The Influence of Online Atmosphere on Perceived Quality, Satisfaction and Purchase Intention

The purpose of this study is to examine the effect of online store atmosphere elements on consumer responses in terms of perceived product quality, information quality and satisfaction. More specific, an experimental design of online shopping website was established. The experiment was a 3 (website design: text/text plus product picture /text plus human picture) x 2 (website appeal: product describe/storytelling) between-subjects factorial design. The results indicated that (1) participants exposed to different website designs revealed significant different responses on perceived information quality, product and satisfaction. Among three conditions, text plus product picture resulted in more favorable responses than text only design, (2) website appeal did not result in significant responses, (3) text plus product picture with storytelling appeal resulted in the highest level of responses, followed by text plus human picture with storytelling appeal. Results from current study could offer possible direction for the website designer to build an ideal online shopping website with appropriate atmosphere factor.

[1]  James C. Wetherbe,et al.  International Journal of Information Management Examining Online Consumers' Behavior: a Service-oriented View , 2022 .

[2]  Barbara Wixom,et al.  Antecedents of Information and System Quality: An Empirical Examination Within the Context of Data Warehousing , 2005, J. Manag. Inf. Syst..

[3]  R. Oliver,et al.  Effect of Satisfaction and Its Antecedents on Consumer Preference and Intention , 1981 .

[4]  K. Machleit,et al.  Emotional response and shopping satisfaction Moderating effects of shopper attributions , 2001 .

[5]  J. Rossiter,et al.  Store atmosphere: an environmental psychology approach , 1982 .

[6]  Jennifer Edson Escalas,et al.  Narrative Word-Of-Mouth Communication: Exploring Memory and Attitude Effects of Consumer Storytelling , 2004 .

[7]  R. E. Milliman,et al.  Atmospheric Effects on Shopping Behavior: A Review of the Experimental Evidence , 2000 .

[8]  V. Zeithaml Consumer Perceptions of Price, Quality, and Value: A Means-End Model and Synthesis of Evidence: , 1988 .

[9]  Mary Ann Eastlick,et al.  An online prepurchase intentions model: The role of intention to search , 2001 .

[10]  Lenita M. Davis,et al.  Atmospheric qualities of online retailing: A conceptual model and implications , 2001 .

[11]  Letecia N. McKinney Creating a Satisfying Internet Shopping Experience via Atmospheric Variables , 2004 .

[12]  Kent B. Monroe,et al.  Role of Prior Affect and Sensory Cues on Consumers’ Affective and Cognitive Responses and Overall Perceptions of Quality , 1998 .

[13]  A. Parasuraman,et al.  The influence of store environment on quality inferences and store image , 1994 .

[14]  B. Bai,et al.  The impact of website quality on customer satisfaction and purchase intentions : evidence from Chinese online visitors , 2008 .

[15]  Marianne Horppu,et al.  Online satisfaction, trust and loyalty, and the impact of the offline parent brand , 2008 .

[16]  Mary Jo Bitner,et al.  Servicescapes: The Impact of Physical Surroundings on Customers and Employees: , 1992 .

[17]  A. d’Astous,et al.  Irritating Aspects of the Shopping Environment , 2000 .

[18]  Anol Bhattacherjee,et al.  An empirical analysis of the antecedents of electronic commerce service continuance , 2001, Decis. Support Syst..

[19]  Eelko K. R. E. Huizingh,et al.  The content and design of web sites: an empirical study , 2000, Inf. Manag..

[20]  Lenita M. Davis,et al.  Empirical testing of a model of online store atmospherics and shopper responses , 2003 .

[21]  Stephen K. Koernig E‐scapes: The electronic physical environment and service tangibility , 2003 .

[22]  Wen-Hsiung Wu,et al.  Antecedents of Customer Satisfaction on the Internet: An Empirical Study of Online Shopping , 1999 .

[23]  Gek Woo Tan,et al.  An empirical study of Web browsing behaviour: Towards an effective Website design , 2006, Electron. Commer. Res. Appl..

[24]  David M. Szymanski,et al.  E-satisfaction: an initial examination , 2000 .

[25]  William B. Dodds,et al.  Effects of Price, Brand, and Store Information on Buyers’ Product Evaluations , 1991 .

[26]  Ingoo Han,et al.  The impact of the online and offline features on the user acceptance of Internet shopping malls , 2004, Electron. Commer. Res. Appl..

[27]  J. Pallant SPSS survival manual : a step-by-step guide to data analysis using SPSS version 15 , 2007 .