On-line waiting: The role of download time and other important predictors on attitude toward e-retailers

Across both marketing and management-information-system disciplines, download time has been identified as an important factor for on-line business success. This research is intended to clarify counterintuitive findings generated from previous research and Web-based experimentation. Here the roles of several factors, including download time, on the overall evaluation of an e-retailer are explored. With an experimental design, the article explores the impact of 5-, 30-, and 45-second download delays on attitude toward an e-retailer. Consistent with prior works, findings from both a main study and replication study indicate that objective download delay is not a critical determinant of attitude toward an e-retailer. However, findings show there are other direct and indirect delay effects, including those resulting from perceived retailer control of delay, that impact Web-system success. (C) 2005 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.