Journal of Retailing 87 (1, 2011) 46–58

Aesthetics and the online shopping environment: Understanding

consumer responses
Yong Jian Wang a,∗ , Michael S. Minor b,1 , Jie Wei c,2
a College of Business, Ohio University, Copeland Hall 534, Athens, OH 45701, United States
b College of Business Administration, The University of Texas-Pan American, 1201 West University Drive, Edinburg, TX 78539, United States
c NUS Business School, National University of Singapore, 1 Business Link Level 6 BIZ 2 Building, Singapore 117592, Singapore

Abstract
As the e-tail industry continues to grow with increasing competition witnessed, the study of how to entice and retain online customers has never
been as important as at present. Our hierarchical model examines how the two dimensions of web aesthetics, aesthetic formality and aesthetic appeal,
influence online consumers’ psychological reactions, including perceived service quality, satisfaction, and arousal, and how these psychological
changes, in turn, influence online consumers’ conative tendencies. The results indicate: (1) consumers’ cognitive, affective, and conative outcomes
can be significantly evoked by aesthetic stimuli; (2) the two dimensions of web aesthetics exhibit dissimilar patterns of influences; and (3) purchase
task significantly moderates consumers’ responses in terms of magnitude and direction. The study provides practical guidelines for properly
manipulating the two dimensions of web aesthetics based on consumers’ motivational orientations.
© 2010 New York University. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Keywords: e-tail; Web aesthetics; Satisfaction; Online service quality; Online consumer behavior; Environmental psychology

Introduction because of the stimulation effect of interesting websites (Ganesh

As part of the e-tail strategy, the issue of e-store design has
emerged as a major issue in online retailing. As Grewal and
Levy (2007) pointed out, the impact of web design on online
consumer behavior is a potential area in retailing research due
to the lack of in-depth investigation. Currently, many e-tailers
adopted advanced web technologies, such as customized solu-
tions and computer-aided analytical tools, to improve online
service in order to win the ultimate competition. However, from a
marketing perspective, offering all the functional attributes may
not be enough for the creation of a consumer-oriented online
shopping environment. Past research in the e-tail field has rec-
ognized the importance of attractive web design in enhancing
shoppers’ online experience (Ganesh et al. 2010; Wolfinbarger
and Gilly 2003). Noticeably, recent findings revealed that many
web surfers are motivated to conduct online shopping activities
∗ Corresponding author. Tel.: +1 740 597 1987; fax: +1 740 597 2150.
E-mail addresses: wangy@ohio.edu (Y.J. Wang),
msminor@hotmail.com (M.S. Minor), jwei@nus.edu.sg (J. Wei).
1 Tel.: +1 956 316 7135; fax: +1 956 381 2867.
2 Tel.: +65 6516 4418; fax: +65 6777 1296.
et al. 2010). Given the fact that the website is the primary
interface for an e-tailer during consumers’ service encounter,
consumers may not be interested in continuing their online nav-
igation if they dislike the interface, although this e-tailer can
actually offer benefits such as cheaper merchandise, analyti-
cal assistance, and faster delivery. If we realize the degree to
which shoppers care about the shopping environment and how
the store atmospherics can significantly influence purchase deci-
sions (e.g., Bitner 1992; Donovan et al. 1994; Spies, Hesse, and
Loesch 1997), we believe that how to create an aesthetic website
that can let consumers enjoy their online shopping environment
is a critical research question in retailing. In this study, we focus
on such an aesthetic approach to investigating e-tail website
design and consumer responses.
According to the American Heritage Dictionary of English
Language, aesthetics is “a conception of what is artistically valid
or beautiful”. The concept of aesthetics is also referred to as “the
philosophy of beauty” in the literature of arts (Dickie 1997). In
an online context, web aesthetics may represent how different
elements and attributes are combined to yield an impression of
beauty.
There are at least three reasons for the investigation of con-
sumer responses to web aesthetics. First, previous marketing

