Web atmospherics in online retailing: Influence of color and typography on consumer responses
(A2025-126231)

AUTHORS

Demba DIOUF, Paris School of Business

ABSTRACT

This research explores the interaction effects between color and typography in commercial websites. Previous research on web atmospherics or information systems often focuses on the isolated effects of a single sensory element (color, music, smell), neglecting their interactions as well as the simultaneous perception of these elements within an interface. To fill this gap, we conducted two exploratory studies: one with 8 experts and the other with 19 users. These studies identified color hue, font size and font style as key factors likely to interact and elicit cognitive, affective and behavioural responses from web users. An experiment was then conducted with 316 participants to manipulate and test these dimensions of color and typography. The results show that web users show more positive emotional and behavioural responses when the color hue is cool (vs. warm), the font size is large (vs. small) and the font style is sans serif (vs. serif). In addition, significant interaction effects between font style, hue and size were observed on variables such as intention to click, visual appeal of the site and user anxiety.