”

Items F1 F2 F3 F4 F5

TS08 Job offers are clearly displayed. .878 −.080 .184 −.058 .101
TS10 The progress of the job application can be tracked. .864 −.001 .196 .149 −.046
TS07 It is easy to apply for a job online .860 −.017 .157 −.074 .088
TS09 Application forms are easy to understand. .824 −.018 .211 .112 −.020
N13 Links to other Web sites operate effectively. −.077 .821 .117 .051 .063
N14 Links provided are appropriate. −.090 .811 .034 .031 .034
N16 Used links are clearly marked. .067 .780 −.064 .088 .068
N15 The Web site provides enough links. .041 .762 .015 −.024 −.022
N12 Links on the Web site match titles of the pages to −.042 .717 .131 .026 .088
which they refer.
TS04 The Web site uses a reliable password system for .246 .071 .793 −.036 .000
payment.
TS02 The Web site guarantees a secure server. .018 .114 .779 .049 .095
TS03 The Web site uses digital certificates for online selling. .242 −.046 .777 −.012 .132
TS01 The Web site uses security features. .085 .059 .767 .069 .151
TS05 Transaction can be carried out with a digital signature .357 .052 .624 .161 −.131
only.
N06 An index page is offered for simple navigation. −.006 −.042 .037 .808 −.081
N05 A site map is offered for easy navigation. .195 −.003 −.037 .776 −.028
N07 The placement of the navigational aid is consistent −.026 −.024 .213 .684 .094
throughout the whole site.
BF04 The Web site provides an effective glossary. −.053 .123 .058 .638 .184
BF05 To me the glossary adds value to the site. .035 .103 −.072 .592 .175
N02 It is easy to get to the information I am searching for. .177 .074 .028 .196 .752
N01 It is easy to find my way around the Web site. .166 .087 −.056 .126 .743
N03 The navigation is organized consistently. .002 .194 .040 .211 .723
INF03 The Web site offers a wide range of products/services. −.179 .063 .175 −.113 .618
INF04 The site presents quality products/services. −.040 −.122 .091 −.011 .615
Cronbach’s alpha .907 .847 .834 .766 .757

variance was explained with the five-factor solution. Values of .74 in the KMO test and a
significant level in the Barlett’s test ( p < .00) indicated that employing a factor analysis was
a reasonable attempt and internal consistency scores (Cronbach’s alpha) ranged from 0.757
to 0.907 (see Table 1).
The first factor explained 13.9% of variance and was labelled “company-user interaction”
because job application procedures were included and generally items related to the interac-
tion between individuals and the relevant organisation. The second factor, which explained
13.2% of variance, included items regarding navigation. In particular “external web linkages”
were stressed, which was the rationale for labelling the dimension correspondingly. The third
factor was called “transaction security” and explained 12.9% of variance. The fourth factor
referred also to navigation, but in this case issues of “intra-web navigation” were addressed
(variance explained = 11.2%). Finally, the fifth factor dealt with “consistency” in the website
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Table 2 Confirmatory factor analysis for “general aspects and access processes”

Id Item means stdev λi,, j t-value

F1 Company-User Interaction- α = 0.91, ρ = 0.92, AVE = 0.73

g01 It is easy to apply for a job online 4.31 2.36 0.90 17.50
g02 Job offers are clearly displayed. 4.47 2.29 0.94 ∗

g03 Application forms are easy to understand. 4.76 2.06 0.76 12.17
g04 The progress of the job application can be tracked. 4.75 1.91 0.81 13.61
F2 External Web-Linkages - α = 0.85, r = 0.87, AVE = 0.58
g05 Links on the Web site match titles of the pages to which they 2.85 1.52 0.75 9.09
refer.
g06 Links to other Web sites operate effectively. 2.62 1.57 0.81 9.78
g07 Links provided are appropriate. 2.88 1.61 0.85 10.13
g08 The Web site provides enough links. 3.02 1.73 0.67 8.04
g09 Used links are clearly marked. 2.90 1.61 0.73 ∗

F3 Transaction Security - α = 0.85, ρ = 0.84, AVE = 0.52

g10 The Web site uses security features. 3.69 1.84 0.59 7.50
g11 The Web site guarantees a secure server. 3.58 1.74 0.60 7.53
g12 The Web site uses digital certificates for online selling. 3.94 1.88 0.80 10.70
g13 The Web site uses a reliable password system for payment. 3.98 1.87 0.89 ∗

g14 Transaction can be carried out with a digital signature only. 4.54 1.78 0.69 8.71
F4 Intra Web-Navigation - α = 0.77, ρ = 0.78, AVE = 0.55
g15 A site map is offered for easy navigation. 3.29 1.85 0.77 6.92
g16 An index page is offered for simple navigation. 3.66 1.95 0.80 6.88
g17 The placement of the navigational aid is consistent throughout 3.11 1.89 0.64 ∗

the whole site.