0022-4359/$ – see front matter © 2010 New York University. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
doi:10.1016/j.jretai.2010.09.002
 Y.J. Wang et al. / Journal of Retailing 87 (1, 2011) 46–58
research has recognized the fundamental trend of consumers’
online consumption style. The web is not merely used for util-
itarian purposes, such as looking for information and cheaper
merchandise; it is increasingly becoming a place for recreational
and entertaining experiences that can fulfill consumers’ hedo-
nic needs (Childers et al. 2001; Ganesh et al. 2010; Hartman
et al. 2006). Thus, an artistically beautiful website that pleases
eyes may be considered superior to other less-appealing sites.
Investigation of web aesthetics will contribute to a deeper
inquiry into the hedonic needs of online consumers. Second,
a parsimonious measure of overall atmospherics has not been
well discussed, although previous studies suggested a signifi-
cant influence of overall atmospherics on consumers’ shopping
behavior (e.g., Donovan et al. 1994; Eroglu, Machleit, and Davis
2001; Hui, Dube, and Chebat 1997; Puccinelli et al. 2009).
Since atmospheric stimuli consist of a variety of elements, a
study of consumer responses to web aesthetics should examine
whether and how different web elements, attributes, and tools, in
combination, impact consumers’ psychological and behavioral
reactions. Going beyond the investigation of the functionality of
individual atmospheric stimulus, web aesthetics offers a holistic
picture on the online shopping environment. Third, intellectual
knowledge on web aesthetics has been limited to informa-
tion system users, lacking application to consumers. Previous
research on human–computer interaction has generated substan-
tial findings on the dimensionality, consistency, and fidelity of
web aesthetics (e.g., Park, Choi, and Kim 2004; Schenkman and
Jonsson 2000; Tractinsky 2004; Tractinsky et al. 2006). But the
significance of web aesthetics to online consumers and the role
of web aesthetics in consumers’ purchase/repurchase intentions,
loyalty behavior, and service switching behavior remain unclear.
Thus, research efforts on consumer responses to web aesthetics
seem essential.
The purpose of the study is to investigate online consumers’
cognitive, affective, and conative responses to web aesthetics,
taking into consideration consumers’ motivational orientations.
After the introduction, the study focuses on the development of
a research framework with key research hypotheses. The study
continues with research methodology and analysis of results.
On the basis of the results, discussion of findings, research
limitations, and recommendations for future research are
provided.
Research framework and hypotheses
Previous research posited a bi-dimensional character of web
aesthetics. Schenkman and Jonsson (2000) revealed that visual
aesthetics of websites has two dimensions, aesthetic formality
and aesthetic appeal. Aesthetic formality refers to the order,
legibility, and simplicity of a website, while aesthetic appeal
refers to the overall impressiveness of a website, which is
closely tied to the hedonic quality of the website. Consistent
with the findings of Schenkman and Jonsson (2000), Lavie
and Tractinsky (2004) found two similar dimensions of web
aesthetics. These two dimensions were respectively named clas-
sical aesthetics and expressive aesthetics. Classical aesthetics
refers to the organization, clearness, and symmetricity of a web-
47
Stimulus Organism Response
Affective:
Conative:
Perceived
Web
Aesthetics: Satisfaction
Purchase
Purchase Purchase
Task Task
Aesthetic
Formality
Arousal Consultation
Aesthetic
Appeal
Search on
Other
Cognitive:
Websites
Online
Service
Re-visit
Quality
Fig. 1. Research framework of consumer responses to web aesthetics.
site, and is akin to the aesthetic formality dimension, while
expressive aesthetics refers to the creativeness, fascination,
and originality of a website, and corresponds to the aesthetic
appeal dimension. The findings indicate that one dimension
of web aesthetics is related to the utilitarian, economic, and
practical properties of design, whereas the other dimension is
reflected by the hedonic, attractive, and recreational attributes of
design.
Based on the Stimulus-Organism-Response (S-O-R) frame-
work (Mehrabian and Russell 1974), this study proposes a
research framework to examine online consumers’ hierarchi-
cal responses to web aesthetics. Taking into consideration the
moderating role of purchase task, this study attempts to exam-
ine how the two dimensions of web aesthetics influence online
consumers’ affective changes (satisfaction and arousal) and cog-
nitive reaction (perceived online service quality); and further,
how these psychological changes, in turn, influence online con-
sumers’ conative inclinations, including purchase, consultation,
search, and re-visit. The research framework is presented in
Fig. 1.
Since consumer satisfaction is demonstrated by positive
emotions (pleasure) during a disconfirmation of expectations
(Dawson, Bloch, and Ridgway 1990; Spreng, MacKenzie, and
Olshavsky 1996), we turn to the appraisal theory of emo-
tions to explain the effects of aesthetic formality and aesthetic
appeal on satisfaction under task-oriented and task-free cir-
cumstances. According to appraisal theory of emotions (Frijda
1994), positive emotions can be a result of the match between
environmental stimuli and the goal of an individual. A mis-
match may result in negative emotions. For example, a dark
environment can evoke positive emotions when an individ-
ual wants to sleep and negative emotions when he or she
wants to read. The theory also contends that in other condi-
tions in which an individual does not possess a goal, positive
emotions are a result of the hedonic property of environ-
mental stimuli, which are intrinsically preferred by human
beings.
48 Y.J. Wang et al. / Journal of Retailing 87 (1, 2011) 46–58
The aesthetic formality dimension contains the patterns in
which the details of information are presented in the online shop-
ping environment. The structure of information is related to the
distribution of attribute levels across the products listed (Lurie
2004). The organization, legibility, and clearness of the task-
relevant content determine the readability of the websites (Hall
and Hanna 2004), and are directly relevant to the achievement of
the online shopping goals (Eroglu et al. 2001). Since consumers
with online purchase tasks have to exploit online information
about products and services to complete the purchase task in
a timely manner, a well-organized, legible, and easy-to-follow
web environment facilitates consumers’ information processing
and goal-attainment. In light of the appraisal theory of emotions,
a match between high aesthetic formality and the purchase task
results in consumer satisfaction. Congruent with the argument,
Szymanski and Hise (2000) found that online consumers with
a purchase task are more satisfied with a website if the website
is more organized. On the other hand, when online consumers
browse an e-tail website without any purchase task, the pres-
ence of an organized, legible, and easy-to-follow website may
also lead to consumers’ positive emotions because the prefer-
ence for order and certainty can be attributed to intrinsic human
needs (Maslow 1970). Recent empirical studies on the online
environment also support a positive effect of aesthetic formal-
ity on the satisfaction by revealing that perceived complexity
of a website has a negative impact on pleasure (e.g., Huang
2003; Vilnai-Yavetz and Rafaeli 2006). Thus, whether online
consumers pursue purchase tasks or not, a positive effect of a
website’s aesthetic formality on online consumers’ satisfaction
can be expected.
In view of the appraisal theory of emotions, higher aes-
thetic appeal of a website, the hedonic property of the website,
may result in higher pleasure for those who browse the website
with no purchase task, because art and aesthetic advancement
can be linked to intrinsic human preference (Maslow 1970). In
Lindgaard and Dudek’s (2003) study, satisfaction of online view-
ers comes from highly appealing websites, regardless of whether
the websites are useful to them. By recruiting participants with-
out a concrete online task, Van der Heijden (2003) also found
that online visual attractiveness, which is defined as the degree
