Visual website aesthetics : the relationship between dimensions of visual website aesthetics, website trust and consumers' intention to visit the website

A review of previous research about visual aesthetics revealed inconsistencies and contradicting views. Due to the important role of visual aesthetics in the online environment, a more thorough understanding of the construct was beneficial. Therefore, the first aim of this thesis was to develop a new structural framework of the dimensions of visual website aesthetics based on a review of previous research findings and theories. This conceptualisation process revealed that visual aesthetics can be explained by six dimensions, each of which are defined, named, pre-tested and studied. The six dimensions were named affective appeal, appropriate appeal, functional appeal, harmonic appeal, original appeal and personal appeal. Affective appeal refers to consumers’ emotions towards the website and their mood at the time of interaction. Appropriate appeal refers to how a website relates to other websites in the same category. A website has functional appeal when consumers easily can navigate and use the website, and harmonic appeal refers to the websites overall balance, attractiveness, clean design and symmetry. Original appeal relates to the novelty of a website and personal appeal refers to a website’s degree of customisation and personalisation, as well as the level of two-way-communication and interaction. The pre-test of the dimensions revealed a possibility for intercorrelation among them, likely caused by the use of different termination in previous research. However, due to a small sample and a simple study design, the pre-test was not considered definite enough to overwrite previous validated research results. The dimensions were subject to further testing through an online survey. An analysis of the results using structural equation modelling (SEM) confirmed that some of the defined dimensions were highly correlated. Based on this intercorrelation, two of the categories, appropriate appeal and functional appel, were removed from the sample. This does not necessarily imply that the composition of the dimensions should be moderated, as each are firmly grounded on findings from previous research. However, it does imply that there are other variables that could influence the importance of visual aesthetics, for instance the type of service the website provides or the amount of competitors the website has. Identifying these variables can provide further insight into visual website aesthetics. Visual aesthetics was hypothesised to influence both the consumers’ trust in the website and their intention to return to the website. In addition, trust was hypothesised to positively influence consumers’ intentions to return, thereby suggesting that trust mediates the relationship between visual aesthetics and intention. The second aim of this thesis was therefore to explore these relationships, in an effort to highlight the effect that visual aesthetics has on the online environment. The survey results revealed that visual aesthetics does have a positive effect on consumers’ intention to revisit, as affective appeal was found to have an effect on intention. In addition, visual aesthetics was found to have an effect on trust, as both functional appeal and personal appeal had a significant effect on the trusting beliefs. However, no significant relationships were found between trust in the website and intention to revisit. Still, these findings confirm the impact visual aesthetics can have on vital aspects of the online environment, thereby highlighting it as an important focus area for managers and decision makers.nhhma

Visual website aesthetics : the relationship between dimensions of visual website aesthetics, website trust and consumers' intention to visit the website

A review of previous research about visual aesthetics revealed inconsistencies and contradicting views. Due to the important role of visual aesthetics in the online environment, a more thorough understanding of the construct was beneficial. Therefore, the first aim of this thesis was to develop a new structural framework of the dimensions of visual website aesthetics based on a review of previous research findings and theories. This conceptualisation process revealed that visual aesthetics can be explained by six dimensions, each of which are defined, named, pre-tested and studied. The six dimensions were named affective appeal, appropriate appeal, functional appeal, harmonic appeal, original appeal and personal appeal. Affective appeal refers to consumers’ emotions towards the website and their mood at the time of interaction. Appropriate appeal refers to how a website relates to other websites in the same category. A website has functional appeal when consumers easily can navigate and use the website, and harmonic appeal refers to the websites overall balance, attractiveness, clean design and symmetry. Original appeal relates to the novelty of a website and personal appeal refers to a website’s degree of customisation and personalisation, as well as the level of two-way-communication and interaction. The pre-test of the dimensions revealed a possibility for intercorrelation among them, likely caused by the use of different termination in previous research. However, due to a small sample and a simple study design, the pre-test was not considered definite enough to overwrite previous validated research results. The dimensions were subject to further testing through an online survey. An analysis of the results using structural equation modelling (SEM) confirmed that some of the defined dimensions were highly correlated. Based on this intercorrelation, two of the categories, appropriate appeal and functional appel, were removed from the sample. This does not necessarily imply that the composition of the dimensions should be moderated, as each are firmly grounded on findings from previous research. However, it does imply that there are other variables that could influence the importance of visual aesthetics, for instance the type of service the website provides or the amount of competitors the website has. Identifying these variables can provide further insight into visual website aesthetics. Visual aesthetics was hypothesised to influence both the consumers’ trust in the website and their intention to return to the website. In addition, trust was hypothesised to positively influence consumers’ intentions to return, thereby suggesting that trust mediates the relationship between visual aesthetics and intention. The second aim of this thesis was therefore to explore these relationships, in an effort to highlight the effect that visual aesthetics has on the online environment. The survey results revealed that visual aesthetics does have a positive effect on consumers’ intention to revisit, as affective appeal was found to have an effect on intention. In addition, visual aesthetics was found to have an effect on trust, as both functional appeal and personal appeal had a significant effect on the trusting beliefs. However, no significant relationships were found between trust in the website and intention to revisit. Still, these findings confirm the impact visual aesthetics can have on vital aspects of the online environment, thereby highlighting it as an important focus area for managers and decision makers.nhhma

Towards an understanding of corporate web identity

No abstract available

Dimensions of web site credibility and their relation to active trust and behavioural impact

