Does Persuasive E-commerce Website Influence Users’ Acceptance and Online Buying Behaviour? The Findings of the Largest E-commerce Website in Malaysia

Abstract

Previous study related to persuasive design of e-commerce websites has been shown to significantly impact online buying behavior. Nevertheless, the importance of persuasive applications has been discussed extensively in website design and e-learning application compared to e-commerce especially from Malaysia context. Thus, this paper discusses the assessment of persuasive design to one of the famous e-commerce website in Malaysia. The assessment was adapted from original Persuasive System Design (PSD) model in combination with Technology Acceptance Model for the user acceptance and website usage level. Online survey link was conveniently emailed to the selected e-commerce users. A total of 200 samples were collected and data were analysed using statistical methods. The results revealed extensive use of persuasive features; particularly features related to dialogue support, credibility support, and primary task support; thus highlighting weaknesses in the system credibility. Further the result indicated significant relationship towards user acceptance and online buying behaviour. The findings also confirmed that gender had insignificant relationship towards user acceptance and online buying behaviour. In conclusion, this study suggests possible ways for enhancing persuasive feature implementation via appropriate contextual examples and explanation.