to which a person believes that a website is aesthetically appeal-
ing to the eyes, is positively associated with users’ enjoyment.
However, in the study of store atmosphere, Kaltcheva and Weitz
(2006) suggested that atmospheric stimuli that impede the shop-
ping goal evoke negative emotions. In Kaltcheva and Weitz’s
(2006) study, a store’s appealing atmospherics, such as satu-
rated color or music, decrease the pleasure of shoppers engaged
in completing their shopping tasks, though these appealing ele-
ments increase the pleasure of recreational shoppers. In view
of the appraisal theory of emotions, the negative emotions of
shoppers result from the mismatch of the stimuli and their shop-
ping goal, because the appealing atmospherics are irrelevant
to the shopping task and distract information processing and
decision making. Previous findings lead us to expect that task-
oriented consumers may feel unpleasant because the appealing
atmospherics require a higher degree of effort to complete the
shopping tasks, while task-free consumers may feel pleasant
because their experience is enriched by the highly appealing
atmospherics.
H1a. Regardless of purchase tasks are pursued or not, aesthetic
formality of websites increases satisfaction.
H1b. When purchase tasks are pursued (vs. not pursued), aes-
thetic appeal of websites decreases (vs. increases) satisfaction.
Berlyne’s (1960) behaviorism paradigm has been used to
describe the appreciators’ arousal in response to a visual work
of art. An increase in arousal results from the visual stimuli that
provoke temporary conflict in the memory. To quantitatively
explain arousal, Mehrabian and Russell (1974) posited that the
amount of arousal in an environment is positively related to the
information rate received by an individual, and the information
rate is higher when the object presented is novel, surprising, or
complex. Since higher complexity indicates lower aesthetic for-
mality of a website and higher novelty reflects higher aesthetic
appeal, higher arousal tends to be generated in response to an e-
tail website with lower aesthetic formality and higher aesthetic
appeal.
H2a. Regardless of whether purchase tasks are pursued or not,
aesthetic formality of websites decreases arousal.
H2b. Regardless of whether purchase tasks are pursued or not,
aesthetic appeal of websites increases arousal.
A large number of empirical studies in marketing over-
whelmingly supported a positive relationship between positive
emotion and purchase in both store and online environments
(e.g., Donovan et al. 1994; Menon and Kahn 2002; Sherman,
Mathur, and Smith 1997; Spies et al. 1997). Remarkably,
the positive emotions elicited by atmospheric stimuli may
lead to unplanned purchase by consumers who do not pur-
sue any purchase task at the time of service encounter (Beatty
and Ferrell 1998). Therefore, we expect that, whether con-
sumers pursue purchase tasks or not, satisfaction with web
aesthetics will have a positive impact on the propensity to
purchase.
In both store and online environments, emotional changes
have been found to influence consumers’ actions other than
purchase. These actions include communicating and interacting
with other consumers, browsing related sites and product cat-
egories, and participating in promotion activities (Menon and
Kahn 2002; Ridgway, Dawson, and Bloch 1989). Perceptual
control theory (Hershberger 1989) helps to explain how con-
sumer satisfaction with an environment influences their conative
tendencies under different motivational orientations. The expla-
nation of goal-directed volitional behavior may describe the
conative change of consumers who pursue purchase tasks during
the encounter with environmental stimuli (e.g., web aesthet-
ics). Perceptual control theory posits that, when an individual
starts pursuing a goal, influential environmental disturbances
may provide negative feedback, which subsequently produces
a new round of actions to better adapt to the environment.
Overall, negative feedback from the environment leads an indi-
vidual to adjust his or her volitional behavior at times. Thus,
if the environment does not provide any negative feedback,
 Y.J. Wang et al. / Journal of Retailing 87 (1, 2011) 46–58
consumers with purchase tasks will continue their purchase
tasks until the goal is achieved. Consumers will take alterna-
tive actions that counterbalance the environmental stimuli only
if negative feedback is provided. The explanation of volitional
behavior implies that consumers who pursue purchase tasks
tend to explore for alternatives or additional information only
if negative emotions are evoked based on the negative feedback
from the website. Therefore, when task-oriented online con-
sumers feel dissatisfied with the shopping environment, they
will be likely to consult customer service or search on other
websites.
When there is no purchase task in mind, consumers’ cona-
tive reactions to web aesthetics can be characterized as “elicited
output” described by perceptual control theory (Hershberger
1989). In this circumstance, online consumers’ positive emo-
tions evoked by the aesthetic stimuli may initiate fun- and
variety-seeking behavior, such as search on the web. Also, pos-
itive emotions may lead to a higher tendency to interact with
customer service. This is consistent with previous findings that
the positive emotions elicited by atmospheric stimuli increases
further exploration and interaction when recreational consumers
encounter a novel or hedonic environment (e.g., Menon and
Kahn 2002; Ridgway et al. 1989).
H3a. When purchase tasks are pursued, satisfaction with web
aesthetics increases the propensity to purchase, and decreases
the propensities to consult customer service and/or search on
other websites.
H3b. When purchase tasks are not pursued, satisfaction with
web aesthetics increases the propensities to purchase, consult
customer service and/or search on other websites.
Previous marketing studies showed that consumers’ purchase
tendency is not necessarily high when they are aroused. A num-
ber of studies found that the effect of arousal on purchase is
positive (e.g., Baker, Levy, and Grewal 1992; Donovan and
Rossiter 1982; Sherman et al. 1997), but some others sup-
ported an opposite direction of the effect (e.g., Menon and Kahn
2002; Milliman 1982). Kaltcheva and Weitz (2006) suggested
that purchase task moderates the arousal-behavior relationship.
They found that higher arousal decreases purchase intentions
of task-oriented shoppers, but increases purchase intentions of
recreational shoppers.
An aroused state can be demonstrated as mental excitement,
which activates muscular activities and accelerates bodily move-
ments (Mehrabian and Russell 1974). Thus, higher arousal will
generally make individuals more active. But it is noteworthy
that high arousal is closely interrelated with the feelings of anx-
iety and stress during critical decision making (Mehrabian and
Russell 1974). High anxiety and stress during information pro-
cessing and decision making can lead to alternative-seeking
behavior, rather than focusing on deliberation and decision
making (Pham 1996; Sanbonmatsu and Kardes 1988). As a
result, high arousal may lead to the suspension of the cen-
tral task. Sanbonmatsu and Kardes (1988) found that highly
aroused individuals in these situations tend to look for periph-
eral cues rather than to concentrate on central information
49
processing. Mehrabian and Russell (1974) also reported that
higher arousal weakens concentration. In their experiments, high
arousal elicited by environmental stimuli significantly decreased
the participants’ desire to work or to solve problems. Thus, we
expect that, when arousal increases, online consumers who pur-
sue no purchase task will have a higher tendency to search and
buy because of bodily activation, while those who need to com-
plete their purchase tasks will experience difficulty in continuing
the central purchase tasks because of the need for additional
information.
H4a. When purchase tasks are pursued, arousal by web aes-
thetics decreases the propensity to purchase, and increases the
propensities to consult customer service and/or search on other
websites.
H4b. When purchase tasks are pursued, arousal by web aes-
thetics increases the propensities to purchase, consult customer
service, and/or search on other websites.
Web aesthetics has been considered an important element
