Understanding the formation of software-as-a-service (SaaS) satisfaction from the perspective of service quality

SaaS has attracted interest among researchers and practitioners. Despite the importance of client satisfaction in SaaS success, the formation of it remains unclear. To address this, this study uses dedication-constraint mechanisms as a theoretical lens to explain how satisfaction is affected by trust, including competence-based trust and openness-based trust, and how trust is influenced by service quality. We also investigate the moderating effect of relational norms on the influence of trust on satisfaction. The proposed model is supported by data collected from 124 senior IT managers using survey instrument, showing that service quality, in terms of rapport and flexibility, positively affects trust, which in turn influences satisfaction. Besides, the moderating effect of relational norms on the relationships between trust and satisfaction is significant. We provide the theoretical and practical implications of our findings.