Exploring the applicability of Web Architectural-Inducing Model (WA-IM) for Information Architecture in cultural context: A structural equation modeling approach

Abstract

Website information architecture (IA) has transcended into a discipline that is concerned with design principle and architecture of information in digital landscape. IA models in web-mediated environment however lack theoretical perspectives, empirical evidence and cultural context. In our effort to enlighten these aforementioned, we proposed the Web architectural-inducing model (WA-IM) for IA. We conceptualized website IA as multidimensional constructs and explore the applicability of WA-IM for IA. We conducted a web-based survey to 427 Muslim online user as the cultural case study and examine the expectations of using IA in culture-centred website; i.e., Islamic genre website. Construct validation of the multifactor structure of website IA was assessed via confirmatory factor analysis (CFA), using structural equation modeling (SEM). A five factor hypothesis goodness fit model was evaluated where the CFA verified that website IA is composed of multidimensional constructs of five factors: 'content-information', 'content-trust', 'navigation-trait', 'navigation-wayfinding' and 'context-information design'.