Service modularity in e-learning programs: an analysis from the perceived usefulness perspective

Abstract

PurposeThis study investigates the effects of service modularity on the perceived usefulness (PU) of e-learning programs through the perceived ease of use (PEoU) and service customization.Design/methodology/approachStructural equation modeling was used to test four hypotheses with survey data from 517 undergraduates in Turkey.FindingsResults show that service modularity affects the PU of e-learning programs through the PEoU. Service customization negatively moderates the effect of service modularity on the PEoU, but positively moderates the effect of the PEoU on the PU of e-learning programs.Practical implicationsThis study offers insights that support the decisions of policymakers and higher education institutions on how to design appealing e-learning programs cost-effectively.Social implicationsThis study reveals the determinants of the PU of e-learning, which could support the democratization of access to higher education in emerging countries where barriers to higher education are relatively greater than in developed countries.Originality/valueThe concept of service modularity is explored in the e-learning context from the students' perspective. This study shows that the standardized interfaces across course modules increase the PU of e-learning programs by improving the ease of use. It also shows, interestingly, that service customization, enabled by modularity, is not always appreciated by service consumers, because of the potential extra effort demanded in communicating their unique needs to service providers.

The Role of Adaptive E-Learning Co-Design as Main Solution to Higher Education’s Marketing Performance

“…Qualitatively, the results show that e-learning can help in completing the three pillars of HE (lecturers) and the educational programs without reducing quality, as evidenced by the level of understanding and deepening the learning materials (Lianto et al, 2020). HE focuses more on digital innovation and adaptation towards a digital campus (Sorkun et al, 2022). Motivation and adaptability are increasingly essential to improve the quality of learning by using technological advances (Trischler et al, 2018).…”

“…The devices support mobility in nature and are tasked with democratizing access to education. As the dominant logic theory expresses with value co-design, learning actors will jointly transform to build experiences (Sorkun et al, 2022). This co-design e-learning platform connects everyone to optimize learning outcomes and improve learning performance (Sumalinog, 2022).…”

Modularization of the front‐end logistics services in e‐fulfillment

“…Service modularity is an emerging research area (Frandsen, 2017), with scholarly efforts on establishing theoretical ground (de Mattos et al, 2021) and clearer definitions (Brax et al, 2017) by having been studied in various contexts, such as travel (Avlonitis & Hsuan, 2017; Voss & Hsuan, 2009), healthcare (de Blok et al, 2010; Sampson et al, 2015; Vähätalo & Kallio, 2015), human resources (Hofman & Meijerink, 2015), digital servitization (Hsuan et al, 2021), and e‐learning (Sorkun et al, 2022).…”

“…As customers' involvement in value creation (i.e., value co‐creation) is essential (Kohtamäki & Rajala, 2016; Lusch et al, 2007) to increase customer satisfaction (Gligor & Maloni, 2022) and loyalty (Thiruvattal, 2017), the marketing literature is rich in the customer participation in the creation of offerings (Mustak et al, 2013). However, recent research has also begun to question the appropriate level of customer involvement (e.g., Gligor & Maloni, 2022) because too much of it could cause customer dissatisfaction, that is, value destruction (Plé & Chumpitaz Cáceres, 2010) due to service complexity and time waste (Gligor & Maloni, 2022; Sorkun et al, 2022). This could be particularly relevant for front‐end logistics services, considering the difficulty for retailers to provide customers with enough incentive for their extensive involvement (Wang et al, 2019).…”

Developing a New Technique for Determining Service Modularity Level

“…Despite the growing body of research on service modularity, practical applications of modular delivery are relatively rare (de Mattos et al, 2019) in other service contexts except reported cases in healthcare (Peters et al, 2020), logistics (Cabigiosu et al, 2015), IT (Tuunanen et al, 2022), education (Sorkun et al, 2022), legal services (Giannakis et al, 2018), and tourism (Avlonitis & Hsuan, 2017). The literature offers little in the way of decision support for planning modular service delivery and weighing the changes to be implemented.…”