User evaluations of IS as surrogates for objective performance

User evaluations of information systems are frequently used as measures of MIS success, since it is extremely difficult to get objective measures of system performance. However, user evaluations have been appropriately criticized as lacking a clearly articulated theoretical basis for linking them to systems effectiveness, and almost no research has been found that explicitly tests the link between user evaluations of systems and objectively measured performance. In this paper, we focus on user evaluations of task-technology fit for mandatory use systems and develop theoretical arguments for the link to individual performance. This is then empirically tested in a controlled experiment with objective performance measures and carefully validated user evaluations. Statistically significant support for the link is found for one measure of performance but not for a second. These findings are consistent with others which found that users are not necessarily accurate reporters of key constructs related to use of IS, specifically that self reporting is a poor measure of actual utilization. The possibility that user evaluations have a stronger link to performance when users receive feedback on their performance is proposed. Implications are discussed. (C) 2000 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.