Web Site Analysis: A Review and Assessment of Previous Research

The emergence of the World Wide Web as a major communication and transaction channel stresses the preeminent importance of a company\u27s Web site for representing the organization, interacting with customers and conducting transactions. In comparison to other channels, the opportunities for targeting specific market segments are somehow limited, due to the Internet\u27s worldwide reach and predominantly anonymous users. Additionally, an ever-increasing number of customers are going online, which prevents the fine tuning of a site for specific user groups. Therefore, it seems essential that organizations possessing Web presence should be well aware of their site\u27s general functionality and how it is perceived by Internet users. For many years the analysis of Web sites has been one of the major topics for both scholars and practitioners, which led to a huge number of different techniques being used for the evaluation of sites. Furthermore, a variety of different theories and models have been developed which include the effects of Web sites as dependent or independent variables. In this paper, I compare different approaches to Web site analysis and present a classification framework. Numerous examples will be given to illustrate the various dimensions of the framework. Furthermore, benefits and drawbacks of the respective methods will be discussed where applicable. The results provide important insights into the current state of the art of Web analysis and will be supportive for anyone planning to conduct a Web analysis as well as for someone who is interested in getting an overview of the research field

Empirical Findings On Persuasiveness Of Recommender Systems For Customer Decision Support In Electronic Commerce

More and more companies are making online presence by opening online stores and providing customers with company and products information but the overwhelming amount of information also creates information overload for the customers. Customers feel frustrated when given too many choices while companies face the problem of turning browsers into actual buyers. Online recommender systems have been adopted to facilitate customer product search and provide personalized recommendation in the market place. The study will compare the persuasiveness of different online recommender systems and the factors influencing customer preferences. Review of the literature does show that online recommender systems provide customers with more choices, less effort, and better accuracy. Recommender systems using different technologies have been compared for their accuracy and effectiveness. Studies have also compared online recommender systems with human recommendations 4 and recommendations from expert systems. The focus of the comparison in this study is on the recommender systems using different methods to solicit product preference and develop recommendation message. Different from the technology adoption and acceptance models, the persuasive theory used in the study is a new perspective to look at the end user issues in information systems. This study will also evaluate the impact of product complexity and product involvement on recommendation persuasiveness. The goal of the research is to explore whether there are differences in the persuasiveness of recommendation given by different recommender systems as well as the underlying reasons for the differences. Results of this research may help online store designers and ecommerce participants in selecting online recommender systems so as to improve their products target and advertisement efficiency and effectiveness

E-mail Marketing System Adoption In E-commerce Startups

More and more leading-edge information technology has penetrated the market in conjunction with the arrival of information times. However, there is still a reluctance to adopt some of these best practices. Furthermore, the rate of diffusion has remained below expectations. Take for example the explosive growth of the adoption of e-mail marketing systems in Chinese business-to-consumer e-commerce startups whose target markets are overseas. At the same time there has been a relatively sluggish response to this commercial communication technology in those sectors of e-commerce startups that focus on local consumers and business-to-business segments. This disparity reveals the fact that the acceptance and diffusion of communication innovation are subject to many negative external factors and contexts. To e-mail marketing system providers in Chinese market, it is essential to understand the process and to identify and contrast the distinct barriers perceived by marketers across the types of e-commerce mentioned above in order to discuss the reasons behind adoption inconsistencies. The research in this thesis is conducted through a multi-method interpretive approach. The author uses prior theories in order to draw on a combination to build a new framework. A series of interviews with e-mail advertising system users is conducted and based on the results, the new framework is validated and external negative variables emerged. The nature of these negative factors are then discussed by a group of experts to account for their existence. Finally, different hindrances impacting the adoption across clusters of e-commerce marketers are identified. This thesis posits a theoretical framework, a combination of technology acceptance model and media choice factors. The key factors considered in this new framework include perceived usefulness, perceived ease-of-use, critical mass, perceived accessibility and social influences. This study contributes to the existing literature by creating a new streamlined technology acceptance model that can be used as a theoretical framework to analyze the adoption of the e-mail marketing system. Moreover, it also addresses explicitly the hindrances presenting different barriers that may affect e-commerce startups’ adoption of this technology

