Electronic store design and consumer choice: an empirical study

Web based electronic stores have become more and more popular. However, there are not many guidelines nor theories showing what features of a store would work and why. The paper develops a set of functional guidelines for designing electronic stores and classifies them into three categories: motivational, hygiene, and media richness factors. An empirical study was conducted to evaluate the relative effect of these factors. The results show that the store design does have an effect on consumer purchase decision. A two-factor theory is plausible: hygiene factors are the major concern when consumers decide whether to shop electronically, while motivational factors play a key role when consumers choose among different electronic stores. Media richness factors are, in general, less important. The implication of the findings is that, for a Web store to beat its electronic competitors, providing good transactional support is the key. If they would like to attract customers from traditional stores, special attention must be paid to the hygiene factors.