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Abstract
With the growth of the Internet, both managers and academics are interested in learning how Web design affects consumers overall judgments and contributes to the achievement of e-objectives. This dissertation examines the following research questions: 1) what are the key features of Web design?, 2) what is Web-site interactivity and how is it perceived?, and 3) what are the relationships among Web-design features, perceived interactivity and Web-site effectiveness? Three related studies are presented in this dissertation. Chapter 2 is exploratory and identifies key elements of Web design via depth interviews with Web designers. We identify five design principles and fifteen features that guide effective design. It is proposed that the concept of Web design can be broken down into three dimensions: 1) organization, 2) interaction, and 3) display. In Chapter 3, we examine various definitions of interactivity discussed in the literature of marketing, advertising, and information systems. We create a classification scheme to illustrate different kinds of interactivity and provide consensual definitions of Web-site interactivity. Then, we identify key site features that contribute to interactivity perceptions and subsequently affect site effectiveness. Specifically, we propose a conceptual model with 17 propositions addressing the relationships among Web-design features, perceived interactivity, and site effectiveness. In Chapter 4, we test the third objective under a situation where consumers are chatting with an e-store. Grounded on key theories (i.e., social presence theory, service- waits literature, interactivity theory, social presence theory), our empirical findings suggest that clicks, response time, and message type are important antecedents of interactivity perceptions and site effectiveness. Applying cognitive control theory, we found that this relationship is moderated by different tasks (i.e., search, complaint). We also test competing theories examining the relationship between interactivity perception and site effectiveness. The findings imply that there is positive relationship between interactivity perception and site effectiveness. Managing effective e-encounters becomes a crucial for attracting loyal customers and sustaining competitive advantage. In e-encounters, interface design (e-scape) is crucial success factor. We offer potential understanding of how consumers interact with e-scape and suggest ways to utilize e-encounters to accomplish firms strategic goals.