Interesting Results

Perceived Interactivity of Web Sites

The Internet is an inherently interactive medium, and Web designers often try to incorporate features to enhance the interactivity of sites in the hope of improving things such as satisfaction with and word of mouth about the site and, in the case of e-commerce sites, improving loyalty and repurchase. However, new research¹ suggests that the presence or absence of particular features does not necessarily determine the extent to which consumers perceive sites to be interactive. Two experiments related to inclusion of a live chat feature showed that the number of clicks required to get to find the live chat feature, the speed of response, and the quality of response all influenced perceived interactivity, which in turn influenced overall attitudes toward the site, loyalty, and repurchase. The most influential of these was the quality of the message: the extent to which it was personalized and directly responsive to the question asked rather than being a standard reply.

¹ Song, Ji Hee and George M. Zinkhan (2008), “Determinants of Perceived Web Site Interactivity”, Journal of Marketing, 72(2), 99-113.