The effect of Web interface features on consumer online shopping intentions

Amid the storm of hype over Internet adoption, it is observed that during the past years, organizations have taken considerable interest in eagerly acquiring computer hardware and software to implement electronic commerce (e-commerce) applications mostly to the detriment of human aspects of the information technology (IT) solutions (Freemantle, 2002; Lockwood & Lamp, 2000). Various Internet technologies, mostly the Web, have been implemented to offer online goods and services. Many credible estimates suggest that Internet buying and selling will account for close to $2 trillion of annual economic activity by 2004 (Citrin et al., 2003; Fry, 2000). While the promise of the Internet has become a reality many businesses cannot afford to ignore, use of this medium for communication and information has not been matched by its equivalent use for shopping (Citrin et al., 2003). Most notable are Web design problems that frustrate consumers\u27 online exchange activities (A. T. Kearney, 2000). This study proposes that features incorporated in the design of Web site interfaces can affect consumer online behavioral intentions to purchase and revisit. The study draws upon theories and prior studies in the fields of management, consumer behavior, management information systems, and related disciplines to address the research question of whether and how Web site interface design features determine online consumers\u27 perceptions, attitudes, flow experienced, and their online purchase and revisit intentions. Using data from a sample of 266 online consumers, the “best fit” structural model was selected among three a priori structural models. Results of the study confirmed most of the relationships hypothesized in the research model. It was found that, indeed, different categories of interface features have different influence levels on consumers\u27 perceptions. Whereas motivator factor was significantly related to the perceived informativeness, entertainment, and irritation; hygiene factor indicated significant relationships with only irritation. The study also found statistically significant support for the relationships between most of the perceptual variables and perceived usefulness of the site as well attitude toward the site. The role of flow experienced in determining purchase and revisit intentions received statistically significant support. Overall, the results of this study provide important insights into the online consumer experience, with implications for academic research and e-commerce systems design

The Role of Risk Perception, Trust, Innovativeness and Emotion in Developing Consumer’s Satisfaction in Electronic Mediated Environment (EME)

Services section has been mushrooming over the last decades and now dominates economic activity in most industrialized economies. Drawing on an array of interdisciplinary theoretical underpinnings stemming from trust, risk, trying, emotion, and consumer satisfaction, this paper proposes an integrated model to examine the causal relationships amid these constructs. The analysis of data from 415 Chinese consumers reveals that consumer innovativeness and emotions are very significant antecedents of risk perception of service, trust, service quality, and perceived benefits, which ultimately lead to consumer satisfaction of such services in EME. This comprehensive framework contributes to a foundation for future studies to investigate the roles of risk perception and trust vis-à-vis innovativeness and emotion in such an emerging IT artifact as e-services in EME

Disentangling utilitarian and hedonic consumption behavior in online shopping : An expectation disconfirmation perspective

Increasingly, researchers have come to acknowledge that consumption activities entail both utilitarian and hedonic components. Whereas utilitarian consumption accentuates the achievement of predetermined outcomes typical of cognitive consumer behavior, its hedonic counterpart relates to affective consumer behavior in dealing with the emotive and multisensory aspects of the shopping experience. Consequently, while utilitarian consumption activities appeal to the rationality of customers in inducing their intellectual buy-in of the shopping experience, customers’ corresponding emotional buy-in can only be attained through the presence of hedonic consumption activities. The same can be said for online shopping. Because the online shopping environment is characterized by the existence of an IT-enabled web interface that acts as the focal point of contact between customers and vendors, its design should embed utilitarian and hedonic elements to create a holistic shopping experience. Building on Expectation Disconfirmation Theory (EDT), this study advances a research model that not only delineates between customers’ utilitarian and hedonic expectations for online shopping but also highlights how these expectations can be best served through functional and esthetic performance, respectively. Furthermore, we introduce online shopping experience (i.e., transactional frequency) as a moderator affecting not only how customers form utilitarian and hedonic expectations but also how they evaluate the functional and esthetic performances of e-commerce sites. The model is then empirically validated via an online survey questionnaire administered on a sample of 303 respondents. Theoretical contributions and pragmatic implications to be gleaned from our research model and its subsequent empirical validation are discussed.acceptedVersionPeer reviewe

The effects of website quality on customer satisfaction, use intention, and purchase intention: A comparison among three types of booking channels