of online service quality, and found to correlate with other
elements, such as ease of use and perceived security (Yoo
and Donthu 2001). In information systems research, Lavie and
Tractinsky (2004) found that both of the two dimensions of
web aesthetics are positively associated with perceived website
usability, the quality of websites perceived by users. The find-
ing implies that aesthetic formality and aesthetic appeal may
both have positive impacts on perceived online service quality.
Further, previous research highlighted the impact of perceived
service quality on consumers’ patronage (repeated re-visit) of
specific stores (e.g., Pan and Zinkhan 2006; Sirohi, McLaughlin,
and Wittink 1998; Zeithaml, Berry, and Parasuraman 1996). In
addition, Baker et al. (2002) and Grewal et al. (2003) showed
that consumers’ evaluations of the retail atmosphere is crucial
in determining their re-visit intentions, even after they visit the
store for recreational purposes. We extend the paradigm to the
web and propose:
H5a. Aesthetic formality and aesthetic appeal of websites both
increase perceived online service quality.
H5b. Perceived online service quality based on web aesthetics
increases the propensity to re-visit a website.
Involvement theory contends that consumers with a pur-
chase task tend to have higher involvement with utilitarian
information of products and services because of personal rele-
vance (Zaichkowsky 1985). On the other hand, when consumers
encounter a shopping environment without a purchase task, their
involvement is more hedonically oriented (Laurent and Kapferer
1985). Higher involvement increases interest in the involved
fields and a greater effort to acquire information (Celsi and
Olson 1988). More importantly, consumers’ motivational ori-
entations determine their visual attention patterns. According to
visual search theory (Theeuwes 1992), visual selection during
task involvement is goal-driven, in which individuals attend to
and process utilitarian information to achieve the goals, whereas
visual selection without a task is stimulus-driven, with attention
and information processing focusing on the hedonic proper-
50 Y.J. Wang et al. / Journal of Retailing 87 (1, 2011) 46–58
ties in the surroundings. Aesthetic formality helps to determine
whether product and service information can be effectively and
efficiently used to facilitate the purchase tasks, and thus, may
have a stronger effect on the cognitive, affective, and conative
responses when consumers pursue purchase tasks. On the other
hand, aesthetic appeal, often demonstrated by decorative and
hedonic features through colors, graphics, and images, helps
to establish the hedonic quality of a website, and thus, may
have a stronger effect on the cognitive, affective, and cona-
tive responses when consumers are task-free. Accordingly, we
propose:
H6. When purchase tasks are pursued (vs. not pursued),
aesthetic formality has a stronger (vs. weaker) influence on con-
sumers’ cognitive, affective, and conative responses than does
aesthetic appeal.
Research methodology
Measures
This study involves nine latent variables as indicated in the
research framework. On the basis of previous findings on the
dimensionality of web aesthetics (e.g., Lavie and Tractinsky
2004; Schenkman and Jonsson 2000), aesthetic formality is mea-
sured by the organization, order, and legibility of a website, and
aesthetic appeal is measured by the fascination, creativeness, and
impressiveness of a website as perceived by consumers. Seven-
point semantic differential scales were used. In a pilot study
based on a convenient sample of 140 consumers, we conducted
confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) to test the dimensionality of
the two aesthetic dimensions. The result yielded a two-factor
model with good model fit (GFI = 0.90) and factor loadings
above 0.70.
Satisfaction is measured by five items that describe con-
sumers’ immediate feelings about a website. Five pairs of
opposite adjectives are used: satisfied versus dissatisfied, pleased
versus displeased, contented versus frustrated, delighted versus
terrible, and pleasant versus unpleasant. These five items are
based on existing transaction-specific measures of customer sat-
isfaction (e.g., Eroglu and Machleit 1990; Spreng et al. 1996).
Arousal is measured by five pairs of adjective states: aroused ver-
sus unaroused, wide-awake versus sleepy, excited versus calm,
stimulated versus relaxed, and frenzied versus sluggish. The five
items are selected from existing measures of phasic arousal (e.g.,
Donovan et al. 1994; Mehrabian and Russell 1974; Menon and
Kahn 2002). Satisfaction and arousal measures are assessed by
seven-point semantic differential scales. Perceived online ser-
vice quality is measured by six items selected from Yang, Jun,
and Peterson’s (2004) online service quality construct. The mea-
sure of online service quality consists of six items: reliability,
responsiveness, competence, ease of use, security, and prod-
uct portfolio. The perceived online service quality measure is
assessed by seven-point Likert-type scales with higher values
indicating more positive responses.
This study used self-reported inclination to engage in a behav-
ior to measure the four conative responses. Using behavioral
propensity to measure conation has been widely adopted by
previous marketing research (e.g., Dabholkar, Shepherd, and
Thorpe 2000; Zeithaml et al. 1996). In this study, each of
the behavioral variables is measured by three items. One of
the items is assessed by a seven-point Likert-type scale and
the other two are based on seven-point semantic differential
scales.
Quasi-experimental procedures
A 2 × 2 factorial design was employed in the quasi-
experiment. Four e-tail websites, online furniture stores A, B,
C, and D, were created. The four websites offered identical
products as well as customer services. The four e-tail stores
were designed into high formality/high appeal (online store A),
low formality/high appeal (online store B), high formality/low
appeal (online store C), and low formality/low appeal (online
store D), respectively. The web design utilized previous find-
ings on aesthetic attributes (e.g., Lavie and Tractinsky 2004;
Schenkman and Jonsson 2000). Aesthetic formality was pre-
sented by organized and systematic layout of items, legible font
type and font size, and clear text/background color combination,
whereas aesthetic appeal was presented by using larger pictures
of the listed items, setting images into constant motion or blink-
ing, and adding decorative graphics. The use of movement to
manipulate aesthetic appeal followed practical guidelines in suc-
cessfully creating appeal in a two-dimensional interface, implied
by real movement theory (Metallinos 1996). We used four sim-
ulated e-tail websites in a quasi-experiment for two purposes:
(1) to obtain normal distribution of the values for perceived
aesthetic formality and perceived aesthetic appeal and (2) to
mitigate the impact of other intervening variables, such as the
price of the products, that threaten the internal validity of the
dependent relationships.
The moderating role of purchase task was manipulated by
recruiting two groups of participants, one group with purchase
task and the other group with no purchase task. For the group
with no purchase task, participants were simply asked to browse
the e-tail website. For the group with purchase task, participants
were asked to select a particular piece of furniture (a three-seat
upholstered sofa with wood frame, priced below $1,700) on the
e-tail website, before exposed to the questionnaire. This method
of motivational manipulation has been widely used in quasi-
experiments in marketing research (e.g., Celsi and Olson 1988;
MacKenzie and Spreng 1992).
Participants
In order to ensure a random sample of real consumers, we
recruited participants via a mall-intercept method suggested
by Bush and Hair (1985). Trained instructors randomly inter-
cepted shoppers in a shopping mall, and interested shoppers
were invited to the experiment. A total of 400 participants were
recruited. 200 were in the group with purchase task and 200 were
in the group with no purchase task. Each of the four simulated
e-tail websites was viewed by 50 participants in each group. We
used reverse-coding to screen off “lip service” responses. In the
 Y.J. Wang et al. / Journal of Retailing 87 (1, 2011) 46–58 51

