Communications of the ACM
Prettier Websites Make For More Trusting Web Surfers, Study Finds
University of Melbourne professor Brent Coker
Photo courtesy of University of Melbourne
More visually appealing Web sites have led to an increase in online consumer trust, says University of Melbourne professor Brent Coker.
"With Web sites becoming increasingly attractive and including more trimmings, this creates a greater feeling of trustworthiness and professionalism in online consumers," Coker says.
He developed a formula to track patterns and trends in online behaviors and purchasing, called Webreep, and began using it to map the Internet in 2007. The formula creates a score for 130 Web site industries based on visual appeal, trustworthiness, ease of use, search quality, information quality, information relevancy, and load speed.
Coker notes that pretty Web sites will not be enough to keep online shoppers from defecting to other sites if they do not have interesting information. He also found that people are sharing links and recommending sites largely due to social networking sites, and are developing relationships with the Internet similar to the way we build connections with other people.
"Compared to five years ago, we are more trusting of attractive Web sites, less tolerant of Web sites that have irrelevant information, and more likely to introduce ourselves to Web sites that are new," Coker says.
From University of Melbourne
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