Don’t Confuse Me! The Effect of Self-Construal on the Relationship between Context Visual Complexity and Enjoyment

Abstract

This study focuses on the complexity of atmospheric cues in online retailing. It tries to answer how context visual complexity of an online retailing Web site affects enjoyment of consumers. Furthermore, it asks whether other intervening variables (i.e., processing fluency and perceived control, self-construal) affect the relationship between visual complexity and enjoyment. The results indicate that an e-retailer Web site is evaluated as more enjoyable when presented in low visual complexity than high visual complexity. Also, mediating roles of processing fluency and perceived control are assured. Furthermore, the findings suggest that in low context visual complexity condition, the respondents with interdependent self-construal experience more perceived control compared to the ones with independent self-construal; in high context visual complexity condition, the respondents primed with independent self-construal experience more perceived control compared to the interdependent ones.