questionnaire, the three semantic differential scales (aesthetic Table 1

formality, aesthetic appeal, satisfaction) were reverse-coded Construct validity and reliability.a
every other row. The reported values of the reverse-coded items Construct Cronbach α R2 GFIb
were converted back and compared with those of the regular Aesthetic formality 0.95/0.95 0.89/0.88 N/A
items. Cases showing fundamentally inconsistent patterns (more Aesthetic appeal 0.95/0.92 0.77/0.80 N/A
than 50% items with opposite directions) were dropped. This left Satisfaction 0.95/0.93 0.81/0.83 0.88/0.91
258 valid cases remained in the sample, 133 with purchase task Arousal 0.92/0.91 0.70/0.72 0.93/0.91
and 125 without purchase task. The demographic description of Online service quality 0.91/0.92 0.73/0.79 0.96/0.94
Purchase 0.91/0.91 0.79/0.79 N/A
the remaining participants is reported in Appendix A. The demo- Consultation 0.91/0.94 0.77/0.84 N/A
graphic characteristics of the sample reflect a pattern similar to Search 0.92/0.91 0.80/0.79 N/A
that of the internet users in the United States in terms of age, Re-visit 0.96/0.93 0.92/0.81 N/A
sex, and household income (Department of Commerce 2004). a The values are reported separately based on the group with purchase task

and the group without purchase task.

Statistical analysis b N/A: GFI value cannot be estimated due to 0◦ of freedom.

