Antecedents of students’ satisfaction with web-based assessment platforms: a multi-group analysis

Purpose This study investigates the factors influencing students’ satisfaction with web-based assessment platforms, focusing on the relationship between personal and technical factors and satisfaction. It also examines differences between genders and finance vs nonfinance students. Design/methodology/approach Data were collected from 300 undergraduate business students at a Midwestern US institution. The analysis utilized PLS-SEM and included multi-group analyses based on gender and business major. Findings The results show that competence and autonomy significantly impact student satisfaction. Self-efficacy, engagement and perceived quality are antecedents of competence and autonomy. Feedback directly influences self-efficacy, engagement and perceived quality. Notable differences emerged between groups, with some hypotheses significant in one group but not the other. Research limitations/implications While this study sheds light on the factors affecting student satisfaction with web-based assessment platforms, it is subject to certain limitations. Future research could explore additional variables, other regions of the US or other countries or employ different methodologies to further enrich our understanding of this phenomenon. Practical implications The results of this study have implications for both research and practice. Educators and platform developers can utilize these findings to enhance student satisfaction by focusing on factors such as competence, autonomy, self-efficacy, engagement, perceived quality and feedback mechanisms. Originality/value This study is one of the few to explore student satisfaction with publisher-designed web-based assessment platforms and the first to conduct multi-group analyses based on gender and business major (finance vs other business majors).