An empirical investigation of Web site characteristics, consumer emotional states and on-line shopping behaviors

On-line retailing is rapidly emerging as an alternative mode of shopping and is expected to garner a substantial share of the retail market in future. The low order conversion ratio of Web site visitors and the inability of on-line retailers to attract repeat customers are the main hurdles identified for their lack of success at present. Enhancement of Web site features that facilitate the navigation of the consumer through the purchasing stages is suggested as a means of overcoming these hurdles. The present study proposes the stimulus-organism-response (S-O-R) framework of Mehrabian and Russell [Mehrabian A, Russell JA. An approach to environmental psychology. Cambridge (MA): MIT Press, 1974] as a viable model for the investigation of consumer responses to the Web sites of virtual stores and finds substantial support for its propositions. The paper concludes by offering some directions for Web site design as well as further research in this area.