Web site usability is a critical metric for assessing the quality of a firm's Web presence. A measure of usability must not only provide a global rating for a specific Web site, ideally it should also illuminate specific strengths and weaknesses associated with site design. In this paper, we describe a heuristic evaluation procedure for examining the usability of Web sites. The procedure utilizes a comprehensive set of usability guidelines developed by Microsoft.We present the categories and subcategories comprising these guidelines, and discuss the development of an instrument that operationalizes the measurement of usability. The proposed instrument was tested in a heuristic evaluation study where 1,475 users rated multiple Web sites from four different industry sectors: airlines, online bookstores, automobile manufacturers, and car rental agencies. To enhance the external validity of the study, users were asked to assume the role of a consumer or an investor when assessing usability. Empirical results suggest that the evaluation procedure, the instrument, as well as the usability metric exhibit good properties. Implications of the findings for researchers, for Web site designers, and for heuristic evaluation methods in usability testing are offered.

/pdf/assessing-a-firm-s-web-presence-a-heuristic-evaluation-5gbf46jua3.pdf

Assessing a Firm's Web Presence: A Heuristic Evaluation Procedure for the Measurement of Usability

There is no question that the Internet has, and will continue to have, a major impact on consumer information search behavior. However, under what conditions, and how, that impact will be felt is not clear. This article offers 14 propositions to stimulate and guide investigations of consumer information search behavior in the context of the Internet. A major conclusion is that broad generalizations regarding the impact of the Internet on consumer information search behavior are not warranted and that, if the propositions possess any truth value, the Internet is not likely to be an information panacea for consumers. Because of the complexities of the Internet and information search behavior (individually and even more so when considered conjunctively), investigations of consumer information search behavior in the context of the Internet should especially focus on moderators of that behavior and interactions among the various antecedents of the behavior. © 2003 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

Consumer information search behavior and the internet

Marketing practitioners are under increasing pressure to demonstrate their contribution to firm performance. It has been widely argued that an inability to account for marketing's contribution has undermined its standing within the firm. To respond to this pressure, marketers are investing in the development of performance measurement abilities, but to date, there have been no empirical studies of whether the ability to measure marketing performance has any actual effect on either firm performance or marketing's stature. In this study of senior marketing managers in high-technology firms, the authors examine the effect of ability to measure marketing performance on firm performance, using both primary data collected from senior marketers and secondary data on firm profitability and stock returns. They also explore the effect of ability to measure marketing on marketing's stature within the firm, which is operationalized as chief executive officer satisfaction with marketing. The empirical results...

Marketing Performance Measurement Ability and Firm Performance

Shopping online for clothing products is gaining in popularity. This study identified the dimensions of online shopping attributes and predictors of the intention to purchase clothes, jewelry, or accessories based on online shopping attributes and demographic variables. A mailing survey was conducted with 303 adults who had a computer at home and had access to the Internet in the USA. The perceived attributes of online shopping consisted of four factors: transaction/cost; incentive programs; site design; and interactivity. The transaction/cost factor and the incentive programs factor, along with demographic variables (gender, income and number of children), were important predictors in determining the intention to purchase clothing, jewelry, or accessories via the Internet. Incentive program also mediated the relationship between education level and online purchase intention. This study provides managerial implications for the future online marketing of clothing products.

Predicting online purchase intentions for clothing products

A feature central to the success of e-commerce Web sites is the design of an effective interface to present product information. However, the suitability of the prevalent information formats in supporting various online shopping tasks is not known. Using the cognitive fit theory as the theoretical framework, we developed a research model to investigate the fit between information format and shopping task, and exam ine its influence on consumers' online shopping performance and perceptions of shopping experience. The competition for attention theory from the marketing literature and the scanpath theory from vision research were employed to support the analyses. An experiment was conducted to examine the effects of two types of information formats (list versus matrix) in the context of two types of shopping tasks (searching versus browsing). The results show that when there is a match between the information format and the shopping task, consumers can search the information space more efficiently and have better recall of product information. Specifically, the list format better supports browsing tasks, and the matrix format facilitates searching tasks. However, a match between the information format and the shopping task has no effect on cognitive effort or attitude toward using the Web site. Overall, this research supports the application of the cognitive fit theory to the study of Web interface design. It also demonstrates the value in integrating findings from cognitive science and vision research to understand the processes involved. As the information format has been shown to affect consumers' online shopping behavior, even when the information content is held constant, the practical implications for Web site designers include providing both types of information format on their Web sites and matching the appropriate information format to the individual consumer's task.

https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/Delivery.cfm/SSRN_ID1003584_code662786.pdf?abstractid=1003584

The Effects of Information Format and Shopping Task on Consumers' Online Shopping Behavior: A Cognitive Fit Perspective

The Internet marketing techniques detailed in this article provide tactics to maximize the utility of the Internet as a vehicle for marketing communications. We found that Internet marketers today must provide increasingly sophisticated users with an experience not easily replicated by conventional media. Furthermore, techniques utilized within the homepage of a company must accomplish specific marketing objectives. Over 50 homepages across various industries were visited and evaluated for this study. Quantitative analysis identified current industry utilization of Internet marketing techniques, as well as those techniques best suited to reach Internet user types and to meet marketing objectives. General guidance is given to determine which techniques are best suited to accomplish these ends.

Value‐added marketing in the digital domain: enhancing the utility of the Internet

Active and experiential learning theory have not dramatically changed collegiate classroom teaching methods, although they have long been included in the pedagogical literature. This article presents an evolved method, reality based learning, that aids professors in including active learning activities with feelings of clarity and confidence. The reality-based learning method subjects each learning activity to a 4-point framework that is used by the professor in all stages, planning, implementation, and review. Its solid rationale, rigorous standards, and logical applicability are intended to ease professors’ confusion and apprehension about active and experiential learning. Furthermore, professors will find that they can truly make a difference in their students’transferability of knowledge, skills, and attitudes from the confines of a classroom to their interactions in the broader world. Finally, its applications are demonstrated in an extended diagnostic approach to the selection of an activity for one...

The Reality-Based Learning Method: A Simple Method for Keeping Teaching Activities Relevant and Effective

https://isiarticles.com/bundles/Article/pre/pdf/21836.pdf

An Empirically-based Model of Competitor Intelligence Use

Succeeding in the communiputer age: Technology and the marketing mix

Many well‐qualified professionals feel that the quality of their services should be high enough to permit them to “hang out a shingle” and wait for clients to come. In doing so, the professional is exerting no control over his or her type of practice. The controversy surrounding the issue of advertising in the professions has clouded the large issue of professional services marketing. The article describes in depth the challenges of one profession, law, in order to demonstrate the perspective and challenges for marketing. Lawyers have been selected since they deal with many changes—the impact of redefinition caused by changes in the regulatory environment, the overabundance in the field, new methods of competition, the consumerism movement, and a poor public image. Practical methods are described to help the professionals understand their business better. By recognizing their practice as both a profession and a business, professionals can develop an ethical, dignified marketing plan—which may or may not include advertising—in order to place themselves in a better position to utilize their unique expertise with clients who can best appreciate their talents.

Doris C. Van Doren

Papers

Value‐added marketing in the digital domain: enhancing the utility of the Internet

The Reality-Based Learning Method: A Simple Method for Keeping Teaching Activities Relevant and Effective

An Empirically-based Model of Competitor Intelligence Use

Succeeding in the communiputer age: Technology and the marketing mix

The challenges of professional services marketing