Ji Hee Song & George M. Zinkhan
Executive Summary
Web sites are an important marketing tool for enhancing customer attraction, delivering service, facilitating transactions, and so forth. Among the important characteristics associated with this medium, interactivity is a key feature and offers a lot of possibilities for marketing communications. As a result, both marketers and Web site designers want to know how to build effective and interactive Web sites. For example, why are some sites perceived as more interactive than others?
This article identifies the key determinants that enhance user perceptions of interactivity in a communication scenario in which consumers send instant messages to an e-store. Two conceptualizations of interactivity—telepresence theory and interactivity theory—predict that different antecedents (e.g., the number of clicks, response time, message type) are important. Telepresence theory posits that information is not merely transmitted from a sender to a receiver. Rather, according to this view, mediated environments are created and then experienced. Thus, both the properties of the medium (e.g., number of clicks, response time) and people’s relationship with that medium contribute to interactivity perceptions. In contrast, the second theory views interactivity as a process of message exchange. According to this view, the quality of the communication (e.g., message type) is the most important determinant of interactivity.
The results of Experiment 1 indicate that message type (i.e., how personal a particular message is) is the strongest predictor of interactivity perceptions. Furthermore, the findings suggest that the effects of message type on perceived interactivity and Web site effectiveness are greater when consumers are complaining than when they are inquiring about services. The results of Experiment 2 show that as the level of message personalization increases, interactivity perceptions and site effectiveness are enhanced (linear relationship). The findings highlight the importance of managing and defining e-servicescapes (e.g., the physical surroundings of a Web site). Key site-design features provide cues that stimulate positive perceptions of the site and encourage users to make positive judgments about the site (e.g., in terms of effectiveness). The results suggest some ways that organizations can increase interactivity perceptions on their Web sites. In particular, e-stores should be careful when adding interactive features to their Web sites because the mere presence of certain features does not necessarily enhance interactivity. Of the three features studied in this article, message type had the greatest effect on interactivity and effectiveness. Specifically, increasing the level of message relatedness enhanced both consumers’ self-efficacy (perceived control) and system efficacy (perceived responsiveness of the site). Thus, when customers are engaged in two-way communications with firms, the responsiveness of the seller’s message is a crucial aspect of interactivity. In addition, depending on the situation (e.g., complaining versus searching), consumers approach an e-store with different motivations to process the interactive features that they find there. For example, in some banking sites, online chatting windows pop up when consumers are navigating the site. Such a feature might be helpful for consumers who need immediate assistance (e.g., opening a checking account). In contrast, for consumers who are navigating the site to obtain financial information, the interactive power of real-time chatting opportunity might be of little use or even counterproductive.
Biography
Ji Hee Song is an Assistant Professor of Marketing and e-Business in the College of Business and Economics at Towson University. She obtained her PhD from the University of Georgia and her MBA and BA in Economics from Korea University. Her research interest includes interactive marketing and advertising, computer-mediated communication channels, and the effect of Web atmosphere and design on consumer experience online.
George M. Zinkhan (PhD, University of Michigan) is the Coca-Cola Company Professor of Marketing at the University of Georgia. His articles have appeared in Journal of Marketing, Journal of Marketing Research, Journal of Consumer Research, California Management Review, Journal of Applied Psychology, and Strategic Management Journal. He is past editor of both Journal of Advertising and Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science. The American Academy of Advertising honored him in 2004 with its Outstanding Contribution to Research Award.
Journal of Marketing, Vol. 72, No. 2, March 2008
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