Our data were processed by LISREL 8.54 in tracing the

hypothesized structural relations. The evaluation of the mea-
Manipulation checks were conducted. Based on summated val-
surement model was first conducted to estimate the relationships
ues, we found that the participants who used websites A and
between the nine latent constructs and their indicators, followed
C reported higher perceived aesthetic formality than those who
by the evaluation of the hypothesized structure model examining
used websites B and D (M = 5.75 vs. 2.87, F (1, 256) = 119.52,
the relationships between the latent constructs.
p < 0.01). Meanwhile, participants who used websites A and
In the evaluation of the measurement model, the nine con-
B reported higher perceived aesthetic appeal than those who
structs were subjected to validity and reliability tests. To ensure
used websites C and D (M = 6.10 vs. 3.73, F (1, 256) = 135.39,
the validity of measures, the study began with construct valid-
p < 0.01). To compare consumers’ cognitive, affective, and
ity of each measure using confirmatory factor analysis (CFA),
conative responses as a result of the aesthetic effects, the
and then discriminant validity between the measures. Construct
means of the seven endogenous variables are provided in
validity was assessed upon three criteria: model fit, factor load-
Fig. 2.
ings of measurement items, and average variance extracted (R2 ).
The direct and indirect paths in the hypothesized model
Compared to Hu and Bentler’s (1999) 0.90 threshold for Good-
using the sample with purchase tasks are described in Fig. 3.
ness of Fit Index (GFI), the constructs demonstrated acceptable
On the basis of the combined results, when online con-
model fit, respectively. The factor loadings of all items in the nine
sumers pursue their purchase tasks, perceived aesthetic formality
constructs are reasonably high (all above 0.50) with significant
shows stronger impacts on consumers’ cognitive, affective,
t values (Anderson and Gerbing 1988). R2 values of the nine
and conative responses than does perceived aesthetic appeal.
constructs all exceed the suggested threshold of 0.50 (Fornell
Thus, all the hypotheses relevant to task-oriented consumers
and Larcker 1981).
are supported except that the satisfaction–consultation path in
Following Anderson and Gerbing’s (1988) method for testing
H3a and the arousal-search path in H4a are not statistically
discriminant validity, the constructs were paired up and sub-
significant.
jected to two models of confirmatory factor analysis. The first
The results of the direct and indirect paths in the hypothesized
model allows the covariance between the two constructs to be
model for task-free consumers are reported in Fig. 4. Indicated
unconstrained, and the second model constrains the covariance
by pair comparisons of the direct and indirect path coeffi-
between the two constructs. The χ2 values of the constrained
cients, for online consumers without a purchase task, perceived
and unconstrained models are compared. We found that discrim-
aesthetic appeal has stronger effects on consumers’ cognitive,
inant validity exists between all the paired constructs since the
affective, and conative responses than does perceived aesthetic
χ2 difference is significant for all the comparisons (χ2 = 3.84,
formality. Therefore, all the hypotheses relevant to task-free
d.f. = 1, p = 0.05).
consumers are supported.
The reliability analysis of the constructs was conducted
by calculating the Cronbach α for each construct. The
Cronbach α values for the nine constructs far exceed the Discussion
recommended critical point of 0.70 (Nunnally 1978), indi-
cating good internal-consistency reliability of the constructs. Our findings help to illustrate the effects of the two dimen-
The results of validity and reliability tests are reported in sions of web aesthetics on the cognitive, affective, and conative
Table 1. responses of online consumers, taking into consideration con-
sumers’ motivational orientations. The findings yield new
Results insights affecting a number of research topics in e-tail, such as e-
satisfaction, information search, online patronage behavior, and
In our study, four experimental e-tail websites were created so on. Several key notes may be highlighted for researchers and
to manipulate the two aesthetic dimensions in the experiments. practitioners.
52 Y.J. Wang et al. / Journal of Retailing 87 (1, 2011) 46–58
Fig. 2. Comparison of mean scores under aesthetic manipulations. FML, aesthetic formality; APL, aesthetic appeal; SAT, satisfaction; ARO, arousal; SVQ, online
service quality; PUR, purchase; CON, consultation; SCH, search; REV, re-visit.
Most of all, web aesthetics cannot be simply understood
as “the nicer, the better”. It is a bi-dimensional concept and
the stimulating effects of the two aesthetic dimensions are
intricate. Our findings subtly describe the dissimilar patterns
that the two dimensions of web aesthetics display in the pro-
cess of online shopping. The dissimilarity includes not merely
the magnitude differences of their effects. It is noteworthy
to mention that opposite directions of the effects of aes-
thetic formality and aesthetic appeal have been revealed. Our
findings discover an interesting phenomenon that is against
researchers’ and practitioners’ conventional understanding of
web aesthetics—although perceived aesthetic formality has a
positive influence on satisfaction, perceived aesthetic appeal has
a negative influence on satisfaction when consumers pursue pur-
chase tasks. If we resort to the consumer reaction mechanism in
which aesthetic formality facilitates shopping tasks but aesthetic
appeal interferes with the task completion, we can clearly depict
how consumers’ mind is affected by the bi-dimensional aesthetic
stimuli.
Speaking of the virtual shopping environment, marketing
research found that e-satisfaction is relevant to website design
(Evanschitzky et al. 2004; Szymanski and Hise 2000). However,
how do website design attributes matter in terms of consumer
satisfaction remained a myth. Our findings can solve the puzzle
for researchers and depict the function of visual design attributes
in consumer satisfaction. The findings indicate that the applica-
tion of high formality combined with high appeal as aesthetic
attributes is not always ideal for e-tail web design aiming to
achieve consumer satisfaction. Web designers and web planners
should be aware that, although a highly formalistic and highly
appealing website may provide the utmost level of satisfaction
for task-free online browsers, online consumers with purchase
tasks do not prefer such aesthetic attributes for task-centered
online shopping.
 Y.J. Wang et al. / Journal of Retailing 87 (1, 2011) 46–58 53

0.42* PUR
(4.81)

-0.34*
SAT (-3.85)
3 items
0.83*
(10.14)
-0.09
(-0.73)
-0.13* 5 items
FML (-2.28) CON
-0.61* 0.36*
(-7.28) (5.51)
-0.50*
3 items ARO (-5.26)
3 items
0.57*
(6.95)
0.15
5 items (1.64)
APL 0.81* SCH
(11.82)

0.38*
3 items (8.32) 3 items
SVQ

0.86*
(14.01)
6 items REV
Model Fit Indices:
2
=711.23, d.f.=513, p=0.00, GFI=0.76,
AGFI=0.72, RMSEA=0.05, CFI=0.98, NFI=0.96 3 items

Indirect Paths: 0.56* PUR

(7.04)
-0.25*
(-4.38)
-0.27*
(-3.54)
FML CON
0.23*
(3.56)
-0.50*
(-6.21)
APL 0.15*
SCH
(2.70)
0.70*
(10.87)
0.33*
* p<0.05, t values in the parentheses (7.97) REV

FML=Aesthetic Formality; APL=Aesthetic Appeal; SAT=Satisfaction; ARO=Arousal;

SVQ=Online Service Quality; PUR=Purchase; CON=Consultation; SCH=Search; REV=Re-visit.

Fig. 3. Hypothesized model for consumers with purchase task. FML, aesthetic formality; APL, aesthetic appeal; SAT, satisfaction; ARO, arousal; SVQ, online
service quality; PUR, purchase; CON, consultation; SCH, search; REV, re-visit.

There are also other remarkable dissimilar patterns of effects
found. For instance, aesthetic formality has a negative influence
on arousal while aesthetic appeal has a positive influence on
arousal, due to information rate. All these various dissimilar
patterns exhibited by the two aesthetic dimensions can illustrate
web aesthetics as a potential “evil angel”, attractive, lovely, but
harmful when you do not understand its hidden nature. Our find-
ings further suggest e-tail web designers and web planners to
fully realize that, although both higher aesthetic formality and
higher aesthetic appeal can present more “beautiful” percep-
tions of the online environment, the impacts of the two aesthetic
dimensions are far from being equally positive.
Moreover, to stay away from web design catastrophes, web
design strategies should take into account online consumers’
motivational orientations. Our findings demonstrate to e-tail
web designers and web planners that, high level of aesthetic
formality must be provided for consumers whose utilitarian
tasks are dependent on such cues. On the other hand, when
consumers encounter a service environment without any imme-
diate shopping goal, high aesthetic appeal must be utilized as
the central factor in determining consumers’ evaluations and
emotions. For marketing researchers, the combination of the
results reveals that the moderation effect of motivational ori-
entation on consumers’ psychological and behavioral outcomes
is more complex than a linear effect as previously understood.
When consumers are task-free, their behavioral tendencies are
largely stimulated by environmental stimuli, and when con-
sumers engage in completing certain tasks, their behavior is
goal-directed and volitional. The findings on the moderation
effect of motivational orientation help to explain some of the
controversial findings in the literature, for example, the direc-
tions of the arousal–purchase relationship (e.g., Donovan and
Rossiter 1982; Menon and Kahn 2002; Milliman 1982; Sherman
et al. 1997).
54 Y.J. Wang et al. / Journal of Retailing 87 (1, 2011) 46–58