This paper discusses two trends that threaten to undermine the effectiveness of online social marketing interventions: growing mistrust and competition. As a solution, this paper examines the relationships between Web site credibility, target audiences’ active trust and behaviour. Using structural equation modelling to evaluate two credibility models, this study concludes that Web site credibility is best considered a three-dimensional construct composed of expertise, trustworthiness and visual appeal, and that trust plays a partial mediating role between Web site credibility and behavioural impacts. The paper examines theoretical implications of conceptualizing Web sites according to a human credibility model, and factoring trust into Internet-based behavioural change interventions. Practical guidelines suggest ways to address these findings when planning online social marketing interventions

Bloomer : a magazine promoting sustainable fashion

"Seasons” in the fashion world have little to do with temperature. Fashion’s increasingly rapid turnover is meant to boost producers’ profits and respond to consumers’ desire for novelty. On the down side, “fast fashion” comes with grave environmental and social costs. Bloomer is a magazine and an online platform that aims to slow down the conversation around fashion, and offer a platform for reflection and appreciation. In a throwaway culture, what does it mean when someone rebels by keeping and cherishing a garment for years? What makes people value some garments more than others? Is it the labor value in its creation, or sentimental value gained through lived experience, or the status value in its brand identity? The aura of a garment is a complex intersection of market forces, cultural ideals, and metaphysical subtleties. Rather than scolding or guilting people into adopting more sustainable wardrobes, Bloomer takes a positive approach to sustainability by featuring glamorous Austinites wearing their own clothes, sharing their stories of sustainable consumption, and promoting local thrift shops and sources of high-quality “slow fashion.” The first issue of Bloomer features a series of photos documenting how a variety of people practice sustainable fashion. Using the visual and written language of advertising and fashion, is it possible to cultivate an appreciation for the garments we already own, and for sustainable wardrobe practices? The goal of Bloomer as a magazine about sustainable fashion is to show pictures and tell stories of people who have unique and meaningful relationships with their clothes, and encourage the rest of us to ask ourselves “What is my relationship with my clothes?”Desig

Fearsquare: hacking open crime data to critique, jam and subvert the 'aesthetic of danger'

We present a critical evaluation of a locative media application, Fearsquare, which provocatively invites users to engage with personally contextualized risk information drawn from the UK open data crime maps cross-referenced with geo-located user check-ins on Foursquare. Our analysis of user data and a corpus of #Fearsquare discourse on Twitter revealed three cogent appraisals ('Affect', 'Technical' and 'Critical') reflecting the salient associations and aesthetics that were made between different components of the application and interwoven issues of technology, risk, danger, emotion by users. We discuss how the varying strength and cogency of these public responses to Fearsquare call for a broader imagining and analysis of how risk and danger are interpreted; and conclude how our findings reveal important challenges for researchers and designers wishing to engage in projects that involve the computer-mediated communication of risk

The play's the thing

For very understandable reasons phenomenological approaches predominate in the field of sensory urbanism. This paper does not seek to add to that particular discourse. Rather it takes Rorty’s postmodernized Pragmatism as its starting point and develops a position on the role of multi-modal design representation in the design process as a means of admitting many voices and managing multidisciplinary collaboration. This paper will interrogate some of the concepts underpinning the Sensory Urbanism project to help define the scope of interest in multi-modal representations. It will then explore a range of techniques and approaches developed by artists and designers during the past fifty years or so and comment on how they might inform the question of multi-modal representation. In conclusion I will argue that we should develop a heterogeneous tool kit that adopts, adapts and re-invents existing methods because this will better serve our purposes during the exploratory phase(s) of any design project that deals with complexity

Critical review of the e-loyalty literature: a purchase-centred framework

Over the last few years, the concept of online loyalty has been examined extensively in the literature, and it remains a topic of constant inquiry for both academics and marketing managers. The tremendous development of the Internet for both marketing and e-commerce settings, in conjunction with the growing desire of consumers to purchase online, has promoted two main outcomes: (a) increasing numbers of Business-to-Customer companies running businesses online and (b) the development of a variety of different e-loyalty research models. However, current research lacks a systematic review of the literature that provides a general conceptual framework on e-loyalty, which would help managers to understand their customers better, to take advantage of industry-related factors, and to improve their service quality. The present study is an attempt to critically synthesize results from multiple empirical studies on e-loyalty. Our findings illustrate that 62 instruments for measuring e-loyalty are currently in use, influenced predominantly by Zeithaml et al. (J Marketing. 1996;60(2):31-46) and Oliver (1997; Satisfaction: a behavioral perspective on the consumer. New York: McGraw Hill). Additionally, we propose a new general conceptual framework, which leads to antecedents dividing e-loyalty on the basis of the action of purchase into pre-purchase, during-purchase and after-purchase factors. To conclude, a number of managerial implementations are suggested in order to help marketing managers increase their customers’ e-loyalty by making crucial changes in each purchase stage

The play's the thing

For very understandable reasons phenomenological approaches predominate in the field of sensory urbanism. This paper does not seek to add to that particular discourse. Rather it takes Rorty’s postmodernized Pragmatism as its starting point and develops a position on the role of multi-modal design representation in the design process as a means of admitting many voices and managing multidisciplinary collaboration. This paper will interrogate some of the concepts underpinning the Sensory Urbanism project to help define the scope of interest in multi-modal representations. It will then explore a range of techniques and approaches developed by artists and designers during the past fifty years or so and comment on how they might inform the question of multi-modal representation. In conclusion I will argue that we should develop a heterogeneous tool kit that adopts, adapts and re-invents existing methods because this will better serve our purposes during the exploratory phase(s) of any design project that deals with complexity