The Role of Website Visual Design in Predicting Consumers' Purchase Intentions: An Empirical Study in a B2C Online Environment

Abstract

This study aims to investigate the effects of website visual design on purchase intention in B2C environments. This purpose was addressed through the use of The Stimulus-Organism-Response (S-O-R) model, in which a number of hypotheses were drawn. The proposed model in this study was examined was examined through an empirical study involving 532 online shoppers using Structural Equation Modeling (SEM) techniques. The results of this study indicated that consumers' perceptions of website visual design influence website trust and website attitude, which in turn positively boost online purchase intention. The results also revealed a partial mediating effect of website trust and attitude in the relationship between website visual design and purchase intention. Theoretical and practical implications of these findings are discussed in the paper.