0.63* PUR
(7.90)

0.34*
0.26* SAT (4.45)
3 items
(5.73)
0.50*
(7.13)
0.84*
(11.93)
5 items
FML CON
-0.43* 0.44*
(-6.42) (6.01)
0.40*
3 items ARO (4.67)
3 items
0.95*
(9.42)
0.50*

APL 0.34*
5 items (5.49)
SCH
(6.39)

0.76*
3 items (10.70)
3 items
SVQ

0.81*
(10.46)
6 items REV
Model Fit Indices:
2
=620.34, d.f.=513, p=0.00, GFI=0.77,
AGFI=0.74, RMSEA=0.04, CFI=0.99, NFI=0.97 3 items

Indirect Paths: 0.02 PUR

(0.31)
0.85*
(9.79)
-0.07
(-1.28)
FML CON
0.87*
(10.14)
-0.11
(-1.86)
APL 0.81*
SCH
(9.33)
0.27*
(5.80)
0.62*
* p<0.05, t values in the parentheses (8.44) REV

FML=Aesthetic Formality; APL=Aesthetic Appeal; SAT=Satisfaction; ARO=Arousal;

SVQ=Online Service Quality; PUR=Purchase; CON=Consultation; SCH=Search; REV=Re-visit.

Fig. 4. Hypothesized model for consumers without purchase task. FML, aesthetic formality; APL, aesthetic appeal; SAT, satisfaction; ARO, arousal; SVQ, online
service quality; PUR, purchase; CON, consultation; SCH, search; REV, re-visit.

Table 2
Behavioral consequences of aesthetic manipulations.
Manipulation of aesthetic dimensions Possible behavioral consequences

Task-oriented consumers Task-free consumers

High formality/high appeal
Low formality/high appeal
High formality/low appeal
Low formality/low appeal
May stop processing product information and seek More likely to make impulsive purchase; more likely to
additional information; more likely to re-visit at a later time browse other websites; more likely to re-visit at a later time
(even if purchase is not made)
More likely to discontinue the purchase task immediately More likely to explore the website in detail and browse
and look for help, or switch to another website; lower other websites; may make impulsive purchase; may re-visit
chance of re-visit at a later time
More likely to continue focusing on the purchase task until More likely to leave soon; lower chance of re-visit
it is completed, without hesitation, additional consultation,
or search; higher chance of re-visit
More likely to discontinue the purchase task to seek more More likely to leave immediately and not return
information in all possible ways, including checking other
websites; less likely to visit again
 Y.J. Wang et al. / Journal of Retailing 87 (1, 2011) 46–58
In respect to the ultimate influence of web aesthetics, online
consumers’ likely behavioral consequences from the four types
of aesthetic manipulations are summarized in Table 2. In con-
sequence, how aesthetics is applied and manipulated on an
e-tail website depends on the consideration of consumers’ psy-
chological reactions as well as their motivational orientations.
E-tailors can manipulate web aesthetics to achieve most favor-
able outcomes. For example, more transaction-based sites with
the aim of mitigating customer hesitation and promoting imme-
diate sales should consider an e-tail website that features high
aesthetic formality and high aesthetic appeal for task-free online
consumers, while an e-tail website featuring high aesthetic for-
mality and low aesthetic appeal may be best to target regular
online shoppers with prioritized purchase tasks. Websites which
are more directed to relationship-building through repetitive vis-
its and click rates should feature high aesthetic formality and
high aesthetic appeal for both task-oriented and task-free online
consumers. Consumer-oriented e-tailers should dynamically uti-
lize the two aesthetic dimensions and strategically implement
them through interface design customization. Certainly, the
value of aesthetic design customization of e-tail websites has
been highlighted (Mathwick, Wagner, and Unni 2010), and our
findings further provide the methods in how to customize web
aesthetics with the objective of maximizing e-tailers’ customer
equity.
Overall, the contribution of this study to retailing include:
(1) it made clear how consumers respond to aesthetics stepwise;
(2) it illustrated the complex effects of the aesthetic stimuli;
(3) it linked environmental stimuli with motivational orienta-
tions in understanding consumer preferences; and (4) it provided
strategies in personalizing web aesthetics to reach optimal out-
comes for the e-tailers. Akin to those demonstrated in the e-tail
environment, aesthetic stimuli in other physical settings may
also show a similar pattern of influences on individuals’ psy-
chological and behavioral responses. Therefore, in a broader
sense, the findings suggest that aesthetic appearance should
match the intended tasks in a given physical environment. This
is of particular importance for professional designers, archi-
tects, and engineers in maximizing the effectiveness of their
design outcomes. For example, appealing features demonstrated
via lights, odors, music, and decorations should be applied in
areas where people are not engaged in work-related tasks, but
are not recommended for areas where work-related tasks are
performed.
Limitations and future research opportunities
The research model is subject to modifications or improve-
ments in various ways. The interaction effect of the two
dimensions of web aesthetics has not been reviewed in the liter-
ature nor examined in the hypothesized model. The interaction
of perceived aesthetic formality and perceived aesthetic appeal
may have a significant impact on online consumers’ satisfaction,
arousal, and perceived online service quality. Future research
should include the interaction effect in the structural model so
that a more accurate illustration of the effects of web aesthetics
will be presented.
55
Marketing research often follows a cognition → affect →
conation route to examine the hierarchy of effects of market-
ing messages. In the present study, the sequential relationship
of cognition and affect has not been scrutinized. This study con-
sidered affect and cognition two components of the organism
stage in the S-O-R framework and assumed that consumers’
cognitive and affective responses are induced by web aesthet-
ics during online service encounter. In marketing research,
it has been argued that consumers’ perceived service qual-
ity will influence their satisfaction in the subsequent stage,
or vice versa, based on different service evaluation models
(Brady et al. 2005). Therefore, future research may examine
the sequential order of perceived service quality and sat-
isfaction to see if perceived service quality is a mediator
between aesthetic stimuli and satisfaction under certain situa-
tions.
The findings of this study indicate that a website may
simultaneously evoke positive and negative affective responses
of an individual. For example, when consumers pursue
purchase tasks, aesthetic formality positively influences satis-
faction while aesthetic appeal negatively influences satisfaction.
Under this simultaneous and contradictory emotional con-
dition, consumers are said to be in ambivalence. Although
the present study renders some implications in the under-
standing of ambivalence in response to environmental stimuli,
future research may seek thorough answers to the ques-
tion.
This study has only focused on visual web aesthetics. How-
ever, a growing number of e-tail websites are equipped with
multi-media. A large number of websites offer background
music as well as various instructional sounds and button tones.
The wide application of audio stimuli raises a research ques-
tion: how can consumers’ aesthetic experience through both
visual and aural channels influence their behavior? Do visual
and audio stimuli display the same pattern in terms of their
psychological effects? The study of the combination of visual
and audio aesthetic stimuli requires a higher level of elabora-
tion because of the complexity of aesthetic stimuli. Further,
a physical store environment may have ambient, design, and
social factors and all these factors create dynamic multi-sensory
stimuli (Baker 1986; Baker et al. 1992). Thus, the effects
of broader sources of aesthetic stimuli in a physical envi-
ronment on consumers’ cognitive, affective, and behavioral
responses can be extremely intricate. Certainly, this will pro-
vide challenging opportunities for future research in the area of
servicescape.
Last but not least, we only used one type of goods, furni-
ture, in the experimental websites. Previous studies in the e-tail
area have found that online consumers’ focuses and concerns
during online shopping may differ on the basis of product type
(e.g., search/experience/credence goods) (Bhatnagar and Ghose
2004; Hsieh, Chiu, and Chiang 2005; Weathers, Sharma, and
Wood 2007). Given that furniture is a type of hedonic, durable,
experience-based, and specialty product, future research should
utilize other types of merchandise to explore more nuanced
effects of web aesthetics based on consumers’ information pro-
cessing patterns.
56 Y.J. Wang et al. / Journal of Retailing 87 (1, 2011) 46–58

