Colorful graphics and fancy visuals may do more than spice up a Web site. According to three WSU researchers, they have a direct influence on online consumer behavior.
“The characteristics of a Web site that have shown to be important include visual appeal, navigability, download delays and security, to name a few,” said John Wells, assistant professor of management information systems. “But what is lacking is a deeper understanding for why these characteristics have proved to be effective..
The WSU research team – Wells, Research Associate Veena Parboteeah and MIS Professor Joseph Valacich – first experimented with these features, also called cues, a year and a half ago on a test Web site to distinguish which affect a consumer’s behavior.
These cues can either be task-relevant – features that directly affect the functionality of the Web site – or non-task-relevant – graphics present only for aesthetic purposes.
Two-hundred sixteen students from beginning MIS classes participated in the experiment. Each student critiqued four Web sites selling cell phone holsters, which contained varying levels of task- and non-task-relevant elements.
The students rated each Web site on a scale of one to five. A score of one meant the student would buy only a cell phone holster. A score of five meant the Web site was attractive enough to the consumer to buy all the other accessories, including a new bag, a matching holster and an iPod case.
“This is our surrogate for observing impulsive purchase intentions,” Wells said.
Predictably, the Web site containing quality task- and non-task-relevant cues rated the highest, Wells said. One of the Web sites that functioned poorly but was visually pleasing averaged a surprisingly high 2.94. Another Web site that had low visual appeal but high functionality averaged a 3.06.
Wells said these scores are so close that, statistically, there is no difference.
“The interesting thing is that you can lead people to be more impulsive strictly on the non-task-relevant cues,” he said.
Since the experiment was first conducted, the research team has experimented with similar Web sites and products that have produced nearly identical results.
“All the other results have been convergent with this initial study,” Wells said.
These results were sent off a week and a half ago for publication. For Parboteeah, this research is the beginning of understanding the future of advertising.
“This is an area of interest that has been under-studied in the area of online impulsive buying,” she said.
“The characteristics of a Web site that have shown to be important include visual appeal, navigability, download delays and security, to name a few,” said John Wells, assistant professor of management information systems. “But what is lacking is a deeper understanding for why these characteristics have proved to be effective..
The WSU research team – Wells, Research Associate Veena Parboteeah and MIS Professor Joseph Valacich – first experimented with these features, also called cues, a year and a half ago on a test Web site to distinguish which affect a consumer’s behavior.
These cues can either be task-relevant – features that directly affect the functionality of the Web site – or non-task-relevant – graphics present only for aesthetic purposes.
Two-hundred sixteen students from beginning MIS classes participated in the experiment. Each student critiqued four Web sites selling cell phone holsters, which contained varying levels of task- and non-task-relevant elements.
The students rated each Web site on a scale of one to five. A score of one meant the student would buy only a cell phone holster. A score of five meant the Web site was attractive enough to the consumer to buy all the other accessories, including a new bag, a matching holster and an iPod case.
“This is our surrogate for observing impulsive purchase intentions,” Wells said.
Predictably, the Web site containing quality task- and non-task-relevant cues rated the highest, Wells said. One of the Web sites that functioned poorly but was visually pleasing averaged a surprisingly high 2.94. Another Web site that had low visual appeal but high functionality averaged a 3.06.
Wells said these scores are so close that, statistically, there is no difference.
“The interesting thing is that you can lead people to be more impulsive strictly on the non-task-relevant cues,” he said.
Since the experiment was first conducted, the research team has experimented with similar Web sites and products that have produced nearly identical results.
“All the other results have been convergent with this initial study,” Wells said.
These results were sent off a week and a half ago for publication. For Parboteeah, this research is the beginning of understanding the future of advertising.
“This is an area of interest that has been under-studied in the area of online impulsive buying,” she said.
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