Navigational Characteristics Effectiveness of Web Sites on Consumer Behavior and Pre-Purchase Intentions

Subject Areas : Futurology

K.  Hamdi ¹ (ندارد)
K.  Heidarzadeh ² (نویسنده مسئول)
B.  Khodayari ³ (ندارد)

Received: 2006-11-20 Accepted : 2007-09-04 Published : 2008-03-20

Keywords: Consumer behavior, Web navigation, Modeling, Internet marketing,

Abstract :

As internet usage increases world wide, one important objective of firms on the web is effectivecommunications with consumer.This study looks at the factors that can affect customers’ purchase & sale website, and it models the behaviorof consumers when they are confronted with the navigational characteristics of an internet site. The model ofconsumers’ web navigational behavior designed by Marie-odile Richard and Ramdas Chandra are taken intoaccount to empirically test. Factors in this study are:Challenge, skills, Interactivity, Reasons to visit a website, need for cognition, optimum stimulation level,Navigational cues, site involvement, Exploratory behavior, Attitudes toward the site, pre Purchase intentions.The data were collected online from the home page of on Iraneservice site.We use structural equations modeling to test 10 major hypotheses and 28 sub hypotheses. Statistical analysisof this research is done using Lisrel& SPSS software.The findings generally indicate, what type of consumers (according to their skills, challenge, need forcognition, optimum stimulation level, etc.) are more likely to seek product related information from theinternet, what is the influence of navigational characteristics, and under what circumstances the engage inthis activity (reasons to visit a web site).In addition, with know the positioning of information search in the buying decision process, if marketers canidentify which consumer segments in their market niche rely more heavily on navigational characteristics,and how to decrease the difficulty of navigating on their site for novice surfers.