Total (n = 258) Purchasetaskpursued(n = 133) No purchase task pursued (n = 125)

N % N % N %

Age
Below 20 5 1.9 3 2.2 2 1.6
20–29 112 43.4 45 33.8 67 53.6
30–39 52 20.2 28 21.1 24 19.2
40–49 54 20.9 35 26.3 19 15.2
50–59 21 8.1 13 9.8 8 6.4
60 and above 4 1.6 1 0.7 3 2.4
Undisclosed 10 3.9 8 6.0 2 1.6
Sex
Male 101 39.1 54 40.6 47 37.6
Female 154 59.7 76 57.1 78 62.4
Undisclosed 3 1.2 3 2.3 0 0.0
Marital status
Single 120 46.5 47 35.3 73 58.4
Married 85 32.9 56 42.1 29 23.2
Widowed 24 9.3 15 11.3 9 7.2
Divorced or separated 10 3.9 4 3.0 6 4.8
Undisclosed 19 7.4 11 8.3 8 6.4
Ethnicity
Caucasian heritage 176 68.2 89 66.9 87 69.6
Hispanic/Latino heritage 30 11.6 13 9.8 17 13.6
African heritage 21 8.1 13 9.8 8 6.4
Asian heritage 22 8.5 16 12.0 6 4.8
Native American heritage 2 0.8 0 0.0 2 1.6
Other heritage 1 0.4 0 0.0 1 0.8
Undisclosed 6 2.3 2 1.5 4 3.2
Education
High school 47 18.2 20 15.0 27 21.6
Undergraduate 170 65.9 94 70.7 76 60.8
Graduate 29 11.2 10 7.5 19 15.2
Undisclosed 12 4.7 9 6.8 3 2.4
Annual household income
Below 10,000 14 5.4 4 3.0 10 8.0
10,000–39,999 39 15.1 19 14.2 20 16.0
40,000–99,999 121 46.9 71 53.3 50 40.0
100,000–149,999 33 12.8 13 9.8 20 16.0
150,000–499,000 20 7.7 7 5.3 13 10.4
500,000 and above 7 2.7 3 2.3 4 3.2
Undisclosed 24 9.4 16 12.0 8 6.4
Time spent online per week
<1 h 6 2.3 3 2.3 3 2.4
1–2 h 17 6.6 7 5.3 10 8.0
2–5 h 44 17.1 20 15.0 24 19.2
5–10 h 91 35.3 59 44.4 32 25.6
10–20 h 57 22.1 23 17.3 34 27.2
More than 20 h 29 11.2 17 12.8 12 9.6
Undisclosed 14 5.4 4 3.0 10 8.0
Frequency of online shopping
Rarely 50 19.4 29 21.8 21 16.8
Several times a year 139 53.9 71 53.4 68 54.4
Several times a month 51 19.8 23 17.3 28 22.4
Several times a week 9 3.5 4 3.0 5 4.0
At least once a day 4 1.6 2 1.5 2 1.6
Undisclosed 5 1.9 4 3.0 1 0.8

Appendix A. Description of participants
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