Factors that influence the domain name system registration model in Malaysia

Abstract

The Domain Name System (DNS) is a hierarchical, decentralized, naming system for computers, services or other resources connected to a network. DNS provides easily memorized names for numerical Internet Protocol (IP) addresses. Domain names distinguish a connected website from the millions of other accessible websites and are a potential source of economic value for a nation. At the end of 2017, the volume of registered .my domain names in Malaysia showed a significant decrease. At the same time, expired domain names were not renewed. To date, based on a Systematic Literature Review (SLR), no research has yet been undertaken on the factors that influence the registration of Malaysian domain names. Therefore, this study has investigated the factors which influence domain name registration and has tested the relationships and impacts of these identified factors on domain name registrations. Accordingly, this research examined the factors that influenced the registration of domain names and focused on perceived ease of use, security, reliability, responsiveness, price, social influence and facilitating conditions. A quantitative approach was employed in the research, which involved the collection and analysis of quantitative data in consecutive phases. The quantitative results were integrated and interpreted to explain the domain name registration model. This study focused on Malaysian domain name customers by sampling the relevant entities and was conducted from the customers’ perspective. In this study, a total of 654 questionnaires were distributed but only 386 were selected for further analysis. The data were analyzed using Exploratory Factor Analysis (EFA), Statistical Package for Social Science (SPSS) and Partial Least Squares-Structural Equation Modeling (PLS-SEM). SmartPLS software was used to determine the relationships between the factors and to confirm the research model that influenced the registration of Malaysian domain names. The analysis revealed that perceived security, responsiveness, reliability and facilitating conditions were influential factors in domain name system registration. The most significant contribution of the study was the proposed the domain name system registration model for Malaysia, derived from the EFA, SPSS and PLS-SEM. The SLR was applied to systematically analyse all associated studies in identifying the related factors and relationships among the identified factors, leading to the development of the domain name system registration model for Malaysian users.