Do web sites change customers’ beliefs? A study of prior–posterior beliefs in e-commerce

Web sites are the main interface between online merchants and their customers. Despite the consequent importance of web-site design, there is little theoretical foundation that can be used to assess how web-design factors lead e-customers to revise their earlier beliefs. Our study examined web customers’ salient beliefs and the role of web-design elements in altering customers’ existing beliefs after their exposure to an e-commerce web site. Using salient beliefs and categories of web-design elements identified previously, we developed a conceptual model of belief revisions due to exposure to web-design elements and internal cues. The empirical analysis of the model indicated that web customers were influenced by the external cues from the design factors as well as the internal ones from their prior beliefs. Our findings have implications in designing web sites for e-commerce.