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

摘要

A review of previous research about visual aesthetics revealed inconsistencies andcontradicting 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 ofthis thesis was to develop a new structural framework of the dimensions of visual websiteaesthetics based on a review of previous research findings and theories. Thisconceptualisation 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 appealrefers to how a website relates to other websites in the same category. A website hasfunctional appeal when consumers easily can navigate and use the website, and harmonicappeal 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’sdegree of customisation and personalisation, as well as the level of two-way-communicationand interaction.The pre-test of the dimensions revealed a possibility for intercorrelation among them, likelycaused by the use of different termination in previous research. However, due to a smallsample and a simple study design, the pre-test was not considered definite enough tooverwrite previous validated research results. The dimensions were subject to further testingthrough 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 thisintercorrelation, two of the categories, appropriate appeal and functional appel, wereremoved from the sample. This does not necessarily imply that the composition of thedimensions should be moderated, as each are firmly grounded on findings from previousresearch. However, it does imply that there are other variables that could influence theimportance of visual aesthetics, for instance the type of service the website provides or theamount of competitors the website has. Identifying these variables can provide furtherinsight into visual website aesthetics. Visual aesthetics was hypothesised to influence both the consumers’ trust in the website andtheir intention to return to the website. In addition, trust was hypothesised to positivelyinfluence consumers’ intentions to return, thereby suggesting that trust mediates therelationship between visual aesthetics and intention. The second aim of this thesis wastherefore to explore these relationships, in an effort to highlight the effect that visualaesthetics 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 personalappeal had a significant effect on the trusting beliefs. However, no significant relationshipswere found between trust in the website and intention to revisit. Still, these findings confirmthe impact visual aesthetics can have on vital aspects of the online environment, therebyhighlighting it as an important focus area for managers and decision makers.