Effects of Structural and Perceptual Factors on Attitudes toward the Website

This study examined effects of structural and perceptual variables on attitude toward websites. Data were collected from 311 consumers who reviewed four hotel websites. The sites were structurally different in terms of having high versus low number of features and also in terms of informational versus transformational creative strategies. Involvement and perceived interactivity were the two perceptual variables examined in the study. Involvement with the subject of a site and the subdimension of perceived interactivity that measured level of engagement were the best predictors of attitude. Positive attitudes were also associated with sites that took advantage of web-specific features such as virtual tours and online reservations systems. A key implication of this study is the need for advertisers and researchers to reconsider advertising in the context of the web. Radio and television required advertisers to adjust to the new concepts of buying and selling time instead of space and of incorporating aural and visual appeals in messages. The web demands that advertisers adjust to a new medium that is not bound by either space or time and that has the technical capability to involve and engage the consumer.This study was funded in part by grants from the University of Tennessee Scholarly Activities Research Initiative Fund (SARIF) and the Department of Advertising and College of Communication at the University of Tennessee.