"Is It Really Complicated?" Motivational Differences in the Effects of Structural and Outcome Complexity on Consumers' Web Site and Brand Evaluations

As marketers spend significantly to enhance the aesthetics and sophistication of consumer experiences, they are increasing the complexity of interactive consumption environments (e.g. web sites). However, little is known about how consumers react to such complexity, in terms of their evaluations. In this research, we examine two specific types of complexity: Structural Complexity is defined as the number of distinct cues at the web site that the consumer has to process, and Outcome Complexity is defined as the abstractness of icons and symbols that the consumer uses to navigate the web site. We focus on consumer motivations, to analyze if complexity will lead to negative or positive outcomes at a web site.

Citation:

Reetika Gupta and Stephen, J. Gould (2009) ,""Is It Really Complicated?" Motivational Differences in the Effects of Structural and Outcome Complexity on Consumers' Web Site and Brand Evaluations", in AP - Asia-Pacific Advances in Consumer Research Volume 8, eds. Sridhar Samu, Rajiv Vaidyanathan, and Dipankar Chakravarti, Duluth, MN : Association for Consumer Research, Pages: 126-126.