| Keywords [eng] |
website aesthetic design, classical aesthetics, expressive aesthetics, emotions, website evaluation, product type, intention to buy, online store, ecommerce, aesthetic type |
| Abstract [eng] |
This thesis aimed to analyze indirect impact of aesthetic design type on purchase intention through emotions and evaluation of the store. Research was based on existing up-to-date e-commerce websites with expressive and classical aesthetic design type, selling utilitarian (coffee) and hedonic (chocolate) products. Four different aesthetic design and product combinations were tested in terms of their impact on emotions, evaluation of trustworthiness and attractiveness of the store and further purchase intention. Interrelations between emotions and evaluation of the store were tested to assess the importance of emotional response in customer behaviour caused by website design. In order to achieve the goal of the research, current study was based on Stimulus – Organism – Response model. To test hypotheses, the 2 x 2 factorial experimental design was conducted, and data was collected using 4 questionnaires. In the experiment, manipulated variables were aesthetic design type (classical and expressive) and type of the product (utilitarian and hedonic). To conduct a statistical analysis of the responses Factorial ANOVA, Linear Regression, Independent Samples T-Test and Pearson Correlation analyses were used in statistical software IBM SPSS. Current research explored impact of aesthetic design and product type on five factors, that can lead to purchase intention. Specific website design aesthetics and product type combinations were found to impact arousal (for expressive design and hedonic product), dominance (for classical design and utilitarian product) and attractiveness (for expressive design and hedonic product). No significant impact on pleasure and trustworthiness was found in case of exact design and product type. In current research, product type (coffee or chocolate) solely did not have any impact on evaluation of emotions. Positive correlation was found between each of emotions (pleasure, arousal, dominance) and website evaluation factors (trustworthiness, attractiveness). Trustworthiness and attractiveness were found to have an impact on purchase intention. The results show that 4 variables – pleasure, dominance, trustworthiness and attractiveness have a direct effect on purchase intention in cases of different aesthetic designs and product types. Only pleasure factor was found to have an impact on purchase intention regardless of website design and product type combination. Current study benefits both academic and business environments trough exploration of different combinations of website design and product type, developing research model with two independent variables and identifying the most influential factors for each aesthetic and product type combination. Findings might be beneficial for marketers and businesses when designing e-commerce websites, specialized in coffee or chocolate retail. |