F5 Consistency - α = 0.76, ρ = 0.82, AVE = 0.61
g18 It is easy to find my way around the Web site. 2.19 1.25 0.87 8.93
g19 It is easy to get to the information I am searching for. 2.35 1.29 0.77 ∗

g20 The navigation is organized consistently. 2.12 1.20 0.69 8.30

Note: α = Cronbach’s alpha, ρ = Jöreskog’s rho, AVE = average variance extracted. Measurement fit: χ 2
(df) = 376.82 (160); p < .001; Comparative Fit Index (CFI) = .966; Bentler-Bonnet Normed Fit Index =
.943; Bollen (IFI) Fit Index = .925; Root mean-square error of approximation (RMSEA) = .09.

implementation and design and reflected the need for efficient ways of finding the relevant
information. Factor five explained 10.8% of variance.
In a next step and in order to substantiate the dimensionality of the five factor solution,
the items were subjected to a stringent confirmatory analysis. The CFA was applied using
the holdout sample and after dropping three unreliable items (loadings less than the square
root of 0.5), the established five factor structure was confirmed. Further validity tests were
undertaken, following Anderson and Gerbing’s (1988) ‘two stage approach’ and Fornell and
Larckers (1981) criterion, confirming the usability of the initially proposed part “general
aspects and access processes” of the web-empowerment scale (see Table 2).
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Table 3 Exploratory factor analysis for “online transactions”

F1 F2 F3

OB44 It is clear whether I have to pay tax if I am an international customer. .786 .156 .072
OB37 The return policy is prominent on the Web site. .694 .345 .235
OB31 The guarantee policy is prominent on the Web site. .677 .309 .248
OB42 The Web site displays useful product instructions. .652 .022 .125
OB39 Returned goods must be send back to online source. .644 .372 .247
OB38 The return policy is clear. .641 .303 .315
OB40 I can return goods to any of the retailer’s outlets. .634 .107 −.023
OB18 The Web site provides a converter for payments in any currency .598 .109 −.011
other than the currency stated on the Website.
OB24 It is clear whether the price quoted includes tax. .552 .284 .175
OB33 Downloading software is easy. .547 −.015 .249
OB16 The Web site offers a better price for its products/services .428 .315 −.050
then available at t.
OB12 Products are displayed on the Web site. .108 .798 .110
OB08 The Web site effectively displays special offers. .197 .785 .201
OB07 The Web site utilizes a shopping list/cart. .134 .776 .291
OB28 Shipping costs are displayed precisely. .290 .666 .256
OB27 Delivery times are clearly displayed. .286 .652 .290
OB13 Products are briefly described on the Web site. .046 .651 .124
OB30 I receive an e-mail confirmation that the order has been shipped. .271 .651 .271
OB21 Online payment is available. .363 .611 .111
OB02 Registration forms are easy to use. .215 .201 .831
OB01 It is simple to set up an account. .086 .192 .809
OB04 Online ordering works effectively. .088 .316 .700
OB03 I need to subscribe in order to carry out transactions. .211 .286 .643
Cronbach’s Alpha .880 .896 .805

Online transactions

The initial set of data for “online transactions” consisted of 44 items. A three-factor solution
was obtained after elimination of those items which demonstrated loadings on more than
one factor and/or loaded below 0.4, explaining 50% of the total variance. Values of .89 in
the KMO test and a significant level in the Barlett’s test ( p < .00) indicated usefulness of
the application of the factor procedure. Cronbach’s alpha consistency measure ranged from
0.805 to 0.896, indicating very good internal consistency reliability (DeVellis, 1991) (see
Table 3 below).
The first factor explained 19.5% of variance and was labelled “clarity”. The second
factor, called “interactivity” explained 18.4% of variance, included items regarding level of
interactive response during the purchase process. The third factor was called “simplicity” and
explained 12.4% of variance.
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Table 4 Confirmatory factor analysis for “online transactions”

