Toward Superior E-Shopping Behavior: Does Website Personality Make a Difference?

摘要

Recent studies suggest that website designs should go beyond mere interface development and recommend that more emphasis be put on website personality characteristics (e.g. Leen et al. 2010). According to Ailawadi and Keller (2004), creating a strong brand personality is an effective way to survive in competitive situations where companies offer similar products and services. This situation is highly relevant to the context of e-retailing, which is getting close to its maturity stage. As Elliott and Speack (2005) state, the expectations of online customers have increased over the last decade; as a result it is harder to satisfy online shoppers in today's society. The current research investigates how website personality could help for this purpose by examining how each dimension of website personality (enthusiasm, pleasantness, genuineness, solidity, and sophistication) could contribute to the formation of the customer's general evaluation of the e-retailer's site. More specifically, we argue that the construct of website personality impacts customers' site attitudes, both directly and indirectly through influencing users' involvement in the site.