Users’ Perceptions on Internet Financial Reporting Practices in Emerging Markets: Evidence from Jordan

Abstract

This study seeks to explore the perceptions of users regarding Internet financial reporting (IFR) practices in Jordan. A questionnaire survey of 200 possible participants of four different user-groups was conducted to investigate their perceptions regarding the usefulness and usability of IFR as a source of information in Jordan. 114 received responses were analysed using the Kruskal-Wallis test, and the analysis revealed that there is a strong agreement among the respondents on IFR being useable, accessible and available any time and from anywhere as a source of information for users' decision making in Jordan. However, users' perceptions regarding usefulness of IFR in decision making significantly differed. They addressed economic factors such as the cost of having Internet access and the cost of printing accounting information as two concerns regarding the future of IFR in Jordan. They also clarified that the traditional copy of the annual report is still the preferable source of accounting information for Jordanian users. PUBLICATION ABSTRACT