Stay or leave: Applying Approach-Avoidance Theory to virtual environments

Physical facilities, for example retail stores, have design characteristics that seem to say, ‘come in’, ‘stay awhile’ or even ‘go away’. Just as physical facilities may invite or discourage interaction through their physical design, the same is true for web sites. Web sites draw us, engage us and e...

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Bibliographic Details
Published inJournal of database marketing & customer strategy management Vol. 16; no. 4; pp. 231 - 240
Main Authors Clark, W Randy, Ezell, Jeremy, Clark, Jeff, Sheffield, Denisse N
Format Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Published London Palgrave Macmillan UK 01.12.2009
Palgrave Macmillan
Subjects
Aesthetics
Business and Management
Consumer behavior
Designers
Emotions
Influence
Internet
Original Article
Search engines
Studies
Usability
User behavior
User satisfaction
Web site design
Internet environment
web site design
behavioral intent
aesthetics
approach-avoidance
affect
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Summary:Physical facilities, for example retail stores, have design characteristics that seem to say, ‘come in’, ‘stay awhile’ or even ‘go away’. Just as physical facilities may invite or discourage interaction through their physical design, the same is true for web sites. Web sites draw us, engage us and even repel us. Web sites are fast becoming a primary means, in many cases ‘the’ primary means, of interacting with both current and prospective customers. Given the high impact of web sites on business models, even modest, incremental enhancements in usability promise dramatic benefits. The application of Approach-Avoidance Theory is well known in relation to physical environments. Its application to virtual environments is theoretically sound, practically applicable and fits very well in the accumulating research on web site design characteristics.
ISSN:1741-2439
1741-2447
1741-2447
DOI:10.1057/dbm.2009.25