Id Item Means stdev λi, j t-value

F1 Clarity - α = 0.88, ρ = 0.88, AVE = 0.51

t01 The return policy is prominent on the Web site. 4.29 2.05 0.70
t02 The return policy is clear. 4.01 1.91 0.85 8.77
t03 It is clear whether the price quoted includes tax. 3.87 2.08 0.83 8.59
F2 Interactivity - α = 0.9, ρ = 0.84, AVE = 0.63
t04 The Web site utilizes a shopping list/cart. 3.47 2.38 0.76
t05 The Web site effectively displays special offers. 3.70 2.22 0.83 10.37
t06 Products are displayed on the Web site. 3.41 2.06 0.69 8.35
t07 I receive an e-mail confirmation that the order has 3.75 1.83 0.53 6.24
been shipped.
t08 Products are briefly described on the Web site. 2.97 1.89 0.68 8.13
t09 Online payment is available. 3.90 2.10 0.76 9.36
t10 Delivery times are clearly displayed. 3.83 1.98 0.72 8.60
F3 Simplicity - α = 0, ρ = 0,85, AVE = 0,58
t11 Registration forms are easy to use. 3.00 1.64 0.81
t12 I need to subscribe in order to carry out transactions. 2.60 1.90 0.84 10.44
t13 Online ordering works effectively. 3.21 1.61 0.65 7.93
t14 It is simple to set up an account. 2.93 1.70 0.73 8.95

Note: α = Cronbach’s alpha, ρ = Jöreskog’s rho, AVE = average variance extracted. Measurement
fit: χ 2 (df) = 158.71 (74); p < .001; Comparative Fit Index (CFI) = .978; Bentler-Bonnet Normed
Fit Index = .960; Bollen (IFI) Fit Index = .978; Root mean-square error of approximation (RMSEA)
= .083.

Using the holdout sample, confirmatory factor analysis was applied confirming the three
factor structure with an acceptable model-fit. Unreliable items were deleted based on items
loading less than the square root of 0.5 and consequently a reduced battery of statements
regarding consumers’ opinion to web presence were received. Further validity measures were
done and confirmed the usability of the initially proposed part “online transactions” of the
web-empowerment scale (see Table 4).
In all, the comprehensive set of 177 items which entered the quantitative stage of the
research process, was reduced to a reasonable set of 34 items. The resulting items covered
the two areas of web-empowerment, i.e. general aspects and access processes as well as
transactional dimensions. The multi-dimensional solution is indicative of different web-
strategies which can be employed by SMEs. They can either reinforce communicative aspects
of web-empowerment or transactional aspects of the scale. The first part describes general
transaction and access processes and can be subdivided into sub-parts. The second part
consists of the online transaction in particular.

Conclusions and implications

The Internet and the World Wide Web have been welcomed as an important develop-
ment, fundamentally changing the ways and procedures how companies communicate and
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J Int Entrepr (2006) 3: 303–315 313

interact with consumers. Despite this view and the importance of the Internet and the
World Wide Web given to the internationalisation of firms, particularly to SME, research on
website success factors and website evaluation has approached from three different angles:
Machine-centric evaluations, expert judges and consumer judges. In view of the extraordi-
nary shifts of perspectives the web provides for marketing activities (see the communications
theory perspective above), consumer evaluations appear particularly important. However,
apart from select notable exceptions, no convergent consumer view on website evaluation
and empowerment of websites is available. This paper attempts to address this gap by de-
velopment of a consumer-based measure of web-empowerment. “Web-empowerment” is
defined as methodologies, procedures and practices which contribute to effective online-
communication with consumers, as seen by consumers. Web-empowerment was developed
with a large sample of respondents of a largely SME-based economy, Austria.
The scale delineates carefully between different websites, in that it differentiates between
websites which are addressing predominantly communicative aspects and websites which
reinforce transactions. Consumers have expressed great concerns to being able to develop
relationships with companies and identify objective company data and information. Within
the ‘general aspects’ dimension, security was considered important and consumers consid-
ered it important not to be inundated with information or getting lost when browsing through
particular sites. Regarding online transactions, consumers indicated their desire to be acti-
vated, be able to personalise the environment. Following, websites which are geared towards
transactions need to offer a different set of appeals for consumers and reinforce simple and
clear purchase-related aspects.
As regards limitations, the scale has proven reliable and valid in a small-country SME
context. It has yet to be seen, whether further applications of the web-empowerment scale
deliver similar results, particularly when employed in a slightly different industry setting.
Another potential limitation is the fact that expert-users have not been separated out from
non-experts. Future research needs to investigate whether empowerment of websites bears
different notions for different user-groups, depending on their level of IT-expertise. Despite
these limitations and potential remedies, it is suggested that for academics and practitioners
alike the web-empowerment scale offers the opportunity to empirically link online-web
presence and business performance in a novel way.

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