The Impact of Visceral, Behavioral, and Reflective Levels of Emotional Design on Learners’ Evaluation of Website Trustworthiness

• In Event: The Critical Value of Design: Transformative Opportunities in Online Learning

Abstract

Despite the rapidly increasing numbers of informational websites and learners using the World Wide Web to research topics, empirical evidence on the relationships between website design elements and website trustworthiness is scarce. This study investigates the impacts of emotional levels of design (2003) and metacognitive awareness on website trustworthiness during a learning task. Our research suggests that the interaction effects of website visual appeal (visceral level) and website usability (behavioral level) can override the effects of the quality or relevance of the information (reflective level) on website evaluation. In addition, results suggest that in the context of limited time to find the answers, these effects on the evaluation of website trustworthiness are not moderated by users’ metacognitive awareness.

Authors

• Supavich Pengnate, Oklahoma State University

• Pasha Antonenko, University of Florida