Individual decision-performance using spatial decision support systems: a geospatial reasoning ability and perceived task-technology fit perspective

Michael A Erskine, Dawn G Gregg, Jahangir Karimi, Judy E Scott
Information Systems Frontiers,Pages: 1-16.
Increasingly, spatial decision support systems (SDSS) help consumers, businesses and governmental entities make decisions involving geospatial data. Understanding if, and how, user- and task-characteristics impact decision-performance will allow developers of SDSS to maximize decision-making performance. Furthermore, scholars can benefit from a more comprehensive understanding of what specific characteristics influence decision-making when using an SDSS. This paper provides a synthesis of relevant research and presents a two-factor experiment (n=200) designed to measure the impact of user- and task-characteristics on decision-performance. Using Cognitive Fit Theory (CFT) as the theoretical framework, we investigate the effect of geospatial reasoning ability (GRA), input complexity, task complexity, and user perceptions of task-technology fit (PTTF), on geospatial decision-making