Website Attitude Research Articles

Predicting purchase intention for private sale sites

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to explore the impacts of several consumer characteristics (fashion leadership, impulse buying, bargain shopping), web site attitude, and visit frequency on intention to purchase from a private sale site.Design/methodology/approachData were collected from 164 female respondents who were members of at least one private sale site. The sample was selected mainly by using a snowball sampling technique which relied on chain referrals to recruit eligible participants. Factor analysis results suggested that fashion leadership consisted of two dimensions: fashion opinion leadership and fashion innovativeness. Regression analysis was conducted to determine how strongly purchase intention for private sale sites was predicted by fashion opinion leadership, fashion innovativeness, impulse buying, bargain shopping, web site attitude, and visit frequency.FindingsRegression results showed that ease of use was the only dimension of web site attitude that significantly predicted purchase intention. Impulse buying and bargain shopping also significantly influenced purchase intention. Implications for future research and limitations were also discussed.Originality/valueAs private sale sites continue to grow in popularity, insight into the psychology and behaviors of shoppers at these sites has become more important. There has been, however, no published research that examines what motivates consumers to purchase from private sale sites.

Cultivating Consumer Relationships Through Hypertext and Hypermedia Websites

This study extends cognitive flexibility theory using a structural equation model (SEM) to determine whether a hypermedia and hypertext website shapes cognition, attitude, and behavior within the context of parents enrolling their children into a National Football League (NFL) youth football program after browsing through the NFL Rush website. SEM results indicate an appropriate model fit to the data, with a root mean square error of approximation of 0.053, comparative fit index of 0.98, nonnormed fit index of 0.97, and normed fit index of 0.95. This suggests that this SEM model has implications for creating a higher likelihood to cultivate long-term profitable relationships from a hypertext and hypermedia marketing strategy.

Managing web site performance taking account of the contingency role of branding in multi‐channel retailing

PurposeThe paper aims to examine the role of service branding and web site performances in a multi‐channel retail context by studying consumers who have on‐going relationships with retailers. Focus is placed on understanding perceptions of image congruency of the retail service brand across physical and electronic channels, together with web site performance perceptions influencing web site attitudes. The effects of web site attitudes on behavioural loyalty are also investigated.Design/methodology/approachData were gathered via an online survey from 196 consumers and analysed using structural equation modelling via PLS analysis.FindingsThe findings shed light on the importance of cross‐channel service brand management together with managing critical web site service interface capabilities in the retail environment to engender favourable web site attitudes and customer loyalty outcomes.Practical implicationsMulti‐channel retailers should carefully consider the degree to which consumers perceive the web site and its performance to be congruous with the retailer's brand image which appears to influence how information is subsequently processed and impacts customer loyalty behavior.Originality/valueThe findings are of value to multi‐channel retail practitioners and focus on how consumers with an ongoing relationship with the retailer integrate offline and online brand images in the formation of web site attitudes. In addition, the study examines both cognitive and hedonic elements of web site performance in the research framework.

Structural effects of cognitive and affective reponses to web advertisements, website and brand attitudes, and purchase intentions: The case of casual-dining restaurants

This study investigates the structural relationships among responses to website advertisements, website attitudes, brand attitudes, and purchase intentions in the case of web advertisements for casual-dining restaurants. Responses toward advertising (Rad) factors were categorized as cognitive responses and affective responses. The SEM model in LISREL was used to examine the interrelationships among the proposed hypothesized constructs. Several empirical results were obtained. First, Rad had a positive effect on website attitudes. Second, website attitudes had a positive effect on brand attitudes. Third, brand attitudes had a positive effect on purchase intentions. Finally, some discussion and implications of the study are provided.

A proposed model of online consumer behavior: Assessing the role of gender

This research examined the influence of Internet experience and web atmospherics on consumer online behavior. It developed a model of web navigation behavior where these antecedent variables drove website exploratory behavior and website involvement, which in turn, drove site attitudes and pre-purchase evaluations. These relationships were tested and confirmed in the context of a pharmaceutical website. Further, men and women differed in web navigation behavior, with men engaging in less exploratory behavior and developing less website involvement than women. However, across the two sexes, entertainment, challenge, and effectiveness of information content were the key drivers of website attitudes. The findings provide several guidelines for online communication strategy.

The Effectiveness of Cigarette Warning Label Threats on Nonsmoking Adolescents

This experiment investigated three levels of threat in cigarette warning labels: no warning/text warning only/text + graphic warning. Teenagers in Canada and the US were exposed to one of these labels in a web‐surfing environment. Participants surfed a website sponsored by a familiar cigarette brand or an unfamiliar cigarette brand. After surfing, three dependent measures were assessed: brand attitude, website attitude, and smoking intent. Results indicated that the graphic label was the most effective for Canadian participants, leading to negative attitudes and lower smoking intentions, but the graphic label was least effective at lowering smoking intentions for US participants.

Congruity's role in website attitude formation

Retailers with physical stores that also have an online presence (one form of multi-channel retailers) have unique challenges. Consumers bringing their prior attitudes towards the retailer to the site is one such challenge. However, researchers studying website issues focus only on consumers' evaluations of website characteristics, failing to account for how prior attitudes towards the firm and congruity of the website with the retailer's physical store image might affect information processing and attitude formation. The current study draws on categorization theory, by proposing that increases in the congruity between the retailer's known offline and their online presence should decrease the emphasis new visitors place on website characteristics (a piecemeal process) and increase the influence of their prior attitudes towards the firm (an attitude transfer process). Results support predictions and provide guidance for multi-channel retailers.

Recruitment on the Net: How Do Organizational Web Site Characteristics Influence Applicant Attraction?

The use of organizational web sites for recruitment has become increasingly common. Despite their widespread growth, however, little is known about how these web sites influence recruitment outcomes. In the current paper, we present a model that explicates how job seekers interact with and respond to web site characteristics to predict various job seeker attitudes and behaviors. We suggest that job seekers are initially affected by the facade of a web site, comprised of the web site’s aesthetic and playfulness features. Coupled with system features of the web site, these initial affective reactions then influence perceptions of the usability of the web site. Perceptions of usability and affective reactions work through two key mediating constructs, job seeker search behavior and web site attitude, to ultimately predict applicant attraction. Throughout the paper we present a series of testable propositions that should serve to guide future research.