Aesthetic design of e-commerce web pages – Webpage Complexity, Order and preference

This study was conducted to understand the perceptual structure of e-commerce webpage visual aesthetics and to provide insight into how physical design features of web pages influence users’ aesthetic perception of and preference for web pages. Drawing on the environmental aesthetics, human–computer interaction, and psychology literature, we identify webpage visual Complexity and Order as two salient webpage aesthetic features and investigate the moderating role of the e-commerce customer’s motivational orientation on his/her preference for web aesthetic features. Two independent samples were recruited and presented with images of 24 homepages varying across six levels of Complexity and four levels of Order. The results of this study suggested significant influences of webpage Complexity and Order on customer’s preference for the web pages and a moderating effect of customer’s shopping motivational orientation on his/her preference for webpage Complexity. However, no moderating effect of motivational orientation was found on the preference for webpage Order.

► We identify webpage visual Complexity and Order as two salient webpage aesthetic features.
► We examine the moderating role of motivational orientation on preference for web aesthetic features.
► Webpage Complexity and Order influence preference for web pages.
► There is a moderating effect of motivational orientation on preference for webpage Complexity.
► There is no moderating effect of motivational orientation on preference for webpage Order.