| There were two major objectives of this study. The first was to identify what factors significantly influence the design quality of an electronic market on the Web. The second objective was to identify consumer reactions to a well designed Web site, which is the one that has a high number of quality design variables and exhibits factors of information and service quality, system use, playfulness, and system design quality. The research model was derived from the study of information systems and marketing literature. Candidate variables were derived from key words searches of electronic market, electronic commerce, and electronic marketplace in ABI/INFORM.;Questionnaires were first mailed electronically to all Fortune 1000 webmasters who had email addresses. Four factors that are critical to the design of electronic markets were identified. They are: (1) information and service quality, (2) system use, (3) playfulness, and (4) system design quality.;An experiment was conducted to examine the positive influence that a well designed Web site would have on various customer reactions. The results, which followed the experimental visits to selected Web sites, show that a well designed Web site will increase the level of customer recall and recognition. Also, a well designed Web site will lead customers to have a favorable attitude toward the site and a favorable attitude toward the products/services that are presented through the site.;Students were used as customer surrogates to assess the quality design factors as determined by webmasters. Results of the customer surrogate survey indicate that there are some differences in the mean values of the four derived factors between these two groups. There was no difference in the perception of the importance of system design quality between these two groups. In contrast, the webmaster group produced a higher mean value for information quality and service quality than the customer group. However, customer surrogates exhibited higher mean values for playfulness and system use than did webmasters. |
