Website design: Viewing the web as a cognitive landscape

Web content has been identified as one of the main factors contributing to repeat visits. As content on the web includes text, pictures, graphics, layout, sound, motion and, someday, even smell, making the right web content decisions are critical to effective web design. While an understanding of marketing strategies that attract visitors to websites is beginning to emerge, how to convert web surfers to repeat visitors is a less well-understood phenomenon. Through an empirical study, the authors develop the Website Preference Scale (WSPS) based upon the work in environmental psychology of Rachel Kaplan and Stephen Kaplan. The results identify underlying dimensions of effective website design and provide insight into site design characteristics, which may lead to a higher likelihood of revisit. (C) 2002 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.