Do visitors' interest level and perceived quantity of web page content matter in shaping the attitude toward a web site?

Understanding the factors that affect consumer attitude toward web sites is important for both theoretical and practical reasons. Literature suggests that how much a consumer likes a web site after visiting it depends primarily on the "quality" of the web site; for example, perceived informativeness of the content, entertainment quality of the content, and ease of navigation. The current research investigates the role of the perceived amount of web site content (perceived quantity) in determining the consumer's post-visit attitude toward web sites. In particular, this study examines the attitudinal impacts of the perceived quantity in relation with the visitors' interest level. This research consists of three consecutive studies (two preliminary studies and a main study). In the two preliminary studies, the effects of informativeness, entertainment, and ease of navigation were tested and verified. The main study was conducted to test primarily the hypotheses regarding perceived quantity and the effect of consumer interest level on web quality perception and visitor attitude. The results indicate that, consistent with our predictions derived from dual-process models of informational influence, the perceived quantity has a positive attitudinal impact among low-interest visitors but not among high-interest visitors. (c) 2005 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.