There is no doubt that hotel distribution has changed dramatically since the advent of the Internet. Online travel agencies’ (OTAs) and hotel websites have risen to reach a broader range of customers to generate more revenue. The latest in a series of disruptive innovations brought by the Internet, is the sharing economy business. This new wave of peer-to-peer businesses allow customers to make money from underused assets. In the hospitality industry, Airbnb is the best-known example of this phenomenon. The proliferation of online accommodation booking websites has created the need for measurement criteria to evaluate the quality of website. It is important for hoteliers, hosts, and website designers to understand and compare what components comprise website quality and how website quality influences customers’ purchase intention across three types of booking channels: OTA websites, hotel branded websites, and hospitality sharing economy platforms (HSEPs). This study identified what constituted website quality by regressing the perceived ease-of-use, information quality, privacy risk, and website aesthetics against overall website quality. This study also proposed a purchase intention model by adding customer satisfaction and use intention as two mediating variables. Results from 973 online survey responses revealed the conceptualization of website quality varied across three types of booking websites and highlighted the importance of website aesthetics. It was suggested OTA website quality was assessed based on customers’ experience in the information search process, while hotel website quality was evaluated with a focus on the technical adequacy. In the HSEP setting, it was noted that aesthetics was viewed as high-quality. Additionally, this study confirmed the inter-relationships among website quality, customer satisfaction and purchase intention, and mapped the customers’ search-purchase relationships in an online context. The mediating effects of customer satisfaction and use intention were also detected. The contribution of this research is both academic and practical. First, given the rapid growth of sharing economy platforms, this research is among the first studies to investigate the impact of website quality on customers’ intention to purchase on the HSEPs; and provides new insights in understanding this niche segment from customers’ perspectives. Second, this study expands upon the current website quality measurements body of knowledge in a more accurate manner by assessing measurement invariance and regressing overall website quality against each proposed website quality dimension across three booking channels. The third contribution of study is through the inclusion of two types of behavioral intentions (use intention and purchase intention) and the examination of the relationship between these two constructs, which suggest the diminished value of the billboard effect. Lastly, this study helps hospitality industry practitioners better position their own websites by revealing and comparing the influential factors that determine online accommodation bookers’ perceptions towards three types of booking channels

Cues adopted by consumers in examining corporate website favorability: an empirical study of financial institutions in the UK and Russia

The purpose of this paper is to explore, reconcile and depict corporate website favorability (CWF), its antecedents and consequences in the financial setting in the UK and Russia context. To achieve the goals of this study, the research adopted a mixed method research design by using a survey, which is supported by insights from in-depth interviews and focus group discussions. Exploratory factor analysis (EFA), confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) and Structural equation modeling (SEM) were applied to gain insight into the various influences and relationships. The paper develops and empirically validates the framework of CWF antecedents and consequences. The paper indicates essential guidance for cross-functional managers and designers regarding the integrated and holistic utilization of building favorable corporate websites as part of the corporate identity management. The paper adds to the understanding of CWF and discusses the antecedents of CWF by drawing upon the existing literature. Furthermore, it offers possible consequences of CWF and provides a framework for future testing

Seeing Right from Wrong: A Defense of A Posteriori Ethical Intuitionism

This dissertation develops and defends the claim that our epistemic access to moral properties is grounded in a posteriori perceptual experiences. It is divided into two parts. In part I, I present the epistemic access problem for realist moral epistemology, and then argue against several a priori attempts to resolve the problem. I begin by defending an understanding of evolutionary debunking arguments according to which the problem is grounded in a lack of epistemic access to sui generis, non-causal moral facts. Next, I argue that even the most sophisticated versions of reflective equilibrium fall victim to the “garbage in, garbage out” objection which besets coherentist theories more generally. I then survey the most influential other a priori approaches to epistemic access. I conclude that each of them is victim to some variation of the same dilemma: Either they fail to ensure epistemic access, or they succeed by providing epistemic access to the wrong properties—viz. not the robustly normative ones. In part II, I defend a wholly a posteriori moral epistemology according to which our epistemic access to the moral properties is via perceptual experience. I begin with a positive argument that moral properties figure in the contents of perceptual experience, making use of the “method of contrast” found in the philosophy of perception literature. Next, I defend the foundationalist credentials of the perceptualist view in light of the objection that moral experiences will be epistemically dependent on prior background (moral) beliefs. I claim that the epistemic dependence of these moral experiences depends on the nature of influence the prior beliefs have and that the influence is not of the problematic sort. I then discuss the role of emotions in generating moral perceptions. I argue that emotions play an essential role in moral perceptual experiences, but that this is compatible with foundationalism and perceptualism. Finally, I return to the issue of epistemic access, arguing that the perceptual view provides an explanation of our epistemic access to the moral properties